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; 

32150 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 128 / Tuesday, July 7, 2009 / Notices 

• Water resources, fisheries and 

wetlands; 

• Cultural resources; 

• Vegetation and wildlife; 

• Air quality and noise; 

• Threatened and endangered 

species; and 

• Public safety. 

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 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 those on our 

environmental mailing list (see 

discussion on how to remain on our 

environmental mailing list on page 5). A 

comment period will be allotted for the 

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 below. 

With this notice, we are asking 

agencies with jurisdiction and/or 

special expertise with respect to 

environmental issues to formally 

cooperate with us in the preparation of 

the EA. These agencies may choose to 

participate once they have evaluated the 

proposal relative to their 

responsibilities. 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 Identified Environmental 

Issues 

We have already identified issues we 

think deserve attention based on a 

preliminary review of the proposed 

facilities and the environmental 

information provided by Blue Sky. This 

includes potential cumulative impacts 

associated with another storage project 

in the same general area of Logan 

County that has been proposed by East 

Cheyenne Gas Storage, LLC (docket 

number PF09–12). 

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 in your comments 

so that they will be received in 

Washington, DC on or before July 27, 

2009. 

For your convenience, there are three 

methods which you can use to submit 

your comments to the Commission. 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 at 

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

called ‘‘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, that is listed under the 

‘‘Documents and Filings’’ link. 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 on ‘‘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 with 

the Commission via mail 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. 

In all instances please reference the 

project docket number (CP09–428–000) 

with your submission. Label one copy of 

the comments for the attention of Gas 

Branch 1, PJ–11.1. 

Environmental Mailing List 

An effort is being made to send this 

notice to all individuals, organizations, 

and government entities interested in 

and/or potentially affected by the 

project. This includes all landowners 

who are potential right-of-way grantors, 

whose property may be used 

temporarily for project purposes, or who 

own homes within certain distances of 

the aboveground facilities (as defined in 

the Commission’s regulations). 

If you do not want to send comments 

at this time but still want to remain on 

the environmental mailing list, please 

return the Information Request 

(appendix 2). 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 ‘‘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 a 

Commission proceeding by filing a 

request to intervene. Instructions for 

becoming an intervenor are included in 

the User’s Guide under the ‘‘e-Filing’’ 

link on the Commission’s Web site. 

Additional Information 

Additional information about the 

project is available from the 

Commission’s Office of External Affairs, 

at 1–866–208–FERC or on the Internet at 

http://www.ferc.gov using the 

‘‘eLibrary’’ link. Click on the eLibrary 

link, then on ‘‘General Search’’ and 

enter the docket number excluding the 

last three digits (i.e., CP09–428) 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 

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 http://www.ferc.gov/ 

esubscribenow.htm. 

Finally, any public meetings or site 

visits will be posted on the 

Commission’s calendar located at http:// 

www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/Events

List.aspx along with other related 

information. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–15893 Filed 7–6–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P