Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 57 / Friday, March 24, 2006 / Notices

14882

Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 57 / Friday, March 24, 2006 / Notices

docket(s). For assistance with any FERC

Online service, please e-mail

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call

(866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY, call

(202) 502–8659.

Magalie R. Salas,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. E6–4240 Filed 3–23–06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP06–64–000]

Central New York Oil and Gas

Company, LLC; Notice of Intent To

Prepare an Environmental Assessment

for the Proposed Stagecoach Phase II

Expansion Project and Request for

Comments on Environmental Issues

and Notice of Site Visit

wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES

March 17, 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 Stagecoach Phase II Expansion

Project, involving construction and

operation of facilities by Central New

York Oil and Gas, LLC (CNYOG) in

Tioga County, New York and Bradford

County, Pennsylvania.1 The EA will be

used by the Commission in its decisionmaking process to determine whether

the project is the public convenience

and necessity.

This notice announces the opening of

the scoping period that will be used to

gather environmental input from the

public and interested agencies on the

project. Your input will help the

Commission staff determine which

issues need to be evaluated in the EA.

Please note that the scoping period will

close on April 17, 2006.

An effort is being made to send this

notice to all individuals, organizations,

Native American Tribes, 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. We encourage

government representatives to notify

their constituents of this planned

1 CNYOG’s application in Docket No. CP06–64–

000 was filed with the Commission under section

7 of the Natural Gas Act.

VerDate Aug<31>2005

18:26 Mar 23, 2006

Jkt 208001

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

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 (CNYOG) 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

The entire Stagecoach Storage Field

would consist of a total of six reservoirs

(‘‘pools’’), two of which and were

converted into storage reservoirs as part

of the original Stagecoach Phase I

construction, and four of which are

nearly depleted production reservoirs

and would be added to the Stagecoach

Storage Facility as part of the Phase II

Expansion Project. The existing

Stagecoach Storage Facility consists of

the Barnhart-Owen and Widell pools,

ten storage wells, seven observation

wells, about 12 miles of interconnecting

pipeline, and a central compressor

facility. The existing working storage

capacity is 13.25 Billion cubic feet (Bcf).

The Phase II Expansion Project would

develop the four remaining pools

(Lidell, Racht, Brenchley-Cook, and

Nichols-Mead pools) for an additional

working storage capacity estimated at 13

Bcf.

As part of the proposed expansion,

CNYOG would construct:

• An additional 12,000-horsepower

electric-drive centrifugal compressor

unit to be installed within the existing

Stagecoach Central Compressor Station

building;

• A power transformer and gas

cooling unit and other appurtenant

facilities to be installed within the

Central Compressor Station;

PO 00000

Frm 00051

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

• A total of nine storage injection/

withdrawal wells; 2

• Approximately 7.3-miles of 6-inch, 8-inch-, and 20-inch-diameter

gathering pipeline and associated rightsof-way;

• Eight wellhead meter stations and

other appurtenant facilities, including

isolation valves, separators,

measurement and communication

equipment, and a 20-foot by 70-foot

building at each storage well site to

house equipment; and

• About 4.4 miles of access roads not

contained within pipeline or well

easements.

As part of the storage facility, CNYOG

also proposes to construct and operate

a 9.3-mile-long, 24-inch-diameter lateral

(North Lateral) from the existing

compressor station to the proposed

Millennium Pipeline located north of

the town of Owego, New York.3 Its

appurtenant facilities will include

measurement and regulation,

communication, isolation valves, and

pigging facilities.

The general location of CNYOG’s

proposed facilities is shown on the map

attached as appendix 1.4

Land Requirements for Construction

Construction of the proposed facilities

would require about 278.1 acres of land.

Of this acreage, 115.5 acres would be

permanently affected. The remaining

162.6 acres would be temporarily

impacted and allowed to revert to its

former use. Each of CNYOG’s nine test/

storage wells would temporarily disturb

about a 250-foot-radius area.

A 100-foot-wide construction right-ofway is proposed for the North Lateral

pipeline facilities, and a 50-foot-wide

construction right-of-way is proposed

for all pipeline laterals to the storage

wells. The North Lateral construction

2 Four of the wells (one in each of the Lidell,

Racht, Brenchley-Cook, and Nichols-Mead pools)

would be drilled during the late spring/early

summer of 2006 under the existing FERC

authorization for the Stagecoach Storage Facility

issued in 2001 (Docket No. CP00–62–000). The

remaining five storage wells would be located

within the Lidell Pool and would be drilled once

CNYOG receives any approval for the Phase II

Expansion Project.

