Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 148 / Monday, August 3, 1998 / Notices 41245

(Virginia Power), tendered for filing an

unexecuted Service Agreement for Firm

Point-to-Point Transmission Service

with Enron Power Marketing, Inc.,

under the Open Access Transmission

Tariff to Eligible Purchasers dated July

14, 1997. Under the tendered Service

Agreement, Virginia Power will provide

firm point-to-point service to the

Transmission Customers under the

rates, terms and conditions of the Open

Access Transmission Tariff.

Virginia Power requests an effective

date of June 19, 1998, for the Service

Agreement.

Copies of the filing were served on

Enron Power Marketing, Inc., the

Virginia State Corporation Commission

and the North Carolina Utilities

Commission.

Comment date: August 6, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

19. Carolina Power & Light Company

[Docket No. ER98–3777–000]

Take notice that on July 17, 1998,

Carolina Power & Light Company

(CP&L), tendered for filing a Service

Agreement for Short-Term Firm Pointto-Point Transmission Service with

Koch Energy Trading, Inc. Service to

this Eligible Customer will be in

accordance with the terms and

conditions of Carolina Power & Light

Company’s Open Access Transmission

Tariff.

CP&L requests an effective date of July

8, 1998, for the Service Agreement.

Copies of the filing were served upon

the North Carolina Utilities Commission

and the South Carolina Public Service

Commission.

Comment date: August 6, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

20. Power Strategies LLC

[Docket No. ER98–3778–000]

Take notice that on July 17, 1998,

Power Strategies LLC (Power Strategies),

petitioned the Commission for

acceptance of Power Strategies’ Rate

Schedule FERC No. 1; the granting of

certain blanket approvals, including the

authority to sell electricity at marketbased rates; and the waiver of certain

Commission Regulations.

Power Strategies LLC intends to

engage in wholesale electric power and

energy purchases and sales as a

marketer. Power Strategies LLC is not in

the business of generating or

transmitting electric power. Power

Strategies LLC is an Oklahoma Limited

Liability Company.

Comment date: August 6,1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

21. Commonwealth Edison Company

[Docket No. ER98–3779–000]

Take notice that on July 17, 1998,

Commonwealth Edison Company

(ComEd), tendered for filing six (6)

Short-Term Firm Service Agreements

establishing Coral Power, L.L.C. (CORP),

Williams Energy Services, Company

(WESC), American Electric Power

(AEP), Cargill-Aliant LLC (CIEG),

Columbia Energy Power Marketing

Corp. (CPM), and two (2) executed

Short-Term Firm Service Agreements

establishing Northern States Power

Company (NSP), and Williams Energy

Services Company (WESC), as shortterm firm transmission customers under

the terms of ComEd’s Open Access

Transmission Tariff (OATT).

ComEd requests an effective date of

May 28, 1998, for the agreement with

CORP and requests an effective date of

June 21, 1998, for the agreements with,

WESC, AEP, CIEG, CPM, and NSP.

Accordingly, ComEd seeks waiver of the

Commission’s notice requirements.

Copies of this filing were served on

the Illinois Commerce Commission and

an abbreviated copy of the filing was

served on each affected customer.

Comment date: August 6, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

22. Public Service Company of New

Mexico

[Docket No. ER98–3783–000]

Take notice that on July 17, 1998,

Public Service Company of New Mexico

(PNM), tendered for filing executed

service agreements, for point-to-point

transmission service under the terms of

PNM’s Open Access Transmission

Service Tariff, with Merchant Energy

Group of the Americas, Inc. (2

agreements, dated July 14, 1998, for

Non-Firm and Firm Service). PNM’s

filing is available for public inspection

at its offices in Albuquerque, New

Mexico.

Comment date: August 6, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

23. BHP Copper White Pine Refinery

Inc.

[Docket No. ER98–3784–000]

Take notice that on July 17, 1998,

BHP Copper White Pine Refinery Inc.

(BHP), tendered for filing waiver of

certain Commission Regulations and/or

blanket approvals and acceptance of

initial rates for filing and notice of

cancellation of electric power service

agreement between BHP Copper White

Pine Inc. (BHP), and Aquila Power

Corporation (Aquila), effective July 17,

1998.

Notice of the proposed cancellation

has been served upon Aquila Power

Corporation and BHP.

