53786 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 175 / Monday, September 12, 2005 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

[Docket No. PP–89–1] 

Notice of Public Hearings for the 

Proposed Bangor Hydro-Electric 

Company (BHE) Northeast Reliability 

Interconnect 

AGENCY: Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of public hearings. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy 

(DOE) announces two public hearings 

on the ‘‘Draft Environmental Impact 

Statement for the Bangor Hydro-Electric 

Company (BHE) Northeast Reliability 

Interconnect’’ (DOE/EIS–0372). The 

Draft EIS was prepared pursuant to the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 

4321 et seq., the Council on 

Environmental Quality NEPA 

regulations, 40 CFR parts 1500–1508, 

and the DOE NEPA regulations, 10 CFR 

part 1021. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service (USFWS) and the National 

Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA 

Fisheries) are cooperating agencies in 

the preparation of this Draft EIS. 

The proposed DOE action in the Draft 

EIS is to amend BHE’s existing 

Presidential permit to allow 

construction along the Modified 

Consolidated Corridors Route of a 

single-circuit, 345,000-volt, electric 

transmission line that would cross the 

U.S. international border in the vicinity 

of Baileyville, Maine. DOE has prepared 

this Draft EIS to evaluate the potential 

environmental impacts in the United 

States of the proposed action and the 

range of reasonable alternatives, 

including the No Action alternative. 

DATES: DOE invites interested Members 

of Congress, state and local 

governments, other Federal agencies, 

American Indian tribal governments, 

organizations, and members of the 

public to provide comments on the Draft 

EIS. The public comment period began 

on August 26, 2005, with the 

publication of the Notice of Availability 

of the Draft EIS in the Federal Register 

by the Environmental Protection Agency 

and will continue until October 11, 

2005. Written and oral comments will 

be given equal weight, and DOE will 

consider all comments received or 

postmarked by that date in preparing 

the Final EIS. Comments received or 

postmarked after that date will be 

considered to the extent practicable. 

Dates for the public hearings are: 

1. September 28, 2005, 7 p.m. to 9 

p.m., Baileyville, Maine. 

2. September 29, 2005, 7 p.m. to 9 

p.m., Brewer, Maine. 

Requests to speak at a specific public 

hearing should be received by Dr. Jerry 

Pell as indicated in the ADDRESSES

section below on or before September 

21, 2005. Requests to speak may also be 

made at the time of registration for the 

hearing(s). However, persons who have 

submitted advance requests to speak 

will be given priority if time should be 

limited during the meeting. 

ADDRESSES: Requests to speak at the 

public hearings should be addressed to: 

Dr. Jerry Pell, Office of Electricity 

Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE–20), 

U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, 

DC 20585, or transmitted by phone: 

202–586–3362, facsimile: 202–318–

7761, or electronic mail at 

Jerry.Pell@hq.doe.gov. Please be aware 

that anthrax screening delays 

conventional mail delivery to DOE. 

The locations of the public hearings 

are: 

1. Woodland Elementary School, 23 

Fourth Avenue, Baileyville, Maine. 

2. Jeff’s Catering Banquet & 

Convention Center, East West Industrial 

Park, 5 Coffin Avenue, Brewer, Maine. 

Copies of the Draft EIS are available 

in paper format, accompanied by a CD–

ROM containing the entire Draft EIS, or 

as a CD–ROM only. Requests for 

additional copies in either format 

should be addressed to Dr. Pell at any 

of the addresses above. Additionally, 

the Draft EIS is available on the project 

Internet Web site at http:// 

web.ead.anl.gov/interconnecteis, and 

also on the DOE NEPA Web site at 

http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/docs/deis/ 

deis.html. 

Written comments on the Draft EIS 

may be addressed to Dr. Jerry Pell as 

indicated in the ADDRESSES section of 

this notice or submitted on the project 

Web site at http://web.ead.anl.gov/ 

interconnecteis. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the proposed project or 

to receive a copy of the Draft EIS, 

contact Dr. Pell as indicated in the 

ADDRESSES section of this notice. 

For general information on the DOE 

NEPA process, contact: Carol M. 

Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA 

Policy and Compliance (EH–42), U.S. 

Department of Energy, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585, Phone: 202–

586–4600 or leave a message at 800–

472–2756; Facsimile: 202–586–7031. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Executive 

Order (E.O.) 10485, as amended by E.O. 

