Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 38 / Monday, February 27, 2012 / Notices 11527 

1Requested under Bluewater’s existing National 

Gas Act Section 7 Blanket Certificate. 

2 Ibid. 

3 ‘‘We,’’ ‘‘us,’’ and ‘‘our’’ refer to the 

environmental staff of the Commission’s Office of 

Energy Projects. 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. CP12–51–000] 

Bluewater Gas Storage, LLC; Notice of 

Intent To Prepare an Environmental 

Assessment for the Proposed St. Clair 

River Crossing Replacement Project, 

Request for Comments on 

Environmental Issues, and Notice of 

Onsite Environmental Review 

The staff of the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC or 

Commission) will prepare an 

environmental assessment (EA) that will 

discuss the environmental impacts of 

the Bluewater Gas Storage, LLC 

(Bluewater) St. Clair River Crossing 

Replacement Project (Project) involving 

the construction of the United States 

portion of the U.S.-Canada cross-border 

pipeline facilities from St. Clair County, 

Michigan to the international boundary 

within the St. Clair River for the importexport of up to 300 million cubic feet 

per day (MMCf/d) of natural gas. This 

EA will be used by the Commission in 

its decision-making process to 

determine whether the project is in the 

public convenience and necessity. 

This notice announces the opening of 

the scoping process the Commission 

will use to gather input from the public 

and interested agencies on the Project. 

Your input will help the Commission 

staff determine what issues need to be 

evaluated in the EA. Please note that the 

project scoping period will close on 

March 17, 2012. Further details on how 

to submit written comments are 

provided in the Public Participation 

section of this notice. 

The office of Energy Projects staff will 

conduct an onsite environmental review 

of the project area to gather data for its 

environmental analysis of the proposed 

project. Viewing of the project area is 

anticipated to be from Bluewater’s 

property along River Road. Those 

attending should meet at the following 

location and time: FERC Onsite 

Environmental Review, St. Clair River 

Crossing Replacement Project, February 

28, 2012 at 9 a.m. Eastern Time, 1060 

River Road, Marysville, Michigan 

48040–1510. 

This notice is being sent to the 

Commission’s current environmental 

mailing list for this project as described 

under the Environmental Mailing List 

Section of this notice. The notice is also 

being sent to those landowners outside 

of the immediate construction work 

areas who could potentially be affected 

during construction from secondary, 

short-term construction-related noise 

and/or visual impacts. State and local 

government representatives are asked to 

notify their constituents of this 

proposed project and encourage them to 

comment on their areas of concern. 

If you are a landowner receiving this 

notice, and you are contacted by a 

representative of Bluewater about the 

acquisition of an easement to construct, 

operate, and maintain the proposed 

facilities, please note that the company 

would seek to negotiate a mutually 

acceptable agreement. However, if the 

project is approved by the Commission, 

that approval conveys with it the right 

of eminent domain. Therefore, if 

easement negotiations fail to produce an 

agreement, the company could initiate 

condemnation proceedings where 

compensation would be determined in 

accordance with state law. 

A fact sheet prepared by the FERC 

entitled ‘‘An Interstate Natural Gas 

Facility On My Land? What Do I Need 

To Know?’’ was attached to the project 

notice Bluewater provided to 

landowners. This fact sheet addresses a 

number of typically-asked questions, 

including the use of eminent domain 

and how to participate in the 

Commission’s proceedings. It is also 

available for viewing on the FERC Web 

site (www.ferc.gov). 

Summary of the Proposed Project 

Bluewater proposes to construct and 

operate a new natural gas pipeline 

directionally drilled underneath the St. 

Clair River from Bluewater’s header 

system in St. Clair County, Michigan to 

the International Border. The proposed 

Project would consist of: 

• The construction and operation of 

approximately 1,500 feet of 20-inchdiameter pipeline directionally drilled 

underneath the St. Clair River to the 

international border (Cross Border 

Facilities) within the St. Clair River and 

construction of approximately 345 feet 

of 20-inch-diameter replacement 

pipeline facilities 1 to connect the CrossBorder Facilities to Bluewater’s existing 

30-mile, 20-inch-diameter pipeline 

header system in Marysville, St. Clair 

County, Michigan; 

• A Presidential Permit authorizing 

Bluewater to install, construct, own, 

operate and maintain the U.S. portion of 

the cross-border facilities, pursuant to 

Part 153, Subpart C of the Commission’s 

regulations, and Executive Order No. 

10,485, as amended by Executive Order 

No. 12,038; 

• Vacating an existing Section 3 

Authorization and Presidential Permit 

with respect to leased facilities with 

Nova Chemicals; 

• Remove approximately 245 feet of 

20-inch-diameter pipeline and 30 feet of 

12-inch-diameter pipeline; 2 and 

• Modify an existing meter station to 

increase its measurement capacity.2

The general location of the Project 

facilities is shown in appendix 1. 

