36052 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 132 / Tuesday, July 9, 1996 / Notices

1 K N Interstate Gas Transmission Company’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.

another opportunity to offer comments

on the proposed project. Those wanting

to speak at the meeting can call the

Environmental Assessment (EA) Project

Manager to preregister their names on

the speaker list. Individuals on the

speaker list before the date of the

meeting will be allowed to speak first.

A second speaker list will be developed

at the meeting. Priority will be given to

people representing groups. A transcript

of each meeting will be made so that

your comments will be accurately

recorded.

In addition to the public meeting, the

environmental staff will inspect the

proposed project sites on the afternoon

of July 15, 1996. Those planning to

attend must provide their own

transportation. For further information,

call Chris Zerby, EA Project Manager, at

(202) 208–0111.

Kevin P. Madden,

Director, Office of Pipeline Regulation.

[FR Doc. 96–17408 Filed 7–8–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

[Docket No. CP96–477–000]

K N Interstate Gas Transmission

Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare

an Environmental Assessment for the

Proposed Pony Express Pipeline

Project and Request for Comments on

Environmental Issues

July 2, 1996.

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 construction and operation of the

facilities proposed in the Pony Express

Pipeline Project.1 This EA will be used

by the Commission in its decisionmaking process to determine whether an

environmental impact statement is

necessary and whether to approve the

project.

Summary of the Proposed Project

K N Interstate Gas Transmission

Company (KN) proposes to convert an

existing crude oil pipeline owned by

Amoco Pipeline Company (Amoco) to

natural gas service. The oil pipeline

crosses portions of five states and

extends between Lost Cabin, Wyoming

and Freeman, Missouri. Together with

several smaller components, the project

would have the capacity to transport

natural gas with an energy content of up

to 255 billion Btus per day from the

Wind River Basin in central Wyoming

and major gas producing areas of

southwest Wyoming. It will also

interconnect with or cross a number of

other interstate gas transportation

systems, including KN’s existing system

(8 locations), ANR Pipeline Company,

Natural Gas Pipeline Company of

America, Northern Natural Gas

Company, Panhandle Eastern Pipeline

Company, Trailblazer Pipeline

Company, and Williams Natural Gas

Company.

The proposed project would include

the following components:

• Conversion of the 914-mile-long

Amoco oil pipeline to natural gas

service (of which an 804-mile-long

segment would be acquired by KN);

• Construction of approximately 65

miles of 16-inch-diameter pipeline

between Rockport (Weld County),

Colorado and an interconnection with

the converted Amoco pipeline near

Kimball (Kimball County), Nebraska;

• Construction of approximately 7.6

miles of 12-inch-diameter pipeline to

reroute the converted Amoco pipeline

around a portion of Casper, Wyoming;

• Construction of approximately 0.3

mile of 24-inch-diameter pipeline to

reroute the converted Amoco pipeline

around a congested area near

Appanoose School (Franklin County),

Kansas;

• Construction of approximately 1.6

miles of 20-inch-diameter inlet and 1.6

miles of 20-inch-diameter outlet

pipeline between the converted Amoco

pipeline and KN’s existing Casper

Compressor Station (Natrona County),

Wyoming;

• Construction/installation of 50,500

horsepower of compression at five

compressor stations;

• Upgrade 58 miles of existing 12-

inch-diameter pipeline extending from

the Huntsman Compressor Station

(Cheyenne County), Nebraska to the

Weld County, Colorado interconnect;

• Construction of two interconnects

in Natrona County, Wyoming consisting

of two 2,000-foot-long sections of 12-

inch-diameter pipeline; and

construction of one interconnect in

Madden, Wyoming consisting of 0.1

mile of 10-inch-diameter; and

• Upgrade 0.2 mile of 20-inchdiameter pipeline in Platt County,

Wyoming.

• In addition, about 114 miles of 12-

inch-diameter oil pipeline would be

constructed for Amoco between

Amoco’s storage facilities in Casper,

Wyoming to an interconnect with the

existing Amoco pipeline system at Fort

Laramie, Wyoming. This oil pipeline

would be constructed by KN Energy, KN

Interstate’s non-jurisdictional parent

company.

The general location of the project

facilities and specific locations for

facilities on new sites are shown in

appendix 1.2

Land Requirements for Construction

Construction of the proposed facilities

would require about 717 acres of land.