12038, requires that a Presidential 

permit be issued by DOE before electric 

transmission facilities may be 

constructed, maintained, operated, or 

connected at the U.S. international 

border. The E.O. provides that a 

Presidential permit may be issued after 

a finding that the proposed project is 

consistent with the public interest. In 

determining consistency with the public 

interest, DOE considers the 

environmental impacts of the proposed 

project pursuant to NEPA, the project’s 

impact on electric reliability by 

ascertaining whether the proposed 

project would adversely affect the 

operation of the U.S. electric power 

supply system under normal and 

contingency conditions, and any other 

factors that DOE may also consider 

relevant to the public interest. The 

regulations implementing the E.O. have 

been codified at 10 CFR 205.320–

205.329. Issuance of the permit 

indicates that there is no Federal 

objection to the project, but does not 

mandate that the project be completed. 

On January 22, 1996, DOE issued 

Presidential Permit PP–89 which 

authorized BHE to construct a singlecircuit, 345,000-volt (345–kV) 

alternating current transmission line 

that would originate at BHE’s Orrington 

Substation, extend eastward 

approximately 85 miles (137–km), and 

cross the U.S.-Canada border near 

Baileyville, Maine. Before granting the 

Presidential permit, DOE prepared an 

EIS which analyzed the environmental 

impacts of various alternative actions 

and routes. The preferred alternative in 

the EIS and in the Record of Decision 

was to grant a Presidential permit for 

construction of the transmission line 

along the Stud Mill Road route. 

However, the project was never 

constructed and on September 30, 2003, 

BHE applied to DOE to amend 

Presidential Permit PP–89 by allowing 

construction of the proposed 

transmission line along a route other 

than the Stud Mill Road route. 

Alternatives Considered 

The proposed DOE action in the Draft 

EIS is to amend BHE’s existing 

Presidential permit to allow 

construction along the Modified 

Consolidated Corridors Route. DOE has 

prepared this Draft EIS to evaluate the 

potential environmental impacts in the 

United States of the proposed action 

and the range of reasonable alternatives, 

including the No Action alternative. 

Under the No Action alternative, only 

the previously permitted route (the Stud 

Mill Road route) could be utilized by 

BHE for construction of the 

transmission line. In addition to the 

Modified Consolidated Corridors Route 

and the Previously Permitted Route, two 

other alternative routes are analyzed in 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 175 / Monday, September 12, 2005 / Notices 53787 

the Draft EIS: the Consolidated 

Corridors Route, and the MEPCO South 

Route. DOE also analyzed a rescission 

alternative under which the existing 

permit would be rescinded and no 

international transmission line could be 

constructed. As indicated in the Draft 

EIS, DOE has designated the Modified 

Consolidated Corridors Route as its 

preferred alternative. 

Availability of the Draft EIS 

DOE has distributed copies of the 

Draft EIS to appropriate members of 

Congress, state and local government 

officials in Maine, American Indian 

tribal governments, and other Federal 

agencies, groups, and interested parties. 

Copies of the document may be 

obtained by contacting DOE as provided 

in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. 

Copies of the Draft EIS are also available 

for inspection at the locations identified 

below: 

1. Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow 

St., Bangor, ME 04401. 

2. Brewer Public Library, 24 Union 

St., Brewer, ME 04412. 

3. Calais Free Library, 9 Union St., 

Calais, ME 04619. 

4. Orrington Public Library, 15 School 

St., Orrington, ME 04474. 

5. Princeton Public Library, Main 

Street, Princeton, ME 04668. 

6. Baileyville Public Library, 169 

Main Street, Baileyville, ME 04694. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 6, 

2005. 

Anthony J. Como, 

Director, Permitting and Siting, Office of 

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. 

[FR Doc. 05–18023 Filed 9–9–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[RP05–544–000, et al.] 

CenterPoint Energy—Mississippi River 

Transmission Corporation et al.; 

Notice of Proposed Changes in FERC 

Gas Tariff 

September 2, 2005. 

In the matter of: RP05–570–000, RP05–

570–000, RP05–575–000, RP05–548–000, 

RP05–576–000, RP05–541–000, RP05–539–

000, RP05–540–000, RP05–542–000, RP05–

563–000, RP05–400–001, RP05–547–000, 

RP05–554–000, RP05–568–000, RP05–562–

000, RP05–538–000, RP05–577–000, RP05–

545–000, RP05–558–000, RP05–569–000, 

RP05–557–000, RP05–551–000, RP05–555–

000, RP05–455–001, RP05–571–000, RP05–

592–000, RP05–572–000, RP05–543–000, 

RP05–556–000, RP05–561–000, RP05–578–

000, RP05–579–000: Chandeleur Pipe Line 

Company, Chandeuleur Pipe Line Company, 

Colorado Interstate Gas Company, Eastern 

Shore Natural Gas Company, El Paso Natural 

Gas Company, Enbridge Pipelines (AlaTenn) 

