Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Amended Market Expansion Project (Lines VM-105, VM-106, and VM-109) and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP96-213-007]

Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation; Notice of Intent To

Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Amended Market Expansion

Project (Lines VM-105, VM-106, and VM-109) and Request for Comments on

Environmental Issues

February 24, 1998.

The Staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or

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

[[Page 10215]]

discuss the environmental impacts of the construction and operation of

facilities consisting of about 6.9 miles of 20- and 24-inch diameter

pipeline proposed in the Amended Market Expansion Project (Lines VM-

105, VM-106, and VM-109).\1\ The pipeline facilities are proposed

instead of certain compression which had previously been approved by

the Commission. The EA will be used by the Commission in its decision-

making process to determine whether the project is in the public

convenience and necessity.

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\1\ Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation'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

Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation (Columbia) proposes to amend

its Market Expansion Project authorized in a Commission Order dated May

14, 1997 (Order). Columbia states that due to a more detailed facility

design analysis, it has determined that certain compression facilities

approved in the Order are no longer required and certain other

facilities not approved in the Order will be needed. The effect of the

proposed facility revisions would be to decrease the overall cost of

the Market Expansion Project facilities by about $3,280,700.

The new facilities that Columbia proposes to construct and the

facilities its proposes to delete from the Market Expansion Project

(facilities approved but not yet constructed) are listed below:

New Proposed Facilities (Louisa County, Virginia)

Line VM-105 Loop--construct 0.3 mile of 20-inch-diameter

loop on the suction side of the Boswells Tavern compressor Station;

Line VM-106 Replacement--replace 0.6 mile of 12-inch-

diameter pipeline with 24-inch-diameter pipeline on the discharge side

of the Boswells Tavern Compressor Station;

Upgrade a meter station within the Boswells Tavern

Compressor Station; and

Line VM-109--construct 6.0 miles of 24-inch-diameter

pipeline loop from its mainline valve 3 to its Louisa Compressor

Station.

Canceled Market Expansion Project Facilities

The following facilities are portions of the previously approved

Market Expansion Project but have not yet been constructed. In this

proposal, Columbia wishes to cancel these items in lieu of the new

proposed facilities listed above.

Louisa Compressor Station--a new 1,350 horsepower (hp)

unit at the existing compressor station in Louisa County, Virginia and

a relocated 1,140 hp unit from the Petersburg Compressor Station in

Prince George County, Virginia.

Petersburg Compressor Station--a new 1,100 hp unit at the

existing compressor station in Prince George County, Virginia.

Hamlin Compressor Station--a new 3,175 hp compressor

station in Lincoln County, West Virginia and a relocated 825 hp unit

from the Dungannon Compressor Station in Columbiana County, Ohio.

The location of the project 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 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 85 acres of land. Following construction, about 14

acres would be maintained as new permanent right-of-way. The remaining

71 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 use

to discover and address concerns the public may have about proposals.

We call this ``scoping.'' The mail 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

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 resources 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 make

our recommendations to the Commission.

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. This preliminary

list of issues may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.

About 0.46 acre of forested wetland would be permanently

converted to emergent wetland in the project area.

A total of 5.4 miles of the Line VM-109 Loop would cross

the Green Springs Rural Historic District which is listed as a National

Historic Landmark.

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 routes), 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 two copies of your letter to: David P. Boergers,

Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St.,

N.E., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426;

Label one copy of the comments for the attention of the

Environmental

[[Page 10216]]

Review and Compliance Branch, PR-11.2

Reference Docket No. CP96-213-007; and

Mail your comments so that they will be received in

Washington, DC on or before March 26, 1998.

If you are interested in obtaining procedural information, please

write to the Secretary of the Commission.

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 Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.214) (see

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 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 environmental

comments considered.

David P. Boergers,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98-5224 Filed 2-27-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-M