Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 61 / Monday, March 31, 1997 / Notices 15173

1USG Pipeline Company’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 from the Commission’s Public Reference

and Files Maintenance Branch, 888 First Street,

N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426, or call (202) 208–

1371. Copies of the appendices were sent to all

those receiving this notice in the mail.

(MEPCO), tendered for filing a service

agreement for Non-Firm Point-to-Point

Transmission service with The Power

Company of America, L.P. Service will

be provided pursuant to CMP’s Open

Access Transmission Tariff, designated

rate schedule MEPCO—FERC Electric

Tariff, Original Volume No. 1, as

supplemented.

Comment date: April 7, 1997, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

12. Maine Electric Power Company

[Docket No. ER97–2042–000]

Take notice that on March 6, 1997,

Maine Electric Power Company

(MEPCO), tendered for filing a service

agreement for Non-Firm Point-to-Point

Transmission Service with Green

Mountain Power Corporation. Service

will be provided pursuant to CMP’s

Open Access Transmission Tariff,

designated rate schedule CMP—FERC

Electric Tariff, Original Volume No. 1,

as supplemented.

Comment date: April 7, 1997, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

13. Northeast Utilities Service Company

[Docket No. ER97–2044–000]

Take notice that on January 14, 1997,

Northeast Utilities Service Company

(NUSCO), tendered for filing a Service

Agreement with New England Power

Company (NEP) under the NU System

Companies’ System Power Sales/

Exchange Tariff No. 6.

NUSCO states that a copy of this filing

has been mailed to NEP.

NUSCO requests that the Service

Agreement become effective February 1,

1997.

Comment date: April 7, 1997, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

14. AMVEST Power, Inc.

[Docket No. ER97–2045–000]

Take notice that on February 26, 1997,

AMVEST Power, Inc., tendered for

filing, pursuant to Rule 207 of the

Commission’s Rules of Practice and

Procedure, 18 CFR 385.207, an

application for waivers and blanket

approvals under various Regulations of

the Commission, and an order accepting

its Rate Schedule No. 1, to be effective

April 28, 1997, or the date that the

Commission issues an order in this

proceeding, whichever is earlier.

AMVEST Power, Inc., intends to engage

in electric energy and capacity

transactions as a marketer.

Comment date: April 7, 1997, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

Standard Paragraph

E. Any person desiring to be heard or

to protest said filing should file a

motion to intervene or protest with the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,

888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.

20426, in accordance with Rules 211

and 214 of the Commission’s Rules of

Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211

and 18 CFR 385.214). All such motions

or protests should be filed on or before

the comment date. 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 motion to intervene. Copies

of this filing are on file with the

Commission and are available for public

inspection.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–8069 Filed 3–28–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

[Docket No. CP97–202–000]

USG Pipeline Company; Notice of

Intent To Prepare an Environmental

Assessment for the Proposed USG

Pipeline Project and Request for

Comments on Environmental Issues

March 25, 1997.

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 construction and operation of the

facilities, about 14.5 miles of 10-inchdiameter pipeline and appurtenances,

proposed in the USG pipeline Project.1

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

USG Pipeline Company (USGPC)

wants to construct facilities in order to

transport up to 7,000 Dekatherms per

day to United States Gypsum Company

(USGC) near Bridgeport, Alabama,

where USGC is planning to construct a

nonjurisdictional wallboard

manufacturing plant. USGPC’s facilities

would be constructed in Tennessee and

Alabama and would consist of:

• About 14.5 miles of 10-inchdiameter pipeline commencing at

interconnecting facilities with East

Tennessee Natural Gas Company in

Marion County, Tennessee, and ending

in Jackson County, Alabama;

• A block valve assembly in Marion

County, Tennessee, near milepost (MP)

6.85; and

• Launching and receiving facilities

in Marion County, Tennessee, at MP 0.0,

and Jackson County, Alabama, at MP

14.5, respectively;

USGPC has also identified a

alternative pipeline route.

The general location of the project

facilities is shown in appendix 1.2 If you

are interested in obtaining detailed

maps of a specific portion of the project,

or procedural information, please write

to the Secretary of the Commission.

Land Requirements for Construction

Construction of the proposed facilities

for the preferred route would require

about 148.0 acres of mostly agricultural

land. Following construction, about 87.9

acres of existing right-of-way (ROW)

would continue to be maintained as

permanent ROW. If the alternative

pipeline route is chosen, construction

activities would take place almost

entirely on existing railroad ROW.

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’’. 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.

• Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands.
15174 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 61 / Monday, March 31, 1997 / Notices

• Vegetation and wildlife.

