Northern Border Pipeline Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Project 2000 and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP99-21-000]

Northern Border Pipeline Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Project 2000 and Request for

Comments on Environmental Issues

January 22, 1999.

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 Project 2000 involving

construction and operation of facilities by Northern Border Pipeline

Company (Northern Border) in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota,

Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana.\1\ These facilities would

consist of about 34.4 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline, and about

53,000 horsepower (hp) of compression. This EA will be used by the

Commission in its decision-making process to determine whether the

project is in the public convenience and necessity. The application and

other supplemental filings in this docket are available for viewing on

the FERC Internet website (www.ferc.fed.us). Click on the ``RIMS''

link, select ``Docket #'' from the RIMS Menu, and follow the

instructions.

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\1\ Northern Border'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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Similarly, the ``CIPS'' link on the FERC Internet website provides

access to the texts of formal documents issued by the Commission, such

as orders, notices, and rulemakings. From the FERC Internet website,

click on the ``CIPS'' link, select ``Docket #'' from the CIPS menu, and

follow the instructions.

If you are a landowner receiving this notice, you may be contacted

by a pipeline company representative about the acquisition of an

easement to construct, operate, and maintain the proposed facilities.

The pipeline company would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable

agreement. However, if the project is approved by the Commission, that

approval conveys with it the right of eminent domain. Therefore, if

easement negotiations fail

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to produce an agreement, the pipeline company could initiate

condemnation proceedings in accordance with state law. A fact sheet

addressing a number of typically asked questions, including the use of

eminent domain, is attached to this notice as 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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Summary of the Proposed Project

Northern Border requests authorization to:

Construct about 34.4 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline

from Manhattan, Illinois to North Hayden, Indiana;

Construct two new compressor stations totaling 14,500 hp

at existing sites in Johnson County, Iowa and Bureau County, Illinois;

Increase compression totaling 38,500 hp at three existing

compressor stations in Roosevelt County, Montana, McKenzie County,

North Dakota, and Grundy County, Iowa;

Construct a new meter station in Lake County, Indiana; and

Construct four mainline valves and associated remote blow

down valves in Will County, Illinois.

The location of the project facilities is shown in appendix 2.

Land Requirements for Construction

Construction of the proposed facilities would disturb about 574.3

acres of primarily agricultural land (including all extra work spaces).

All facilities would be within or adjacent to existing rights-of-way.

Following construction, about 209.9 acres would be maintained as new

permanent pipeline right-of-way. About 44.1 acres would be retained for

the aboveground facilities, including 43.0 acres already owned by

Northern Border. All areas would be restored after construction, and

areas not needed for aboveground facilities would return to their

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 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.

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 make

our recommendations to the Commission.

To ensure your comments are considered, please carefully follow the

instructions in the public participation section below.

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 Northern Border. This

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

our analysis.

Five federally listed threatened or endangered species may

occur in the proposed project area.

The project would cross 14 perennial streams classified as

warmwater fisheries.

The project would cross 10 wetlands.

The pipeline facilities would disturb about 485.6 acres of

agricultural land.

Public Participation

You can make a difference by providing us with your specific

comments or concerns about the project. By becoming a commentor, your

concerns will be addressed in the EA and considered by the Commission.

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 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,

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 Review and Compliance Branch, PR-11.2;

Reference Docket No. CP99-21-000; and

Mail your comments so that they will be received in

Washington, DC on or before February 22, 1999.

If you do not want to send comments at this time but still want to

remain on our mailing list, please return the Information Request

(appendix 4). If you do not return the Information Request, you will be

taken off the mailing list.

Becoming an Intervenor

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

to become an official party to the proceeding known as an

``intervenor''. Intervenors play a more formal role in the process.

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 14 copies of its filings to the

Secretary of the Commission and must send a copy of its filings to all

other parties on the Commission's service list for this proceeding. 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). Only intervenors have the

right to seek rehearing of the Commission's decision.

The date for filing timely motions to intervene in this proceeding

has passed. Therefore, parties now seeking to file

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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.

Additional information about the proposed project is available from

Mr. Paul McKee of the Commission's Office of External Affairs at (202)

208-1088 or on the FERC website (www.ferc.fed.us) using the ``RIMS''

link to information in this docket number. For assistance with access

to RIMS, the RIMS helpline can be reached at (202) 208-2222. Access to

the texts of formal documents issued by the Commission with regard to

this docket, such as orders and notices, is also available on the FERC

website using the ``CIPS'' link. For assistance with access to CIPS,

the CIPS helpline can be reached at (202) 208-2474.

David P. Boergers,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 99-1954 Filed 1-27-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-M