[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 158 (Tuesday, August 17, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50758-50760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-20207]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. PF10-15-000]
Leader One Energy, LLC; Supplemental Notice of Intent To Prepare
an Environmental Assessment for the Planned Leader One Gas Storage
Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues
August 6, 2010.
On July 30, 2010, Leader One Energy, LLC (Leader One) filed its
intent to modify the Leader One Gas Storage Project in Adams County,
Colorado, by adding more pipeline facilities. Leader One has also
revised the design capacity of the planned storage field. On April 30,
2010, a Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment
(original NOI) was issued for the project as originally planned. This
Supplemental Notice of Intent (supplemental NOI) addresses these
changes. The original NOI is attached to this document, so certain
information included in it will not be repeated in the supplemental NOI
including the original project description, information about becoming
an intervenor, and how to find additional information about the
project.
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 Leader One Gas Storage Project
involving construction and operation of the facilities planned by
Leader One, including the supplemental 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.
This notice announces the opening of the scoping process the
Commission will use to gather input from the public and interested
agencies on the supplemental facilities for the project. Your input
will help the Commission staff determine what issues need to be
evaluated in the EA. Please note that the scoping period will close on
September 7, 2010.
This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental
mailing list for this project. State and local government
representatives are asked to notify their constituents of this planned
project and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.
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 planned facilities.
The 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?'' is available for
viewing on the FERC Web site (http://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.
Summary of the Planned Project
Leader One plans to convert a depleted natural gas reservoir to a
new natural gas storage facility and, also, to construct and operate
about 17.6 miles of 24-inch-diameter pipeline, the Leader One Header
Pipeline, to connect the storage facility to Colorado Interstate Gas
Company's (CIG) High Plains Pipeline. The storage facility would have a
revised design of 13 billion cubic foot (Bcf) storage capacity of which
[[Page 50759]]
about 9.75 Bcf would be working gas and 3.25 Bcf would be base gas.
Leader One estimates that the maximum withdrawal rate would be up to
250,000 million cubic feet per day. The planned storage facilities are
more fully described in the original NOI. According to Leader One, its
project would provide natural gas storage services to meet baseload,
seasonal and daily fluctuations in gas demand, including existing peak
day demand, and anticipated load growth demand for local gas
distribution and power generation in the Front Range of Colorado market
area.
The planned supplemental facilities would include about 4.8 miles
of 24-inch-diameter pipeline and related facilities referred to as the
Leader One Header Pipeline Extension. It would extend northward from
the Leader One Header Pipeline near milepost 15.95 to interconnect with
CIG's Line 52.
The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix
1.\1\
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\1\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being
printed in the Federal Register. Copies of appendices were sent to
all those receiving this notice in the mail and are available at
http://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 supplemental facilities would disturb an
additional 57.9 acres of land. Following construction, about 29.0 acres
would be maintained for permanent operation of the project's
supplemental facilities; the remaining acreage would be restored and
allowed to revert to former uses. Additional land would be required for
construction and operation of the aboveground facilities, access roads,
and additional temporary workspaces.
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
\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 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. All comments
received will be considered during the preparation of the EA.
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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 EA we will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of
the construction and operation of the planned project under these
general headings:
Geology and soils;
Land use;
Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands;
Cultural resources;
Vegetation and wildlife;
Air quality and noise;
Endangered and threatened species; and
Public safety.
We will also evaluate possible alternatives to the planned project
or portions of the project, and make recommendations on how to lessen
or avoid impacts on the various resource areas.
Although no formal application has been filed, we have already
initiated our NEPA review under the Commission's pre-filing process.
The purpose of the pre-filing process is to encourage early involvement
of interested stakeholders and to identify and resolve issues before an
application is filed with the FERC. As part of our pre-filing review,
we have begun to contact some federal and state agencies to discuss
their involvement in the scoping process and the preparation of the EA.
Our independent analysis of the issues will be presented in the EA.
The EA will be placed in the public record and, depending on the
comments received during the scoping process, may be published and
distributed to the public. A comment period will be allotted if the EA
is published for review. 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 beginning on page 5.
With this notice, we are asking agencies with jurisdiction and/or
special expertise with respect to environmental issues to formally
cooperate with us in the preparation of the EA. These agencies may
choose to participate once they have evaluated the proposal relative to
their responsibilities. 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.
Currently, no agencies have expressed their intention to participate as
a cooperating agency in the preparation of the EA to satisfy their NEPA
responsibilities related to this project.
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 applicable State Historic Preservation Office, 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.\3\ We will define the project-specific Area of Potential
Effects (APE) in consultation with the SHPO as the project is further
developed. 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 EA for this project will document our
findings on the impacts on historic properties and summarize the status
of consultations under section 106.
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\3\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's regulations
are at Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 800. Historic
properties are defined in those regulations as any prehistoric or
historic district, site, building, structure, or object included in
or eligible for inclusion in the National Register for Historic
Places.
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Public Participation
You can make a difference by providing us with your specific
comments or concerns about the project. 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 they will be received in Washington, DC, on or before September 7,
2010.
For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to submit
your comments to the Commission. In all instances, please reference the
project docket number (PF10-15-000) with your submission. The
Commission encourages electronic filing of comments and has expert
eFiling staff available to assist you at (202) 502-8258 or
[email protected].
(1) You may file your comments electronically by using the eComment
feature, which is located on the Commission's website at http://www.ferc.gov under the link to Documents and Filings. An eComment is an
easy method for interested persons to submit brief, text-only comments
on a project;
[[Page 50760]]
(2) You may file your comments electronically by using the eFiling
feature, which is located on the Commission's website at http://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 will be asked to select the
type of filing you are making. A comment on a particular project is
considered a ``Comment on a Filing''; or
(3) You may file a paper copy of your comments at the following
address: 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 and public interest groups; Native American Tribes; other
interested parties; and local 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
planned project.
If the EA is published for distribution, copies 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).
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-20207 Filed 8-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P