Document ID: FERC-2012-0169-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Tioga Area Expansion and Sabinsville to Morrisville Projects
Posted Date: 2012-01-31T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 31, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4803-4805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2006]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. CP12-19-000; CP12-20-000]

Dominion Transmission, Inc.; Notice of Intent to Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed TIOGA Area Expansion and 
Sabinsville to Morrisville Projects, Request for Comments on 
Environmental Issues, and Notice of Public Scoping Meeting

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) that will 
discuss the environmental affects associated with the construction and 
operation of the Tioga Area Expansion and Sabinsville to Morrisville 
Projects (Projects) with facilities in Pennsylvania and New York 
proposed by Dominion Transportation Inc. (DTI) in the above-referenced 
dockets. Although the Projects are proposed to serve different 
customers, we \1\ are combining them

[[Page 4804]]

into a single EA because the facilities adjoin in the same geographic 
region and will affect a similar set of environmental resources. The 
Commission will use this EA in its decision-making process to determine 
whether the Projects are in the public convenience and necessity.
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    \1\ ``We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Commission's Office of Energy Projects.
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    This notice announces the opening of the scoping process the 
Commission will use to gather input from the public and interested 
agencies on the Projects. Your input will help the Commission staff 
determine what issues they need to evaluate in the EA. Please note that 
the scoping period will close on February 24, 2012.
    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 make verbal 
comments at the FERC public scoping meeting scheduled as follows: 
Wednesday, February 15, 2012, beginning at 6:30 p.m., Wellsboro High 
School Auditorium, 227 Nichols St., Wellsboro, PA 16901.
    This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental 
mailing list for the Projects. State and local government 
representatives should notify their constituents about the proposed 
Projects and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.
    If you are a landowner receiving this notice, a DTI representative 
may contact you 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 
Commission approves the project, that approval conveys with it the 
right of eminent domain. Therefore, if easement negotiations fail to 
produce an agreement, DTI could initiate condemnation proceedings where 
compensation would be determined in accordance with state law.
    DTI provided landowners with a fact sheet prepared by the FERC 
entitled ``An Interstate Natural Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I 
Need To Know?'' 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 also available for viewing on 
the FERC's internet Web site (www.ferc.gov).

Summary of the Proposed Project

    The Tioga Area Expansion Project would provide up to 270,000 
dekatherms-per-day (Dth/d) in firm transportation services to Shell 
Energy North America and Penn-Virginia Oil & Gas Company. The main 
facilities proposed by DTI in Docket No. CP12-19-000 would include:
     Installation of about 15 miles of new 24-inch-diameter 
pipeline (TL-610 Extension 1) beginning at Tennessee Gas Pipeline's 
(TGP) existing Sabinsville Meter Station and running south across 
portions of Clymer, Gaines, and Elk Townships in Tioga County, 
Pennsylvania;
     Installation of a new launcher and receiver at the 
southern terminus of the TL-610 Extension 1 Pipeline, at milepost (MP) 
15.0, in Elk Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania;
     Replacement of regulators and upgrade of monitor controls 
at the existing Boom Compressor Station in Lawrence Township, Tioga 
County, Pennsylvania;
     Installation of about 800 feet of new 24-inch-diameter 
pipeline (TL-614) between DTI's existing LN-50 pipeline and its 
existing Greenlick Compressor Station in Stewardson Township, Potter 
County, Pennsylvania;
     Installation of about 900 feet of new 24-inch-diameter 
pipeline (TL-615) between Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation's 
existing mainline and DTI's existing Crayne Compressor Station, in 
Franklin Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania;
     valve additions at DTI's existing Finnefrock Compressor 
Station in Leidy Township, Clinton County, Pennsylvania; and
     valve replacement and upgrade of monitor controls at DTI's 
existing Lindley Gate, in Steuben County, New York.
    The Sabinsville to Morrisville Project would provide up to 920,000 
Dth/d to TGP at a new receipt point. The main facilities proposed by 
DTI in Docket No. CP12-20-000 would include:
     Installation of about 3.6 miles of new 24-inch-diameter 
pipeline (TL-610), between the existing TGP Sabinsville Station and 
DTI's existing Sabinsville Gas Storage Station, in Clymer Township, 
Tioga County, Pennsylvania.
    The general location of the Projects facilities is shown in 
Appendix 1.\2\
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    \2\ The appendices referenced in this notice will not appear in 
the Federal Register. Copies of 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.
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Land Requirements

    Construction of the Projects would disturb a total of about 241 
acres of land for the pipelines and at the aboveground facilities. 
Following construction, DTI would retain about 125 acres as part of its 
permanent easement for the operation and maintenance of facilities. The 
remaining acres used temporarily during construction would be restored 
and revert back to their former uses. Almost all of the proposed 
pipeline routes would be adjacent or parallel to existing pipelines, 
utility, or road rights-of-way.

The EA Process

    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the 
Commission to take into account the environmental affects that could 
result from an action whenever it considers the issuance of a 
Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. The 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 requests public 
comments on the scope of the issues to address in the EA. We will 
consider all filed comments during the preparation of the EA.
    The EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the 
construction and operation of the proposed Projects under these general 
headings:
     Geology and soils;
     water resources and wetlands;
     vegetation and wildlife;
     cultural resources;
     land use;
     air quality and noise;
     public safety; and
     cumulative impacts.
    The EA will present our independent analysis of the issues. The 
document will include our recommendations regarding measures to avoid 
or lessen adverse impacts on specific resources. In addition, in the EA 
we will evaluate feasible and reasonable alternatives to the proposed 
Projects, or portions of the Projects.
    The EA will be available to the public through the ``eLibrary'' 
link on the FERC's Internet Web site. Depending on the comments 
received during the scoping process, we may also publish and distribute 
the EA to the environmental mailing list (see below) for an allotted 
comment period. We will consider all comments on the EA before making 
our recommendations to the Commission. To ensure we have the

[[Page 4805]]

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 of 
this project to formally cooperate with us in the preparation of the 
EA.\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.
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    \3\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing 
cooperating agency responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR), Part 1501.6.
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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 consultations 
with the Pennsylvania and New York 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. For typical natural gas 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 EA for these Projects will identify 
historic properties that may be affected, and summarize the status of 
consultations under section 106.
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    \4\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's regulations 
are at 36 CFR 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.
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Public Participation

    You can make a difference by providing us with your specific 
comments or concerns about the Projects. 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 24, 2012.
    For your convenience, there are three methods which you can use to 
submit your comments to the Commission. In all instances please 
reference the Projects docket numbers (CP12-19-000 and CP12-20-000) 
with your submission. The Commission encourages electronic filing of 
comments through the FERC's Internet Web site, and has expert 
technology staff available to assist you at (202) 502-8258 or 
efiling@ferc.gov.
    (1) You can file your comments electronically using the eComment 
feature 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 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: 
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 groups and non-government organizations; Indian 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 
proposed Projects.
    If we publish and distribute the EA, copies will be sent to the 
environmental mailing list for 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 2).

Becoming an Intervenor

    In addition to involvement in the environmental 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 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.

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 at 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., CP12-
19). 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 now 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/esubscribenow.htm.
    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 24, 2012.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-2006 Filed 1-30-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P