32148 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 128 / Tuesday, July 7, 2009 / Notices 

1 Interventions may also be filed electronically via 

the Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous 

discussion on filing comments electronically. 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. CP09–57–000] 

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line 

Company, LLC; Notice of Availability 

of the Environmental Assessment for 

the Proposed 85 North Expansion 

Project 

June 26, 2009. 

The staff of the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC or 

Commission) has prepared an 

environmental assessment (EA) on the 

natural gas pipeline facilities proposed 

by Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line 

Company, LLC (Transco) in the abovereferenced docket. 

The EA was prepared to satisfy the 

requirements of the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA). The FERC staff concludes that 

approval of the proposed project, with 

appropriate mitigating measures, would 

not constitute a major Federal action 

significantly affecting the quality of the 

human environment. 

The EA assesses the potential 

environmental effects of the 

construction and operation of the 85 

North Expansion Project. Transco 

proposes to construct three new 42-inch 

diameter natural gas pipeline loops with 

a combined total length of 

approximately 22.06 miles adjacent to 

its existing pipeline system in Alabama, 

South Carolina, and North Carolina. 

Transco also proposes to construct one 

new compressor station and modify 

eight existing compressor stations in 

Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South 

Carolina, and North Carolina. The 

facilities that would be constructed are 

as follows: 

• Modify Compressor Station 80 in 

Jones County, Mississippi, and 

Compressor Station 90 in Marengo 

County, Alabama; 

• Add additional compression at 

Compressor Station 100 in Chilton 

County, Alabama; 

• Construct new Compressor Station 

135 in Anderson County, South 

Carolina; 

• Modify Compressor Station 110 in 

Randolph County, Alabama; 

Compressor Station 115 in Coweta 

County, Georgia; Compressor Station 

125 in Walton County, Georgia; 

Compressor Station 150 in Iredell 

County, North Carolina; and 

Compressor Station 155 in Davidson 

County, North Carolina; 

• Install Coosa Loop, an 

approximately 4.40 mile segment of 42- 

inch diameter natural gas pipeline, in 

Coosa County, Alabama; 

• Install Cowpens Loop, an 

approximately 9.39 mile segment of 42- 

inch diameter natural gas pipeline, in 

Spartanburg and Cherokee Counties, 

South Carolina; and 

• Install Iredell Loop, an 

approximately 8.27 mile segment of 42- 

inch diameter natural gas pipeline, in 

Iredell and Rowan Counties, North 

Carolina. 

The EA has been placed in the public 

files of the FERC. A limited number of 

copies of the EA are available for 

distribution and public inspection at: 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

Public Reference Room, 888 First Street, 

NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426, 

(202) 502–8371. 

Copies of the EA have been mailed to 

Federal, State, and local agencies; 

public interest groups; interested 

individuals; newspapers and libraries in 

the project area; Native America groups; 

and parties to this proceeding. Any 

person wishing to comment on the EA 

may do so. To ensure consideration 

prior to a Commission decision on the 

proposal, it is important that we receive 

your comments before the date specified 

below. 

You can make a difference by 

providing us with your specific 

comments or concerns about the 85 

North Expansion 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 they will be received in 

Washington, DC on or before July 31, 

2009. 

For your convenience, there are three 

methods in which you can use to submit 

your comments to the Commission. In 

all instances please reference the project 

docket number CP09–57–000 with your 

submission. The Commission 

encourages electronic filing of 

comments and has dedicated eFiling 

expert staff available to assist you at 

202–502–8258 or efiling@ferc.gov. 

(1) You may file your comments 

electronically by using the Quick 

Comment feature, which is located on 

the Commission’s internet Web site at 

http://www.ferc.gov under the link to 

Documents and Filings. A Quick 

Comment is an easy method for 

interested persons to submit text-only 

comments on a project; 

(2) You may file your comments 

electronically by using the eFiling 

feature, which is located on the 

Commission’s Internet Web site at 

http://www.ferc.gov under the link to 

Documents and Filings. eFiling involves 

preparing your submission in the same 

manner as you would if filing on paper, 

and then saving the file on your 

computer’s hard drive. You will attach 

that file as your submission. New 

eFiling users must first create an 

account by clicking ‘‘Sign up’’ or 

‘‘eRegister.’’ You will be asked to select 

the type of filing you are making. A 

comment on a particular project is 

considered a ‘‘Comment on a Filing;’’ or 

(3) You may file your comments via 

mail to the Commission by sending an 

original and two copies of your letter to: 

Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 

First Street, NE., Room 1A, Washington, 

DC 20426. 

Label one copy of the comments for 

the attention of the Gas Branch 3, PJ– 

11.3. 

Comments will be considered by the 

Commission but will not serve to make 

the commentor a party to the 

proceeding. Any person seeking to 

become a party to the proceeding must 

file a motion to intervene pursuant to 

Rule 214 of the Commission’s Rules of 

Practice and Procedures (18 CFR 

385.214).1 Only intervenors have the 

right to seek rehearing of the 

Commission’s decision. 

Affected landowners and parties with 

environmental concerns may be granted 

intervenor status upon showing good 

cause by stating that they have a clear 

and direct interest in this proceeding 

which would not be adequately 

represented by any other parties. You do 

not need intervenor status to have your 

comments considered. 

