Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 104 / Thursday, May 31, 2007 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 104 / Thursday, May 31, 2007 / Notices

This filing is accessible on-line at

http://www.ferc.gov, using the

‘‘eLibrary’’ link and is available for

review in the Commission’s Public

Reference Room in Washington, DC.

There is an ‘‘eSubscription’’ link on the

Web site that enables subscribers to

receive e-mail notification when a

document is added to a subscribed

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.

Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time

on May 29, 2007.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. E7–10452 Filed 5–30–07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. PF07–7–000]

Iroquois Gas Transmission System,

L.P.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Assessment; For the

Proposed Iroquois 08/09 Expansion

Project, Request for Comments on

Environmental Issues, and Notice of

Public Scoping Meetings

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May 22, 2007.

The staff of the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (FERC or

Commission) will prepare an

environmental assessment (EA) that will

address the environmental impacts of

the Iroquois 08/09 Expansion Project

proposed by Iroquois Gas Transmission

System, L.P. (Iroquois). The

Commission will use the EA in its

decision-making process to determine

whether or not to authorize the project.

This notice explains the scoping process

the FERC staff will use to gather input

from the public and interested agencies

on the project. Your input will help us

determine the issues that need to be

evaluated in the EA. Please note that the

scoping period will close on June 29,

2007.

Comments may be submitted in

written or verbal form. Further details

on how to submit written comments are

provided in the Public Participation

section of this notice. In lieu of sending

written comments, the FERC staff invite

you to attend the public scoping

meetings we have scheduled as follows:

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Date and time

Location

Monday, June 18,

2007, 7 p.m. to 9

p.m. (EST).

Milford City Hall Auditorium, 110 River

Street, Milford, CT

06460, Telephone:

(203) 783–3230.

Brookfield High

School, 45 Long

Meadow Hill Road,

Brookfield, CT

06804, Telephone:

(203) 775–7704.

Tuesday, June 19,

2007, 7 p.m. to 9

p.m. (EST).

This notice is being sent to affected

landowners; Federal, State, and local

government agencies; elected officials;

environmental and public interest

groups; Native American tribes; other

interested parties; and local libraries

and newspapers. We 1 encourage

government representatives 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 an

Iroquois representative about the

acquisition of an easement to construct,

operate, and maintain the proposed

project facilities. The pipeline company

would seek to negotiate a mutually

acceptable agreement. However, if the

project is approved by the FERC, 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 FERC’s

proceedings.

Summary of the Proposed Project

Iroquois proposes to construct the

Iroquois 08/09 Expansion Project in

three phases which would consist of:

Looping its existing pipeline system at

three locations in New York and

Connecticut by November 1, 2008

(Phase 1); constructing a new

compressor station in Milford,

Connecticut with 20,620 horsepower of

compression by January 1, 2009 (Phase

2); and adding a 10,310 horsepower

compressor unit to Iroquois’ Brookfield

Compressor Station in Brookfield,

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

environmental staff of the FERC’s Office of Energy

Projects.

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Connecticut by November 1, 2009

(Phase 3).2

The Phase 1 pipeline looping would

include construction of 5.8 miles of 36inch-diameter pipeline in Boonville,

New York; 1.0 miles of 36-inch-diameter

pipeline in Wright, New York; and 1.6

miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline in

Newtown, Connecticut. The new

pipeline looping segments would be

located adjacent to Iroquois’ existing

pipeline and connected to it at both

ends.

The planned project would expand

Iroquois existing system to deliver up to

200,000 dekatherms per day of natural

gas transportation service to KeySpan

Gas East Corporation at South

Commack, Long Island. Iroquois plans

to file its certificate application in

September 2007 and anticipates

receiving a Commission certificate by

March 2008.

A general location of the proposed

project is provided in Appendix 1.3

Land Requirements for Construction

The Iroquois 08/09 Expansion Project

is in the preliminary planning stage.

The precise facility design, pipeline

route, rights-of-way, and other details

have not yet been finalized. The

proposed pipeline loops are being

planned for routes adjacent to existing

rights-of-way. Specific information on

the proposed project location and the

land used by it will be made available

to the public when it is finalized.

Construction of the proposed pipeline

loop segments would require about

176.1 acres of land for construction.

Following construction, about 90.4 acres

would be maintained for Iroquois’

ongoing pipeline operation. The

remaining 85.7 acres of land would be

restored and allowed to revert to its

former use. Construction of the

proposed Milford Compressor Station

would require use of about 4.8 acres of

land, and operation of the station would

require maintaining 4.6 acres of the

2 The 7,700 horsepower Brookfield Compressor

Station was approved by the Commission on

December 21, 2006, as part of Iroquois’

MarketAccess Project in Docket No. CP02–31–002.

Construction of the Brookfield Compressor Station

is scheduled to commence in the fall of 2007 and

operation of the station is scheduled to commence

in the fall of 2008.

