17800 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 70 / Friday, April 11, 1997 / Notices

1Southern Natural Gas Company’s application

was filed with the Commission under Section 7 of

the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of the

Commission’s regulations.

Commission and are available for public

inspection.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–9360 Filed 4–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Project No. 11553–000 Alaska]

Lace River Hydroelectric Project;

Notice of Intent To Conduct

Environmental Scoping Meetings and a

Site Visit

April 7, 1997.

The Energy Policy Act of 1992 allows

applicants to prepare their own

environmental assessment (EA) for

hydropower projects and file it with the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

(Commission) along with their license

application as part of the ‘‘applicantprepared EA’’ process. Lace River Hydro

(LRH) intends to prepare an EA to file

with the Commission for the proposed

Lace River Hydroelectric Project. LRH

will hold an environmental scoping

meeting, pursuant to the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of

1969, to identify the scope of issues that

should be analyzed in the EA.

Scoping Meeting

The time and location of the joint

public and agency scoping meeting is:

Date: Thursday, May 1, 1997.

Place: Alaska Division of

Governmental Coordination, Court Plaza

Building, 240 Main Street, Suite 300,

Juneau, Alaska.

Time: 12:00 p.m. (noon).

At the scoping meetings, LRH will: (1)

Summarize the tentative environmental

issues and concerns on the project, (2)

outline those preliminary resources that

they believe would not require a

detailed analysis, (3) identify reasonable

alternatives to be addressed in the EA,

(4) solicit from the meeting participants

all available baseline information,

especially quantitative data, on the

resource issues, and (5) encourage

statements from experts and the public

on issues that should be analyzed in the

EA, including views supporting or

opposing AP&T’s preliminary views.

All interested individuals,

organizations, and agencies are invited

and encouraged to attend either or both

meetings to assist in identifying and

clarifying the scope of environmental

issues that should be analyzed in the

EA.

To help focus discussions at the

meetings, LRH will prepare and

distribute to the participants prior to the

meetings, the Initial Consultation

Package and Scoping Document 1 for

this project. Copies of this scoping

document can be obtained by calling

Mr. Earle V. Ausman of LRH at (907)

258–2420, or can be obtained directly at

either meeting.

Site Visit

LRH will also conduct a site visit to

the proposed Lace River Project on

Wednesday, April 30, 1997. Those

attending must meet at the Echo Bay (at

the end of the road) by 10 a.m. and

promptly leave for the project site, via

floatplane. Because of the remoteness,

snowpack that time of the year, and

difficulty of ground access at the

proposed project site, a flyover would

provide an efficient view of the site.

Those attending the site visit should be

physically fit, must wear warm clothing

and hip waders, and may be asked to

sign a waiver of liability regarding

floatplane use.

To charter enough floatplanes in

advance of the visit, LRH must identify

the number of individuals interested in

flying over the project site. Therefore, if

you intend on visiting the proposed

project site, you must first register with

Mr. Earle V. Ausman of LRH at (907)

258–2420 no later than April 24, 1997.

If inclement weather prevents a site visit

on April 30th, the alternate site visit

will be Friday, May 2nd at the same

time.

Meeting Procedures

The meetings will be conducted

according to the procedures used at

Commission scoping meetings. Because

this meeting will be a NEPA scoping

meeting under the APEA process, the

Commission will not conduct a NEPA

scoping meeting after the application

and draft EA are filed with the

Commission.

The scoping meeting will be recorded

by a stenographer, and thus will become

a part of the formal record of the

proceedings for this project.

Those who choose not to speak during

the scoping meeting may instead submit

written comments on the project.

Written comments should be mailed to:

Mr. Earle V. Ausman, Lace River Hydro,

1503 West 33rd Avenue, Suite 310,

Anchorage, Alaska 99503. All

correspondence should show the

following caption on the first page:

Scoping Comments, Lace River

Hydroelectric Project, Project No.

11553–000, Alaska.