Land Requirements for Construction 

Construction of the Project pipeline 

facilities would be conducted by the 

horizontal directional drilling method 

(HDD) from a location approximately 

425 feet on the U.S. inland side of the 

St. Clair River (entry point) to the U.S.- 

Canada international border within the 

river (Appendix 1). The Project would 

permanently disturb about 0.95 acres of 

land. 

The EA Process 

The National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) requires the Commission to 

take into account the environmental 

impacts that could result from an action 

whenever it considers the issuance of a 

Certificate of Public Convenience and 

Necessity. NEPA also requires us 3 to 

discover and address concerns the 

public may have about proposals. This 

process is referred to as ‘‘scoping.’’ The 

main goal of the scoping process is to 

focus the analysis in the EA on the 

important environmental issues. By this 

notice, the Commission requests public 

comments on the scope of the issues to 

address in the EA. All comments 

received will be considered during the 

preparation of the EA. 

In the EA we will discuss impacts that 

could occur as a result of the 

construction and operation of the 

proposed project under these general 

headings: 

• Geology and soils; 

• Land use; 

• Water resources, fisheries, and 

wetlands; 

• Cultural resources; 

• Vegetation and wildlife; 

• Air quality and noise; 

• Endangered and threatened species; 

and 

• Public safety. 

We will also evaluate reasonable 

alternatives to the proposed project or 

portions of the project, and make 

recommendations on how to lessen or 

avoid impacts on the various resource 

areas. 

Our independent analysis of the 

issues will be presented in the EA. The 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
11528 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 38 / Monday, February 27, 2012 / Notices 

4The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s 

regulations are at Title 36, Code of Federal 

Regulations, Part 800. Historic properties are 

defined in those regulations as any prehistoric or 

historic district, site, building, structure, or object 

included in or eligible for inclusion in the Natural 

Register of Historic Places. 

EA will be placed in the public record 

and, depending on the comments 

received during the scoping process, 

may be published and distributed to the 

public. A comment period will be 

allotted if the EA is published for 

review. We will consider all comments 

on the EA before we make our 

recommendations to the Commission. 

To ensure your comments are 

considered, please carefully follow the 

instructions in the Public Participation 

section of this notice. 

With this notice, we are asking 

agencies with jurisdiction and/or 

special expertise with respect to 

environmental issues to formally 

cooperate with us in the preparation of 

the EA. These agencies may choose to 

participate once they have evaluated the 

proposal relative to their 

responsibilities. Agencies that would 

like to request cooperating agency status 

should follow the instructions for filing 

comments provided under the Public 

Participation section of this notice. 

Consultations Under Section 106 of the 

Natural Historic Preservation Act 

In accordance with the Advisory 

Council on Historic Preservation’s 

implementing regulations for section 

106 of the Natural Historic Preservation 

Act, we are using this notice to initiate 

consultation with applicable State 

Historic Preservation Office(s) (SHPO), 

and to solicit their views and those of 

other government agencies, interested 

Indian tribes, and the public on the 

project’s potential effects on historic 

properties.4 We will define the projectspecific Area of Potential Effects (APE) 

in consultation with the SHPO(s) as the 

project is further developed. On natural 

gas facility projects, the APE at a 

minimum encompasses all areas subject 

to ground disturbance (examples 

include construction right-of-way, 

contractor/pipe storage yards, 

compressor stations, and access roads). 

Our EA would document our findings 

on the potential project impacts on 

historic properties and summarize the 

status of consultations under section 

106. 

Public Participation 

You can make a difference by 

providing us with your specific 

comments or concerns about the project. 

Your comments should focus on the 

potential environmental effects, 

reasonable alternatives, and measures to 

avoid or lessen environmental impacts. 

The more specific your comments, the 

more useful they will be. To ensure that 

your comments are timely and properly 

recorded, please send your comments so 

that they will be received in 

Washington, DC on or before March 17, 

2012. 

For your convenience, there are three 

methods which you can use to submit 

your comments to the Commission. In 

all instances please reference the project 

docket number (CP12–51–000) with 

your submission. The Commission 

encourages electronic filing of 

comments and has expert eFiling staff 

available to assist you at (202) 502–8258 

or efiling@ferc.gov. 

(1) You may file your comments 

electronically by using the eComment 

feature, which is located on the 

Commission’s Web site at www.ferc.gov 

under the link to Documents and 

Filings. An eComment is an easy 

method for interested persons to submit 

brief, text-only comments on a project; 

(2) You may file your comments 

electronically by using the eFiling 

feature, which is located on the 

Commission’s Web site at www.ferc.gov 

under the link to Documents and 

Filings. With eFiling, you can provide 

comments in a variety of formats by 

attaching them as a file with your 

submission. New eFiling users must 

first create an account by clicking on 

‘‘eRegister.’’ You will be asked to select 

the type of filing you are making. A 

comment on a particular project is 

considered a ‘‘Comment on a Filing’’; or 

(3) You may file a paper copy of your 

comments at the following address: 

Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 

First Street NE., Room 1A, Washington, 

DC 20426. 

Environmental Mailing List 

The environmental mailing list 

includes federal, state, and local 

government representatives and 

agencies; elected officials; Native 

American Tribes; environmental and 

public interest groups; other interested 

parties; and local libraries and 

newspapers. This list also includes all 

affected landowners (as defined in the 

Commission’s regulations) who are 

potential right-of-way grantors, whose 

property may be used temporarily for 

project purposes, or who own homes 

within certain distances of aboveground 

facilities, and anyone who submits 

comments on the project. In this notice 

we have also included landowners that 

could be inadvertently affected by 

construction noise or visual impacts. 

We will update the environmental 

mailing list as the analysis proceeds to 

ensure that we send the information 

related to this environmental review to 

all individuals, organizations, and 

government entities interested in and/or 

potentially affected by the proposed 

project. 

If the EA is published for distribution, 

copies will be sent to the environmental 

mailing list for public review and 

comment. If you would prefer to receive 

a paper copy of the document instead of 

the CD version or would like to remove 

your name from the mailing list, please 

return the attached Information Request 

(appendix 2). 

Becoming an Intervenor 

In addition to involvement in the EA 

scoping process, you may want to 

become an ‘‘intervenor’’ which is an 

official party to the Commission’s 

proceeding. Intervenors play a more 

formal role in the process and are able 

to file briefs, appear at hearings, and be 

heard by the courts if they choose to 

appeal the Commission’s final ruling. 

An intervenor formally participates in 

the proceeding by filing a request to 

intervene. Instructions for becoming an 

intervenor are included in the User’s 

Guide under the ‘‘e-filing’’ link on the 

Commission’s Web site. 

Additional Information 

Additional information about the 

project is available from the 

Commission’s Office of External Affairs, 

at (866) 208–FERC, or on the FERC Web 

site at www.ferc.gov using the 

‘‘eLibrary’’ link. Click on the eLibrary 

link, click on ‘‘General Search’’ and 

enter the docket number, excluding the 

last three digits in the Docket number 

field (i.e., CP12–51). Be sure you have 

selected an appropriate date range. For 

assistance, please contact FERC Online 

Support at FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov 

or toll free at (866) 208–3676, or for 

TTY, contact (202) 502–8659. The 

eLibrary link also provides access to the 

texts of formal documents issued by the 

Commission, such as orders, notices, 

and rulemakings. 

In addition, the Commission now 

offers a free service called eSubscription 

which allows you to keep track of all 

formal issuances and submittals in 

specific dockets. This can reduce the 

amount of time you spend researching 

proceedings by automatically providing 

you with notification of these filings, 

document summaries, and direct links 

to the documents. Go to www.ferc.gov/ 

esubscribenow.htm. 

Finally, public meetings or site visits 

will be posted on the Commission’s 

calendar located at www.ferc.gov/ 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 38 / Monday, February 27, 2012 / Notices 11529 

EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along 

with other related information. 

Dated: February 16, 2012. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4405 Filed 2–24–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. EL12–27–000] 

Louisville Gas and Electric Company; 

Kentucky Utilities Company; Notice of 

Petition for Declaratory Order 

Take notice that on February 14, 2012, 

pursuant to Rule 207 of the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission’s 

(Commission) Rules of Practice and 

Procedure, 18 CFR 385.207, Louisville 

Gas and Electric Company and 

Kentucky Utilities Company, filed a 

Petition for Declaratory Order, 

requesting that the Commission find 

that the payment of dividends from 

equity accounts that represent adjusted 

retained earnings will not violate 

section 305(a) of the Federal Power Act, 

16 U.S.C. 825d. 

Any person desiring to intervene or to 

protest this filing must file in 

accordance with Rules 211 and 214 of 

the Commission’s Rules of Practice and 

Procedure (18 CFR 385.211, 385.214). 

Protests will be considered by the 

Commission in determining the 

appropriate action to be taken, but will 

not serve to make protestants parties to 

the proceeding. Any person wishing to 

become a party must file a notice of 

intervention or motion to intervene, as 

appropriate. Such notices, motions, or 

protests must be filed on or before the 

comment date. On or before the 

comment date, it is not necessary to 

serve motions to intervene or protests 

on persons other than the Applicant. 

The Commission encourages 

electronic submission of protests and 

interventions in lieu of paper using the 

‘‘eFiling’’ link at http://www.ferc.gov. 

Persons unable to file electronically 

should submit an original and 14 copies 

of the protest or intervention to the 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 

20426. 

This filing is accessible on-line at 

http://www.ferc.gov, using the 

‘‘eLibrary’’ link and is available for 

review in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room in Washington, DC. 

There is an ‘‘eSubscription’’ link on the 

Web site that enables subscribers to 

receive email notification when a 

document is added to a subscribed 

docket(s). For assistance with any FERC 

Online service, please email 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call 

(866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY, call 

(202) 502–8659. 

Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time 

on March 15, 2012. 

Dated: February 16, 2012. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4407 Filed 2–24–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 14356–000] 

Nushagak Electric and Telephone 

Cooperative, Inc.; Notice of Preliminary 

Permit Application Accepted for Filing 

and Soliciting Comments, Motions To 

Intervene, and Competing Applications 

On January 25, 2012, the Nushagak 

Electric and Telephone Cooperative, 

Inc. filed an application for a 

preliminary permit, pursuant to section 

4(f) of the Federal Power Act (FPA), 

proposing to study the feasibility of the 

Dillingham Area Hydroelectric Project 

(Dillingham Project or project) to be 

located on Elva Creek and Grant River, 

near the town of Dillingham, Bristol Bay 

Borough, Alaska. The sole purpose of a 

preliminary permit, if issued, is to grant 

the permit holder priority to file a 

license application during the permit 

term. A preliminary permit does not 

authorize the permit holder to perform 

any land-disturbing activities or 

otherwise enter upon lands or waters 

owned by others without the owners’ 

express permission. 

The proposed project has two 

developments. The total installed 

capacity of both developments would be 

3.2 megawatts (MW) and the total 

estimated annual generation of the 

Dillingham Project would be 20.057 

gigawatt-hours (GWh). 

Lake Elva Development 

The proposed project would consist of 

the following: (1) A 50-foot-long, 10- 

foot-high rock-fill diversion dam 

constructed on the outlet of Lake Elva; 

(2) a 4,100-foot-long, 4-foot-diameter 

lake tap pipeline; (3) a 3,200-foot-long, 

3- to 3.5-foot-diameter penstock leading 

from the lake tap pipeline to the 

powerhouse; (4) a powerhouse 

containing two 0.75–MW Francis 

turbine/generator units; (5) a 40-footlong, 20-foot-wide tailrace discharging 

flows from the powerhouse into Elva 

Creek; (6) a 49-mile-long, 34.5-kilovolt 

(kV) transmission line extending from 

the project powerhouse to a new 

substation approximately 5 miles north 

of Dillingham; (7) an approximately 3- 

mile-long access road; and (8) 

appurtenant facilities. The estimated 

annual generation of the Lake Elva 

development would be 7.927 GWh. 

Grant Lake Development 

The proposed project would consist of 

the following: (1) A 900-foot-long, 20- 

foot-high rock-fill diversion dam 

constructed on the outlet of Grant Lake 

(main dam); (2) a 1-mile-long, 20-foothigh diversion canal excavated 

approximately 1 mile north of the main 

dam; (3) a 300-foot-long, 20-foot-high 

rock-fill diversion dam constructed at 

the terminus of the diversion canal; (4) 

an intake structure on the diversion dam 

leading to a 5,000-foot-long, 5-footdiameter pipeline; (5) a 3,100-foot-long, 

4-foot-diameter penstock leading from 

the pipeline to the powerhouse; (6) a 

powerhouse containing a 1.7–MW 

Turgo turbine/generator unit; (7) a 40- 

foot-long, 20-foot-wide tailrace 

discharging flows from the powerhouse 

into Grant River; (8) a 46-mile-long, 

34.5-kV transmission line extending 

from the project powerhouse to a new 

substation approximately 5 miles north 

of Dillingham; (9) an approximately 2.5- 

mile-long access road; and (10) 

appurtenant facilities. The estimated 

annual generation of the Grant Lake 

development would be 12.13 GWh. 

Applicant Contact: Mr. Mike Megli, 

CEO/General Manager, Nushagak 

Electric & Telephone Cooperative, Inc., 

557 Kenny Wren Road, P.O. Box 350, 

Dillingham, AK 99576; phone: (907) 

842–6315. 

FERC Contact: Jennifer Harper; 

phone: (202) 502–6136. 

Deadline for filing comments, motions 

to intervene, competing applications 

(without notices of intent), or notices of 

intent to file competing applications: 60 

days from the issuance of this notice. 

Competing applications and notices of 

intent must meet the requirements of 18 

CFR 4.36. Comments, motions to 

intervene, notices of intent, and 

competing applications may be filed 

electronically via the Internet. See 18 

CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the 

instructions on the Commission’s Web 

site http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ 

efiling.asp. Commenters can submit 

brief comments up to 6,000 characters, 

without prior registration, using the 

eComment system at http://www.ferc.

gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp. You 

must include your name and contact 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES