Hopkinton LNG Corporation; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Hopkinton LNG Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Docket No. CP97-156-000]

Hopkinton LNG Corporation; Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Hopkinton LNG Project and

Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

January 21, 1997.

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 operation of facilities at the

Hopkinton, Massachusetts LNG Plant. 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\

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\1\ Hopkinton LNG Corporation's application was filed 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

Hopkinton LNG Corporation (Hopkinton) is seeking approval to

operate in interstate commerce an existing liquefied natural gas (LNG)

peak-shaving facility located in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. The facility

is owned by Hopkinton and operated and maintained by Air Products and

Chemicals, Inc. (APCI). The LNG facility is currently operated to

provide LNG storage, liquefaction, and vaporization services to

Commonwealth Gas Company (Commonwealth), Hopkinton's affiliated local

distribution company. Commonwealth no longer needs as much of

Hopkinton's capacity to support its local distribution operations as it

has in the past. Therefore, Hopkinton requests authorization to lease

to COM/Energy Resources, Inc. (Resources), its affiliated marketing

company, the capacity in the Hopkinton LNG facility that is not

required by Hopkinton to serve Commonwealth on a firm basis. Resources

would use the leased capacity to support its own natural gas marketing

activities and would not provide any LNG storage, liquefaction, or

vaporization services to third parties.

Existing Facilities

The Hopkinton LNG Plant was constructed in 1967 and consists of

natural gas liquefaction, LNG storage, and LNG revaporization

facilities. The plant was designed to supply Commonwealth's gas utility

needs by liquefying and storing natural gas in the summer for

revaporization during peak periods in the winter heating season. The

Hopkinton LNG Plant has a design liquefaction rate of 17 million cubic

feet per day (MMCFD) and a sendout capacity of 240 MMCFD. The LNG is

stored in three 290,000-barrel LNG storage tanks.

The Hopkinton LNG Plant receives gas for liquefaction and storage

through the facilities of Tennessee Gas Pipeline. Although not used to

date, the plant is also able to receive gas through the facilities of

Algonquin Gas Transmission. Additionally, the plant can receive LNG by

tanker truck.

Proposed Facilities

Hopkinton does not propose any new facilities or any modifications

to existing facilities. The Hopkinton LNG Plant would continue to be

operated and maintained by APCI on behalf of Hopkinton.

The location of the Hopkinton LNG Plant 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 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

No additional land is required since Hopkinton does not propose any

additions or modifications to the existing facility.

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.

Because the LNG plant is an existing facility and no new additions

or modifications are proposed, the EA will focus on the operation of

the proposed project, the cryogenic design aspects of the plant, and

public safety including LNG trucking.

Prior to finalizing the EA, the FERC staff will meet with

representatives of Hopkinton (time and location to be noticed at a

later date) to conduct a cryogenic design and engineering review of the

LNG facility at Hopkinton, Massachusetts.

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.

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, 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., NE., Washington, DC 20426;

Reference Docket No. CP97-156-000;

Send a copy of your letter to: Mr. James Dashukewich, EA

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

NE., Room 71-44, Washington, DC 20426; and

Mail your comments so that they are received in

Washington, DC on or before February 14, 1997.

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

[[Page 3890]]

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 2).

Filing of timely motions to intervene in this proceeding should be

made on or before February 14, 1997. Once this date has passed, parties

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.

If you are interested in obtaining detailed maps of this project,

or procedural information, contact Mr. James Dashukewich, EA Project

Manager, at (202) 208-0117.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97-1829 Filed 1-24-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-M