34378 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 121 /Wednesday, June 24, 1998 / Notices

1Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation’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, NE,

Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 208–1371.

Copies of the appendices were sent to all those

receiving this notice in the mail.

of the Federal Power Act, filed an

amendment to MAPP Schedule F.

Comment date: July 2, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

26. Public Service Company of

Colorado

[Docket No. ER98–3347–000]

Take notice that on June 12, 1998,

Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power

Company, Public Service Company of

Colorado (PS Colorado), and

Southwestern Public Service Company

(collectively New Century) has filed

revisions to its open-access transmission

tariff pending in this docket. New

Century states that the primary purpose

of the proposed revisions is to modify

the priority of non-firm use on the PS

Colorado system to accommodate PS

Colorado’s membership in the Rocky

Mountain Reserve Group.

Comment date: July 2, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

27. Indianapolis Power and Light

Company

[Docket No. ES98–34–000]

Take notice that on May 29, 1998,

Indianapolis Power and Light Company

filed an application, under § 204 of the

Federal Power Act, seeking

authorization to issue unsecured shortterm securities, from time to time, in an

aggregate principal amount of not more

than $500,000,000 outstanding at any

one time, during the period of

September 1, 1998 through August 31,

2000, with final maturities of one year

or less from the date of issue.

Comment date: July 17, 1998, 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 these filings are on file with the

Commission and are available for public

inspection.

David P. Boergers,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–16704 Filed 6–23–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP98–546–000]

Columbia Gas Transmission

Corporation; Notice of Intent To

Prepare an Environmental Assessment

for the Proposed RIPX Project and

Request for Comments on

Environmental Issues

June 18, 1998.

The staff of the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (FERC or

Commission) will prepare an

environmental assessment (EA) that will

discuss the environmental impacts of

Columbia Gas Transmission

Corporation’s (Columbia) proposal to

abandon its Derricks Creek Storage Field

in Kanawha County, West Virginia and

replace it with working gas capacity and

deliverability at the Ripley Storage Field

in Jackson County, West Virginia.

The abandonment of the Derricks

Creek Storage Field in Kanawha County,

West Virginia includes 13.1 miles of

pipeline. In addition, the project would

require the construction and operation

of 3.5 miles of various diameter storage

pipeline at the Ripley Storage Field,

drilling six new storage wells,

improving the deliverability of nine

existing wells, and increasing the

capacity of the Ripley Storage Field in

Jackson County, West Virginia. This EA

on the RIPX Project 1 will be used by the

Commission in its decision-making

process to determine whether the

project is in the public convenience and

necessity.

If you are a landowner receiving this

notice, you may be contacted by a

pipeline company representative about

the acquisition of an easement to

abandon, construct, operate, and

maintain the proposed facilities. The

pipeline company would seek to

negotiate a mutually acceptable

agreement. However, if the project is

approved by the Commission, that

approval conveys with it the right of

eminent domain. Therefore, if easement

negotiations fail to produce an

agreement, the pipeline company could

initiate condemnation proceedings in

accordance with state law. A fact sheet

addressing a number of typically asked

questions, including the use of eminent

domain, is attached to this notice as

appendix 1.2

Summary of the Proposed Project

Columbia seeks authorization for the

following:

• Abandonment in place of the

Derricks Creek Storage Field in its

entirety consisting of 13.1 miles of

various diameter pipeline and 20 active

storage wells;

• Construction of approximately 3.5

miles of various diameter storage

pipeline, drilling six new storage wells,

and improving the deliverability of nine

existing wells at the Ripley Storage

Field;

• Increase the capacity of the Ripley

Storage Field by 0.8 billion cubic feet

(BCF) of gas;

• Conversion of two observation

wells to active injection/withdrawal

wells, and conversion of three very low

performance wells to observation wells;

and

• Abandonment by sale of up to 5.4

BCF of base gas within the two storage

fields.

The location of the project facilities is

shown in appendix 2.

Land Requirements for Construction

Construction of the proposed facilities

would require about 66.2 acres of land.

Following construction, about 18.8 acres

would be maintained as permanent

pipeline right-of-way and about 20.0

acres would be required for new well

sites and aboveground facilities. The

remaining 27.4 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
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 121 /Wednesday, June 24, 1998 / Notices 34379

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

• Vegetation and wildlife

• Endangered and threatened species

• Public safety

• Land use

• Cultural resources

• Air quality and noise

• Hazardous waste

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 on pages 4 and 5 of this notice.

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

Columbia. This preliminary list of

issues may be changed based on your

comments and our analysis.

• A total of about 18.9 acres of forest

would be disturbed.

• The project would cross two

perennial streams, eight intermittent

streams and 4 wetlands.

• Blasting may be required in some

areas.

• Three private water wells are

located within 150 feet of the

construction work area.

• Wells may need to be plugged at

Derricks Creek Storage Field.

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 (including

alternative locations/routes), 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

comments are received in time and

properly recorded:

• Send two copies of your letter to:

David P. Boergers, Acting Secretary,

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,

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

Washington, DC 20426;

• Label one copy of the comments for

the attention of the Environmental

Review and Compliance Branch, PR–

11.2;

• Reference Docket No. CP98–546–

000; and

• Mail your comments so that they

will be received in Washington, DC on

or before July 20, 1998.

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 4). 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 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 3). Only

intervenors have the right to seek

rehearing of the Commission’s decision.

You do not need intervenor status to

have your environmental comments

considered.

Additional information about the

proposed project is available from Mr.

Paul McKee of the Commission’s Office

of External Affairs at (202) 208–1088.

David P. Boergers,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–16708 Filed 6–23–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6115–9]

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Proposed Collection;

Comment Request; Small System

Survey

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3501 et seq.), this notice announces that

EPA is planning to submit the following

proposed Information Collection

Request (ICR) to the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB): Small

System Survey, ICR # 1863.01. Before

submitting the ICR to OMB for review

and approval, EPA is soliciting

comments on specific aspects of the

proposed information collection as

described below.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before August 24, 1998.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency; Office of Ground

Water Drinking Water, Mail Code: 4607;

401 M Street, SW; Washington, DC

20460. Interested persons may obtain a

copy of the ICR without charge by

contacting Kimberly Miller at (202) 260–

1891, writing to her at the above address

or sending her an e-mail at

Miller.KimberlyD@epa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Nancy Cunningham, (202) 260–9535/

(202) 401–6135/Cunningham.Nancy @

epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Affected

entities: Entities potentially affected by

this action are public drinking water

systems that are supplied by surface

water and serve fewer than 10,000

people.

Title: Small System Survey; EPA ICR

No. 1863.01.

Abstract: The Environmental

Protection Agency has developed three

interrelated Supplemental Surveys as

part of an ongoing, scientific research

and information collection program