3 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 Public

Participation section of this notice. Copies of the

appendices were sent to all those receiving this

notice in the mail. Requests for detailed maps of the

proposed facilities should be made directly to

Iroquois.

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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 104 / Thursday, May 31, 2007 / Notices

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES

affected land. The proposed

modifications to the Brookfield

Compressor Station would increase the

compressor station yard area from 1.4

acres to 1.8 acres. All of the land

required for the proposed Milford

Compressor Station and the Brookfield

Compressor Station modifications is

currently owned by Iroquois.

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

when it considers whether or not an

interstate natural gas pipeline should be

approved. The FERC will use the EA to

consider the environmental impact that

could result if the Iroquois 08/09

Expansion Project is authorized under

Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act. NEPA

also requires us to discover and address

concerns the public may have about

proposals to be considered by the

Commission. 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. With this Notice

of Intent, the Commission staff is

requesting public comments on the

scope of the issues to be addressed in

the EA. All comments received will be

considered during preparation of the

EA.

Our independent analysis of the

issues will be included 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

affected resources.

The EA will be mailed to Federal,

State, and local government agencies;

elected officials; environmental and

public interest groups; Native American

tribes; affected landowners;

commentors; other interested parties;

local libraries and newspapers; and the

FERC’s official service list for this

proceeding. A 30-day comment period

will be allotted for review of the EA. We

will consider all comments on the EA

before we make our recommendations to

the Commission. To ensure that your

comments are considered, please follow

the instructions in the Public

Participation section of this notice.

Although no formal application has

been filed, the FERC staff has already

initiated its NEPA review under its Prefiling Process. The purpose of the Prefiling Process is to encourage the early

involvement of interested stakeholders

and to identify and resolve issues before

an application is filed with the FERC.

With this notice, we are asking

Federal, State, and local governmental

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agencies with jurisdiction and/or

special expertise with respect to

environmental issues, to express their

interest in becoming cooperating

agencies for 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 status should

follow the instructions for filing

comments provided below (see Public

Participation).

Currently Identified Environmental

Issues

The EA will discuss impacts that

could occur as a result of the

construction and operation of the

proposed project. We have already

identified several issues that we think

deserve attention based on a

preliminary review of the project site

and the facility information provided by

Iroquois. This preliminary list of issues

may be changed based on your

comments and our analysis.

• Potential impacts on perennial and

intermittent streams and waterbodies.

• Evaluation of temporary and

permanent impacts on wetlands and

development of appropriate mitigation.

• Potential effect on federally and

state-listed species.

• Potential impacts on existing land

uses, including managed forested lands.

• Potential visual effects of the

aboveground facilities on surrounding

areas.

• Potential impacts to local air and

noise quality associated with

construction and operation.

• Public safety and potential hazards

associated with the transport of natural

gas and the proposed compressor

facilities.

Public Participation

You can make a difference by

providing us with your specific

comments or concerns about the

proposed project. By becoming a

commentor, your concerns will be

addressed in the EA and considered by

the Commission. Your comments

should focus on the potential

environmental effects, reasonable

alternatives (including alternative

facility sites and pipeline routes), and

measures to avoid or lessen

environmental impact. The more

specific your comments, the more useful

they will be. To ensure that your

comments are timely and properly

recorded, please carefully follow these

instructions:

• Send an original and two copies of

your letter to: Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory

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Commission, 888 First St., NE., Room

1A, Washington, DC 20426.

• Label one copy of your comments

for the attention of Gas Branch 1, DG2E.

• Reference Docket No. PF07–7–000

on the original and both copies.

• Mail your comments so that they

will be received in Washington, DC on

or before June 29, 2007.

The Commission strongly encourages

electronic filing of any comments in

response to this Notice of Intent. For

information on electronically filing

comments, please see 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, as well as information in 18 CFR

385.2001(a)(1)(iii). Before you can

submit comments, you will need to

create a free account, which can be

created on-line.

The public scoping meetings (dates,

times, and locations are listed above) are

designed to provide another opportunity

to offer comments on the proposed

project. Interested groups and

individuals are encouraged to attend the

meetings and to present comments on

the environmental issues they believe

should be addressed in the EA. A

transcript of each meeting will be

generated so that your comments will be

accurately recorded.

Once Iroquois formally files its

application with the Commission, you

may want to become an official party to

the proceeding known as an

‘‘intervenor.’’ 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 a

Commission 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 web site.

Please note that you may not request

intervenor status at this time. You must

wait until a formal application is filed

with the Commission.

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-ofway 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. If you

received this notice, you are currently

on the environmental mailing list for

this project. If you want to remain on

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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 104 / Thursday, May 31, 2007 / Notices

our mailing list, please return the

attached Information Request

(Appendix 2). All individuals who

provide written comments, attend the

scoping meetings, or return the

Information Request will remain on our

environmental mailing list for this

project.

sroberts on PROD1PC70 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.’’

