2694 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 20, 2015 / Notices 

1The appendices referenced in this notice will 

not appear in the Federal Register. Copies of the 

appendices were sent to all those receiving this 

notice in the mail and are available at www.ferc.gov 

using the link called ‘‘eLibrary’’ or from the 

Commission’s Public Reference Room, 888 First 

Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 

502–8371. For instructions on connecting to 

eLibrary, refer to the last page of this notice. 

last three digits in the Docket Number 

field (i.e., CP15–8). Be sure you have 

selected an appropriate date range. For 

assistance, please contact FERC Online 

Support at FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov 

or toll free at (866) 208–3676, or for 

TTY, contact (202) 502–8659. The 

eLibrary link also provides access to the 

texts of formal documents issued by the 

Commission, such as orders, notices, 

and rulemakings. 

In addition, the Commission offers a 

free service called eSubscription which 

allows you to keep track of all formal 

issuances and submittals in specific 

dockets. This can reduce the amount of 

time you spend researching proceedings 

by automatically providing you with 

notification of these filings, document 

summaries, and direct links to the 

documents. Go to www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/esubscription.asp. 

Finally, public meetings or site visits 

will be posted on the Commission’s 

calendar located at www.ferc.gov/

EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along 

with other related information. 

Dated: January 13, 2015. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00735 Filed 1–16–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. PF15–1–000] 

PennEast Pipeline Company, LLC; 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Planned Penneast Pipeline Project, 

Request for Comments on 

Environmental Issues, and Notice of 

Public Scoping Meetings 

The staff of the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC or 

Commission) will prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

that will discuss the environmental 

impacts of the PennEast Pipeline Project 

(Project) involving construction and 

operation of facilities by PennEast 

Pipeline Company, LLC (PennEast), a 

partnership of six member companies 

including AGL Resources, New Jersey 

Resources Pipeline Company, South 

Jersey Industries, Public Service Electric 

and Gas Company Power LLC, Spectra 

Energy Partners, and UGI Energy 

Services. The Commission will use this 

EIS in its decision-making process to 

determine whether the Project is in the 

public convenience and necessity. 

This notice announces the opening of 

the scoping process the Commission 

will use to gather input from the public 

and interested agencies and 

stakeholders on the Project. Your input 

will help the Commission staff 

determine what issues they need to 

evaluate in the EIS. Please note that the 

scoping period will close on February 

12, 2015. However, this is not your only 

public input opportunity; please refer to 

the Review Process flow chart in 

appendix 1.1

You may submit comments in written 

form or verbally. Further details on how 

to submit written comments are in the 

Public Participation section of this 

notice. In lieu of or in addition to 

sending written comments, the 

Commission invites you to attend the 

public scoping meetings scheduled as 

follows: 

Date and time Location 

January 27, 2015, 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time ............................................. College of New Jersey, 2000 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ 08628. 

January 28, 2015, 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time ............................................. Bucks County Community College, 275 Swamp Road, Newtown, PA 

18940. 

February 10, 2015, 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time ............................................ Northampton Community College, 3835 Green Pond Rd, Bethlehem, 

PA 18020. 

February 11, 2015, 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time ............................................ Penn’s Peak, 325 Maury Road, Jim Thorpe, PA 18229. 

February 12, 2015, 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time ............................................ Best Western Hotel & Conference Center, 77 E Market Street, WilkesBarre, PA. 

This notice is being sent to the 

Commission’s current environmental 

mailing list for this Project. State and 

local government representatives should 

notify their constituents of this planned 

Project and encourage them to comment 

on their areas of concern. 

The purpose of these scoping 

meetings is to provide the public an 

opportunity to learn more about the 

Commission’s environmental review 

process, and to verbally comment on the 

Project. Each scoping meeting will start 

at 6:00 p.m. and representatives from 

PennEast will be present one hour prior 

to the start of each meeting to answer 

questions about the Project. Affected 

landowners and interested groups and 

individuals are encouraged to attend the 

scoping meetings and present comments 

on the issues they believe should be 

addressed in the EIS. A transcript of 

each meeting will be added to the 

Commission’s administrative record to 

ensure that your comments are 

accurately recorded. 

If you are a landowner receiving this 

notice, a pipeline company 

representative may contact you about 

the acquisition of an easement to 

construct, operate, and maintain the 

planned facilities. The company would 

seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable 

agreement. However, if the Commission 

approves the Project, 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 

where compensation would be 

determined in accordance with state 

law. 

The ‘‘For Citizens’’ section of the 

FERC Web site (www.ferc.gov) provides 

more information about the FERC and 

the environmental review process. This 

section also includes information about 

getting involved in FERC jurisdictional 

projects, and a citizens’ guide entitled 

‘‘An Interstate Natural Gas Facility On 

My Land? What Do I Need To Know?’’ 

The guide addresses a number of 

frequently asked questions, including 

the use of eminent domain and how to 

participate in the Commission’s 

proceedings. 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 20, 2015 / Notices 2695 

2 ‘‘We,’’ ‘‘us,’’ and ‘‘our’’ refer to the 

environmental staff of the Commission’s Office of 

Energy Projects. 

3The Council on Environmental Quality 

regulations addressing cooperating agency 

responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal 

Regulations, Part 1501.6. 

Summary of the Planned Project 

PennEast plans to construct, install, 

own, operate, and maintain the planned 

Project to provide approximately 1.0 

billion cubic feet per day of year-round 

transportation service from northern 

Pennsylvania to markets in eastern and 

southeastern Pennsylvania and New 

Jersey. PennEast states the Project 

would bring natural gas produced in the 

Marcellus Shale region in eastern 

Pennsylvania to homes and businesses 

in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The 

Project would extend from various 

receipt point interconnections, 

including interconnections with 

Transcontinental Gas Pipeline 

Company, LLC and gathering systems 

operated by Williams Partners L.P., 

Regency Energy Partners LP, and UGI 

Energy Services, LLC, all in Luzerne 

County, Pennsylvania. Various delivery 

point interconnections would be 

constructed including UGI Utilities, Inc. 

in Carbon and Northampton Counties, 

Pennsylvania, Columbia Gas 

Transmission, LLC in Northampton 

County; and Elizabethtown Gas, Texas 

Eastern Transmission, LP and 

Algonquin Transmission, LLC, all in 

Hunterdon, New Jersey. 

The planned Project would consist of 

constructing or installing the following 

components: 

• 108.8 miles of new 36-inchdiameter pipeline, originating near 

Dallas, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania 

and terminating near Pennington, 

Mercer County, New Jersey. The 

pipeline route would also traverse 

Carbon, Northampton, and Bucks 

Counties, Pennsylvania, and Hunterdon 

and Mercer Counties, New Jersey; 

• the Hellertown Lateral, a 2.1-mile, 

24-inch-diameter new pipeline and the 

associated TCO Interconnect and UGI 

Lehigh Interconnect and Launcher/

Receiver Site in Northampton County, 

Pennsylvania; 

• one new compressor station near 

Blakeslee in Kidder Township, Carbon 

County, Pennsylvania. Installation of 

three gas turbine-driven Taurus 70 units 

rated at 10,916 horsepower (hp) each 

under ISO conditions (32,745 total ISO 

hp); 

• the Wyoming Interconnect at 

Milepost (MP) 0.00 in Luzerne County, 

Pennsylvania; 

• the Springville Interconnect at MP 

0.25 in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania; 

• the Auburn and Leidy Interconnects 

at MP 4.50 in Luzerne County, 

Pennsylvania; 

• the UGI HAZ Interconnect at MP 

25.50 in Carbon County, Pennsylvania; 

• the Elizabethtown Interconnect at 

MP 76.35 in Hunterdon County, New 

Jersey; 

• the Algonquin and TETCO 

Interconnects in Hunterdon County, 

New Jersey; 

• the Transco Interconnect at MP 

108.8 in Mercer County, New Jersey; 

and 

• seven mainline block valves at 

locations along the planned pipeline 

segments in Luzerne, Carbon, and 

Northampton Counties, Pennsylvania 

and Hunterdon County, New Jersey. 

The general location of the Project 

facilities is shown in appendix 2. 

PennEast plans to conduct tree 

clearing in the fourth quarter of 2016 

with construction starting in Spring 

2017 and a projected in-service date of 

October 1, 2017. 

Land Requirements for Construction 

PennEast is still in the planning phase 

of the Project and workspace 

requirements have not been finalized. 

However, PennEast is planning on using 

a 100-foot-wide construction right-ofway for the 36-inch-diameter pipeline, 

affecting approximately 1,308 acres of 

land based on the length of the pipeline. 

Following construction, PennEast 

would retain a 50-foot-wide easement 

for operation of the Project. PennEast 

would also require land for additional 

temporary workspaces at road, railroad, 

waterbody, and wetland crossings; 

topsoil storage; access roads; storage or 

pipe yards; and other purposes during 

construction. 

The EIS 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 2 to 

discover and address concerns the 

public may have about proposals. This 

process is referred to as scoping. The 

main goal of the scoping process is to 

focus the analysis in the EIS on the 

important environmental issues. By this 

notice, the Commission requests public 

comments on the scope of the issues to 

address in the EIS. We will consider all 

filed comments during the preparation 

of the EIS, and address as appropriate. 

In the EIS we will discuss impacts 

that could occur as a result of the 

construction and operation and 

maintenance of the planned Project 

under these general headings: 

• Geology; 

• soils; 

• water resources, including surface 

water and groundwater; 

• wetlands; 

• vegetation and wildlife, including 

migratory birds; 

• fisheries and aquatic resources; 

• threatened, endangered, and other 

special-status species; 

• land use, recreation, special interest 

areas, and visual resources; 

• socioeconomics; 

• cultural resources; 

• air quality and noise; 

• public safety and reliability; and 

• cumulative environmental impacts. 

We will also evaluate possible 

alternatives to the planned Project or 

portions of the Project, and make 

recommendations on how to lessen or 

avoid impacts on the various resource 

areas. 

Although no formal application has 

been filed, we have already initiated our 

NEPA review under the Commission’s 

pre-filing process. The purpose of the 

pre-filing process is to encourage early 

involvement of interested stakeholders 

and to identify and resolve issues before 

the FERC receives an application. As 

part of our pre-filing review, we 

participated in public Open House 

meetings sponsored by PennEast in the 

project area in November 2014 to 

explain the environmental review 

process to interested stakeholders. We 

have also begun to contact federal and 

state agencies to discuss their 

involvement in the scoping process and 

the preparation of the EIS. 

The EIS will present our independent 

analysis of the issues. We will publish 

and distribute the draft EIS for public 

comment. After the comment period, we 

will consider all timely comments and 

revise the document, as necessary, 

before issuing a final EIS. To ensure we 

have the opportunity to consider and 

address your comments, please carefully 

follow the instructions in the Public 

Participation section of this notice. 

With this notice, we are asking 

agencies with jurisdiction by law and/ 

or special expertise with respect to the 

environmental issues related to this 

Project to formally cooperate with us in 

the preparation of the EIS.3 Agencies 

that would like to request cooperating 

agency status should follow the 

instructions for filing comments 

provided under the Public Participation 

section of this notice. Currently, the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) 

has expressed their intention to 

participate as a cooperating agency in 

the preparation of the EIS to satisfy their 

NEPA responsibilities related to this 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
2696 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 20, 2015 / Notices 

4The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 

regulations are at Title 36, Code of Federal 

Regulations, Part 800. Those regulations define 

historic properties as any prehistoric or historic 

district, site, building, structure, or object included 

in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register 

of Historic Places. 

Project. The USACE has jurisdictional 

authority pursuant to Section 404 of the 

Clean Water Act, which governs the 

discharge of dredged or fill material into 

waters of the United States, and Section 

10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, which 

regulates any work or structures that 

potentially affect the navigability of a 

waterway. 

Consultations Under Section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act 

In accordance with the Advisory 

Council on Historic Preservation’s 

implementing regulations for Section 

106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act, we are using this 

notice to initiate consultation with 

applicable State Historic Preservation 

Offices (SHPO), and to solicit their 

views and those of other government 

agencies, interested Indian tribes, and 

the public on the Project’s potential 

effects on historic properties.4 We will 

define the Project-specific Area of 

Potential Effects (APE) in consultation 

with the SHPOs as the Project develops. 

On natural gas facility projects, the APE 

at a minimum encompasses all areas 

subject to ground disturbance (examples 

include construction right-of-way, 

contractor/pipe storage yards, 

compressor stations, and access roads). 

Our EIS for this project will document 

our findings on the impacts on historic 

properties and summarize the status of 

consultations under Section 106. 

Currently Identified Environmental 

Issues 

Based on our preliminary review of 

the Project; information provided by 

PennEast; and public comments filed in 

the Commission’s administrative record 

and submitted to staff at the applicantsponsored open houses; we have 

identified several issues that we think 

deserve attention. This preliminary list 

of issues may change based on your 

comments and our ongoing 

environmental analysis. These issues 

are: 

• Purpose and need for the Project; 

• impacts on forested areas including 

fragmentation; 

• impacts on agricultural areas and 

soils; 

• impacts on residential areas and use 

of eminent domain; 

• impacts on recreational areas 

including parks and nature preserves 

including Appalachian Trail, Sourland 

Conservancy, and other state-managed 

and preserved lands; 

• impacts on preservation easements 

on private lands or conservation 

easements and property values; 

• impacts on surface water including 

Susquehanna, Delaware, and Lehigh 

Rivers; 

• impacts on groundwater including 

wells and springs; 

• impacts on wildlife and vegetation; 

• impacts on federal and state-listed 

threatened, endangered, and sensitive 

species; 

• geologic hazards including karst 

and seismic areas; 

• impacts on air quality; 

• impacts related to noise during 

construction and operation; 

• assessment of alternative pipeline 

routes and compressor station locations; 

and 

• cumulative impacts. 

Public Participation 

You can make a difference by 

providing us with your specific 

comments or concerns about the Project. 

Your comments should focus on the 

potential environmental effects, 

reasonable alternatives, and measures to 

avoid or lessen environmental impacts. 

The more specific your comments, the 

more useful they will be. To ensure that 

your comments are timely and properly 

recorded, please send your comments so 

that the Commission receives them in 

Washington, DC on or before February 

12, 2015. However, this is not your only 

public input opportunity; please refer to 

the Review Process flow chart in 

appendix 1. 

For your convenience, there are three 

methods you can use to submit your 

comments to the Commission. In all 

instances, please reference the Project 

docket number (PF15–1–000) with your 

submission. The Commission 

encourages electronic filing of 

comments and has expert staff available 

to assist you at (202) 502–8258 or 

efiling@ferc.gov. 

(1) You can file your comments 

electronically using the eComment 

feature located on the Commission’s 

Web site (www.ferc.gov) under the link 

to Documents and Filings. This is an 

easy method for interested persons to 

submit brief, text-only comments on a 

project; 

(2) You can file your comments 

electronically using the eFiling feature 

located on the Commission’s Web site 

(www.ferc.gov) under the link to 

Documents and Filings. With eFiling, 

you can provide comments in a variety 

of formats by attaching them as a file 

with your submission. New eFiling 

users must first create an account by 

clicking on ‘‘eRegister.’’ You must select 

the type of filing you are making. If you 

are filing a comment on a particular 

project, please select ‘‘Comment on a 

Filing’’; or 

(3) You can file a paper copy of your 

comments by mailing them to the 

following address: Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street NE., Room 

1A, Washington, DC 20426. 

Environmental Mailing List 

The environmental mailing list 

includes: federal, state, and local 

government representatives and 

agencies; elected officials; 

environmental and public interest 

groups; Native American Tribes; other 

interested parties; and local libraries 

and newspapers. This list also includes 

all affected landowners (as defined in 

the Commission’s regulations) who are 

potential right-of-way grantors, whose 

property may be used temporarily for 

project purposes, or who own homes 

within certain distances of aboveground 

facilities, and anyone who submits 

comments on the Project. We will 

update the environmental mailing list as 

the analysis proceeds to ensure that we 

send the information related to this 

environmental review to all individuals, 

organizations, and government entities 

interested in and/or potentially affected 

by the planned Project. 

Copies of the completed draft EIS will 

be sent to the environmental mailing list 

for public review and comment. If you 

would prefer to receive a paper copy of 

the document instead of the CD version 

or would like to remove your name from 

the mailing list, please return the 

attached Information Request (appendix 

3). 

Becoming an Intervenor 

Once PennEast files its application 

with the Commission, you may want to 

become an ‘‘intervenor,’’ which is an 

official party to the Commission’s 

proceeding. Intervenors play a more 

formal role in the process and are able 

to file briefs, appear at hearings, and be 

heard by the courts if they choose to 

appeal the Commission’s final ruling. 

An intervenor formally participates in 

the proceeding by filing a request to 

intervene. Instructions for becoming an 

intervenor are in the User’s Guide under 

the ‘‘e-filing’’ link on the Commission’s 

Web site. Please note that the 

Commission will not accept requests for 

intervenor status at this time. You must 

wait until the Commission receives a 

formal application for the Project. 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 20, 2015 / Notices 2697 

1The appendices referenced in this notice will 

not appear in the Federal Register. Copies of the 

appendices were sent to all those receiving this 

notice in the mail and are available at www.ferc.gov 

using the link called ‘‘eLibrary’’ or from the 

Commission’s Public Reference Room, 888 First 

Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 

502–8371. For instructions on connecting to 

eLibrary, refer to the last page of this notice. 

