Document ID: FERC-2015-0573-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Panhandle Backhual Project and Trunkline Backhaul Project; Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company, LP, et al.
Posted Date: 2015-05-07T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 88 (Thursday, May 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26236-26238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10969]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP15-94-000; Docket No. CP15-96-000; Docket No. CP15-93-
000]

Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company, LP; Trunkline Gas Company, 
LLC; Rover Pipeline LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Proposed Panhandle Backhaul Project and 
Trunkline Backhaul Project, and Request for Comments on Environmental 
Issues

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) will analyze the environmental impacts of the Panhandle 
Backhaul Project and Trunkline Backhaul Project, involving the 
modification and upgrades of existing facilities by Panhandle Eastern 
Pipe Line Company, LP (Panhandle) and Trunkline Gas Company, LLC 
(Trunkline), in the Commission's environmental impact statement (EIS) 
currently under preparation for the Rover Pipeline Project in Docket 
No. CP15-93-000. The Panhandle Backhaul Project would modify existing 
facilities in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The Trunkline 
Backhaul Project would modify existing facilities in Illinois, 
Tennessee, and Mississippi. Both projects would increase backhaul 
capacity to flow natural gas volumes from the Rover Pipeline Project. 
The Commission will use the EIS in its decision-making process to 
determine whether the projects are 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 Panhandle Backhaul Project and

[[Page 26237]]

Trunkline Backhaul Project. You can make a difference by providing us 
with your specific comments or concerns about these two projects. Your 
comments should focus on the potential environmental effects, 
reasonable alternatives, and measures to avoid or lessen environmental 
impacts. Your input will help the Commission staff determine what 
issues they need to evaluate in the EIS. 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 June 1, 2015.
    If you sent comments on these projects to the Commission before the 
opening of these dockets on February 23, 2015, you will need to file 
those comments in Docket No. CP15-94-000 for the Panhandle Backhaul 
Project and Docket No. CP15-96-000 for the Trunkline Backhaul Project 
to ensure they are considered as part of these proceedings.
    This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental 
mailing list for these projects. State and local government 
representatives should notify their constituents of these proposed 
projects and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.
    If you are a landowner receiving this notice, a pipeline company 
representative may contact you about the acquisition of an easement or 
lease to construct, operate, and maintain the proposed facilities. The 
company would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement. 
However, if the Commission approves the projects, 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.
    A fact sheet prepared by the FERC entitled ``An Interstate Natural 
Gas Facility on My Land? What Do I Need To Know?'' is available for 
viewing on the FERC Web site (www.ferc.gov). 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.

Public Participation

    For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to submit 
your comments to the Commission. The Commission encourages electronic 
filing of comments and has expert staff available to assist you at 
(202) 502-8258 or efiling@ferc.gov. Please carefully follow these 
instructions so that your comments are properly recorded.
    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 submitting brief, 
text-only comments on a project;
    You can file your comments electronically by 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.'' If you are filing a comment on a particular project, 
please select ``Comment on a Filing'' as the filing type; or
    You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to the 
following address. Be sure to reference the projects' docket numbers 
(CP15-94-000 for the Panhandle Backhaul Project and CP15-96-000 for the 
Trunkline Backhaul Project) with your submission: Kimberly D. Bose, 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.

Summary of the Proposed Projects

    Panhandle and Trunkline are proposing the upgrades and 
modifications to allow for bi-directional flow of natural gas on their 
existing pipeline systems. Modifications and upgrades along the 
Panhandle system would occur at existing facilities in Lenawee County, 
Michigan; Allen and Defiance Counties, Ohio; Hamilton, Marion, Parke, 
and Vermillion Counties, Indiana; and Douglas County, Illinois. The 
Panhandle Backhaul Project would include:

New pipe, valves, fittings, and associated materials to allow for bi-
directional flow at the Edgerton, Zionsville, Montezuma, and Tuscola 
Compressor Stations;
minor piping, pressure controls, valves, fittings, and associated 
materials at Edgerton 10 Gate, Zionsville 3 Gate, and Tuscola 6 Gate; 
and
tap valves and associated piping for an interconnect with the proposed 
Rover Pipeline Project at the Rover Defiance Compressor Station.

    Modifications and upgrades along the Trunkline system would occur 
at existing facilities in Douglas and Wayne Counties, Illinois; Dyer 
County, Tennessee; and Tate County, Mississippi. The Trunkline Backhaul 
Project would include:

New pipe, valves, fittings, and associated materials to allow for bi-
directional flow at the Johnsonville, Joppa, Dyersburg, and 
Independence Compressor Stations;
new pipe, valves, fittings, meters, regulators, and other associated 
materials at the Bourbon Meter Station; and
tap valves and associated piping for an interconnect with the Panhandle 
Backhaul Project at the Tuscola Compressor Station.

    The general locations of the Panhandle and Trunkline project 
facilities are shown in appendix 1.\1\
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    \1\ 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 for Construction

    Construction of the Panhandle facilities would disturb a total of 
230.2 acres of land on or surrounding Panhandle's permanent right-of-
way or lands leased or owned by Panhandle. Any land disturbance 
associated with the modifications and upgrades would occur within 
previously disturbed areas.
    Construction of the Trunkline facilities would disturb a total of 
204.3 acres of land within the existing facility sites or within 
Trunkline's permanent right-of-way. Any land disturbance associated 
with the modifications and upgrades would occur within previously 
disturbed areas.

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.
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    \2\ ``We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Commission's Office of Energy Projects.
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    In the EIS we will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of 
the construction and operation of the

[[Page 26238]]

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proposed projects under these general headings:

Geology and soils;
land use;
socioeconomics;
water resources,
cultural resources;
vegetation and wildlife;
air quality and noise;
endangered and threatened species;
public safety; and
cumulative impacts

    We will also evaluate reasonable alternatives to the proposed 
projects or portions of the projects, and make recommendations on how 
to lessen or avoid impacts on the various resource areas.
    The FERC staff is in the process of preparing an EIS for the Rover 
Pipeline Project. Five other agencies are participating as cooperating 
agencies in the preparation of this EIS: The U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. With this notice, 
we are asking other agencies with jurisdiction by law and/or special 
expertise with respect to environmental issues related the Panhandle 
and/or Trunkline projects 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.
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    \3\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing 
cooperating agency responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal 
Regulations, Part 1501.6.
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    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, beginning 
on page 2.

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 the applicable State Historic Preservation Office(s) (SHPO), and 
to solicit their views and those of other government agencies, 
interested Indian tribes, and the public on the projects' potential 
effects on historic properties.\4\ The EIS will document our findings 
on the impacts on historic properties and summarize the status of 
consultations under section 106. We note that Panhandle has a signed 
categorical exclusion with Illinois SHPO and Trunkline has signed 
categorical exclusions with Illinois and Tennessee SHPOs. These 
categorical exclusions exempt work activities within existing 
facilities from further review by the SHPOs.
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    \4\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's 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.
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    We will define the project-specific Area of Potential Effects (APE) 
in consultation with the SHPO(s) as the projects develop. 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 these projects will document our findings on the 
impacts on historic properties and summarize the status of 
consultations under section 106.

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 projects. 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.
    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 2).

Becoming an Intervenor

    In addition to involvement in the EIS scoping process, you may want 
to become an ``intervenor'' which is an official party to the 
Commission's proceedings. 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 projects 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., CP15-
94, CP15-96, CP15-93). 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/docs-filing/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: May 1, 2015.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-10969 Filed 5-6-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P