[Federal Register: May 5, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 86)]
[Notices]
[Page 23862-23863]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05my05-56]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP05-54-000]
Wyoming Interstate Company, Ltd.; Notice of Availability of the
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Piceance Basin Expansion
Project
April 29, 2005.
The environmental staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC or Commission) has prepared a draft environmental impact
statement (EIS) on the interstate natural gas pipeline transmission
facilities proposed by Wyoming Interstate Company, Ltd. (WIC) in Moffat
and Rio Blanco Counties, Colorado, and Sweetwater County, Wyoming, in
the above-referenced docket.
The draft EIS was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Its purpose is to inform the
Commission, the public, and other permitting agencies about the
potential adverse and beneficial environmental impacts associated with
the proposed Piceance Basin Expansion Project (Piceance Project) and
its alternatives, and to recommend practical, reasonable, and
appropriate mitigation measures which would avoid or reduce any
significant adverse impacts to the maximum extent practicable and,
where feasible, to less than significant levels. The draft EIS
concludes that the proposed project, with appropriate mitigating
measures as recommended, would have limited adverse environmental
impact.
The U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is
participating as a cooperating agency in the preparation of the draft
EIS because the project would cross Federal lands under BLM
administration in Wyoming and Colorado. The draft EIS will be used by
the BLM to consider the issuance of a right-of-way (ROW) grant for the
portion of the project on federal lands. While the conclusions and
recommendations presented in the draft EIS were developed with input
from the BLM as a cooperating agency, the BLM will present its own
conclusions and recommendations in its Record of Decision for the
project.
Proposed Project
The Piceance Project involves the construction and operation of a
new interstate natural gas pipeline system that would extend between
the existing Colorado Interstate Gas Company (CIG) Greasewood
Compressor Station in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, and the existing CIG
Wamsutter Compressor Station in Sweetwater County, Wyoming.\1\
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\1\ Both WIC and CIG are affiliates owned by El Paso
Corporation.
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The draft EIS assesses the potential environmental effects of the
construction and operation of the following facilities in Colorado and
Wyoming:
About 141.7 miles of 24-inch-diameter new pipeline with
89.8 miles located in Colorado (Rio Blanco and Moffat Counties) and
51.9 miles located in Wyoming (Sweetwater County);
Additional compression to be installed at the existing CIG
Greasewood Compressor Station in Colorado;
Four meter stations at interconnections with other
pipeline systems (two associated with the CIG Greasewood Compressor
Station, two at the CIG Wamsutter Compressor Station);
Three pigging facilities (one associated with each
compressor station and a new facility at milepost 54.0 near County Road
4 in Moffat County, Colorado);
Nine mainline valves (one valve at each of the two
existing compressor stations and seven valves along the pipeline ROW);
and
Other associated facilities, such as access roads and
communication towers.
The proposed project would be capable of transporting up to 350,000
dekatherms of natural gas per day (Dth/d) from the CIG Greasewood
Compressor Station to interconnections at Wamsutter, Wyoming with the
CIG and WIC interstate transmission pipeline systems that serve markets
east and west of Wamsutter.
Comment Procedures and Public Meetings
Any person wishing to comment on the draft EIS may do so. To ensure
consideration of your comments on the proposal in the final EIS, it is
important that we receive your comments before the date specified
below. Please follow these instructions carefully to ensure that your
comments are received in time and are properly recorded:
Send an original and two copies of your comments to:
Magalie R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street, NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426;
Reference Docket No. CP05-54-000;
Label one copy of your comments for the attention of Gas
Branch 1, PJ11.1; and
Mail your comments so that they will be received in
Washington, D.C. on or before June 20, 2005.
The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing of any
comments or interventions or protests to this proceeding. See 18 Code
of Federal Regulations (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. Prepare your submission
in the same manner as you would if filing on paper and save it to a
file on your hard drive. Before you can file comments, you will need to
[[Page 23863]]
create a free account, which can be created by clicking on ``Login to
File'' and then ``New User Account.''
In addition to or in lieu of sending written comments, the
Commission invites you to attend a public comment meeting in the
project area. Meetings are scheduled as shown below.
Schedule for Public Comment Meetings
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Date and time Location
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Tuesday, June 7, 2005 at 7 p.m. (MST)..... Moffat County Extension
Office--CSU 539 Barclay
Street, Craig, CO 81625.
Wednesday, June 8, 2005 at 7 p.m. (MST)... Desert School 235 Bugas,
Wamsutter, WY 82336.
Thursday, June 9, 2005 at 7 p.m. (MST).... Fairfield Center 200 Main
Street, Meeker, CO 81641.
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Interested groups and individuals are encouraged to attend and
present oral comments on the draft EIS. Transcripts of the meetings
will be prepared.
After these comments are reviewed and considered, modifications
will be made to the draft EIS and it will be published and distributed
as a final EIS. The final EIS will contain responses to timely comments
filed on the draft EIS.
Comments will be considered by the Commission but will not serve to
make the commentor a party to the proceeding. Any person seeking to
become a party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene
pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and
Procedure (18 CFR 385.214). Only intervenors have the right to seek
rehearing of the Commission's decision.
Anyone may intervene in this proceeding based on the draft EIS. You
must file your request to intervene as specified above.\2\ You do not
need intervenor status to have your comments considered.
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\2\ Interventions may also be filed electronically via the
Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing
comments electronically.
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The draft EIS has been placed in the public files of the FERC and
is available for public inspection at: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Public Reference Room, 888 First Street, NE., Room 2A,
Washington, DC 20426. (202) 502-8371.
A limited number of copies are available from the FERC's Public
Reference Room identified above. In addition, copies of the draft EIS
have been mailed to federal, state, and local agencies; public interest
groups; individuals and affected landowners; libraries; newspapers; and
parties to this proceeding.
Additional information about the proposed 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 (CP05-54) 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 on the FERC Internet Web site
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 the eSubscription link on the FERC Internet Web
site.
Information concerning the involvement of the BLM is available from
Tom Hurshman, BLM Project Manager, at (970) 240-5345.
Linda Mitry,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-2187 Filed 5-4-05; 8:45 am]
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