8242 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 30 / Monday, February 14, 2022 / Notices 

1The appendices referenced in this notice will 

not appear in the Federal Register. Copies of the 

appendices were sent to all those receiving this 

notice in the mail and are available at www.ferc.gov 

using the link called ‘‘eLibrary’’. For instructions on 

connecting to eLibrary, refer to the last page of this 

Signed in Washington, DC, on February 8, 

2022. 

LaTanya Butler, 

Deputy Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2022–03049 Filed 2–11–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. CP22–26–000] 

Northern Natural Gas Company; Notice 

of Scoping Period Requesting 

Comments on Environmental Issues 

for the Proposed Des Moines A-Line 

Capacity Replacement Project 

The staff of the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC or 

Commission) will prepare an 

environmental document, that will 

discuss the environmental impacts of 

the Des Moines A-line Capacity 

Replacement Project (Project) involving 

abandonment, construction and 

operation of facilities by Northern 

Natural Gas Company (Northern) in 

Boone, Dallas, and Polk Counties, Iowa. 

The Commission will use this 

environmental document in its 

decision-making process to determine 

whether the Project is in the public 

interest. 

This notice announces the opening of 

the scoping process the Commission 

will use to gather input from the public 

and interested agencies regarding the 

Project. As part of the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

review process, the Commission takes 

into account concerns the public may 

have about proposals and the 

environmental impacts that could result 

from its action whenever it considers 

the issuance of an authorization. This 

gathering of public input is referred to 

as ‘‘scoping.’’ The main goal of the 

scoping process is to focus the analysis 

in the environmental document on the 

important environmental issues. 

Additional information about the 

Commission’s NEPA process is 

described below in the NEPA Process 

and Environmental Document section of 

this notice. 

By this notice, the Commission 

requests public comments on the scope 

of issues to address in the 

environmental document. To ensure 

that your comments are timely and 

properly recorded, please submit your 

comments so that the Commission 

receives them in Washington, DC on or 

before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on March 

11, 2022. Comments may be submitted 

in written form. Further details on how 

to submit comments are provided in the 

Public Participation section of this 

notice. 

Your comments should focus on the 

potential environmental effects, 

reasonable alternatives, and measures to 

avoid or lessen environmental impacts. 

Your input will help the Commission 

staff determine what issues they need to 

evaluate in the environmental 

document. Commission staff will 

consider all written comments during 

the preparation of the environmental 

document. 

If you submitted comments on this 

project to the Commission before the 

opening of this docket on December 3, 

2022, you will need to file those 

comments in Docket No. CP22–26–000 

to ensure they are considered as part of 

this proceeding. 

This notice is being sent to the 

Commission’s current environmental 

mailing list for this Project. State and 

local government representatives should 

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, a pipeline company 

representative may contact you about 

the acquisition of an easement to 

construct, operate, and maintain the 

proposed facilities. The company would 

seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable 

easement agreement. You are not 

required to enter into an agreement. 

However, if the Commission approves 

the project, the Natural Gas Act conveys 

the right of eminent domain to the 

company. Therefore, if you and the 

company do not reach an easement 

agreement, the pipeline company could 

initiate condemnation proceedings in 

court. In such instances, compensation 

would be determined by a judge in 

accordance with state law. The 

Commission does not subsequently 

grant, exercise, or oversee the exercise 

of that eminent domain authority. The 

courts have exclusive authority to 

handle eminent domain cases; the 

Commission has no jurisdiction over 

these matters. 

Northern provided landowners with a 

fact sheet prepared by the FERC entitled 

‘‘An Interstate Natural Gas Facility On 

My Land? What Do I Need To Know?’’ 

which addresses typically asked 

questions, including the use of eminent 

domain and how to participate in the 

Commission’s proceedings. This fact 

sheet along with other landowner topics 

of interest are available for viewing on 

the FERC website (www.ferc.gov) under 

the Natural Gas Questions or 

Landowner Topics link. 

Public Participation 

There are three methods you can use 

to submit your comments to the 

Commission. Please carefully follow 

these instructions so that your 

comments are properly recorded. The 

Commission encourages electronic filing 

of comments and has staff available to 

assist you at (866) 208–3676 or 

FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. 

(1) You can file your comments 

electronically using the eComment feature, 

which is located on the Commission’s 

website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to 

FERC Online. Using eComment is an easy 

method for submitting brief, text-only 

comments on a project; 

(2) You can file your comments 

electronically by using the eFiling feature, 

which is located on the Commission’s 

website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to 

FERC Online. 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 can file a paper copy of your 

comments by mailing them to the 

Commission. Be sure to reference the Project 

docket number (CP22–26–000) on your letter. 

Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service 

must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, 

Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via 

any other carrier must be addressed to: 

Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins 

Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 

Additionally, the Commission offers a 

free service called eSubscription which 

makes it easy to stay informed of all 

issuances and submittals regarding the 

dockets/projects to which you 

subscribe. These instant email 

notifications are the fastest way to 

receive notification and provide a link 

to the document files which can reduce 

the amount of time you spend 

researching proceedings. Go to https://

www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview to 

register for eSubscription. 

Summary of the Proposed Project 

Northern proposes to abandon about 

29.6 miles of its 16-inch-diameter Des 

Moines A-line, and install about a 9.1- 

mile-long extension of its 20-inchdiameter Des Moines C-line, in Boone, 

Dallas, and Polk Counties, Iowa. 

The general location of the Project 

facilities is shown in appendix 1.1


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 30 / Monday, February 14, 2022 / Notices 8243 

notice. At this time, the Commission has suspended 

access to the Commission’s Public Reference Room 

due to the proclamation declaring a National 

Emergency concerning the Novel Coronavirus 

Disease (COVID–19), issued by the President on 

March 13, 2020. For assistance, contact FERC at 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call toll free, (886) 

208–3676 or TTY (202) 502–8659. 

2For instructions on connecting to eLibrary, refer 

to the last page of this notice. 

3The Council on Environmental Quality 

regulations addressing cooperating agency 

responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal 

Regulations, Section 1501.8. 

4The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s 

regulations are at Title 36, Code of Federal 

Regulations, Part 800. Those regulations define 

historic properties as any prehistoric or historic 

district, site, building, structure, or object included 

in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register 

of Historic Places. 

Land Requirements for Construction 

Construction of the proposed facilities 

would disturb at total of about 216 acres 

of land. Following construction, 

Northern would maintain about 48 acres 

for permanent operation of the Project’s 

facilities; the remaining acreage would 

be restored. The entire new C-Line 

pipeline segments would parallel the 

existing A and B Lines. 

NEPA Process and the Environmental 

Document 

Any environmental document issued 

by the Commission will discuss impacts 

that could occur as a result of the 

abandonment, and construction and 

operation of the proposed Project under 

the relevant general resource areas: 

• Geology and soils; 

• water resources and wetlands; 

• vegetation and wildlife; 

• threatened and endangered species; 

• cultural resources; 

• land use and recreation; 

• environmental justice; 

• air quality and noise; and 

• reliability and safety. 

Commission staff 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. Your comments will 

help Commission staff identify and 

focus on the issues that might have an 

effect on the human environment and 

potentially eliminate others from further 

study and discussion in the 

environmental document. 

Following this scoping period, 

Commission staff will determine 

whether to prepare an Environmental 

Assessment (EA) or an Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS). The EA or the 

EIS will present Commission staff’s 

independent analysis of the issues. If 

Commission staff prepares an EA, a 

Notice of Schedule for the Preparation 

of an Environmental Assessment will be 

issued. The EA may be issued for an 

allotted public comment period. The 

Commission would consider timely 

comments on the EA before making its 

decision regarding the proposed project. 

If Commission staff prepares an EIS, a 

Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS/ 

Notice of Schedule will be issued, 

which will open up an additional 

comment period. Staff will then prepare 

a draft EIS which will be issued for 

public comment. Commission staff will 

consider all timely comments received 

during the comment period on the draft 

EIS and revise the document, as 

necessary, before issuing a final EIS. 

Any EA or draft and final EIS will be 

available in electronic format in the 

public record through eLibrary 2 and the 

Commission’s natural gas 

environmental documents web page 

(https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/ 

natural-gas/environment/ 

environmental-documents). If 

eSubscribed, you will receive instant 

email notification when the 

environmental document is issued. 

With this notice, the Commission is 

asking agencies with jurisdiction by law 

and/or special expertise with respect to 

the environmental issues of this project 

to formally cooperate in the preparation 

of the environmental document.3

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. 

Consultation Under Section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act 

In accordance with the Advisory 

Council on Historic Preservation’s 

implementing regulations for section 

106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act, the Commission is 

using this notice to initiate consultation 

with the Iowa State Historic 

Preservation Office, 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 The 

environmental document for this project 

will document findings on the impacts 

on historic properties and summarize 

the status of consultations under section 

106. 

Environmental Mailing List 

The environmental mailing list 

includes federal, state, and local 

government representatives and 

agencies; elected officials; 

environmental and public interest 

groups; potentially interested Indian 

tribes; 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-ofway 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 and includes a mailing address 

with their comments. Commission staff 

will update the environmental mailing 

list as the analysis proceeds to ensure 

that Commission notices related to this 

environmental review are sent to all 

individuals, organizations, and 

government entities interested in and/or 

potentially affected by the proposed 

project. 

If you need to make changes to your 

name/address, or if you would like to 

remove your name from the mailing list, 

please complete one of the following 

steps: 

(1) Send an email to 

GasProjectAddressChange@ferc.gov 

stating your request. You must include 

the docket number CP22–26–000 in 

your request. If you are requesting a 

change to your address, please be sure 

to include your name and the correct 

address. If you are requesting to delete 

your address from the mailing list, 

please include your name and address 

as it appeared on this notice. This email 

address is unable to accept comments. 

OR 

(2) Return the attached ‘‘Mailing List 

Update Form’’ (appendix 2). 

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 

website at www.ferc.gov using the 

eLibrary link. Click on the eLibrary link, 

click on ‘‘General Search’’ and enter the 

docket number in the ‘‘Docket Number’’ 

field. Be sure you have selected an 

appropriate date range. For assistance, 

please contact FERC Online Support at 

FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or (866) 

208–3676, or for TTY, contact (202) 

502–8659. The eLibrary link also 

provides access to the texts of all formal 

documents issued by the Commission, 

such as orders, notices, and 

rulemakings. 

Public sessions or site visits will be 

posted on the Commission’s calendar 

located at https://www.ferc.gov/newsevents/events along with other related 

information. 

Dated: February 8, 2022. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2022–03095 Filed 2–11–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 


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