3 The Millennium Pipeline Project was approved

by the Commission on September 19, 2002 in

Docket Nos. CP98–150–006 and –007. Construction

of the Millennium Pipeline has not commenced to

date.

4 The appendices referenced in this notice are not

being printed in the Federal Register. Copies of all

appendices, other than Appendix 1 (map), 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.

E:\FR\FM\24MRN1.SGM

24MRN1

Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 57 / Friday, March 24, 2006 / Notices

area parallels/crosses a New York State

Electric and Gas Company (NYSEG)

electric transmission line for about

2,852 feet. The North Lateral follows the

same general alignment as an existing

Columbia Gas pipeline across the

Susquehanna River north to the

proposed Millennium Pipeline

interconnect. CNYOG would maintain a

50-foot permanent right-of-way for

operation of the pipeline facilities.

wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES

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 will be 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 5 will discuss impacts

that could occur as a result of the

construction and operation of the

proposed project. 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. 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.

• Public safety.

Our independent analysis of the

issues will be presented in the EA. 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.

5 ‘‘We’’, ‘‘us’’, and ‘‘our’’ refer to the

environmental staff of the Office of Energy Projects

(OEP).

VerDate Aug<31>2005

18:26 Mar 23, 2006

Jkt 208001

Depending on the comments received

during the scoping process, the EA may

be published and mailed to Federal,

State, and local government agencies;

public interest groups; Native American

tribes; interested individuals; affected

landowners, newspapers, libraries, and

the Commission’s official service list for

this proceeding. A 30-day comment

period will be allotted for review if the

EA is published. We will consider all

comments submitted in any

Commission Order that is issued for the

project.

To ensure your comments are

considered, please carefully follow the

instructions in the public participation

section below.

Public Participation

You can make a difference by

providing us with your specific

comments or concerns about the project.

By becoming a commenter, your

concerns will be addressed in the EA

and considered by the Commission.

Your comments should focus on the

potential environmental effects of the

proposal, reasonable alternatives to the

proposal (including alternative locations

and routes), 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 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 Gas Branch 1.

• Reference Docket No. CP06–64–

000.

• Mail your comments so that they

will be received in Washington, DC, on

or before April 17, 2006.

Please note that the Commission

encourages electronic filing of

comments. See 18 Code of Federal

Regulations (CFR) 385.2001(a)(1)(iii)

and the instructions on the

Commission’s Internet Web site at

http://www.ferc.gov under the ‘‘eFiling’’

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 create an account by clicking on

‘‘Login to File’’ and then ‘‘New User

Account.’’ You will be asked to select

the type of filing you are making. This

filing is considered a ‘‘Comment on

Filing.’’

PO 00000

Frm 00052

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

14883

Public Meeting

In addition to or in lieu of sending

written comments, we invite you to

attend the public scoping meeting we

will conduct in the project area. The

location for this meeting is listed below.

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday,

April 4, 2006 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Owego Treadway Inn, 1100 State

Route 17C, Owego, NY 13827. (607)

687–4500.

Public scoping meetings are designed

to provide State and local agencies,

interested groups, affected landowners,

and the general public with another

opportunity to offer comments on the

project. Interested groups and

individuals are encouraged to attend the

meeting and to present comments on the

environmental issues they believe

should be addressed in the EA.

Site Visit

On April 5, 2006, the FERC staff will

conduct a site visit of the Stagecoach

Storage Facility. The purpose of the visit

will be to inspect both the existing

storage facility and the proposed

Stagecoach Phase II Expansion Project.

We will view the proposed storage field

expansion, well sites, and associated

pipeline routes. Representatives of

CNYOG will be accompanying the FERC

staff.

All interested parties may attend the

site visit on April 5, 2006. Those

planning to attend must provide their

own transportation. If you are interested

in attending the site visit, please meet

at 8 a.m. in the lobby of the Owego

Treadway Inn at the address listed

above.

Becoming an Intervener

In addition to involvement in the EA

scoping process, you may want to

become an official party to the

proceeding, or ‘‘intervener’’. To become

an intervener you must file a motion to

intervene according to Rule 214 of the

Commission’s Rules of Practice and

Procedure (18 CFR 385.214). Interveners

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

E:\FR\FM\24MRN1.SGM

24MRN1

14884

Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 57 / Friday, March 24, 2006 / Notices

other interveners 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. Please refer to

Appendix 2 if you would like more

information on how to intervene in

Commission proceedings.

