Williams Gas Pipelines Central, Inc.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Empire District Electric Company State Line Plant Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP99-576-000]

Williams Gas Pipelines Central, Inc.; Notice of Intent To Prepare

an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Empire District Electric

Company State Line Plant Project and Request for Comments on

Environmental Issues

August 5, 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 Empire District Electric

Company State Line Plant (Empire) Project involving construction and

operation of facilities by Williams Gas Pipelines Central, Inc.

(Williams) in Kay, Osage, and Washington Counties, Oklahoma; Labette

and Cherokee Counties, Kansas; and Jasper County, Missouri.\1\ These

facilities would require the replacement of various minor facilities

along about 84.3 miles of its Blackwell-Cotton

[[Page 43696]]

Valley pipeline (Blackwell-Cotton Uprate); the installation of about

36.8 miles of pipeline loop (Southern Trunk Loop); and the construction

of measurement facilities at the Empire Electric Power Plant (Empire

Facilities). 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.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\ Williams' application was filed with the Commission under

Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of the Commission's

regulations.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 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\

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\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.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary of the Proposed Project

Williams wants to expand the capacity of its facilities in

Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri to transport an additional 55,000

decatherms per day of natural gas to Empire District Electric Company's

(Empire) State Line Plant. (This would result in a total of 83,800

decatherms per day of natural gas to the State Line Plant.) Williams

seeks authority to:

Reclaim three mainline valves and two mainline drips,

replace fine mainline valves and one mainline drip, replace 11 road

crossings, and install a 16-inch-diameter pig launcher and appurtenant

piping along the existing 16-inch-diameter, 85-mile-long Blackwell-

Cotton Valley pipeline in Kay, Osage, and Washington Counties,

Oklahoma;

Upgrade 14 domestic meters, which would include upgrading/

replacing regulators and valves as needed, along with Blackwell-Cotton

Valley pipeline in Kay, Osage, and Washington Counties, Oklahoma;

Increase the maximum allowable pressure along the

Blackwell-Cotton Valley pipeline from 500 psig to 690 psig in Kay,

Osage, and Washington Counties, Oklahoma;

Extend the existing 20-inch-diameter Southern Trunk Loop

an additional 36.8 miles in Labette and Cherokee Counties, Kansas;

Relocate the existing 20-inch-diameter pig receiver to the

end of the 36.8-mile Southern Trunk Loop and install two mainline

valves in Cherokee County, Kansas;

Install a dual 6-inch regulator setting, a dual 8-inch

turbine meter setting, an 8-inch flow control setting, and about 450

feet of 16-inch-diameter pipeline at a new location within the existing

Empire property area in Jasper County, Missouri; and

Install a 4-inch flow control setting at Empire's existing

site in Jasper County, Missouri.

The general location of the project facilities as well as a

detailed version of the Southern Trunk Loop are shown in appendix 2.

Land Requirements for Construction

Construction of the proposed Blackwell-Cotton Uprate, Southern

Trunk Loop, and Empire Facilities would require a total construction

area of about 3.5, 401.5, and 1.2 acres of land respectively. The

Blackwell-Cotton Uprate and the Southern Trunk Loop have no aboveground

facilities associated with them. Construction of the Blackwell-Cotton

Uprate would temporarily effect 3.5 acres. No new right-of-way would be

created. Construction of the Southern Trunk Loop would disturb about

401.5 acres. Of this, only about 111.5 acres would convert to permanent

right-of-way. Following construction, about 0.9 acre of the Empire

Facilities would be maintained as new aboveground facility sites. The

remaining 0.35 acre of the Empire Facilities 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 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 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 beginning on page 5.

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 Williams. This preliminary

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

Five streams would be crossed (using either horizontal

directional drill or horizontal boring methods) by the Southern Trunk

Loop; and

One federally listed species may be present in the Neosho

River. Among the five streams to be crossed, the Neosho River is

designated as critical habitat for the federally threatened Neosho

madtom.

[[Page 43697]]

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., NE.,

Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426;

Lable one copy of the comments for the attention of the

Environmental Review and Compliance Branch, PR-11.1;

Reference Docket No. CP99-576-000; and

Mail your comments so that they will be received in

Washington, DC on or before September 7, 1999.

Becoming an Intervenor

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

to become an official party to the proceeding know as an

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

Among other things, intervenros have the fight 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

Procedures (18 CFR 385.214) (see appendix 3). Only intervenors have the

right to seek rehearing of the Commission's decision.

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. Click on

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

the instructions. For assistance with access to RIMS, the RIMS helpline

can be reached at (202) 208-2222.

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. For assistance with access to CIPS, the CIPS

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

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 99-20759 Filed 8-10-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-M