Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 150 /Wednesday, August 5, 1998 / Notices 41815

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,

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.

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP98–686–000]

Williams Gas Pipeline Central, Inc.;

Notice of Request Under Blanket

Authorization

July 30, 1998.

Take notice that on July 23, 1998,

Williams Gas Pipelines Central, Inc.,

(Applicant), One Williams Center, P.O.

Box 3288, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 74101–

0330, filed in Docket No. CP98–686–000

a request pursuant to Sections 157.205,

and 157.216 of the Commission’s

Regulations under the Natural Gas Act

(18 CFR 157.205, and 157.216) for

approval to abandon by reclaim

facilities installed to receive

transportation gas from TEC Pipeline,

L.L.C., (TEC) located in Nowata County,

under Applicant’s blanket certificate

issued in Docket Nos. CP82–479–000,

pursuant to Section 7(c) of the Natural

Gas Act (NGA), all as more fully set

forth in the request which is on file with

the Commission and open to public

inspection.

Applicant asserts that the metering

facilities for which it now seeks

abandonment authorization are owned

by TEC and that by letter dated March

19, 1998, TEC has agreed to the

proposed abandonment. Applicant

states that the estimated cost to abandon

these facilities is $272.

Any person or the Commission’s Staff

may, within 45 days of the issuance of

the instant notice by the Commission,

file pursuant to Rule 214 of the

Commission’s Rules of Practice and

Procedure (18 CFR 385.214), a motion to

intervene and pursuant to Section

157.205 of the regulations under the

Natural Gas Act (18 CFR 157.205), a

protest to the request. If no protest is

filed within the time allowed therefor,

the proposed activities shall be deemed

to be authorized effective the day after

the time allowed for filing a protest. If

a protest is filed and not withdrawn 30

days after the time allowed for filing a

protest, the instant request shall be

treated as an application for

authorization pursuant to Section 7 of

the Natural Gas Act.

David P. Boergers,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–20853 Filed 8–4–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP98–637–000]

Columbia Gas Transmission

Corporation; Notice of Intent To

Prepare an Environmental Assessment

for the Proposed VNG Replacement

Project and Request for Comments on

Environmental Issues

July 30, 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

construct about 6.9 miles of 20-inchdiameter pipeline to replace an

equivalent length of 12-inch-diameter

pipeline on its Line VM–108 in Sussex

County, Virginia.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.

Columbia states that the proposed

replacement is primarily due to the age

and condition of the old pipeline. Also,

the proposed replacement would allow

Columbia to transport the additional

storage service volume to Virginia

Natural Gas, Inc. in Norfolk, Virginia.

If you are a landowner receiving this

notice, you may be contacted by a

pipeline company representative about

the acquisition of an easement to

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:

(1) Construct approximately 6.9 miles

of 20-inch-diameter pipeline to replace

an equivalent length of 12-inchdiameter pipeline on Line VM–108 in

Sussex County, Virginia;

(2) Increase the deliverability of its

existing Glady Storage Field by 14,100

Mcfd in Randolph and Pocohantas

Counties, West Virginia by reworking

two wells; and

(3) Reacquire from Transco Energy

Marketing Company certain pipeline

capacity on its Solo Pipeline between

Emporia, Virginia and Petersburg,

Virginia, and on Transcontinental Gas

Pipe Line Corporation’s pipeline from

Boswells Tavern, Virginia, to Emporia,

Virginia.

The location of the project facilities is

shown in appendix 1.

Land Requirements for Construction

Construction of the proposed facilities

would require about 109 acres of land.

Following construction, about 58 acres

would be maintained as new permanent

right-of-way. The remaining 51 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

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.
41816 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 150 /Wednesday, August 5, 1998 / Notices

• 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 page 4 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.

• The project would cross two

perennial streams classified as warm

water fisheries which contain wild

trout.

• Four federally listed endangered or

threatened species may occur in the

proposed project area.

• Prehistoric and historic

archeological sites and landscape with

historic structures may be affected.

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. CP98–637–

000; and

• Mail your comments so that they

will be received in Washington, DC on

or before August 31, 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. 98–20851 Filed 8–4–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

Notice of Amendment of License

July 30, 1998.

Take notice that the following

hydroelectric application has been filed

with the Commission and is available

for public inspection:

a. Type of Application: Amendment

of License.

b. Project No: 346–033.

c. Date Filed: July 20, 1998.

d. Applicant: Minnesota Power,

Incorporated.

e. Name of Project: Minnesota

Blanchard Project.

f. Location: Morrison County,

Royalton, Minnesota.

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power

Act, 16 U.S.C. Section 791(a)–825(r).

h. Applicant Contact: Mr. John A.

Niemela P.E., Minnesota Power,

Incorporated, 30 West Superior Street,

Duluth, Minnesota 55802 (218) 722–

5642, extension 3329.

i. FERC Contact: Doan Pham, (202)

219–2851.

j. Comment Date: September 18, 1998.

k. Description of the Filing: The

licensee filed an application to amend

the license to remove from the project

boundary, about 1, 831.59 acres of

private property and 103.27 acres of feeowned property, located along the

Mississippi River, about 8.5 river miles

upstream and 0.8 river mile downstream

of the Blanchard Dam. The licensee

indicates these properties are not

necessary for project operation and

maintenance, do not have any value

with regard to environmental resources

enhancement, and are subject to

adequate local zoning and land use

regulation by the local government

agencies.

l. This notice also consists of the

following standard paragraphs: B, C1,

and D2.

B. Comments, Protests, or Motions to

Intervene—Anyone may submit

comments, a protest, or a motion to

intervene in accordance with the

requirements of Rules of Practice and

Procedure, 18 CFR 385.210, .211, .214.

In determining the appropriate action to

take, the Commission will consider all

protests or other comments filed, but

only those who file a motion to

intervene in accordance with the

Commission’s Rules may become a

party to the proceeding. Any comments,

protests, or motions to intervene must

be received on or before the specified

comment date for the particular

application.

C1. Filing and Service of Responsive

Documents—Any filings must bear in

all capital letters the title

‘‘COMMENTS’’,

‘‘RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TERMS

AND CONDITIONS’’, ‘‘PROTEST’’, OR

‘‘MOTION TO INTERVENE’’, as

applicable, and the Project Number of

the particular application to which the

filing refers. Any of the above-named

documents must be filed by providing

the original and the number of copies