Affected landowners and parties with

environmental concerns may be granted

intervener 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 intervener status to have your

environmental comments considered.

Environmental Mailing List

If you do not want to remain on our

mailing list, please return the Remove

From Mailing List Form included in

Appendix 3. If you return this form, you

will be removed from the Commission’s

environmental mailing list.

wwhite on PROD1PC61 with NOTICES

Additional Information

Additional information about the

project is available from the

Commission’s Office of External Affairs

at 1–866–208 FERC (3372) or on the

FERC Internet Web site (http://

www.ferc.gov). Using the ‘‘eLibrary’’

link, select ‘‘General Search’’ from the

eLibrary menu, enter the selected date

range and ‘‘Docket Number’’ (i.e., CP06–

64–000), and follow the instructions.

For assistance with access to eLibrary,

the helpline can be reached at 1–866–

208–3676, TTY (202) 502–8659, or at

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. 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 rule makings.

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. E6–4239 Filed 3–23–06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

VerDate Aug<31>2005

18:26 Mar 23, 2006

Jkt 208001

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP06–53–000]

Eastern Shore Natural Gas Company;

Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Assessment for the

Proposed 2006–2008 Expansion

Project and Request for Comments on

Environmental Issues

March 15, 2006.

The staff of the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (FERC or

Commission) is preparing an

environmental assessment (EA) that will

discuss the environmental impacts of

Eastern Shore Natural Gas Company’s

(ESNG) proposed 2006–2008 Expansion

Project involving construction and

operation of natural gas pipeline

facilities in Chester County,

Pennsylvania, and New Castle, Kent,

and Sussex Counties, Delaware.1 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.

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?’’ is available for viewing on

the FERC Internet 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 Proposed Project

The purpose of ESNG’s project is to

increase the capacity of its existing

pipeline system to accommodate

growing demand within its market area.

To meet this demand, ESNG would

construct about 55 miles of various

diameter pipeline and two new meter

1 ESNG’s application was filed with the

Commission under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act

and Part 157 of the Commission’s regulations.

PO 00000

Frm 00053

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

stations. Specifically, ESNG proposes to

add 15.0 miles of mainline pipeline,

40.0 miles of looping pipeline and

appurtenant facilities. The project is

composed of seven segments and

includes:

• Segment 1 (Chester County, PA)—

About 1.5 miles of 16-inch-diameter

pipeline, looping ESNG’s existing 8inch-diameter Parkesburg mainline;

• Segment 1A (Chester County, PA)—

About 0.6 mile of 16-inch-diameter

pipeline, looping ESNG’s two existing

pipelines;

• Segment 2 (New Castle and Kent

Counties, DE)—About 23.8 miles of 16inch-diameter pipeline, looping ESNG’s

existing 10-inch-diameter Hockessin

mainline;

• Segment 3 (New Castle County,

DE)—About 6.1 miles of 10-inchdiameter pipeline, looping ESNG’s

existing 6-inch-diameter Parkesburg

mainline;

• Segment 4 (Sussex County, DE)—

About 4.0 miles of 10-inch-diameter

pipeline, looping ESNG’s existing 6inch-diameter Parkesburg mainline;

• Segment 5 (Sussex County, DE)—

About 4.0 miles of 10-inch-diameter

pipeline, looping ESNG’s existing 6inch-diameter Cambridge/Easton

mainline; and

• Segment 6 (Sussex County, DE)—

About 15.0 miles of 6-inch-diameter

pipeline to tie into an existing ESNG 6inch-diameter pipeline upstream and

extend southerly to Millsboro, DE.

ESNG also proposes to construct two

new metering stations located at

Mileposts 10.4 and 15.0 as part of

Segment 6.

The general locations of the project

facilities are shown in Appendix 1.2

Land Requirements for Construction

Construction of the proposed facilities

would require about 752.46 acres of

land including some of ESNG’s existing

permanent easement. Following

construction, about 1.52 acres would be

maintained for new permanent

easement and operation of the

aboveground facility sites. The

remaining 750.94 acres of land would be

restored and allowed to revert to its

former use.

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.

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.

E:\FR\FM\24MRN1.SGM

24MRN1