Comment date: August 6, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

24. The Cleveland Electric Illuminating

Company and The Toledo Edison

Company

[Docket No. OA96–204–003]

Take notice that on June 4, 1998, First

Energy Corp., parent of The Cleveland

Electric Illuminating Company and The

Toledo Edison Company, tendered for

filing a compliance refund report

pursuant to the Commission’s April 15,

1998 Letter Order.

FirstEnergy Corp. states that a copy of

the filing has been served on the parties

in the above-referenced proceedings.

Comment date: August 6, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

Standard Paragraphs

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. 98–20588 Filed 7–31–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP98–363–000]

Etowah LNG Company, L.L.C.; Notice

of Intent To Prepare an Environmental

Assessment for the Proposed Etowah

LNG Project and Request for

Comments on Environmental Issues

July 28, 1998.

On June 23, 1998, the staff of the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

(FERC or Commission) issued a Notice

of Intent (NOI) to prepare an
41246 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 148 / Monday, August 3, 1998 / Notices

1Etowah LNG Company, L.L.C.’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, DC 20426, or call (202) 208–

1371. Copies of the appendices were sent to all

those receiving this notice in the mail.

environmental assessment (EA) for the

proposed Etowah LNG Project. As a

result of comments we have expanded

our mailing list and are reissuing the

NOI with an extended time period for

comments. If you have already provided

comments on the proposed project, you

do not need to resubmit them.

The Commission’s staff will prepare

an EA that will discuss the

environmental impacts of the

construction and operation of the

liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage plant

and associated pipeline facilities

proposed in the Etowah LNG 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.

If you are a landowner receiving this

notice, you may be contacted by an

Etowah LNG Company, L.L. C. (Etowah)

representative about the acquisition of

an easement to construct, operate, and

maintain the proposed facilities. Etowah

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, Etowah 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

Etowah seeks authority to construct

and operate an LNG storage plant and

associated pipeline facilities in Polk

County, Georgia. The proposed LNG

plant would be located approximately

4.5 miles northeast of Rockmart, Georgia

and 40 miles northwest of Atlanta,

Georgia. The purpose of the facilities is

to meet winter peak shaving

requirements, including those of Atlanta

Gas Light Company (AGLC) and the City

of Austell Gas System.

The primary components of the LNG

plant would include:

• A 750,000-barrel double-wall metal

LNG storage tank with a gas-equivalent

capacity of 2.5 billion cubic feet;

• A pretreatment and liquefaction

system with a capacity of 15 million

cubic feet per day (MMcfd);

• A boil-off recompression system;

• A vaporization and sendout system

with a design capacity of 300 MMcfd

with standby vaporization capacity of

up to 200 MMcfd;

• Measurement facilities;

• Associated control and hazardprotection systems; and

• A trucking system capable of

loading 20,000 gallons per hour.

Etowah also proposes to construct:

• Approximately 12.5 miles of 12.75-

inch-diameter pipeline (Etowah

pipeline would be adjacent to and

overlap an existing utility right-of-way

for 83 percent of its route; and

• A 1.3-mile-long permanent access

road and new bridge extending from the

plant site northward to Davis Town

Road.

The LNG storage tank would be

approximately 149 feet in height and

250 feet in diameter. The LNG tank area

would be surrounded by an earthen

berm that would slope towards an

impoundment basin that together form

the spill containment system. The

proposed project facilities would be

designed, constructed, operated, and

maintained to comply with the U.S.

Department of Transportation Federal

Safety Standards for Liquefied Natural

Gas Facilities (49 Code of Federal

Regulations [CFR] Part 193). The

facilities constructed at the site would

also meet the National Fire Protection

Association 59A LNG standards.

The following related

nonjurisdictional facilities would be

constructed:

• AGLC would construct and operate

approximately 16.8 miles of 24-inchdiameter pipeline (Etowah-Mars Hill

Road pipeline) in Polk, Paulding, and

Cobb Counties, Georgia connecting the

LNG plant to AGLC’s distribution

system. The Etowah-Mars Hill Road

pipeline would be adjacent to and

overlap an existing utility right-of-way

for 95 percent of its route; and

• Georgia Power would construct and

operate an approximately 0.9-mile-long

115 kilovolt (kV) overhead electric

powerline collocated with AGLC’s

pipeline, and a 0.4-acre 115 kV to 4,160

volt substation connecting the LNG

plant to the new Georgia Power electric

powerline in Polk County, Georgia.

All natural gas received at the LNG

facility for liquefaction and storage

would be shipped from Southern

Natural Gas Company’s (Southern)

system through the Etowah pipeline.

Vaporized natural gas would be

transported from the LNG facility either

through the Etowah pipeline to

Southern’s system or through the

Etowah-Mars Hill Road pipeline to

AGLC’s system.

The location of the project facilities is

shown in appendix 2.2 If you are

interested in obtaining procedural

information, please write to the

Secretary of the Commission.

Land Requirements for Construction

Construction of the LNG plant would

affect approximately 50 acres of an 883-

acre site owned by Etowah. An

additional 7.8 acres would be disturbed

during construction of the permanent

access road to the site. The 57.8 acres

of land for the plant site and access road

would be permanently affected by the

project.

Construction of the proposed Etowah

pipeline would affect approximately

132.3 acres of land, including temporary

extra work areas. Following

construction, about 50.5 acres of land

would be maintained as new permanent

right-of-way.

Construction of the related

nonjurisdictional facilities would affect

approximately 106.4 acres of land. Of

this, about 0.4 acre would be required

for the substation, 4.2 acres would be

required for the powerline, and 101.8

acres would be required for the EtowahMars Hill Road pipeline. Following

construction, about 4.6 acres would be

required for the substation and

permanent right-of-way for the

powerline and 61.1 acres would be

required for the permanent right-of-way

for the Etowah-Mars Hill Road pipeline.

The EA Process/Environmental Issues

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 the general
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 148 / Monday, August 3, 1998 / Notices 41247

headings listed below. 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 Etowah. This

preliminary list of issues may be

changed based on your comments and

our analysis.

• Geology and Soils.

—Effect of blasting and disposal of blast

rock.

—Landslide potential (moderate

incidence with high susceptibility).

—Erosion control.

—Facility site and right-of-way

restoration.

• Water Resources and Fisheries.

—Groundwater withdrawal and

discharge to surrounding surface

waters.

—Effect of blasting on potable water

sources.

—Effect of permanent access road and

bridge on Hills Creek.

—Crossings of 35 perennial

waterbodies.

—Impact on Silver Creek, a secondary

trout stream.

—Hydrostatic test water rates and

discharge locations.

• Vegetation and Wildlife.

—Effect of facility construction and

operation on wildlife and fisheries

habitat, including federally and statelisted threatened and endangered, or

sensitive animal and plant species

and their habitats.

—Impact on forested wetlands.

—Clearing of upland forest.

• Cultural Resources

—Effect on historic and prehistoric

sites.

—Native American and tribal concerns.

• Socioeconomics.

—Impact of a peak workforce of about

300 workers on housing and demands

for services in the surrounding area.

—Impact of timber removal on

landowners.

—Long-term effects of increased

employment and tax benefits on the

local economy.

• Land Use and Transportation.

—Crossing of one recreation area leased

by the Georgia Department of Natural

Resources.

—Effect on 18 residences within 50 feet

of the construction work area.

—Visual effect of the storage tank on the

surrounding area.

—Impact on future county plans (e.g.,

schools, roads).

—Consistency with local land use plans

and zoning.

—Impact of construction and operation

traffic.

• Air Quality and Noise.

—Air quality and noise impacts

associated with construction and

operation.

• Public Safety.

—Compliance with 49 CFR 193 for

exclusion zones (thermal and vapor

gas dispersion), siting criteria, seismic

criteria, and cryogenic criteria.

—Consequences of a major spill.

—Design and operation of the firewater

system.

—Assessment of hazards associated

with natural gas pipelines.

• Cumulative Impact.

—Assessment of the combined effect of

the proposed project with other

projects which have been or may be

proposed in the same region and

similar time frame.

We will also evaluate possible site,

routing, and system 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 of this notice.

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 sites and 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–

11.1;

• Reference Docket No. CP98–363–

000; and

• Mail your comments so that they

will be received in Washington, DC on

or before August 27, 1998.

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 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.

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

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.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–20564 Filed 7–31–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M