[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 37 (Thursday, February 24, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10350-10352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-4081]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP11-46-000]
Kern River Gas Transmission Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare
an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Mountain Pass Lateral
Project, Request for Comments on Environmental Issues and Notice of
Onsite Environmental Review
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 Mountain Pass Lateral Project
involving construction and operation of facilities by Kern River Gas
Transmission Company (Kern River) in San Bernardino County, California.
This EA will be used by the Commission in its decisionmaking 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 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 March 18, 2011.
Site Visit
On March 8, 2011, the Office of Energy Projects (OEP) staff will
conduct a site visit of the planned Mountain Pass Lateral Project. We
will inspect accessible locations along the proposed pipeline route, as
feasible. Examination of the proposed pipeline route will be by
automobile, remote observation from vantage point(s) at higher
elevations relative to the proposed route, and on foot. Representatives
from BLM, Kern River and Molycorp will accompany the OEP staff.
All interested parties may attend. Those planning to attend must
provide their own transportation (vehicles with high clearance are
required) and should meet at the following time and location: Tuesday,
March 8, 2011, 10 a.m. (PST), Location: Primm Valley Golf Club,
Directions: (Interstate 15 Exit 291, Yates Well Road, right at
stop sign; follow signs; meet in parking lot past entrance gate).
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.
Summary of the Proposed Project
Kern River proposes to construct approximately 8.6 miles of 8-inch
lateral pipeline in San Bernardino County, California extending from
the existing Kern River mainline along the western edge of Ivanpah
Valley and terminating at the active mining operation on property owned
by Molycorp Minerals, LLC (Molycorp). The lateral pipeline would have a
design capacity of 24.27 million standard cubic feet per day. According
to Kern River, its project and the natural gas it delivers to the
Molycorp facility would provide reliable power generation and steam
production in order to facilitate
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Molycorp's existing rare earth separations process.
The Mountain Pass Lateral Project would consist of the following
facilities:
Approximately 8.6 miles of 8-inch lateral pipeline;
A tap assembly and pig launcher \1\ within and adjacent to
Kern River's existing mainline pipeline system right-of-way at milepost
585.77; and
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\1\ A ``pig'' is a tool that is inserted into and moves through
the pipeline, and is used for cleaning the pipeline, internal
inspections, or other purposes.
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A new meter station and pig receiver on the existing
Molycorp property.
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 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 proposed facilities would disturb about 93.51
acres of land for the aboveground facilities and the pipeline. The
majority of construction would occur on land managed by the U.S.
Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM); remaining
construction would occur on property owned by Molycorp. Following
construction, about 51.97 acres would be maintained for permanent
operation of the project's facilities; the remaining acreage would be
restored and allowed to revert to former uses.
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
\3\ 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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\3\ ``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 proposed 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 reasonable 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 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 4.
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, the BLM Needles Field Office has expressed its intention to
participate as a cooperating agency in the preparation of the EA to
satisfy its 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(s), 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.\4\ We will define the project-specific Area of Potential
Effects (APE) in consultation with the SHPO(s) 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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\4\ 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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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 Kern River. This preliminary
list of issues may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.
Threatened endangered species (including desert tortoise)
habitat
Alternative pipeline routes
Access road improvements
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 March 18,
2011.
For your convenience, there are three methods which you can use to
submit your comments to the Commission. In all instances please
reference the project docket number (CP11-46-000) 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 Web site 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;
(2) You may file your comments electronically by using the eFiling
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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 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 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
proposed project. If the EA is published for distribution, copies will
be sent to the environmental mailing list for public review and
comment.
Becoming an Intervenor
In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want
to become an ``intervenor'' which is an official party to the
Commission's proceeding. 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
included in the User's Guide under the ``e-filing'' link on the
Commission's website.
Additional Information
Additional information about the project is available from the
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208-FERC, or on the
FERC Web site at 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
(i.e., CP11-46). 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 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, any additional 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.
Dated: February 16, 2011.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-4081 Filed 2-23-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P