Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 249 / Thursday, December 28, 2006 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 249 / Thursday, December 28, 2006 / Notices

Commission’s Public Reference Room in

Washington, DC. There is an

eSubscription link on the web site that

enables subscribers to receive email

notification when a document is added

to a subscribed dockets(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. E6–22208 Filed 12–27–06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP06–433–001]

Northern Natural Gas Company;

Supplemental Notice of Intent To

Prepare an Environmental Assessment

for the Palmyra North Expansion

Project Amendment and Request for

Comments on Environmental Issues

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES

December 18, 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 Palmyra North Expansion Project

involving construction and operation of

new facilities by Northern Natural Gas

Company (Northern) in Nebraska, Iowa,

Kansas, and South Dakota.1 On August

29, 2006, Northern filed an application

with the FERC, in Docket No. CP06–

433–000, for authorization under

sections 7(c) and 7(b) of the Natural Gas

Act (NGA) and Part 157 of the

Commission’s regulations for a

Certificate of Public Convenience and

Necessity (Certificate) to expand the

capacity of its Palmyra North Facilities

(Palmyra). On December 6, 2006,

Northern filed an amendment to their

application with the FERC, in Docket

No. CP06–433–001, for authorization to

include two additional meter stations in

Clay and Sioux Counties, Iowa; the

subject of this Notice. The EA will

encompass all proposed facilities and be

used by the Commission in its decisionmaking process to determine whether

the project is in the public convenience

and necessity.

1 The Commission issued a Notice of Application

on September 6, 2006 for Northern’s August 29,

2006 application. On December 12, 2006, the

Commission issued a Notice of Application for

Northern’s December 6, 2006 amendment.

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On September 12, 2006, the FERC

issued a Notice of Intent to Prepare an

Environmental Assessment for the

Proposed Palmyra North Expansion

Project and Request for Comments on

Environmental Issues (NOI). The NOI

was published in the Federal Register

and was also mailed to 114 interested

parties, including Federal, State, and

local officials; agency representatives;

conservation organizations; Native

American groups; local libraries and

newspapers; and property owners

affected by the proposed facilities. This

NOI is requesting comments on the two

additional meter stations that Northern

has proposed.

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 Northern 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

Northern proposes to expand the

capacity of its Palmyra North Facilities

in Clay and Sioux Counties, Iowa in

order to transport an additional 12,100

dekatherms per day of natural gas in

order to meet agricultural and ethanol

customer demand and to increase

incremental winter peak day service. By

this Application Amendment, Northern

seeks authority to also:

• Install a new meter station to an

existing Northern line at MP 21.9 in

Clay County, Iowa; and

• install a new meter station to an

existing Northern line at MP 28.3 in

Sioux County, Iowa.

Two nonjurisdictional facilities, a

new ethanol plant and an ethanol plant

expansion, have been proposed in

association with the Palmyra North

Expansion Project. We have made a

preliminary decision to not address the

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impacts of these facilities. We will

briefly describe their location and

summarize the status of state and local

environmental reviews in the EA.

The general location of the project

facilities is shown in Appendix 1.2

Land Requirements for Construction

Construction of the proposed facilities

would impact about 1.8 acres of land.

Following construction, approximately

0.4 acre of new land would be

maintained for operation. The

remaining 1.4 acres of land would be

restored and allowed to revert to its

former use.

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 are 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 3 will discuss impacts

that could occur as a result of the

construction and operation of the

proposed project under these general

headings:

• Soils.

• Land Use.

• Water Resources and Wetlands.

• Cultural Resources.

• Vegetation and Wildlife.

We will also evaluate possible

alternatives to the proposed project, and

make recommendations on how to

lessen or avoid impacts on the various

resource areas.

Our independent analysis of the

issues will be in the EA. Depending on

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.

3 ‘‘We’’, ‘‘us’’, ‘‘our’’ refer to the environmental

staff of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP).

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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 249 / Thursday, December 28, 2006 / Notices

the comments received during the

scoping process, the EA may be

published and mailed to federal, state,

and local agencies, public interest

groups, interested individuals, affected

landowners, newspapers, libraries, and

the Commission’s official service list for

this proceeding. A comment period will

be allotted for review if the EA is

published. 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 below.

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES

Public Participation

You can make a difference by

providing us with your specific

comments or concerns about the project.

By becoming a commentor, your

concerns will be addressed in the EA

and considered by the Commission. You

should focus on the potential

environmental effects of the proposal,

alternatives to the proposal (including

alternative locations), 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 OEP/DG2E, Gas Branch

3.

• Reference Docket No. CP06–433–

001.

• Mail your comments so that they

will be received in Washington, DC on

or before January 19, 2007.

We will include all comments that we

receive within a reasonable time frame

in our environmental analysis of this

project. However, the Commission

strongly encourages electronic filing of

any comments or interventions or

protests to this proceeding. See 18 CFR

385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and 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. Before

you can file comments you will need to

create a free account which can be

created on-line.

We may mail the EA for comment. If

you are interested in receiving it, please

return the Information Request

(Appendix 2). If you do not return the

Information Request, you will be taken

off the mailing list.

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Becoming an Intervenor

In addition to involvement in the EA

scoping process, you may want to

become an official party to the

proceeding, or ‘‘intervenor’’. To become

an intervenor you must file a motion to

intervene according to Rule 214 of the

Commission’s Rules of Practice and

Procedure (18 CFR 385.214). Intervenors

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

other intervenors 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.

Affected landowners and parties with

environmental concerns may be granted

intervenor 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 intervenor status to have your

environmental comments considered.

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, 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. E6–22207 Filed 12–27–06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Project No.: P–12751–000]

AquaEnergy Group, Ltd.; Notice of

Application and Applicant-Prepared EA

Accepted for Filing, Soliciting Motions

To Intervene and Protests, Ready for

Environmental Analysis, and Soliciting

Comments, and Terms and Conditions,

Recommendations, and Prescriptions

Environmental Mailing List

December 18, 2006.

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 additions. This

includes all landowners who are

potential right-of-way grantors, whose

property may be used temporarily for

project purposes.

Take notice that the following

hydroelectric application and applicantprepared environmental assessment has

been filed with the Commission and is

available for public inspection.

a. Type of Application: Minor

License.

b. Project No.: P–12751–000.

c. Date Filed: November 8, 2006.

d. Applicant: AquaEnergy Group, Ltd.

e. Name of Project: Makah Bay

Offshore Wave Energy Pilot Project.

f. Location: Pacific Ocean in Makah

Bay, Clallam County, Washington near

the city of Neah Bay, Washington. The

project would occupy about one acre of

land on the Makah Indian Reservation

and about seven acres of the Olympic

Coast National Marine Sanctuary

administered by the U.S. Department of

Commerce, National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration and

Flattery Rocks National Wildlife Refuge

administered by the U.S. Department of

the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service.

Additional Information

Additional information about the

project is available from the

Commission’s Office of External Affairs,

at 1–866–208-FERC or on the FERC

Internet Web site (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. 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 for

TTY, contact (202) 502–8659. The

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