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Northern Natural Gas Company; Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Palmyra North Expansion Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: September 18, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 180)]
[Notices]
[Page 54647-54649]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18se06-62]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP06-433-000]
Northern Natural Gas Company; Notice of Intent to Prepare an
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Palmyra North Expansion
Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues
September 12, 2006.
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 Palmyra North Expansion
Project involving construction and operation of facilities by Northern
Natural Gas Company (Northern) in Clay County, Kansas; Saunders,
Washington, and Otoe Counties, Nebraska; Lincoln County, South Dakota;
and Cherokee and Dickinson Counties, Iowa.\1\ These facilities would
consist of modifications to existing facilities and installation of new
facilities. 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.
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\1\ On August 29, 2006, Northern filed its application with the
Commission under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of
the Commission's regulations. The Commission filed its notice of
application on September 6, 2006.
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[[Page 54648]]
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 pipeline 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 Northern 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 Internet Web site
(http://www.ferc.gov).
Summary of the Proposed Project
Northern proposes to expand the capacity of its Palmyra North
Facilities in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and South Dakota to transport
approximately 32,100 dekatherms per day of natural gas in order to meet
agricultural and ethanol customer demand and to increase incremental
winter peak day service. Northern seeks authority to:
? Add a new Solar Centaur 40S-T4700 simple cycle turbine to
a gas-fired-turbine compressor and relocate the compressor and all
associated facilities from Clifton Compressor Station in Clay County,
Kansas to Palmyra Compressor Station in Otoe County, Nebraska;
? Install a dual-run-regulator station with associated
piping around an existing block valve at mile post (MP) 47.6 in
Saunders County, Nebraska;
? Install a flow-limiting-control-valve to its existing
Cargill Town Border Station at MP 16.9 in Washington County, Nebraska;
? Install a new meter station to an existing Northern line
at MP 65.2 in Lincoln County, South Dakota;
? Install a new 9,240-foot-long, 6-inch-diameter branch line
to existing pipelines and the Town Border Station to an existing
Northern mainline and install a new 6-inch-diameter branch line in
Dickinson County, Iowa; and
? Connect a 200-foot-long, 4-inch-diameter pipeline to an
existing Town Border Station with a new 4-inch-diameter branch line and
take-off valve in Cherokee County, Iowa.
Northern has proposed several nonjurisdictional facilities to be
associated with the Palmyra North Expansion Project that include two
new ethanol plants, one ethanol plant expansion, an expansion of an
integrated corn processing plant, and a 20-mile-long, 6-inch-diameter
pipeline to their Millennium Plant.
The general location of the project facilities is shown in Appendix
1.\2\
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\2\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being
printed in the Federal Register. Copies of all appendices, other
than Appendix 1 (maps), are available on the Commission's Web site
at the ``eLibrary'' link 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. Copies of the appendices were sent to all
those receiving this notice in the mail.
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Land Requirements for Construction
Project activities will occur on property owned by Northern, with
the majority of the project activities occurring within Northern's
existing facilities. Construction of the proposed facilities would
impact about 85.0 acres of land. Following construction, approximately
0.5 acres of new land would be maintained for operation. The remaining
84.5 acres of land would be restored and allowed to revert to its
former use.
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 of Intent, the Commission staff
requests public comments on the scope of the issues to address in the
EA. All comments received are considered during the preparation of the
EA. State and local government representatives are encouraged to notify
their constituents of this proposed action and encourage them to
comment on their areas of concern.
In the EA, we \3\ will discuss impacts that could occur as a result
of the construction and operation of the proposed project under these
general headings:
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\3\ ``We'', ``us'', and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff
of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP).
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? Geology and Soils
? Land Use
? Water Resources and Wetlands
? Cultural Resources
? Vegetation and Wildlife
? Air Quality and Noise
? Threatened and Endangered Species
? 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 the 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 Federal, state, and local agencies, public
interest groups, interested individuals, affected landowners,
newspapers, libraries, and the Commission's official service list for
this proceeding. A comment period will be allotted for 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.
Currently Identified Environmental Issues
We have already identified several issues that we think deserve
attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed facilities and
the environmental information provided by Northern. This preliminary
list of issues may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.
? A total of 0.5 acre of agricultural land would convert to
industrial use.
? Air and noise quality may be affected by added facilities.
Also, we have made a preliminary decision to not address the
impacts of the nonjurisdictional facilities. We will briefly describe
their location and summarize the status of state and local
environmental reviews in the EA.
Public Participation
You can make a difference by providing us with your specific
comments or concerns about the project. By becoming a commentor, your
concerns will be addressed in the EA and considered by the Commission.
You should focus on the potential environmental effects of the
proposal, alternatives to the proposal (including alternative
locations), and measures to avoid or lessen environmental impact. The
more specific your comments, the more useful they will be. Please
carefully follow these instructions to
[[Page 54649]]
ensure that your comments are received in time and properly recorded:
? Send an original and two copies of your letter to: Magalie
R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First
St., NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
? Label one copy of the comments for the attention of OEP/
DG2E, Gas Branch 3.
? Reference Docket No. CP06-433-000.
? Mail your comments so that they will be received in
Washington, DC on or before October 14, 2006.
Please note that we are continuing to experience delays in mail
deliveries from the U.S. Postal Service. As a result, we will include
all comments that we receive within a reasonable time frame in our
environmental analysis of this project. However, the Commission
strongly encourages electronic filing of any comments or interventions
or protests to this proceeding. See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the
instructions on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov under
the ``e-Filing'' link and the link to the User's Guide. Before you can
file comments you will need to create a free account which can be
created online.
We may mail the EA for comment. If you are interested in receiving
it, please return the Information Request (Appendix 3). 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 official party to the proceeding, or ``intervenor''. To
become an intervenor you must file a motion to intervene according to
Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR
385.214). Intervenors have the right to seek rehearing of the Commission's
decision. Motions to Intervene should be electronically submitted using
the Commission's eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov.
Persons without Internet access should send an original and 14 copies
of their motion to the Secretary of the Commission at the address
indicated previously. Persons filing Motions to Intervene on or before
the comment deadline indicated above must send a copy of the motion to
the Applicant. All filings, including late interventions, submitted
after the comment deadline must be served on the Applicant and all
other intervenors identified on the Commission's service list for this
proceeding. Persons on the service list with e-mail addresses may be
served electronically; others must be served a hard copy of the filing.
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 environmental comments considered.
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 proposed 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 distances defined in the
Commission's regulations of certain aboveground facilities. By this
notice we are also asking governmental agencies, especially those in
Appendix 2, to express their interest in becoming cooperating agencies
for the preparation of the EA.
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
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 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 http://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.
Finally, public meetings or site visits will be posted on the
Commission's calendar located at http://www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/
EventsList.aspx along with other related information.
Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6-15430 Filed 9-15-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P