Florida Gas Transmission Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Compressor Station 11A Expansion Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Florida Gas Transmission Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Compressor Station 11A

Expansion Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

[Docket No. CP00-4-000]

December 2, 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 Compressor Station 11A

Expansion Project involving construction and operation of facilities by

Florida Gas Transmission Company (FGT) in Mobile County, Alabama.\1\

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.

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\1\ FGT'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

FGT wants to expand the capacity of its facilities in Alabama to

transport an additional 80,000 million British thermal units per day of

natural gas to Alabama Electric Cooperative, Inc. (AEC) for use at a

nonjurisdictional electric generating facility in Escambia County,

Alabama. To provide this service FGT seeks authority to:

Upgrade the two compressor turbines at Compressor Station

11A (CS-11A) from 12,600 horsepower (hp) Solar T-90s to 15,000 hp Solar

T-100s for a new total station horsepower of 30,000 hp;

Rewheel the centrifugal compressor of each unit to enable

the compression of a larger volume of gas at a lower differential

pressure;

Install one new gas scrubber and a cooler; and

Loop the existing 30-inch-diameter suction yard pipeline

with approximately 1,000 feet of 36-inch-diameter pipeline.

All of the proposed facilities would be constructed in the station

yard of CS-11A. The location of the project facilities is shown in

appendix 2.\2\

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

printed in the Federal Register. Copies are available on the

Commission's website at the ``RIMS'' link or from the Commission's

Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 888 First Street,

N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426, or call (202) 208-1371. For

instructions on connecting to RIMS refer to the last page of this

notice. Copies of the appendices were sent to all those receiving

this notice in the mail.

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Land Requirements for Construction

Construction activities would require approximately 6 acres of

previously disturbed soil located entirely within the 27 acre, fenced

compressor station property. The entire 6 acres would return to pre-

construction conditions as no additional land would be needed to

operate the new facilities.

The EA Process

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the

Commission to take into account the environmental

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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

theirs 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.

Land Use.

Cultural resources.

Air quality and noise, endangered and threatened species.

Public safety.

Hazardous waste.

We will also evaluate 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 on the following page.

Currently Identified Environmental Issues

We have already identified the air and noise impacts associated

with upgrading the two compressor units at CS-11A as an issue that we

think deserves attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed

facilities and the environmental information provided by FGT.

Additional issues may be included based on your comments and our

analysis.

Nonjursidictional Facilities

Also, we have made a preliminary decision to not address the

impacts for the power generating plant and approximately 60 miles of

new 20-inch-diameter pipeline. These are nonjurisdictional facilities

to be constructed by AEC for the delivery of natural gas from the

existing FGT mainlines to a planned power generating plant. We will

briefly describe their location and status in the EA.

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, 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. CP00-4-000.

Mail your comments so that they will be received in

Washington, DC on or before January 3, 2000.

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 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. Click on

the ``RIMS'' link, 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 document 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. 99-31731 Filed 12-7-99; 8:45 am]

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