Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America; Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for Proposed Amarillo Upgrade Project and Request for Comments

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Docket No. CP93-672-000]

Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America; Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Assessment for Proposed Amarillo Upgrade Project and

Request for Comments

February 8, 1994.

The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the

Commission) will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) that will

discuss environmental impacts of the construction and operation of new

facilities and the abandonment of existing facilities proposed in the

Amarillo Upgrade Project.\1\ This EA will be used by the Commission in

its decision-making process to determine whether an environmental

impact statement is required and whether or not to approve the project.

\1\Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America's application was

filed with the Commission under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and

part 157 of the Commission's regulations.

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Summary of the Proposed Project

Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (Natural) wants Commission

authorization to:

Abandon about 490 miles of the Amarillo No. 1 mainline

between Compressor Station 111 in Hutchinson County, Texas, and

Compressor Station 198 in Marion County, Iowa;

Abandon one 12,000-horsepower (hp) compressor engine at

Compressor Station 195 in Washington County, Kansas;

Construct and operate about 9.41 miles of new 30-inch-

diameter pipeline in Hutchinson County, Texas (Segment 1);

Construct and operate about 5.1 miles of new 36-inch-

diameter pipeline in Ford County, Kansas (Segment 2);

Construct and operate about 4.1 miles of new 36-inch-

diameter pipeline in Lincoln County, Kansas (Segment 3);

Construct and operate about 9.46 miles of new 36-inch-

diameter pipeline in Otoe County, Nebraska (Segment 4); and

Add 2,500 hp of compression by retrofitting an existing

12,500-hp engine at Compressor Station 195, in Washington County,

Kansas.

The general location of these 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 are available from the

Commission's Public Reference Branch, room 3104, 941 North Capitol

Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 208-1371. Copies of

the appendices were sent to all those receiving this notice in the

mail.

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Land Requirements for Construction

Natural proposes to abandon about 490 miles of 24-inch-diameter

Amarillo No. 1 mainline and to remove it over a 4- to 5-year period.

Natural proposes to leave the pipe in place in sensitive areas (such as

waterbody crossings, wetland crossings, and areas of cultural and

sensitive biological resources) where it believes removal activities

could result in significant environmental impacts.

The Amarillo No. 1 mainline is next to the Amarillo No. 4 mainline.

The segments of proposed new pipeline would loop\3\ the Amarillo No. 4

mainline. The segments of proposed new pipeline would generally be

placed in the same trench as the Amarillo No. 1 mainline after the

segments of that pipeline are removed.

\3\A loop is a segment of pipeline that is installed adjacent to

an existing pipeline and connected to it at both ends. The loop

allows more gas to be moved through the pipeline system at the

location in which the loop is installed.

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Natural proposes to use a 75-foot-wide to 100-foot-wide

construction right-of-way, at least partly within existing rights-of-

way. Areas of steep slope, staging areas, and other areas where

additional right-of-way would be needed to permit safe construction

would be identified on a site-specific basis. No new permanent right-

of-way would be required. Abandonment of all 490 miles of pipe by

removal and construction of the replacement pipeline would disturb

about 5,900 acres. Most of the acreage disturbed would consist of

existing pipeline right-of-way.

One storage yard, about 4 acres in size, would be required for each

of the four segments of new pipeline. Storage yards, about 6 acres in

size, would be required about every 50 miles for the removal of the

abandoned Amarillo No. 1 mainline. Private roads/lanes would be used to

access the pipeline during construction and removal. These roads may

require repair and upgrading to support increased traffic.

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.

We call this ``scoping''. The main goal of the scoping process is to

focus the analysis in the EA on the important environmental issues. By

the Notice of Intent, the Commission requests public comments on the

scope of the issues it will address in the EA. All comments received

are taken into account during the preparation of the EA.

The EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the

construction, operation, and abandonment of the proposed project

facilities under these general headings:

Geology and soils

Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands

Vegetation and wildlife

Endangered and threatened species

Land use

Cultural resources

Hazardous waste

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.

Our independent analysis of the issues will be in the EA. Depending

on 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

these proceedings. A comment period will be allotted for review if the

EA is published. We will then consider all comments on the EA before we

recommend that the Commission approve or not approve the project.

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 Natural. Keep in mind that

this is a preliminary list; the list of issues will be added to,

subtracted from, or changed based on your comments and our own

analysis. The currently identified issues are:

The removal of abandoned pipeline and construction of new

pipeline could affect 30.42 acres of wetlands.

The project could cross habitat of the least tern, bald

eagle, and whooping crane (federally listed endangered species) and of

the piping plover (a federally listed threatened species).

The project could cross habitat of the Arkansas darter,

Arkansas river shiner, snowy plover, and eastern spotted skunk (Federal

candidate species).

Pipeline would be abandoned within the Fort Larned

National Historic Site (a National Historic Landmark).

The abandoned pipe may be coated with materials that

contain asbestos.

Public Participation

You can make a difference by sending a letter with your specific

comments or concerns about the project. You should focus on the

potential environmental effects of the proposal, alternatives to the

proposal (including alternative routes for the loops), and measures to

avoid or lessen environmental impact. The more specific your comments,

the more useful they will be. Please follow the instructions below to

ensure that your comments are received and properly recorded:

Address your letter to: Lois Cashell, Secretary, Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol St., NE., Washington,

DC 20426;

Reference Docket No. CP93-672-000;

Send a copy of your letter to: Mr. Mark Jensen, EA Project

Manager, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol St.,

NE., room 7312, Washington, DC 20426; and

Mail your comments so that they will be received in

Washington, DC on or before March 10, 1994.

If you wish to receive a copy of the EA, you should request one

from Mr. Mark Jensen of the Commission staff at the above address.

Becoming an Intervenor

In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want

to become an official party to the proceeding or an ``intervenor''.

Among other things, intervenors have the right to receive copies of

case-related Commission documents and filings by other intervenors.

Likewise, each intervenor must provide copies of its filings to all

other parties. If you want 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) attached as appendix 2.

The date for filing timely motions to intervene in this proceeding

has passed. Therefore, parties now seeking to file late interventions

must show good cause, as required by Sec. 385.214(b)(3), why this time

limitation should be waived. In certain cases environmental issues have

been viewed as good cause for late intervention. Section 385.214(d)

applies to grants of late intervention. You do not need intervenor

status to have your scoping comments considered.

Additional information about the proposed project is available from

Mr. Mark Jensen, EA Project Manager, at (202) 208-1121.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 94-3354 Filed 2-11-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-P