Click on the eLibrary link, select

‘‘General Search’’ and enter the project

docket number excluding the last three

digits (i.e., PF07–7) 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 TTY, contact

(202) 502–8659. The eLibrary link on

the FERC Internet website also provides

access to the texts of formal documents

issued by the Commission, such as

orders, notices, and rule makings.

In addition, the FERC now offers a

free service called eSubscription that

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. To register for this service,

go to

http://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.

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.

Finally, Iroquois has established an

Internet website for this project at

http://08–09.iroquois.com. The Web site

includes a description of the project,

maps of the proposed pipeline facilities,

and answers to frequently asked

questions. You can also request

additional information or provide

comments directly to Iroquois by phone

at 1–800–253–5152, or by mail at the

following address: Ruth Parkins, Public

Affairs Manager, Iroquois Pipeline

Operating Company, One Corporate

Drive, Suite 600, Shelton, CT 06484. Email: ruth_parkins@iroquois.com.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. E7–10449 Filed 5–30–07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Project No. 618–139]

Alabama Power Company; Notice of

Application for Amendment of License

and Soliciting Comments, Motions To

Intervene, and Protests

May 23, 2007.

Take notice that the following

hydroelectric application has been filed

with the Commission and is available

for public inspection:

a. Type of Application: Request for

Temporary Variance of Minimum Flow

Requirement.

b. Project No.: 618–139.

c. Date Filed: May 21, 2007.

d. Applicant: Alabama Power

Company.

e. Name of Project: Jordan Dam.

f. Location: On the Coosa River, in

Elmore, Chilton, and Coosa Counties,

Alabama.

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power

Act, 16 U.S.C. 791a–825r.

h. Applicant Contact: Alan L. Peeples,

Alabama Power Company, 600 N. 18th

Street, P.O. Box 2641, Birmingham, AL

35291, (205) 257–1401.

i. FERC Contact: Peter Yarrington,

peter.yarrington@ferc.gov, (202) 502–

6129.

j. Deadline for filing comments,

motions to intervene and protests: June

6, 2007.

All documents (original and eight

copies) should be filed with: Secretary,

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,

888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC

20426.

The Commission’s Rules of Practice

and Procedure require all intervenors

filing documents with the Commission

to serve a copy of that document on

each person whose name appears on the

official service list for the project.

Further, if an intervenor files comments

or documents with the Commission

relating to the merits of an issue that

may affect the responsibilities of a

particular resource agency, they must

also serve a copy of the document on

that resource agency. A copy of any

motion to intervene must also be served

upon each representative of the

Applicant specified in the particular

application.

k. Description of Request: The

Alabama Power Company (APC) is

requesting a temporary variance of the

minimum flow requirement of the

Jordan Dam Project license. Because of

persistent and worsening drought

conditions in the project area and the

need to conserve water, APC requests

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that it be allowed to begin downramping

from 3,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) to

2,000 cfs beginning on or about May 22,

2007, rather than beginning this

downramping June 16 as required in the

license. Once flows are downramped to

2000 cfs this flow release would be

maintained until the following April 1

as required in the license. Included in

APC’s request were concurrences

received from the state and federal

resource agencies. The Commission’s

order issued March 30, 2007, authorized

among other things the APC to increase

minimum flows from 2,000 cfs to 3,000

cfs rather than to 4,000 cfs beginning

April 1, 2007.

l. Location of the Application: The

filing is available for inspection and

reproduction at the Commission’s

Public Reference Room, located at 888

First Street, NE., Room 2A, Washington,

DC 20426 or by calling (202) 502–8371,

or by calling (202) 502–8371. This filing

may also be viewed on the

Commission’s Web site at http://ferc.gov

using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link. Enter the

docket number excluding the last three

digits in the docket number field to

access the document. You may also

register online at http://www.ferc.gov/

docsfiling/esubscription.asp to be

notified vial e-mail or new filings and

issuances related to this or other

pending projects. For assistance, call 1–

866–208–3676 or e-mail

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, for TTY,

call (202) 502–8659. A copy is also

available for inspection and

reproduction at the address in item (h)

above.

m. Individuals desiring to be included

on the Commission’s mailing list should

so indicate by writing to the Secretary

of the Commission.

n. Comments, Protests, or Motions to

Intervene: Anyone may submit

comments, a protest, or a motion to

intervene in accordance with the

requirements of Rules of Practice and

Procedure, 18 CFR 385.210, .211, .214.

In determining the appropriate action to

take, the Commission will consider all

protests or other comments filed, but

only those who file a motion to

intervene in accordance with the

Commission’s Rules may become a

party to the proceeding. Any comments,

protests, or motions to intervene must

be received on or before the specified

comment date for the particular

application.

o. Any filings must bear in all capital

letters the title ‘‘COMMENTS’’,

‘‘PROTEST’’, or ‘‘MOTION TO

INTERVENE’’, as applicable, and the

Project Number of the particular

application to which the filing refers.

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