Following construction, about 108 acres

would be maintained as new

aboveground facility sites and new

permanent right-of-way. The remaining

609 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

• 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.
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 132 / Tuesday, July 9, 1996 / Notices 36053

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

recommend that the Commission

approve or not approve the project.

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

KN. This preliminary list of issues may

be changed based on your comments

and our analysis.

• Nine federally listed endangered

and threatened species and two

candidate species may be present in the

project area.

• Four perennial waterbodies would

be crossed by the proposed facilities,

including the North Platte River in

Wyoming.

• The site of the proposed North

Platte River crossing is adjacent to the

Brookhurst Superfund site near Casper,

Wyoming.

Also, we have made a preliminary

decision to not address the impacts of

the nonjurisdictional KN Energy

facilities discussed on page 2. We will

briefly describe their location and status

in the EA.

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 including

alternative routes), 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 to: Lois Cashell,

Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 888 First St., N.E.,

Washington, DC 20426;

• Reference Docket No. CP96–477–

000;

• Send a copy of your letter to: Ms.

Elizabeth J. Secrest, EA Project Manager,

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,

888 First St., NE., PR–11.1, Washington,

DC 20426; and

• Mail your comments so that they

will be received in Washington, DC, on

or before August 1, 1996.

If you wish to receive a copy of the

EA, you should request one from Ms.

Secrest at the above address.

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 scoping

comments considered.

Additional information about the

proposed project is available from Ms.

Elizabeth J. Secrest, EA Project Manager,

at (202) 208–0918.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–17344 Filed 7–8–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

[Project No. 2482–021]

Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation;

Notice of Availability of Final

Environmental Assessment

July 2, 1996.

A final environmental assessment

(FEA) is available for public review. The

FEA was prepared for an application

filed by Niagara Mohawk Power

Corporation (licensee) to remove

polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from

lands within the boundary of the

Hudson River Hydroelectric Project. The

licensee proposes to remove PCBs at the

Queensbury site in accordance with a

record of decision issued March 1995 by

the New York State Department of

Environmental Conservation. In

summary, the licensee proposes to

excavate and remove all surface soil (1

foot from surface) on the upland portion

of the site with total PCB concentrations

in excess of 1 ppm and subsurface soil

with concentrations in excess of 10

ppm. Further, the licensee proposes to

excavate and remove to a depth of 2 feet

near-shore river sediments. The

Queensbury site is located on Corinth

Road, Town of Queensbury, Warren

County, New York, on the north bank of

the Hudson River, about 5 miles west of

Glens Falls, New York.

The FEA finds that the licensee’s

remediation plan is not a major federal

action significantly affecting the quality

of the human environment. The FEA

was written by staff in the Office of

Hydropower Licensing, Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission. Copies of the

FEA can be obtained by calling the

Commission’s Public Reference Room at

(202) 208–1371.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–17409 Filed 7–8–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

Hydroelectric Applications [Idaho

Power Company, et al.]; Notice of

Applications

[Project Nos. 1975–014, et al.]

Take notice that the following

hydroelectric applications have been

filed with the Commission and are

available for public inspection:

1a. Type of Application: Major New

License.

b. Project No.: 1975–014.

c. Date filed: December 20, 1995.

d. Applicant: Idaho Power Company.

e. Name of Project: Bliss.

f. Location: On the Snake River, at

river mile 560 from the confluence with

the Columbia River in Gooding, Twin

Falls, and Elmore Counties, Idaho.

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power

Act, 16 USC §§ 791(a)–825(r).

h. Applicant Contact: Robert W.

Stahman, Idaho Power Company, 1221

West Idaho Street, P.O. Box 70, Boise,

ID 83707, (208) 388–2676.

i. FERC Contact: He ́ctor M. Pe ́rez,

(202) 219–2843.

j. Deadline for filing interventions and

protests: August 29, 1996.

k. Status of Environmental Analysis:

This application is not ready for

environmental analysis at this time—see

attached paragraph E.

l. Brief Description of Project: The

project consists of: (1) an 84-foot-high,

364-foot-long concrete dam with a crest

elevation of 2,655 feet mean sea level

(msl); (2) a 216-foot-long concrete ogee

spillway with a crest elevation of 2,624

feet and four bays equipped with 30-

foot-high tainter gates; (3) Bliss