Subject: Georgia Strait Crossing Pipeline LP; Notice of Availability
[Federal Register: December 13, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 240)]
[Notices]
[Page 64413-64414]
>From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13de01-42]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket Nos. CP01-176-000 and CP01-179-000]
Georgia Strait Crossing Pipeline LP; Notice of Availability of
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Georgia
Strait Crossing Project
December 7, 2001.
The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or
Commission) has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS)
on natural gas pipeline facilities proposed by Georgia Strait Crossing
Pipeline LP (GSX-US) in the above-referenced dockets.
The draft EIS was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The staff concludes that
approval of the proposed project, with appropriate mitigating measures
as recommended, would have limited adverse environmental impact. The
draft EIS also evaluates alternatives to the proposal, including system
alternatives, route alternatives, and route variations.
The draft EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the
construction and operation of the following facilities in Whatcom and
San Juan Counties, Washington:
About 32.0 miles of 20-inch-diameter pipeline (onshore
mainline pipeline) extending from the interconnect facilities at the
international border between the United States and Canada near Sumas,
Washington, across Whatcom County, to a new compressor station (Cherry
Point Compressor Station) near Cherry Point, Washington;
About 1.1 miles of 16-inch-diameter pipeline (onshore
mainline pipeline) extending from the Cherry Point Compressor Station
to the beginning of the marine portion of the pipeline at the edge of
the Strait of Georgia;
About 13.9 miles of 16-inch-diameter marine pipeline
(offshore mainline pipeline) extending from the edge of the Strait of
Georgia near Cherry Point, Washington to the international border
between the United States and Canada at a point about midway between
the west end of Patos Island (Washington) and the east end of Saturna
Island (British Columbia) in Boundary Pass;
Interconnect facilities including a receipt point meter
station, pig launcher, interconnect piping, and associated valves
(Sumas Interconnect Facility) adjacent to the existing Sumas Compressor
Station in Whatcom County, Washington;
A new compressor station (Cherry Point Compressor Station)
consisting of one 10,302-hp two-stage compressor unit, pig launcher/
receiver facilities, and associated valves near Cherry Point in Whatcom
County, Washington;
Six mainline valves (MLV), one each at the Sumas
Interconnect Facility and Cherry Point Compressor Station and four
valves along the proposed pipeline route; and
An onshore and an offshore tap valve.
The purpose of the GSX-US project is to provide a natural gas
transportation system to supply the growing demand for natural gas on
Vancouver Island.
Comment Procedures and Public Meetings
Any person wishing to comment on the EIS may do so. To ensure
consideration prior to a Commission decision on the proposal, it is
important that we receive your comments before the date specified
below. Please carefully follow these instructions to ensure that your
comments are received in time and are properly recorded:
Send an original and two copies of your comments to:
Linwood A. Watson, Jr., Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First St., NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
Reference Docket Nos. CP01-176-000.
Label one copy of your comments for the attention of Gas
Group 2, PJ-11.2.
Mail your comments so that they will be received in
Washington, DC on or before February 4, 2002.
Comments may also be filed electronically via the Internet in lieu
of paper. See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the
Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov under the ``e-Filing''
link and the link to the User's Guide. Before you can file comments you
will need to create an account by clicking on ``Login to File'' and
then ``New User Account.''
Due to current events, we cannot guarantee that we will receive
mail on a timely basis from the U.S. Postal Service, and we do not know
how long this situation will continue. However, we continue to receive
filings from private mail delivery services, including messenger
services in a reliable manner. The Commission encourages electronic
filing of any comments on this draft EIS. We will include all comments
that we receive within a reasonable time frame in our environmental
analysis of this project.
We will announce in a future notice, the location and time of at
least one local public meeting to receive comments on the draft EIS.
Interested groups and individuals are encouraged to attend and
present oral comments on the environmental impacts described in the
draft EIS. Transcripts of the meetings will be prepared.
After these comments are reviewed, any significant new issues are
investigated, and modifications are made to the draft EIS as necessary,
a final EIS will be published and distributed by the staff. The final
EIS will contain the staff's responses to timely comments received on
the draft EIS.
Comments will be considered by the Commission but will not serve to
make the commentor a party to the proceeding. Any person seeking to
become a party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene
pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission's rules of practices and
procedures (18 CFR 385.214).
[[Page 64414]]
Anyone may intervene in this proceeding based on this draft EIS.
You must file your request to intervene as specified above.\1\ You do
not need intervenor status to have your comments considered.
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\1\ Interventions may also be filed electronically via the
Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing
comments electronically.
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The draft EIS has been placed in the public files of the FERC and
is available for public inspection at: Federal Regulatory Energy
Commission, Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 888 First
Street, NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-1371.
A limited number of copies of the draft EIS are available from the
Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch identified above. In
addition, the draft EIS has been mailed to Federal, state, and local
agencies, elected officials, public interest groups, individuals, and
affected landowners who requested a copy of the draft EIS; public
libraries; newspapers; and parties to this proceeding.
Additional information about the proposed project is available from
the Commission's Office of External Affairs at (202) 208-1088 or on the
FERC Web site (www.ferc.gov) using the ``RIMS'' link to information in
the docket numbers. 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.
Similarily, 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 Web site,
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. 01-30796 Filed 12-12-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P