Great Lakes Gas Transmission Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed St. Clair River Crossing Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Docket Nos. CP66-111-003 and CP96-26-000]

Great Lakes Gas Transmission Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare

an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed St. Clair River Crossing

Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

December 13, 1995.

The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or

Commission) will prepare an

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environmental assessment (EA) that will discuss the environmental

impacts of the construction and operation of the facilities proposed in

the St. Clair River Crossing Project.\1\ This EA will be used by the

Commission in its decision-making process to determine whether an

environmental impact statement is necessary and whether to approve the

project.

\1\ Great Lakes Transmission Limited Partnership's application

was filed with the Commission under section 3 of the Natural Gas

Act, sections 153.10 through 153.12 of the Commission's Rules of

Practice and Procedure, and Executive Order 10485 (as amended by

Executive Order 12038 and Secretary of Energy Delegation Order No.

0204-112).

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Summary of the Proposed Project

Great Lakes Gas Transmission Limited Partnership (Great Lakes)

seeks authority to amend its Presidential Permit (under Docket No.

CP66-111-003) and construct, connect, operate, and maintain (under

Docket No. CP96-26-000) about 1,500 feet of 36-inch-diameter pipeline

loop at the international border between the United States and Canada,

in St. Clair County, Michigan.

Great Lakes states that the proposed border facilities would be

used to provide 50,000 thousand cubic feet per day of winter firm

transportation service to TransCanada Pipelines Limited (TransCanada).

Great Lakes indicates that the facilities, along with additional

facilities TransCanada would build on its system, would provide

TransCanada with greater system security and reliability of service.

The proposed river crossing would be directionally drilled. Great

Lakes proposes to operate the drill rig on the United States side of

the river, on land owned by Great Lakes. The pipeline would be strung

and staged on the Canadian side.

The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix

1.\2\

\2\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being

printed in the Federal Register. Copies are available from the

Commission's Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 888

First 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

Construction of the proposed facilities would require a staging

area about 150 feet by 250 feet. No additional permanent right-of-way

would be required after construction. An existing cleared area north of

Puttygut Road would be used as a contractor yard. This area was used

for this purpose during construction of the RG&E III Project (Docket

No. CP92-595-000).

Permanent aboveground facilities would consist of a mainline valve

and a ``pig launcher'' in the vicinity of Great lakes' existing

mainline valve.

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

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

scope of the issues it will 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.

The EA 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.

Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands.

Land use.

Cultural resources.

Vegetation and wildlife.

Endangered and threatened species.

Air quality and noise.

Hazardous waste.

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 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

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 Great Lakes. Keep in mind

that this is a preliminary list:

Noise generated during the continuous operation of the

directional drill rig used to install the pipeline under the St. Clair

River may significantly impact nearby residences.

Drilling mud and fluids must be handled and disposed of

properly or significant impact on the St. Clair River and nearby

wetland could result.

Construction activities may impact the wetland located

near the proposed staging area.

There may be visual impacts associated with the permanent

aboveground facilities.

The list of issues may be added to, subtracted from, or changed

based on your comments and our analysis.

Public Participation

You can make a difference by sending a letter addressing 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 locations), 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, 888 First St., N.E., Washington, D.C.

20426;

Reference Docket Nos. CP66-111-003 and CP96-26-000;

Send a copy of your letter to: Mr. Howard Wheeler, EA

Project Manager, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St.,

N.E., PR-11.2, Washington, D.C. 20426; and

Mail your comments so that they will be received in

Washington, D.C. on or before January 19, 1996.

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

from Mr. Wheeler 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 become 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

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Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.214) (see appendix 2).

The date for filing of timely motions to intervene in this

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

interventions must show good cause, as required by section

385.214(b)(3), why this time limitation should be waived. Environmental

issues have been viewed as good cause for late intervention. You do not

need intervenor status to have your scoping comments considered.

Additional information about the proposed project is available from

Mr. Howard Wheeler, EA Project Manager, at (202) 208-2299.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 95-30712 Filed 12-18-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-M