Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 146 / Monday, July 31, 2006 / Notices

43148

Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 146 / Monday, July 31, 2006 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. PF05–16–000]

Iroquois Pipeline Operating Company;

Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Assessment for the

Proposed Brookhaven Lateral Project,

Request for Comments on

Environmental Issues and Notice of

Scoping Meeting

July 21, 2006.

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES

The staff of the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (FERC or

Commission) will prepare an

environmental assessment (EA) that will

discuss the environmental impacts of

Iroquois Pipeline Operating Company’s

(Iroquois) planned Brookhaven Lateral,

located on Long Island, in Suffolk

County, New York. This notice

announces the opening of the scoping

process we 1 will use to gather 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 August 25, 2006.

Comments may be submitted in

written form or presented verbally at the

public meeting listed below. Further

details on how to submit written

comments are provided in the public

participation section of this notice. In

lieu of sending written comments, you

are invited to attend the public scoping

meeting, scheduled as follows:

Thursday, August 10, 2006, 6:30 p.m.

(EST): Islandia Marriott Long Island,

3635 Express Drive North, Islandia,

New York 11749, 631–232–3000.

This notice is being sent to affected

landowners; federal, state, and local

government representatives and

agencies; environmental and public

interest groups; Indian tribes and Native

American groups; other interested

parties in this proceeding; and local

libraries and newspapers. We encourage

government representatives to notify

their constituents of this planned

project and encourage them to comment

on their areas of concern.

Summary of the Proposed Project

Iroquois proposes to expand its

natural gas transmission system to

provide about 50 dekatherms per day of

natural gas to the planned Caithness

Energy Center (Caithness Project) by

April 2008. The Long Island Power

1 The terms ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ refer to the

environmental staff of the Office of Energy Projects

at the FERC.

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Authority (LIPA) selected the Caithness

Project, to be located in the Town of

Brookhaven, to meet the growing

electric power needs of its customers.

The Caithness Project would consist of

a new, approximate 350 megawatt

combined cycle natural gas and oil-fired

electric generation facility. The

Caithness Project is not under the

jurisdiction of the FERC, and is in the

process of obtaining necessary federal,

state, and local permits prior to

construction and operation. LIPA asked

Iroquois to provide natural gas to the

Caithness Project. Therefore, Iroquois

requested that the Commission review

its proposal to construct and operate the

following facilities:

• Approximately 21.1 miles of 24inch-diameter underground steel natural

gas pipeline, extending from the current

terminus of Iroquois’ existing system at

the South Commack Meter Station in

Smithtown to the site of the proposed

Caithness Project near the hamlet of

Yaphank, New York; and

• Six mainline block valves, a pig

launcher at the South Commack Meter

Station, and a pig receiver and new

custody transfer meter station at the

eastern end of the pipeline, at the

Caithness Project site.

A map depicting the general location

of Iroquois’ proposed facilities and

alternate pipeline routes is attached as

Appendix 1.2

Currently Identified Environmental

Issues

At this time no formal application has

been filed by Iroquois with the FERC.

For this project, the FERC staff has

initiated its review to comply with the

National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) prior to receiving the

application. The purpose of our NEPA

Pre-Filing Environmental Review

Process is to involve interested

stakeholders early in project planning

and to identify and resolve issues before

an application is filed with the FERC.

We have already identified several

issues that we think deserve attention

based on a preliminary review of the

proposed facilities, environmental

information provided by Iroquois, and

comments received from the public or

governmental agencies. This

preliminary list of issues may be

changed based on your comments and

our analysis.

2 The appendices referenced in this notice are not

being printed in the Federal Register. Copies of the

appendices are available at the Commission’s

Public Reference Room, 888 First Street NE.,

Washington DC 20426, or call (202) 502–8371.

Copies of the appendices were sent to all those

receiving this notice in the mail.

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• Accomodation or permission

needed from the New York Department

of Parks and New York Department of

Transportation to allow the pipeline to

cross the control access line easement

acquired with funds from the Federal

Highway Administration along the

Sunken Meadow Parkway (milepost

[MP] 0.4), the Northern State Parkway

(MP 1.5), and the Long Island

Expressway (LIE, I–495, MP 13);

• Potential use of temporary extra

work spaces outside of the existing

easement for the LIPA power line,

between about MP 3 and MP 12.5, and

potential affects from construction of

the proposed pipeline on residences and

schools adjacent to the LIPA easement;

• Potential affects on residences and

commercial businesses along Long

Island Avenue between about MP 13.5

and MP 18.5;

• Feasibility of using horizontal

directional drills to cross under the

Northern State Parkway (MP 1.5),

Simeon Woods and Wheeler Road (MP

4.8), Veterans Memorial Highway (MP

6.5), Hyatt Golf Club Access Road (MP

7.7), Patchogue Road (MP 11.7); and the

LIE (MP 13); and

• Potential impacts on federal or

state-listed rare, threatened, endangered,

or protected species, and cultural

resources.

