[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 217 (Thursday, November 10, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67889-67890]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24529]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP22-26-000]


Northern Natural Gas Company; Notice of Availability of the 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Des Moines A-Line Capacity 
Replacement Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for the Des 
Moines A-Line Capacity Replacement Project (Project), in Boone, Dallas 
and Polk Counties, Iowa, proposed by Northern Natural Gas Company 
(Northern) in the above-referenced docket. Northern requests 
authorization from the Commission to abandon about 29.6 miles of its 
existing 16-inch-diameter Des Moines A-line. This old pipeline, which 
was originally built in the 1940s, includes mechanical joints and 
acetylene welds, so that it cannot be inspected with in-line tools. 
Northern would install a total of about 9.07 miles of new 20-inch-
diameter pipeline, in two separate segments, as an extension of its 
existing C-line. The C-line extension would allow replacement of a 
total of about 340 million cubic feet per day of natural gas that would 
have flowed through the A-line to be abandoned.
    The EA assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the Project in accordance with the 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The FERC 
staff concludes that approval of the proposed project, with appropriate 
mitigating measures, would not constitute a major federal action 
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.
    The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability of the 
EA to federal, state, and local government representatives and 
agencies; elected

[[Page 67890]]

officials; non-governmental organizations, environmental, and public 
interest groups; potentially interested Indian tribes; affected 
landowners; and newspapers and libraries in the project area. The EA is 
only available in electronic format. It may be viewed and downloaded 
from the FERC's website (www.ferc.gov), on the natural gas 
environmental documents page (https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/natural-gas/environment/environmental-documents). In addition, the EA 
may be accessed by using the eLibrary link on the FERC's website. Click 
on the eLibrary link (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search), 
select ``General Search'' and enter the docket number in the ``Docket 
Number'' field, (i.e. CP22-26). Be sure you have selected an 
appropriate date range. For assistance, please contact FERC Online 
Support at [email protected] or toll free at (866) 208-3676, 
or for TTY, contact (202) 502-8659.
    The EA is not a decision document. It presents Commission staff's 
independent analysis of the environmental issues for the Commission to 
consider when addressing the merits of all issues in this proceeding. 
Any person wishing to comment on the EA may do so. Your comments should 
focus on the EA's disclosure and discussion of potential environmental 
effects, reasonable alternatives, and measures to avoid or lessen 
environmental impacts. The more specific your comments, the more useful 
they will be. To ensure consideration of your comments on the proposal, 
it is important that the Commission receive your comments on or before 
5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on December 5, 2022.
    For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to submit 
your comments to the Commission. The Commission encourages electronic 
filing of comments and has staff available to assist you at (866) 208-
3676 or [email protected]. Please carefully follow these 
instructions so that your comments are properly recorded.
    (1) You can file your comments electronically using the eComment 
feature on the Commission's website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to 
FERC Online. This is an easy method for submitting brief, text-only 
comments on a project;
    (2) You can also file your comments electronically using the 
eFiling feature on the Commission's website (www.ferc.gov) under the 
link to FERC Online. With eFiling, you can provide comments in a 
variety of formats by attaching them as a file with your submission. 
New eFiling users must first create an account by clicking on 
``eRegister.'' You must select the type of filing you are making. If 
you are filing a comment on a particular project, please select 
``Comment on a Filing''; or
    (3) You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to 
the Commission. Be sure to reference the project docket number (CP22-
26) on your letter. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must 
be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. 
Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly 
D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins 
Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
    Filing environmental comments will not give you intervenor status, 
but you do not need intervenor status to have your comments considered. 
Only intervenors have the right to seek rehearing or judicial review of 
the Commission's decision. At this point in this proceeding, the 
timeframe for filing timely intervention requests has expired. Any 
person seeking to become a party to the proceeding must file a motion 
to intervene out-of-time pursuant to Rule 214(b)(3) and (d) of the 
Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures (18 CFR 385.214(b)(3) and 
(d)) and show good cause why the time limitation should be waived. 
Motions to intervene are more fully described at https://www.ferc.gov/how-intervene.
    Additional information about the project is available from the 
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208-FERC, or on the 
FERC website (www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. The eLibrary link 
also provides access to the texts of all formal documents issued by the 
Commission, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings.
    In addition, the Commission offers a free service called 
eSubscription which allows you to keep track of all formal issuances 
and submittals in specific dockets. This can reduce the amount of time 
you spend researching proceedings by automatically providing you with 
notification of these filings, document summaries, and direct links to 
the documents. Go to https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview to 
register for eSubscription.

    Dated: November 4, 2022.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-24529 Filed 11-9-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


