Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 44 / Thursday, March 6, 1997 / Notices 10307

aesthetic impacts. Natural impact

analysis will include impacts to

Outstanding Florida Waters and Wild

and Scenic Rivers, aquatic preserves,

wetlands, and threatened or endangered

species. In addition, within the study

limits, I–4 crosses the St. John’s River

which is a navigable waterway.

Consequently, navigation impacts will

be evaluated as part of the natural

impact analysis. Physical impact

analysis will include evaluating impacts

to noise, air quality, water quality,

floodplain, potentially contaminated

sites, and coastal zone. The

environmental evaluation will consider

both short-term and long-term impacts

associated with the alternatives.

Measures to mitigate any significant

adverse impacts will also be considered.

Environmental issues raised from

responses to the Advanced Notification

Letter include neighborhood protection,

aesthetics, bicycle facilities, recreational

greenways, alternative modes of

transportation, lake protection,

hydrology and stormwater management,

cultural features, wildlife corridors, and

rare habitat and listed species.

Scoping

Letters describing the proposed action

and soliciting comments will be sent to

appropriate Federal, State, and local

agencies, and to private organizations

and citizens who have expressed

interest in this proposal. Interested

parties may request project information

by contacting Mr. Harold Webb, Florida

Department of Transportation, District

Five, 719 South Woodland Boulevard,

Florida 32720 or by calling him at (904)

943-5554. A series of public meetings

will be held in Orange, Seminole, and

Volusia Counties between August 1997

and December 1998. In addition, public

hearings will be held in Orange,

Seminole, and Volusia Counties. Public

notice will be given of the time and

place of the meetings and hearings. The

Draft EIS will be made available for

public and agency review and comment.

A formal scoping meeting will be held

at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 15, 1997

and Wednesday, April 16, 1997 at the

Eastmonte Park Recreation & Civic

Center located at 830 Magnolia Drive,

Altamonte Springs, Florida.

To ensure that the full range of issues

related to the proposed action are

addressed and all significant issues

identified, comments and suggestions

are invited from all interested parties.

Comments or questions concerning this

proposed action and the EIS should be

directed to the FHWA at the address

provided above.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Number 20.205, Highway Research,

Planning and Construction. The regulations

implementing Executive Order 12372

regarding inter-governmental consultation on

Federal programs and activities apply to this

program)

Issued on February 27, 1997.

J.R. Skinner,

Division Administrator, Tallahassee.

[FR Doc. 97–5530 Filed 3–5–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–22–M

Research and Special Programs

Administration

[Docket No. P–97–2W; Notice 1]

Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities

Petition for Waiver; Northern Eclipse,

Inc.

Northern Eclipse, Inc. (NE) has

petitioned the Research and Special

Programs Administration (RSPA) for a

waiver from compliance with 49 CFR

storage tank impounding system.

Section 193.2155(c) requires a Class 1

impounding system whenever an LNG

storage tank is located within 20,000

feet from the nearest runway serving

large aircraft. The petition applies to the

Northern Eclipse’s proposed LNG

storage facility at Fairbanks, Alaska.

The petitioner’s rationale for the

waiver from compliance rests on the

following reasons:

1. Fairbanks does not currently have

natural gas service, and given the

distance to gas fields and the size of the

market, petitioner believes that LNG is

the only feasible way to provide natural

gas service in the community.

2. Fairbanks is a small town by a

lower-48 states standards, however, due

to international air transport and

reliance of Alaskans on air travel,

Fairbanks has an international airport

(FIA) with a 11,050 foot long runway. In

addition, Fairbanks has a similar

runway for a U.S. military base (Fort

Wainwright), and other smaller runways

in the area. The 20,000 foot restriction

requirement eliminates any reasonable

site in Fairbanks for an LNG storage

tank and it would not be economically

feasible to build an impounding system

which would withstand a direct impact

from a 747, in order to provide gas

service to the Fairbanks community.

3. NE does not propose to locate its

storage tank in the approach/departure

corridor for heavy aircraft. The areas

under consideration are approximately

two miles to the side of the FIA runway.

4. NE proposes the use of a shop

fabricated, heavy outer wall storage tank

of less than 70,000 gallon capacity, built

to National Aeronautical and Space

Administration specifications, and

likely to survive even a direct impact

from small aircraft.

5. Similar LNG storage tanks and

dispensing facilities are routinely

allowed at airports without

impoundment as they are not subject to

Part 193 requirements, but they pose

precisely the same risk in the event of

a collision, and due to their location at

the airport pose a much greater risk of

impact from an aircraft. To support this

fact, NE provided pictures of an above

ground NFPA 59A LNG storage tank at

the Dallas/Fort Worth airport.

6. Part 193 contains special provisions

for LNG tanks with less than a 70,000

gallon capacity. However, Section

193.2155(c) fails to reflect the vastly

different risks posed by different sized

LNG storage tanks. A small LNG tank

like that proposed by NE poses no

significant risk, and certainly no more

than any other similar small energy

storage tank, such as a propane tank or

a non-Part 193 LNG tank.

7. During the December 9, 1996,

meeting between NE and OPS on this

issue, NE was informed that the origin

of the distance of 20,000 feet from the

airport was taken from the Federal

Aviation Administration’s (FAA)

Regulations under 14 CFR part 77,

which define a critical area surrounding

a large airport. According to NE, only

§ 77.13(a)(2)(i) of 14 CFR part 77,

addresses 20,000 ft. restriction, which

exists where there are runways of over

3,200 feet in length, and that section

refers only to the heights of structures.

NE believes that the FAA may be

concerned with the height of the

structure rather than the contents.

Because of the unusual circumstances

described above at NE’s proposed LNG

facility, relatively low risk to the public

safety due to a smaller tank, and the

operators’s use of a shop fabricated

heavy outer wall built to more stringent

standards than those specified under

part 193, RSPA believes that granting a

waiver from the requirements of 49 CFR

193.2155(c) would not be inconsistent

with pipeline safety, nor would it lessen

public safety in this case. The operator

must comply with all other

requirements of part 193 including Class

2 impounding system for the storage

tank. Therefore, RSPA proposes to grant

the waiver.

Interested parties are invited to

comment on the proposed waiver by

submitting in duplicate such data,

views, or arguments as they may desire.

Comments should identify the docket

number and the RSPA rulemaking

number. Comments should be addressed

to the Docket Facility, U.S. Department

Of Transportation, plaza 401, 400
10308 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 44 / Thursday, March 6, 1997 / Notices

1 Due to the Board’s scheduled relocation on

March 16, 1997, any filings made after March 16,

1997, must be filed with the Surface Transportation

Board, 1925 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001.

1Under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2)(i), the expression of

intent to file an OFA would normally be due 10

days after publication of notice in the Federal

Register. However, due to the Board’s scheduled

relocation on March 16, 1997, expressions of intent

in this proceeding may be filed as late as March 19,

1997.

2The Board will grant a stay if an informed

decision on environmental issues (whether raised

by a party or by the Board’s Section of

Environmental Analysis in its independent

investigation) cannot be made before the

exemption’s effective date. See Exemption of Outof-Service Rail Lines, 5 I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). Any

request for a stay should be filed as soon as possible

so that the Board may take appropriate action before

the exemption’s effective date.

3The Board will accept late-filed trail use

requests as long as the abandonment has not been

consummated and the abandoning railroad is

willing to negotiate an agreement.

4 Due to the Board’s scheduled relocation on

March 16, 1997, any filings made after March 16,

1997, must be filed with the Surface Transportation

Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Branch,

1925 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20423.

Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC

20590–0001.

All comments received before April 7,

1997 will be considered before final

action is taken. Late filed comments will

be considered so far as practicable. No

public hearing is contemplated, but one

may be held at a time and place set in

a notice in the Federal Register if

required by an interested person

desiring to comment at a public hearing

and raising a genuine issue. All

comments and other docketed material

will be available for inspection and

copying in room 401 Plaza between the

hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday

through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Authority: 49 App. U.S.C. 2002(h) and

2015; and 49 CFR 1.53.

Issued in Washington, D.C., on March 3,

1997.

Richard B. Felder,

Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.

[FR Doc. 97–5552 Filed 3–5–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 33363]

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe

Railway Co.; Trackage Rights

Exemption; Birmingham Southern

Railway Co.

Birmingham Southern Railway

Company has agreed to grant overhead

trackage rights to The Burlington

Northern and Santa Fe Railway

Company (BNSF) from BNSF’s rail yard

at milepost 147 + 28.00 to milepost 225

+ 51.51 in Birmingham, AL, for the

purpose of moving loaded and empty

cars to the American Cast Iron Pipe

Company plant.

The transaction was scheduled to be

consummated on February 26, 1997.

As a condition to this exemption, any

employees affected by the trackage

rights will be protected by the

conditions imposed in Norfolk and

Western Ry. Co.—Trackage Rights—BN,

354 I.C.C. 605 (1978), as modified in

Mendocino Coast Ry., Inc.—Lease and

Operate, 360 I.C.C. 653 (1980).

This notice is filed under 49 CFR

1180.2(d)(7). If it contains false or

misleading information, the exemption

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d)

may be filed at any time. The filing of

a petition to revoke will not

automatically stay the transaction.

An original and 10 copies of all

pleadings, referring to STB Finance

Docket No. 33363, must be filed with

the Surface Transportation Board, Office

of the Secretary, Case Control Branch,

1201 Constitution Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, DC 20423. 1 In addition, a

copy of each pleading must be served on

Michael E. Roper, Esq., The Burlington

Northern and Santa Fe Railway

Company, 3800 Continental Plaza, 777

Main Street, Forth Worth, TX 76102–

5384.

Decided: February 27, 1997.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–5547 Filed 3–5–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

[STB Docket No. AB–55 (Sub–No. 539X)]

CSX Transportation, Inc.—

Abandonment Exemption—in Harrison

County, WV

CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) has

filed a notice of exemption under 49

CFR part 1152 subpart F—Exempt

Abandonments to abandon 14.1 miles of

its line of railroad between milepost 2.1

at Clarksburg and milepost 16.2 at

McWhorter, in Harrison County, WV.

CSXT has certified that: (1) No local

traffic has moved over the line for at

least 2 years; (2) there is no overhead

traffic on the line; (3) no formal

complaint filed by a user of rail service

on the line (or by a state or local

government entity acting on behalf of

such user) regarding cessation of service

over the line either is pending with the

Surface Transportation Board (Board) or

with any U.S. District Court or has been

decided in favor of complainant within

the 2-year period; and (4) the

requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7

(environmental reports), 49 CFR 1105.8

(historic reports), 49 CFR 1105.11

(transmittal letter), 49 CFR 1105.12

(newspaper publication), and 49 CFR

1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental

agencies) have been met.

As a condition to this exemption, any

employee adversely affected by the

abandonment shall be protected under

Oregon Short Line R. Co.—

Abandonment—Goshen, 360 I.C.C. 91

(1979). To address whether this

condition adequately protects affected

employees, a petition for partial

revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d)

must be filed. Provided no formal

expression of intent to file an offer of

financial assistance (OFA) has been

received,1 this exemption will be

effective on April 5, 1997, unless stayed

pending reconsideration. Petitions to

stay that do not involve environmental

issues,2 formal expressions of intent to

file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),

and trail use/rail banking requests under

49 CFR 1152.29 3 must be filed by March

19, 1997. Petitions to reopen or requests

for public use conditions under 49 CFR

1152.28 must be filed by March 26,

1997, with: Office of the Secretary, Case

Control Branch, Surface Transportation

Board, 1201 Constitution Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, DC 20423.4

A copy of any petition filed with the

Board should be sent to applicant’s

representative: Charles M. Rosenberger,

Senior Counsel, 500 Water Street, J150,

Jacksonville, FL 32202.

If the verified notice contains false or

misleading information, the exemption

is void ab initio.

CSXT has filed an environmental

report which addresses the

abandonment’s effects, if any, on the

environment and historic resources. The

Section of Environmental Analysis

(SEA) will issue an environmental

assessment (EA) by March 11, 1997.

Interested persons may obtain a copy of

the EA by writing to SEA (Room 3219,

Surface Transportation Board,

Washington, DC 20423) or by calling

Elaine Kaiser, Chief of SEA, at (202)

927–6248. Comments on environmental

and historic preservation matters must

be filed within 15 days after the EA

becomes available to the public.

Environmental, historic preservation,

public use, or trail use/rail banking

conditions will be imposed, where

appropriate, in a subsequent decision.

Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR

1152.29(e)(2), CSXT shall file a notice of

consummation with the Board to signify