The EA Process

The FERC will use the EA to consider

the environmental impacts that could

result if it issues Iroquois a Certificate

of Public Convenience and Necessity.

This notice formally announces our

preparation of the EA and the beginning

of the process referred to as ‘‘scoping.’’

We are soliciting input from the public

and interested agencies to help us focus

the analysis in the EA on the potentially

significant environmental issues related

to the proposed action.

Our independent analysis of the

issues will be included in an EA that

will be prepared for the project. Our

evaluation will also include possible

alternatives to the proposed project or

portions of the project, and we will

make recommendations on how to

lessen or avoid impacts on the various

resource areas of concern.

The EA will be mailed to federal,

state, and local government agencies;

elected officials; environmental and

public interest groups; Indian tribes and

Native American groups; affected

landowners; 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 submitted

on the EA in our recommendations to

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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 146 / Monday, July 31, 2006 / Notices

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES

the Commission for an Order that is

issued for the project.

We are currently involved in

discussions with other governmental

agencies to identify their issues and

concerns. These agencies include the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

(FWS); U.S. Department of

Transportation; New York State

Department of Environmental

Conservation; New York State

Department of Parks, Recreation and

Historic Preservation; New York State

Department of Transportation; Suffolk

County; and the Town of Huntington.

The EPA and FWS have agreed to be

cooperating agencies in the production

of the EA. By this notice, we are asking

any other federal, state, and local

agencies with jurisdiction and/or

special expertise with respect to

environmental issues to formally

cooperate with us in the preparation of

the EA. Agencies that would like to

request cooperating status should follow

the instructions for filing comments

provided below.

Public Participation

You can make a difference by

providing us with your specific

comments or concerns about the

proposals. Your comments should focus

on the potential environmental effects,

reasonable alternatives 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 mail your comments so

that they will be received in

Washington, DC on or before August 25,

2006 and carefully follow these

instructions:

• 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 OEP/DG2E/Gas Branch

3, PJ–11.3; and

• Reference Docket No. PF05–16–000

on the original and both copies.

Please note that the Commission

encourages electronic filing of

comments. See 18 Code of Federal

Regulations 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’’

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17:34 Jul 28, 2006

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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.’’

When Iroquois submits its application

for authorization to construct and

operate the Brookhaven Lateral Project,

the Commission will publish a Notice of

Application in the Federal Register and

will establish a deadline for interested

persons to intervene in the proceeding.

Because our Pre-filing Environmental

Review Process occurs before an

application to begin a proceeding is

officially filed, you may not request

intervenor status at this time. Petitions

to intervene during the Pre-filing

process are premature and will not be

accepted by the Commission.

Environmental Mailing List

If you wish to remain on the

environmental mailing list, and receive

a copy of the EA, please return the

Mailing List Retention Form included in

Appendix 2. If you do not return this

form, you will be taken off our mailing

list.

Availability of 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., PF05–

16—you do not need the last three

numbers [000] in the docket), and

follow the instructions. Searches may

also be done using the phrase

‘‘Brookhaven Lateral’’ in the ‘‘Text

Search’’ field. 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 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

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43149

http://www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/

EventsList.aspx along with other related

information. Finally, Iroquois has

established a project-specific Internet

Web site at

http://www.iroquois.com/new-Internet/

igts/Brookhaven/brookhaven.asp.

Iroquois’ Brookhaven Lateral Web site

includes a project description, public

participation, answers to frequently

asked questions, and links. For

additional data, call Ruth Parkins,

Iroquois Public Relations

Representative, at 203–925–7209, or email:

brookhaven_project@iroquois.com.

Magalie R. Salas,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. E6–12237 Filed 7–28–06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Project No. 2216–066]

New York Power Authority; Notice of

Intent To Hold Public Meetings

July 21, 2006.

In accordance with the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and

the Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission’s (Commission)

regulations, 18 CFR part 380 (Order No.

486, 52 FR 47897), the Office of Energy

Projects has reviewed the application

for a new license for the Niagara Project

No. 2216–066, located on the Niagara

River, in Niagara County, New York,

and issued a draft Environmental

Impact Statement (EIS) for the project

on July 14, 2006.

Copies of the draft EIS are available

for review at the Commission’s Public

Reference Branch, Room 2A, located at

888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC

20426 or may be viewed on the

Commission’s Web site at http://

www.ferc.gov under the e-Library link

by entering the docket number, P–2216,

in the e-Library docket number field.

For assistance, e-mail FERC Online

Support at

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call

toll-free at 1–866–208–3676, or for TTY,

(202) 502–8659.

You are invited to attend either one or

both of two public meetings that will be

held to receive comments on the draft

EIS. The time and location of the

meetings are as follows:

Date: August 17, 2006.

Time: 2 to 4 pm and 7 to 9 pm (EST).

Place: Niagara Falls High School

Amphitheater.

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