For further information, please

contact Mr. Earle V. Ausman at (907)

258–2420 or Mr. Carl Keller of the

Commission at (202) 219–2831.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–9320 Filed 4–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP97–223–000]

Southern Natural Gas Company;

Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Assessment for the

Proposed Montgomery-Columbus

Abandonment and Replacement

Project and Request for Comments on

Environmental Issues

April 7, 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 abandonment of 87.4 miles of

natural gas transmission pipeline and

the construction and operation of 5.5

miles of natural gas transmission

pipeline, proposed in the MontgomeryColumbus Abandonment and

Replacement Project.1 This EA will be

used by the Commission in its decisionmaking process to determine whether

the project is in the public convenience

and necessity.

Summary of the Proposed Project

Southern Natural Gas Company

(Southern) wants to abandon certain of

its facilities in Alabama and replace a

portion of its facilities that have

deteriorated. The proposed

abandonment and construction will not

affect Southern’s service obligations.

Southern seeks authority to abandon in

place:

• The 12-inch-diameter MontgomeryColumbus Mainline from milepost (MP)

79.709 to MP 143.289 in Dallas,

Autauga, and Elmore Counties. This

would include the removal of the East

Flow Regulator/Meter Station at MP

81.401, and block valves, gate valves,

and taps along the mainline;

• The 12-inch-diameter MontgomeryColumbus Loop between MP 81.209 and

MP 100.729 in Dallas, Autauga, and

Elmore Countries. Southern would also

remove a tap and gate valves; and
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 70 / Friday, April 11, 1997 / Notices 17801

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, DC 20426, or call (202) 208–

1371. Copies of the appendices were sent to all

those receiving this notice in the mail.

• The 6-inch-diameter Selma Pipeline

between MP 0.0 and MP 4.338 in Dallas

County.

Southern seeks authority to construct

and operate:

• About 4.04 miles of 30-inchdiameter loop pipeline from MP 261.00

to MP 265.04 along the South Main

System in Macon County;

• About 1.5 miles of 30-inch-diameter

loop pipeline along the South Main

System from MP 183.657 and MP

185.167 in Dallas County.

• About 500 feet of 6-inch-diameter

pipeline within the existing right-of-way

to tie-in the Selma Tap and Selma Loop,

and install a regulator at the Selma Tap

at MP 83.420;

• Gas heaters at MPs 109.733,

116.919, 120.963, and 142.970 on the

South Main System; and

• Appurtenant facilities, including

connecting active taps presently tied

into the pipelines being abandoned to

its adjacent pipelines (to maintain

service).

The location of the project facilities is

shown in appendix 1.2 If you are

interested in obtaining procedural

information please write at the Secretary

of the Commission.

Land Requirements for Construction

Construction of the proposed facilities

would require about 37.23 acres of land.

Following construction, about 14.69

acres would be maintained as new rightof-way. The remaining 22.54 acres of

land would be restored and allowed to

revert to its former use.

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

certain.

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

• Vegetation and wildlife;

• Endangered and threatened species;

• Land use;

• Cultural resources;

• Air quality and noise;

• 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

Southern.

• One residence is within 50 feet of

the construction right-of-way at MP

263.469.

• Five perennial streams are crossed

by the new facilities.

• About 19.8 acres of forest (9.2 acres

of upland forest, 7.2 acres of pine

plantation, and 3.4 acres of forested

wetlands) would be cleared for

construction of the new facilities.

• About 35.4 acres of wetlands would

be disturbed. This preliminary list of

issues may be changed based on your

comments and our analysis.

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, 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 (and send two

copies) to: Lois Cashell, Secretary,

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,

888 First St., N.E., Room 1A,

Washington, DC 20426;

• Reference Docket No. CP97–223–

000; and

• Mail your comments so that they

will be received in Washington, DC on

or before May 7, 1997.

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 late

intervention. You do not need

intervenor status to have your

comments considered.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–9316 Filed 4–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–5809–4]

Request for Comments: National Oil

and Hazardous Substances Pollution

Contingency Plan, Subpart J; Agency

Information Collection Activities up for

Renewal (OMB Control Number: 2050–

0141)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.