L.L.C., Enbridge Pipelines (KPC), Enbridge 

Pipelines (Midla) L.L.C., Garden Banks Gas 

Pipeline, L.L.C., Guardian Pipeline, L.L.C., 

Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP, Kern 

River Gas Transmission Company, Kinder 

Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission LLC, KO 

Transmission Company, Midwestern Gas 

Transmission Company, Mississippi Canyon 

Gas Pipeline, LLC, Mojave Pipeline 

Company, Nautilus Pipeline Company, 

L.L.C., Northeast Pipeline Corporation, Ozark 

Gas Transmission, L.L.C., Panther Interstate 

Pipeline Energy, LLC., Questar Pipeline 

Company, Questar Southern Trails Pipeline 

Company, Sabine Pipe Line LLC, Sabine Pipe 

Line LLC, SCG Pipeline, Inc., Southern Star 

Central Gas Pipeline, Inc., Stingray Pipeline 

Company, L.L.C., TransColorado Gas 

Transmission Company, Viking Gas 

Transmission Company, Wyoming Interstate 

Company, Ltd., Young Gas Storage Company, 

Ltd. 

Take notice that the above-referenced 

pipelines tendered for filing their tariff 

sheets respectively, pursuant to Section 

154.402 of the Commission’s 

regulations, to reflect the Commission’s 

change in the unit rate for the Annual 

Charge Adjustment (ACA) surcharge to 

be applied to rates for recovery of 2005 

Annual Charges. The proposed effective 

date of the tariff sheets is October 1, 

2005. 

The above-referenced pipelines state 

that the purpose of their filings is to 

reflect the revised ACA effective for the 

twelve-month period beginning October 

1, 2005. The pipelines further state that 

their tariff sheets reflect a decrease of 

$0.0001 per Dth in the ACA adjustment 

surcharge, resulting in a new ACA rate 

of $0.0018 Dth as specified by the 

Commission in its invoice dated June 

30, 2005, for the Annual Charge 

Billing—Fiscal year 2005. 

Due to the large number of pipelines 

that have filed to comply with the 

Annual Charge Adjustment Billing, the 

Commission is issuing this single notice 

of the filings included in the caption. 

Any person desiring to become part in 

any of the listed dockets must file a 

separate motion to intervene in each 

docket for which they wish party status. 

Any person desiring to intervene or to 

protest this filing must file in 

accordance with Rules 211 and 214 of 

the Commission’s Rules of Practice and 

Procedure (18 CFR 385.211 and 

385.214). 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 notice of 

intervention or motion to intervene, as 

appropriate. Such notices, motions, or 

protests must be filed on or before the 

date as indicated below. Anyone filing 

an intervention or protest must serve a 

copy of that document on the Applicant. 

Anyone filing an intervention or protest 

on or before the intervention or protest 

date need not serve motions to intervene 

or protests on persons other than the 

Applicant. 

The Commission encourages 

electronic submission of protests and 

interventions in lieu of paper using the 

‘‘eFiling’’ link at http://www.ferc.gov. 

Persons unable to file electronically 

should submit an original and 14 copies 

of the protest or intervention to the 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20426. 

This filing is accessible on-line at 

http://www.ferc.gov, using the 

‘‘eLibrary’’ link and is available for 

review in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room in Washington, DC. 

There is an ‘‘eSubscription’’ link on the 

Web site that enables subscribers to 

receive e-mail notification when a 

document is added to a subscribed 

docket(s). For assistance with any FERC 

Online service, please e-mail 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call 

(866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY, call 

(202) 502–8659. 

Intervention, Protest Date: 5 p.m. 

eastern time on September 13, 2005. 

Magalie R. Salas, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E5–4956 Filed 9–9–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 2602] 

Duke Power, a Division of Duke Energy 

Corporation, Nantahala Area; Notice of 

Authorization or Continued Project 

Operation 

September 6, 2005. 

On July 22, 2003, Duke Power, a 

division of Duke Energy Corporation, 

Nantahala Area, licensee for the 

Dillsboro Project No. 2602, filed an 

application for subsequent license 

pursuant to the Federal Power Act 

(FPA) and the Commission’s 

regulations. The application for 

subsequent license will be held in 

abeyance pending Commission 

processing of a surrender application 

filed on June 1, 2004. Project No. 2602 

is located on the Tuckasegee River in 

Jackson County, North Carolina.