Additional Information 

Additional information about the 

Project is available from the 

Commission’s Office of External Affairs, 

at (866) 208–FERC, or on the FERC Web 

site (www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary 

link. Click on the eLibrary link, click on 

‘‘General Search’’ and enter the docket 

number, excluding the last three digits 

in the Docket Number field (i.e., PF15– 

1). Be sure you have selected an 

appropriate date range. For assistance, 

please contact FERC Online Support at 

FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll free 

at (866) 208–3676, or for TTY, contact 

(202) 502–8659. The eLibrary link also 

provides access to the texts of formal 

documents issued by the Commission, 

such as orders, notices, and 

rulemakings. 

In addition, the Commission offers a 

free service called eSubscription that 

allows you to keep track of all formal 

issuances and submittals in specific 

dockets. This can reduce the amount of 

time you spend researching proceedings 

by automatically providing you with 

notification of these filings, document 

summaries, and direct links to the 

documents. Go to www.ferc.gov/

esubscribenow.htm. Public meetings or 

site visits will be posted on the 

Commission’s calendar located at 

www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/

EventsList.aspx along with other related 

information. 

Finally, PennEast has established a 

toll-free phone number (1–844–347– 

7119) and an email support address 

(answers@penneastpipeline.com) so that 

parties can contact it directly with 

questions about the Project. PennEast 

has also established a Project Web site 

(http://penneastpipeline.com) where 

additional information on the Project is 

available. 

Dated: January 13, 2015. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00734 Filed 1–16–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. PF14–23–000] 

Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC; 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Planned Leach Xpress Project, 

Request for Comments on 

Environmental Issues, and Notice of 

Public Scoping Meetings 

The staff of the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC or 

Commission) will prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

that will discuss the environmental 

impacts of the Leach XPress Project 

involving construction and operation of 

facilities by Columbia Gas 

Transmission, LLC (Columbia Gas) in 

Marshall and Wayne Counties, West 

Virginia and Fairfield, Vinton, 

Lawrence, Noble, Jackson and Hocking 

Counties, Ohio. The Commission will 

use this EIS in its decision-making 

process to determine whether the 

project is in the public convenience and 

necessity. 

This notice announces the opening of 

the scoping process the Commission 

will use to gather input from the public 

and interested agencies on the project. 

Your input will help the Commission 

staff determine what issues they need to 

evaluate in the EIS. Please note that the 

scoping period will close on February 

12, 2015. However, this is not your only 

public input opportunity; please refer to 

the Review Process flow chart in 

appendix 1.1

You may submit comments in written 

form or verbally. Further details on how 

to submit written comments are in the 

Public Participation section of this 

notice. In lieu of or in addition to 

sending written comments, the 

Commission invites you to attend the 

public scoping meetings scheduled as 

follows: 

Date and time Meeting Location 

Tuesday, January 27, 2015, 6:30 p.m. EST ............................................ Grand Vue Park (Banquet Hall), 250 Trail Drive, Moundsville, WV 

26041. 

Wednesday, January 28, 2015, 6:30 p.m. EST ....................................... Noble County Community Center, Noble County Fairgrounds, (Fairground Road), Caldwell, OH 43724. 

Thursday, January 29, 2015, 6:30 p.m. EST ........................................... Oak Hill Elementary School, 401 East Evans Street, Oak Hill, OH 

45656. 

Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 6:30 p.m. EST ............................................ Lee’s Banquet Haus, 580 Radio Lane, Logan, OH 43138. 

Wednesday, February 4, 2015, 6:30 p.m. EST ....................................... Huntington High School, 1 Highlander Way, Huntington, WV 25701. 

This notice is being sent to the 

Commission’s current environmental 

mailing list for this project. State and 

local government representatives should 

notify their constituents of this planned 

project and encourage them to comment 

on their areas of concern. 

The purpose of these scoping 

meetings is to provide the public an 

opportunity to learn more about the 

Commission’s environmental review 

process, and to verbally comment on the 

Project. Each scoping meeting will start 

at 6:30 p.m. and representatives from 

Columbia Gas will be present one hour 

prior to the start of each scoping 

meeting to answer questions about the 

Project. Affected landowners and other 

interested parties are encouraged to 

attend the scoping meetings and to give 

their comments on the issues they 

believe should be addressed in the EIS. 

A transcript of each meeting will be 

added to the Commission’s 

administrative record to ensure that 

your comments are accurately recorded. 

If you are a landowner receiving this 

notice, a pipeline company 

representative may contact you about 

the acquisition of an easement to 

construct, operate, and maintain the 

planned facilities. The company would 

seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable 

agreement. However, if the Commission 

approves the project, 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 

where compensation would be 

determined in accordance with state 

law. 

The ‘‘For Citizens’’ section of the 

FERC Web site (www.ferc.gov) provides 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES