Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation; Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Market Expansion Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Docket Nos. CP96-213-000, CP96-213-001, CP96-559-000]

Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation; Texas Eastern Transmission

Corporation; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment

for the Proposed Market Expansion Project and Request for Comments on

Environmental Issues

November 8, 1996.

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 construction and operation of

the facilities proposed by Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation

(Columbia) and Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation (TETCO) in the

Market

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Expansion Project.\1\ In total, the Market Expansion Project involves

about 99 miles of new, loop, and replacement pipeline, 2 new compressor

stations totaling 18,500 hp, work at 15 existing compressor stations

(including constructing, relocating, or uprating of 53,299 hp and

abandoning 5,700 hp), 38 new storage field wells and well enhancement

work at about 277 existing wells (divided among 14 existing storage

fields), 2 new meter stations, and modifications at 12 existing meter

stations.

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\1\ Columbia's and TETCO's applications were filed with the

Commission under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of

the Commission's regulations.

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The facilities are spread over the states of Virginia, West

Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. 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.

Summary of the Proposed Project

Columbia wants to expand the capacity of its pipeline and storage

systems in order to serve its customers' requests for new or increased

firm services. In total, Columbia proposes to provide 506,795

decatherms per day (Dth/d) of additional daily firm storage and

transportation services to be phased over a 3-year period beginning in

1997. Columbia seeks authority to:

Construct 50 miles of new, loop, and replacement pipeline

and uprate the MAOP of about 282 miles of pipeline.

Construct, relocate, and/or uprate about 23,650 horsepower

(hp) of compression at 11 existing compressor stations, construct

18,500 total hp at two new compressor stations, raise the certificated

hp level of five units at four existing compressor stations by 3,549

hp, and abandon about 5,700 hp of compression.

Increase the performance capability of 14 existing storage

fields, including construction of 38 new storage wells, construction of

about 23 miles of 4- to 24-inch-diameter storage field pipeline,

abandonment of about 7 miles of 2- to 10-inch-diameter storage field

pipeline, construction of 4,700 hp of compression at 1 existing storage

field compressor station, and ``well enhancement'' work at about 277

existing storage wells.

Upgrade or replace facilities at 12 existing meter

stations and construct 2 new meter stations.

Also, in order to provide the proposed firm entitlements to its

customers, Columbia proposes to lease 141,500 Dth/d of firm capacity

from Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation (TETCO). In order to

provide the required capacity, TETCO proposes to:

Replace about 26 miles of idled 20- and 24-inch-diameter

pipeline in 3 sections.

Upgrade 2 existing compressor stations by a total of 8,000

hp, and construct 13,400 hp of compression at 1 existing compressor

station.

Upgrade an existing interconnection with Columbia.

The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix

1.\2\ Tables 1-A through D, also in appendix 1, list the pipeline,

horsepower, meter station, or storage field activity occurring at each

location shown on the maps. If you are interested in obtaining detailed

maps of a specific portion of the project or what specific work is

occurring at the various storage fields, contact Howard Wheeler at the

address below.

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

printed in theFederal Register. Copies are available from the

Commission's Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 888

First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 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 the

disturbance of about 1,900 acres of land. Following construction, about

500 acres would be maintained as new pipeline right-of-way, or new

aboveground facility sites. The remaining 1,400 acres of land would be

restored and allowed to revert to their former use or are already

dedicated to use as pipeline right-of-way, or storage field 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.

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

these 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.

Vegetation and wildlife.

Endangered and threatened species.

Public safety.

Land use.

Cultural resources.

Air quality and noise.

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

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 approved or not approved 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 Columbia and TETCO. This

preliminary list of issues may be changed based on your comments and

our analysis.

The proposed work at Columbia's Crawford Storage Field in

Ohio may potentially affect two Federally listed endangered species,

the Indiana bat and the American burying beetle. The work proposed at

Columbia's Line V-243, Line V-50, and Line L System uprate (all in

Ohio) may also affect the Indiana bat.

Columbia's proposed Line SM123 in West Virginia may

potentially affect three Federal species of concern, the Butternut

tree, Grays saxifrage, and the Cerulean warbler.

Erosion and slope stability may be a problem along

Columbia's proposed Line SM123 and Line KA, Flat Top Discharge Loop

(both in West Virginia).

There are a total of 15 high quality cold water fisheries

and 6 high quality

[[Page 58545]]

warm water fisheries and 3 trout stocking fisheries crossed by the

proposed facilities.

Columbia plans to open cut the New River (a high quality

warm water fishery) for a crossing width of 1,660 feet.

A portion of Texas Eastern's Big-Inch and Little Big-Inch

pipelines, which are eligible for inclusion in the National Register of

Historic Places, will be affected by the project.

145 historic and prehistoric archaeological sites, 79

historic structures, 1 historic district and 3 cemeteries may be

affected by the project.

Two new compressor stations will be constructed, one in

Shenandoah County, Virginia and one in Lincoln County, West Virginia.

Public Participation

We have mailed this notice to individuals whose property is

affected by construction proposed in the project, to Federal, state,

and local governments, soil conservation districts, environmental

agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service, various local environmental groups, and libraries

and newspapers in the project area.\3\

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\3\ Certain individuals whose property would be affected by the

well enhancement work at some of the 277 existing wells have not

been notified. Only those wells where well enhancement work is

planned for 1997 are known by Columbia at this time. The individual

wells where well enhancement work will be planned for 1998 and 1999

are not known at this time and therefore, those individuals have not

been notified.

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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/routes, 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.W., Washington, DC

20426;

Reference Docket Nos. CP96-213-000, CP96-213-001, and

CP96-559-000;

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, DC, 20426; and

Mail your comments so that they will be received in

Washington, DC on or before December 9, 1996.

If you do not want to sent comments at this time but sill want to

receive a copy of the EA, please return the Information Request

(appendix 2). If you do not return the Information Request you will be

taken off the mailing list.

Become 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 Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.214) (see

appendix 3).

You do not need intervenor status to have your scoping comments

considered.

Additional information about the proposed project, including more

detailed maps of specific areas, is available from Mr. Howard Wheeler,

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

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96-29275 Filed 11-14-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-M