Document ID: FERC-2022-1144-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Environmental Assessments; Availability, etc.: Equitrans, LP, Swarts Complex Abandonment Project Amendment
Posted Date: 2022-09-09T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 174 (Friday, September 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55421-55422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19470]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP22-162-000; CP18-549-001]

Equitrans, L.P.; Notice of Availability of the Environmental 
Assessment for the Proposed Swarts Complex Abandonment Project 
Amendment

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for the 
Swarts Complex Abandonment Project Amendment (Project), proposed by 
Equitrans, L.P. (Equitrans) in the above-referenced docket. Equitrans 
requests authorization for an amendment to an existing abandonment 
authorization issued by FERC on March 20, 2019 in Docket No. CP18-549-
000 (2019 Order) to enable Equitrans to plug and abandon five existing 
active natural gas injection/withdrawal (I/W) wells in Equitrans' 
Swarts Storage Field in Greene County, Pennsylvania. The 2019 Order 
authorized the abandonment-by-sale of eighteen I/W wells and associated 
well lines and appurtenances to the CONSOL mining companies, which 
operate an underground coal mine adjacent to the Swarts Storage Field. 
Equitrans now requests authorization to abandon five of the eighteen I/
W wells that were not abandoned by the CONSOL mining companies.
    The EA assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
abandonment activities of the Project in accordance with the 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. 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 proposed Project includes the following activities:
     plug and abandon I/W Wells 3791, 3792, 3793, 3795, and 
3797;
     abandon by removal the aboveground appurtenances at each 
wellhead;
     abandon-in-place about 2,400 feet of associated 6- to 12-
inch-diameter well line/pipeline; and

[[Page 55422]]

     remove all surface connections and cut and cap the 
pipeline ends.
    The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability of the 
EA to federal, state, and local government representatives and 
agencies; elected officials; environmental and public interest groups; 
Native American tribes; potentially affected landowners and other 
interested individuals and groups; and libraries in the Project area. 
The EA is only available in electronic format. It may be viewed and 
downloaded from the FERC's website (www.ferc.gov), on the natural gas 
environmental documents page (https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/natural-gas/environment/environmental-documents). In addition, the EA 
may be accessed by using the eLibrary link on the FERC's website. Click 
on the eLibrary link (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search), 
select ``General Search'' and enter the docket number in the ``Docket 
Number'' field (i.e., CP22-162 or CP18-549). Be sure you have selected 
an appropriate date range. For assistance, please contact FERC Online 
Support at [email protected] or toll free at (866) 208-3676, 
or for TTY, contact (202) 502-8659.
    The EA is not a decision document. It presents Commission staff's 
independent analysis of the environmental issues for the Commission to 
consider when addressing the merits of all issues in this proceeding. 
Any person wishing to comment on the EA may do so. Your comments should 
focus on the EA's disclosure and discussion of 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 the Commission has the opportunity to 
consider your comments prior to making its decision on this Project, it 
is important that we receive your comments in Washington, DC on or 
before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on October 3, 2022.
    For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to file 
your comments with the Commission. The Commission encourages electronic 
filing of comments and has staff available to assist you at (866) 208-
3676 or [email protected]. Please carefully follow these 
instructions so that your comments are properly recorded.
    (1) You can file your comments electronically using the eComment 
feature on the Commission's website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to 
FERC Online. This is an easy method for submitting brief, text-only 
comments on a project;
    (2) You can also file your comments electronically using the 
eFiling feature on the Commission's website (www.ferc.gov) under the 
link to FERC Online. 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 Commission. Be sure to reference the Project docket number (CP22-
42-000) on your letter. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service 
must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 
20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
    Filing environmental comments will not give you intervenor status, 
but you do not need intervenor status to have your comments considered. 
Only intervenors have the right to seek rehearing or judicial review of 
the Commission's decision. At this point in this proceeding, the 
timeframe for filing timely intervention requests has expired. Any 
person seeking to become a party to the proceeding must file a motion 
to intervene out-of-time pursuant to Rule 214(b)(3) and (d) of the 
Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures (18 CFR 385.214(b)(3) and 
(d)) and show good cause why the time limitation should be waived. 
Motions to intervene are more fully described at https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/ferc-online/how-guides.
    Additional information about the Project is available from the 
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208-FERC, or on the 
FERC website (www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. The eLibrary link 
also provides access to the texts of all 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 https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview to 
register for eSubscription.

    Dated: September 2, 2022.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-19470 Filed 9-8-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P