80 FR 70196 - Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC; Equitrans, LP; Notice of Applications

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 219 (November 13, 2015)

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 219 (Friday, November 13, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70196-70198]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-28771]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP16-10-000; Docket No. PF15-3-000; Docket No. CP16-13-000; 
Docket No. PF15-22-000]


Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC; Equitrans, LP; Notice of 
Applications

    On October 23, 2015, Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC (Mountain 
Valley), having its principal place of business at 625 Liberty Avenue, 
Suite 1700,

[[Page 70197]]

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222-3111, filed an application pursuant to 
section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) and the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission's (Commission) regulations seeking: (1) A 
certificate of public convenience and necessity authorizing Mountain 
Valley to construct, own, and operate the Mountain Valley Pipeline 
Project; (2) a blanket certificate of public convenience and necessity 
authorizing Mountain Valley to provide open-access interstate 
transportation services, with pre-granted abandonment approval; (3) a 
blanket certificate of public convenience and necessity under Part 157, 
Subpart F of the Commission's regulations for Mountain Valley to 
construct, operate, acquire, and abandon certain eligible facilities, 
and services related thereto; (4) approval for its proposed interim 
period rates and initial recourse rates for transportation service and 
for its pro forma tariff; and (5) such other authorizations or waivers 
as may be deemed necessary to allow for the construction to commence as 
proposed.
    On October 27, 2015, Equitrans, LP (Equitrans), having its 
principal place of business at 625 Liberty Avenue, Suite 1700, 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222-3111, filed an application pursuant to 
sections 7(b) and 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) and the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission's (Commission) regulations seeking a 
certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct, own, and 
operate the Equitrans Expansion Project. Equitrans also seeks authority 
to abandon an existing compressor station located in Greene County, 
Pennsylvania.
    The proposals of both applicants are more fully described in the 
applications, which are on file with the Commission and open to public 
inspection. The filings may also be viewed on the web at http://www.ferc.gov using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket number 
excluding the last three digits in the docket number field to access 
the document. For assistance, contact FERC at 
[email protected] or call toll-free, (866) 208-3676 or TTY, 
(202) 502-8659.
    Any questions regarding the Mountain Valley or Equitrans 
applications should be directed to Matthew Eggerding, Counsel, 625 
Liberty Avenue, Suite 1700, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 553-
5786, or fax (412) 553-7781, or by email [email protected].
    Mountain Valley requests authorization to construct facilities that 
will allow it to provide up to 2.0 million dekatherms per day of firm 
transportation service. Specifically, Mountain Valley proposes to 
construct and operate: (1) Approximately 301 miles of 42-inch diameter 
pipeline in West Virginia and Virginia; (2) three new compressor 
stations providing approximately 171,600 nominal horsepower (hp) of 
compression; and (3) other minor facilities.
    Equitrans requests authorization to construct, own, and operate: 
(1) Approximately 7.87 miles of pipeline in Allegheny, Washington, and 
Greene Counties, Pennsylvania and Wetzel County, West Virginia; (2) a 
new 31,300 nominal hp compressor station (Redhook Compressor Station) 
in Greene County, Pennsylvania; (3) a new interconnect in Wetzel 
County, West Virginia with Mountain Valley's planned pipeline system 
(Webster Interconnect); and (4) ancillary facilities. Equitrans also 
seeks authority to abandon an existing 4,800 hp compressor station in 
Greene County, Pennsylvania (Pratt Compressor Station) following the 
construction of the new Redhook Compressor Station.
    On October 31, 2014, Commission staff granted Mountain Valley's 
request to use the pre-filing process and assigned Docket No. PF15-3-
000 to staff activities involving the Projects. Now, as of the filing 
of this application on October 23, 2015, the NEPA Pre-Filing Process 
for this project has ended. From this time forward, this proceeding 
will be conducted in Docket No. CP16-10-000 as noted in the caption of 
this Notice. Additionally, Equitrans, LP (Equitrans) filed a related 
application under CP16-13-000. On April 9, 2015, Commission staff 
granted Equitrans request to use the pre-filing process and assigned 
Docket No. PF15-22-000 to staff activities involving the Projects. Now, 
as of the filing of Equitrans' application on October 27, 2015, the 
NEPA Pre-Filing Process for this project has ended. From this time 
forward, Equitrans' proceeding will be conducted in Docket No. CP16-13-
000.
    Pursuant to section 157.9 of the Commission's rules, 18 CFR 157.9, 
within 90 days of this Notice the Commission staff will either: 
Complete its environmental assessment (EA) and place it into the 
Commission's public record (eLibrary) for this proceeding; or issue a 
Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review. If a Notice of Schedule 
for Environmental Review is issued, it will indicate, among other 
milestones, the anticipated date for the Commission staff's issuance of 
the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) or EA for this 
proposal. The filing of the EA in the Commission's public record for 
this proceeding or the issuance of a Notice of Schedule for 
Environmental Review will serve to notify federal and state agencies of 
the timing for the completion of all necessary reviews, and the 
subsequent need to complete all federal authorizations within 90 days 
of the date of issuance of the Commission staff's FEIS or EA.
    There are two ways to become involved in the Commission's review of 
this project. First, any person wishing to obtain legal status by 
becoming a party to the proceedings for this project should, on or 
before the comment date stated below file with the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, a 
motion to intervene in accordance with the requirements of the 
Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.214 or 
385.211) and the Regulations under the NGA (18 CFR 157.10). A person 
obtaining party status will be placed on the service list maintained by 
the Secretary of the Commission and will receive copies of all 
documents filed by the applicant and by all other parties. A party must 
submit 7 copies of filings made in the proceeding with the Commission 
and must mail a copy to the applicant and to every other party. Only 
parties to the proceeding can ask for court review of Commission orders 
in the proceeding.
    However, a person does not have to intervene in order to have 
comments considered. The second way to participate is by filing with 
the Secretary of the Commission, as soon as possible, an original and 
two copies of comments in support of or in opposition to this project. 
The Commission will consider these comments in determining the 
appropriate action to be taken, but the filing of a comment alone will 
not serve to make the filer a party to the proceeding. The Commission's 
rules require that persons filing comments in opposition to the project 
provide copies of their protests only to the party or parties directly 
involved in the protest.
    Persons who wish to comment only on the environmental review of 
this project should submit an original and two copies of their comments 
to the Secretary of the Commission. Environmental commentors will be 
placed on the Commission's environmental mailing list, will receive 
copies of the environmental documents, and will be notified of meetings 
associated with the Commission's environmental review process. 
Environmental commentors will not be required to serve copies of filed 
documents on all other parties. However, the non-party commentors will 
not receive copies of all documents filed by other parties or issued by 
the

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Commission (except for the mailing of environmental documents issued by 
the Commission) and will not have the right to seek court review of the 
Commission's final order.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings of comments, 
protests and interventions in lieu of paper using the ``eFiling'' link 
at http://www.ferc.gov. Persons unable to file electronically should 
submit an original and 5 copies of the protest or intervention to the 
Federal Energy regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, 
DC 20426.
    Comment Date: 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on November 26, 2015.

    Dated: November 5, 2015.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-28771 Filed 11-12-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P