Additional information about the 

project is available from the 

Commission’s Office of External Affairs, 

at 1–866–208–FERC or on the FERC 

Internet Web site (http://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. Be sure you have selected 

an appropriate date range. For 

assistance, please contact FERC Online 

Support at FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov 

or toll free at 1–866–208–3676, 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 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 128 / Tuesday, July 7, 2009 / Notices 32149 

1The appendix referenced in this notice is not 

being printed in the Federal Register. Copies of the 

appendix are available on the Commission’s 

website at the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link or from the 

Commission’s Public Reference Room, 888 First 

Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, or by calling 

(202) 502–8371. For instructions on connecting to 

eLibrary, refer to the ‘‘Additional Information’’ 

section of this notice. Copies of the appendix were 

sent to all those receiving this notice in the mail. 

Requests for detailed maps of the proposed facilities 

should be made directly to Blue Sky. 

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

environmental staff of the FERC’s Office of Energy 

Projects. 

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. To register for this service, 

go to the eSubscription link on the 

FERC Internet Web site (http:// 

www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm). 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–15895 Filed 7–6–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. CP09–428–000] 

Blue Sky Gas Storage, LLC; Notice of 

Intent To Prepare an Environmental 

Assessment for the Proposed Blue Sky 

Gas Storage Project and Request for 

Comments on Environmental Issues 

June 26, 2009. 

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 Blue Sky Gas Storage Project 

involving the construction and 

operation of facilities by Blue Sky Gas 

Storage, LLC (Blue Sky) in Logan 

County, Colorado. The Blue Sky Gas 

Storage Project involves the conversion 

of a depleted natural gas storage 

reservoir to a natural gas storage facility. 

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. 

This notice announces the opening of 

the scoping process we will use to 

gather input from the public and 

interested agencies on the project. Your 

input will help determine which issues 

need to be evaluated in the EA. Please 

note that the scoping period will close 

on July 27, 2009. 

This notice is being sent to the 

Commission’s current environmental 

mailing list for this project, which 

includes affected landowners; Federal, 

State, and local government 

representatives and agencies; elected 

officials; environmental and public 

interest groups; Native American tribes; 

parties to this proceeding; and local 

libraries and newspapers. State and 

local government representatives are 

asked to notify their constituents of this 

proposed project and to encourage them 

to comment on their areas of concern. 

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 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 prepared by the FERC 

entitled ‘‘An Interstate Natural Gas 

Facility On My Land? What Do I Need 

To Know?’’ was attached to the project 

notice Blue Sky provided to 

landowners. This fact sheet addresses a 

number of typically asked questions, 

including the use of eminent domain 

and how to participate in the 

Commission’s proceedings. It is 

available for viewing on the FERC Web 

site (http://www.ferc.gov). 

Summary of the Proposed Project 

Blue Sky proposes to convert a 

depleted underground natural gas 

production reservoir to a natural gas 

storage facility located approximately 16 

miles north of the town of Sterling, in 

Logan County, Colorado. Blue Sky also 

proposes to construct 5.3 miles of 16- 

inch-diameter header pipeline 

extending north from the storage facility 

to interconnect with Rockies Express 

Pipeline, LLC, and Trailblazer Pipeline, 

LLC’s interstate pipeline systems. In 

addition, Blue Sky proposes to construct 

9.8 miles of 16-inch-diameter header 

pipeline extending southwest to 

interconnect with Kinder Morgan 

Interstate Gas Transmission, LLC’s 

interstate pipeline system. Blue Sky 

would construct one metering station at 

each of the two proposed 

interconnections. The Blue Sky Storage 

Project would have a working gas 

storage capacity of approximately 4.4 

billion cubic feet and be capable of 

delivering gas at a rate of approximately 

100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/ 

d). 

Activities at the storage facility would 

include: 

• Drilling 10 new natural gas storage 

wells; 

• Converting one existing well to a 

water disposal well; 

• Converting two abandoned wells to 

observation wells; 

• Re-entering 18 abandoned 

exploration and production wells to 

confirm proper plugging and 

abandonment; and 

• One 2,370 horsepower compressor 

station. 

High West Energy would construct 

and operate a non-jurisdictional 

electrical distribution line upgrade and 

extension. To service the Blue Sky 

facilities, a one mile new section of new 

electrical distribution line would be 

built eastward of the existing electrical 

distribution line across County Road 33 

into the Blue Sky facility. 

Maps showing the location of the 

proposed project are included as 

appendix 1.1

Land Requirements for Construction 

The proposed storage facility would 

occupy a subsurface area of about 2,757 

acres. Construction of the proposed 

facilities would temporarily disturb a 

total of 263.7 acres of land for the 

aboveground facilities and the pipeline. 

Following construction, about 36.1 acres 

would be maintained for permanent 

operation of the project’s facilities; the 

remaining acreage would be restored 

and allowed to revert to former uses. 

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. This 

process is referred to as ‘‘scoping.’’ The 

main goal of the scoping process is to 

focus the analysis in the EA on the 

important environmental issues. By this 

notice, the Commission staff requests 

public comments on the scope of the 

issues to address in the EA. All 

comments received will be considered 

during the preparation of the EA. 

In the EA, we 2 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; 

• Land use;