[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 82 (Tuesday, April 28, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 23513]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08973]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP18-39-000]
Questar Southern Trails Pipeline Company; Notice of Extension of
Time Request
Take notice that on April 17, 2020, Questar Southern Trails
Pipeline Company (Questar) requested that the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (Commission) grant an extension of time, until May 9, 2022,
to complete its Southern Trail Pipeline Abandonment Project (Project)
authorized in the May 9, 2018 Order Approving Abandonment (May 2018
Order).\1\ The May 2018 Order required Questar to abandon, within two
years of the order date, all of its certificated facilities dedicated
to providing jurisdictional transportation services (Questar Southern
Trails Facilities) located in California, Arizona, Utah, and New
Mexico, in part by sale to the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA)
and in part by abandonment-in-place.
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\1\ Questar Southern Trails Pipeline Company, 163 FERC 62,086
(2018).
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Questar states that Phase 1 of the two-phased implementation plan,
filed on May 23, 2019, was completed on June 29, 2019. Questar asserts
that in Phase 2 of the Project, Questar will conclude the Asset
Purchase Agreement with the NTUA. Upon closing the transaction, Questar
will simultaneously abandon by sale the remaining facilities detailed
in the application and abandon its NGA Section 7(c) certificate, the
Questar FERC Gas Tariff, and all transportation services. Questar
affirms that it and the NTUA continue to diligently seek the consents
necessary to finalize the transaction; however, all the necessary
consents have not yet been obtained, and as a result, Questar is unable
to complete abandonment within the 2-year time frame designated in the
Order.
This notice establishes a 15-calendar day intervention and comment
period deadline. Any person wishing to comment on the extension motion
may do so. No reply comments or answers will be considered. If you wish
to obtain legal status by becoming a party to the proceedings for this
request, you should, on or before the comment date stated below, file 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 Natural Gas Act (18 CFR 157.10).
However, only motions to intervene from entities that were party to the
underlying proceeding will be accepted.
As a matter of practice, the Commission itself generally acts on
requests for extensions of time to complete construction for NGA
facilities when such requests are contested before order issuance. For
those extension requests that are contested,\2\ the Commission acting
as a whole will aim to issue an order acting on the request within 45
days.\3\ The Commission will address all arguments relating to whether
the applicant has demonstrated there is good cause to grant the
extension. The Commission will not consider arguments that re-litigate
the issuance of the certificate order, including whether the Commission
properly found the project to be in the public convenience and
necessity and whether the Commission's environmental analysis for the
certificate complied with the National Environmental Policy Act.\4\ At
the time a pipeline requests an extension of time, orders on
certificates of public convenience and necessity are final and the
Commission will not re-litigate their issuance. The OEP Director, or
his or her designee, will act on all of those extension requests that
are uncontested.
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\2\ Contested proceedings are those where an intervenor disputes
any material issue of the filing. 18 CFR 385.2201(c)(1) (2019).
\3\ Algonquin Gas Transmission, LLC, 170 FERC 61,144, at P 40
(2020).
\4\ Similarly, the Commission will not re-litigate the issuance
of an NGA section 3 authorization, including whether a proposed
project is not inconsistent with the public interest and whether the
Commission's environmental analysis for the permit order complied
with NEPA.
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In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the
Federal Register, The Commission provides all interested persons an
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this document via the
internet through the Commission's Home Page (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. At this time,
the Commission has suspended access to Commission's Public Reference
Room, due to the proclamation declaring a National Emergency concerning
the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), issued by the President on
March 13, 2020. For assistance, contact FERC at
[email protected] or call toll-free, (886) 208-3676 or TYY,
(202) 502-8659.
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 three 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 May 7, 2020.
Dated: April 22, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-08973 Filed 4-27-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P