60426 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 197 / Wednesday, October 11, 2000 / Notices

1 DOMAC’s application was filed with the

Commission under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act

and part 157 of the Commission’s regulations.

2The appendices referenced in this notice are not

being printed in the Federal Register. Copies are

available on the Commission’s website at the

‘‘RIMS’’ link or from the Commission’s Public

Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 888 First

Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, or call (202)

208–1371. For instructions on connecting to RIMS

refer to the last page of this notice. Copies of the

appendices were sent to all those receiving this

notice in the mail.

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

environmental staff of the Office of Energy Projects

(OEP).

permit would also allow the applicant

to dredge about 25,000 cubic yards of

sediment to improve boat access from

the docks to Lake Hudson. The

Markham Ferry Project is on the Grand

(Nesho) River in Mayes County,

Oklahoma.

The EA was written by staff in the

Office of Energy Projects, Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission. In the

EA, Commission staff conclude that

approving GRDA’s application to grant

the permit would not constitute a major

federal action significantly affecting the

quality of the human environment.

Copies of the EA can be viewed on the

web at www.ferc.fed.us/online/

rims.htm. Call (202) 208–2222 for

assistance. Copies are also avaiable for

inspection and reproduction at the

Commission’s Public Reference Room,

located at 888 First Street, NE., Room

2A, Washington DC 20426, or by calling

(202) 208–1371.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–26061 Filed 10–10–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP00–447–000]

Distrigas of Massachusetts LLC;

Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Assessment for the

Proposed High Pressure Expansion

Project and Request for Comments on

Environmental Issues

October 4, 2000.

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 High Pressure Expansion Project

involving construction and operation of

facilities by Distrigas of Massachusetts

LLC (DOMAC) at its existing liquefied

natural gas (LNG) storage facility

Everett, Massachusetts.1 These facilities

would consist of new vaporization

equipment and associated systems to

provide regasified LNG to a

nonjurisdictional electric power

generating plant currently under

construction. 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.

Summary of the Proposed Project

The proposed project would allow

DOMAC to supply 280,000 million

British thermal units per day of

regasified LNG to an electric power

generating plant. Specifically, DOMAC

requests Commission authorization to:

• Install four submerged combustion

vaporization units capable of 600,000

thousand cubic feet per day;

• Replace the existing LNG tank

pumps with higher capacity pumps;

• Install eight LNG booster pumps;

• Modify the LNG impoundment and

vapor control systems; and

• Install various cross-connections,

tie-ins, pollution control systems, and

odorization equipment.

In addition to the above jurisdictional

facilities, Sithe Mystic Development

LLC is constructing the New Mystic

Station, a 1,550 megawatt natural gasfired, combined-cycle electric

generating power plant at Everett,

Massachusetts. The New Mystic Station,

approved by the Massachusetts Energy

Facilities Siting Board on September 30,

1999, is currently under construction

and was 40 percent complete at the time

of DOMAC’s filing with the

Commission. A 24-inch-diameter

nonjurisdictional pipeline,

approximately 1,200 feet in length,

would also be constructed by Boston

Gas Company to transport the regasified

LNG to the New Mystic Station.

The general location of DOMAC’s

proposed project facilities is shown on

the map attached as appendix 1.2

Construction of the proposed facilities

would occur completely on DOMAC’s

existing LNG plant site.

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 to

discover and address concerns the

public may have about proposals. We

call this ‘‘scoping’’.3 The main goal of

the scoping process is to focus the

analysis in the EA on the important

environmental issues. By this Notice of

Intent, the Commission requests public

comments on the scope of the issues it

will address in the EA. All comments

received are considered during the

preparation of the EA. State and local

government representatives are

encouraged to notify their constituents

of this proposed action and encourage

them to comment on their areas of

concern.

The EA 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

• Vegetation and wildlife

• Public safety

• Cultural resources

• Water resources, fisheries, and

wetlands

• Endangered and threatened species

• Land use

• Air quality and noise impacts

We will also evaluate possible

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 in the EA. Depending on

the comments received during the

scoping process, the EA may be

published and mailed to Federal, state,

and local agencies, public interest

groups, interested individuals, affected

landowners, newspapers, libraries, and

the Commission’s official service list for

this proceeding. A comment period will

be allotted for review if the EA is

published. 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 below.

Public Participation

You can make a difference by

providing us with your specific

comments or concerns about the project.

By becoming a commentor, your

concerns will be addressed in the EA

and considered by the Commission. You

should focus on the potential

environmental effects of the proposal,

alternatives to the proposal, and

measures to avoid or lessen

environmental impact. The more

specific your comments, the more useful

they will be. Please carefully follow

these instructions to ensure that your

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 197 / Wednesday, October 11, 2000 / Notices 60427

comments are received in time and

properly recorded:

• Send two copies of your letter to:

David P. Boergers, Secretary, Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888

First St., NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC

20426.

• Label one copy of the comments for

the attention of Gas Group 1, PJ–11.1.

• Reference Docket No. CP00–447–

000.

• Mail your comments so that they

will be received in Washington, DC on

or before November 3, 2000.

Becoming an Intervenor

In addition to involvement in the EA

scoping process, you may want to

become an official party to the

proceeding known as an ‘‘intervenor’’.

Intervenors play a more formal role in

the process. Among other things,

intervenors have the right to receive

copies of case-related Commission

documents and filings by other

intervenors. Likewise, each intervenor

must provide 14 copies of its filings to

the Secretary of the Commission and

must send a copy of its filings to all

other parties on the Commission’s

service list for this proceeding. If you

want to become an intervenor you must

file a motion to intervene according to

Rule 214 of the Commission’s Rules of

Practice and Procedure (18 CFR

385.214) (see appendix 2). Only

intervenors have the right to seek

rehearing of the Commission’s decision.

Affected landowners and parties with

environmental concerns may be granted

intervenor status upon showing good

cause by stating that they have a clear

and direct interest in this proceeding

which would not be adequately

represented by any other parties. You do

not need intervenor status to have your

environmental comments considered.

Additional information about the

proposed project is available from the

Commission’s Office of External Affairs

at (202) 208–0004 or on the FERC

website (www.ferc.fed.us) using the

‘‘RIMS’’ link to information in this

docket number. Click on the ‘‘RIMS’’

link, select ‘‘Docket #’’ from the RIMS

Menu, and follow the instructions. For

assistance with access to RIMS, the

RIMS helpline can be reached at (202)

208–2222.

Similarly, the ‘‘CIPS’’ link on the

FERC Internet website provides access

to the texts of formal documents issued

by the Commission, such as orders,

notices, and rulemakings. From the

FERC Internet website, click on the

‘‘CIPS’’ link, select ‘‘Docket #’’ from the

CIPS menu, and follow the instructions.

For assistance with access to CIPS, the

CIPS helpline can be reached at (202)

208–2474.

Lindood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–26056 Filed 10–10–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

Notice of Application Accepted for

Filing and Soliciting Motions To

Intervene and Protests

October 4, 2000.

Take notice that the following

hydroelectric application has been filed

with the Commission and is available

for public inspection.

a. Type of Application: Subsequent

license.

b. Project No.: 2103–002.

c. Date filed: June 29, 2000.

d. Applicant: Cominco American

Incorporated.

e. Name of Project: Cedar Creek.

f. Location: On Cedar Creek, a

tributary of the Pend Oreille River, in

Stevens County, Washington. The

project occupies 2.058 acres of BLM

land, 0.298 acres of International

Boundary Reserve land controlled by

the International Joint Commission, and

0.44 acres of private land.

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power

Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 791(a)–825(r).

h. Applicant Contact: Bruce DiLuzio,

Cominco American Incorporated, 15918

E. Euclid Avenue, Spokane, WA, 98216,

(509)747–6111.

i. FERC Contact: Brandi Bradford,

(202) 219–2789,

brandi.bradford@ferc.fed.us.

j. Deadline for filing motions to

intervene and protests: 60 days from the

issuance date of this notice.

All documents (original and eight

copies) should be filed with: David P.

Boergers, Secretary, Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, 888 First

Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426.

The Commission’s Rules of Practice

require all intervenors filing documents

with the Commission to serve a copy of

that document on each person on the

official service list for the project.

Further, if an intervenor files comments

or documents with the Commission

relating to the merits of an issue that

may affect the responsibilities of a

particular resource agency, they must

also serve a copy of the document on

that resource agency.

k. This application has been accepted,

but is not ready for environmental

analysis at this time.

l. Project Description: The existing

Cedar Creek Project consists of 2.4 acres

of land periodically inundated by

operation of the Waneta Project located

in British Columbia, Canada. The Cedar

Creek Project area is located in the

United States. All Waneta Project

facilities, including the dam and power

generation facilities, are located in

Canada and are outside FERC

jurisdiction. Within the confines of the

Cedar Creek Project, the maximum pool

is EL 1517.8 (Canadian Geodetic Survey

of Canada Datum) and minimum pool is

EL 1502. Cominco American

Incorporated currently has flowage

rights to lands in the Cedar Creek

Project boundary up to EL 1521.

m. A copy of the application is

available for inspection and

reproduction at the Commission’s

Public Reference Room, located at 888

First Street, NE, Room 2–A,

Washington, DC 20426, or by calling

(202) 208–1371. The application may be

viewed on http://www.ferc.fed.us/

online/rims.htm (call (202) 208–2222 for

assistance). A copy is also available for

inspection and reproduction at the

address in item h above.

n. Anyone may submit a protest or a

motion to intervene in accordance with

the requirements of Rules of Practice

and Procedure, 18 CFR 385.210,

385.211, and 385.214. In determining

the appropriate action to take, the

Commission will consider all protests

filed, but only those who file a motion

to intervene in accordance with the

Commission’s Rules may become a

party to the proceeding. Any protests or

motions to intervene must be received

on or before the specified deadline date

for the particular application.

All filings must (1) bear in all capital

letters the title ‘‘PROTEST’’ or

‘‘MOTION TO INTERVENE;’’ (2) set

forth in the heading the name of the

applicant and the project number of the

application to which the filing

responds; (3) furnish the name, address,

and telephone number of the person

protesting or intervening; and (4)

otherwise comply with the requirements

of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005.

Agencies may obtain copies of the

application directly from the applicant.

A copy of any protest or motion to

intervene must be served upon each

representative of the applicant specified

in the particular application.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–26059 Filed 10–10–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M