• Endangered and threatened species.

• Land use.

• Cultural resources.

• Air quality and noise.

• Hazardous waste.

• Public safety.

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.

Currently Identified Environmental

Issues

We have already identified several

issues that we think deserve attention

based on a preliminary review of the

proposed facilities and the

environmental information provided by

USGPC. This preliminary list of issues

may be changed based on your

comments and our analysis.

• Six federally listed endangered or

threatened species may occur in the

proposed project area.

• Eight wetlands and seven perennial

streams would be affected.

• There are 75 residences located

within 50 feet of the construction ROW

of the alternative route.

Public Participation

You can make a difference by sending

a letter addressing your specific

comments or concerns about the project.

You should focus on the potential

environmental effects of the proposal,

alternatives to the proposal (including

alternative routes), and measures to

avoid or lessen environmental impact.

The more specific your comments, the

more useful they will be. Please follow

the instructions below to ensure that

your comments are received and

properly recorded:

• Address your letter to: Lois Cashell,

Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 888 First St., NE., Room

1A, Washington, DC 20426;

• Reference Docket No. CP97–202–

000; and

• Mail your comments so that they

will be received in Washington, DC on

or before April 24, 1997.

If you do not want to send comments

at this time but still want to remain on

our mailing list, please return the

Information Request (appendix 3). If you

do not return the Information Request,

you will be taken off the mailing list.

Becoming an Intervenor

In addition to involvement in the EA

scoping process, you may want to

become an official party to the

proceeding or become an ‘‘intervenor’’.

Among other things, intervenors have

the right to receive copies of caserelated Commission documents and

filings by other intervenors. Likewise,

each intervenor must provide copies of

its filings to all other parties. 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).

The date for filing timely motions to

intervene in this proceeding has passed.

Therefore, parties now seeking to file

late interventions must show good

cause, as required by section

385.214(b)(3), why this time limitation

should be waived. Environmental issues

have been viewed as good cause for later

intervention.

You do not need intervenor status to

have your comments considered.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–8007 Filed 3–28–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

Notice of Application Tendered for

Filing With the Commission

March 25, 1997.

Take notice that the following

hydroelectric application has been filed

with the Commission and is available

for public inspection:

a. Type of Application: Original

Minor License.

b. Project No.: 1986–005.

c. Date filed: February 28, 1997.

d. Applicant: Douglas W. Pegar.

e. Name of Project: Rock Creek

Historic Hydro-electric Power Plant.

f. Location: On Rock Creek, a tributary

of the Powder River, near Haines in

Baker County, Oregon; on lands within

the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power

Act 16 USC §§ 791(a)–825(r).

h. Applicant Contact: Douglas W.

Pegar, 540 E. 1st Street, Gladstone, OR

97027, (503) 657–1076.

i. FERC Contact: Gordon Warren at

(202) 219–2836.

j. Comment Date: 60 days from the

filing date in paragraph c.

k. Brief Description of Project: The

existing project consists of: (1) a

concrete diversion structure on Rock

Creek; (2) a 8,500 foot-long wooden

timber flume; (3) a forebay pond; (4) a

2,700 foot-long steel penstock; (5) a

wooden powerhouse; (6) two turbine

generator units, each with a capacity of

400 KW; and (7) other appurtenances.

l. With this notice, we are initiating

consultation with the OREGON STATE

HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER

(SHPO), as required by § 106, National

Historic Preservation Act, and the

regulations of the Advisory Council on

Historic Preservation, 36 CFR, at 800.4.

m. Under Section 4.32(b)(7) of the

Commission’s regulations (18 CFR), if

any resource agency, Indian Tribe, or

person believes that the applicant

should conduct an additional scientific

study to form an adequate factual basis

for a complete analysis of the

application on its merits, they must file

a request for the study with the

Commission, not later than 60 days after

the application is filed, and must serve

a copy of the request on the applicant.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–8009 Filed 3–28–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

Office of Hearings and Appeals

Notice of Cases Filed; Week of

February 24 Through February 28,

1997

During the Week of February 24

through February 28, 1997, the appeals,

applications, petitions or other requests

listed in this Notice were filed with the

Office of Hearings and Appeals of the

Department of Energy.

Any person who will be aggrieved by

the DOE action sought in any of these

cases may file written comments on the

application within ten days of

publication of this Notice or the date of

receipt of actual notice, whichever

occurs first. All such comments shall be

filed with the Office of Hearings and

Appeals, Department of Energy,

Washington, DC 20585–0107.

Dated: March 21, 1997.

George B. Breznay,

Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals.