Table Of Content

BLM LIBRARY lental Impact Statement 88067824 •’y , iy, Ltd. Docket No. CP05-54-000 FERC/EIS-0181 PICEANCE BASIN EXPANSION PROJECT Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Washington, DC Cooperating Agency: Bureau of Land Management August 2005 ssobT-satf it> Final Environmental Impact Statement Wyoming Interstate Company, Ltd. Docket No. CP05-54-000 FERC/EIS-0181 PICEANCE BASIN EXPANSION PROJECT Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Washington, DC Cooperating Agency: Bureau of Land Management August 2005 FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D C. 20426 officeofenergy projects In Reply Refer To : OEP/DG2E/Gas 1 Wyoming Interstate Company,Ltd. Docket No. CP05-54-000 BLM WYW- Reference No. 160264 TO THE PARTY ADDRESSED: The environmental staffofthe Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) has prepared this final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the interstate natural gas pipeline transmission facilities proposed by Wyoming Interstate Company, Ltd. (WIC) in the above-referenced docket. This final EIS was prepared to satisfy the requirements ofthe National Environmental Policy Act. Its purpose is to inform the Commission, the public, and other permitting agencies about the potential adverse and beneficial environmental impacts associated with the proposed Piceance Basin Expansion Project (Piceance Project) and its alternatives, and to recommend practical, reasonable, and appropriate mitigation measures which would avoid or reduce any significant adverse impacts to the maximum extent practicable and, where feasible, to less than significant levels. The final EIS concludes that the proposed project, with appropriate mitigating measures as recommended, would have limited adverse environmental impact. The U.S. Department ofInterior, Bureau ofLand Management (BLM) is participating as a cooperating agency in the preparation ofthis final EIS because the project would cross federal lands under BLM administration in Wyoming and Colorado. The final EIS will be used by the BLM to consider the issuance ofa right-of-way (ROW) grant for the portion ofthe project on federal lands. While the conclusions and recommendations presented in this final EIS were developed with input from the BLM as a cooperating agency, the BLM will present its own conclusions and recommendations in its Record ofDecision for the project. The Piceance Project involves the construction and operation ofa new interstate natural gas pipeline system that would extend between the existing Colorado Interstate Gas Company (CIG) Greasewood Compressor Station in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, and the existing CIG Wamsutter Compressor Station in Sweetwater County, Wyoming.1 The final EIS assesses the potential environmental effects ofthe construction and operation ofthe following facilities in Colorado and Wyoming: i Both WIC and CIG are affiliates owned by El Paso Corporation. A - 2 - Docket No. CP05-54-000 • about 141.8 miles of24-inch-diameter new pipeline with 89.9 miles located in Colorado (Rio Blanco and Moffat Counties) and 51.9 miles located in Wyoming (Sweetwater County); • additional compression to be installed at the existing CIG Greasewood Compressor Station in Colorado; • four metering stations at interconnections with other pipeline systems (two associated with the CIG Greasewood Compressor Station, two at the CIG Wamsutter Compressor Station); • three pigging facilities (one associated with each compressor station and a new facility at milepost 54.0 near County Road 4 in Moffat County, Colorado); • nine mainline valves (one valve at each ofthe two existing compressor stations and seven valves along the pipeline ROW); and • other associated facilities, such as access roads and communication towers. The proposed project would be capable oftransporting up to 350,000 dekatherms ofnatural gas per day (Dthd) from the CIG Greasewood Compressor Station to interconnections at Wamsutter, Wyoming with the CIG and WIC interstate transmission pipeline systems that serve markets east and west ofWamsutter. The final EIS has been placed in the public files ofthe FERC and is available for public inspection at: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Room Public Reference 888 First Street, NE, Room 2 Washington, D.C. 20426 (202) 502-8371 -3- Docket No. CP05-54-000 Copies also are available for reading at the following locations: BLM Field Office Address City/State Zip Code Colorado State Office 2850 Youngfield Street Lakewood, CO 80215 CO 81625 Little Snake Field Office 455 Emerson Street Craig, WY Rawlins Field Otfice 1300 N. Third Rawlins, 82301 White River Field Office 73544 Hwy 64 Meeker, CO 81641 WY Wyoming State Office P.O. Box 1828 Cheyenne, 82003 Library Address City/State Zip Code BLM Library RS 150A, Bldg. 50 Denver, CO 80225-0047 DFC CO 81625 Craig Library 570 Green Street Craig, DeBeque Library 730 Minter Avenue DeBeque, CO 81630 Glenwood Springs Branch 413 9th Street Glenwood Springs, 81601-3607 CO Library WY Hay Library Western Wyoming Rock Springs, 82902 Community College, 2500 College Drive Meeker Library 200 Main Street Meeker, CO 81641 Merrill Library Utah State University Logan, UT 84322-3000 CO 80526 Morgan Library Colorado State Fort Collins, University Parachute Branch Library 244 Grand Valley Way Parachute, CO 81635 Rangely Library 109 East Main Street Rangely, CO 81641 nd CO 81650 Rifle Branch Library 107 East 2 Rifle, WY Rock Springs Library 400 C Street Rock Springs, 82901 WY 82331 Saratoga Branch Library P.O. Box 27 Saratoga, WY Sweetwater County 300 N. 1st East Street Green River, 82935 Library WY University ofWyoming 1000 East University Laramie, 82071 Avenue WY Wamsutter Library 230 Tierney Wamsutter, 82336 WY White Mountain Library 2935 Sweetwater Drive Rock Springs, 82901 -4- Docket No. CP05-54-000 A limited number ofcopies are available from the FERC’s Public Reference Room identified above. In addition, copies ofthe final EIS have been mailed to federal, state, and local agencies; public interest groups; individuals and affected landowners; libraries; newspapers; and parties to this proceeding. In accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, no agency decision on a proposed action may be made until 30 days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency publishes a notice ofavailability ofa final EIS. However, the CEQ regulations provide an exception to this rule when an agency decision is subject to a formal internal appeal process which allows other agencies or the public to make their views known. In such cases, the agency decision may be made at the same time the notice ofthe final EIS is published, allowing both periods to run concurrently. The Commission decision for this proposed action is subject to a 30-day rehearing period. Additional information about the proposed project is available from the Commission’s Office of External Affairs, at 1-866-208-FERC or on the FERC Internet website (www.ferc.gov) using the “eLibrary” link. Click on the eLibrary link, click on “General Search” and enter the docket number excluding the last three digits (CP05-54) in the Docket Number field. Be sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at [email protected] or toll free at 1-866-208-3676, or for TTY, contact (202) 502- 8659. The eLibrary link on the FERC internet website also provides access to the texts offormal documents issued by the Commission, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings. Information concerning the involvement ofthe BLM is available from Tom Hurshman, BLM Project Manager, at (970) 240-5345. Magalie R. Salas, Secretary 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS i LIST OF APPENDICES v LIST OF TABLES .....vi LIST OF FIGURES ix ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AA-1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ES-1 INTRODUCTION 1.0 .1-1 1.1 Background 1-1 1.2 Project Purpose and Need 1-1 1.3 Purpose and Scope ofthis Document 1-3 FERC 1.3.1 ...1-4 1.3.2 BLM 1-4 1.4 Public Review and Comment 1-5 1.5 Nonjurisdictional Facilities 1-9 1.6 Related Actions 1-10 1.7 Changes Since Issuance ofthe Draft EIS 1-18 2.0 PROPOSED ACTION. 2-1 2.1 Proposed Facilities 2-1 2.1.1 Pipeline Facilities 2-1 2.1.2 Compressor Stations and Appurtenant Facilities 2-1 2.2 Land Requirements 2-3 ROW 2.2.1 Pipeline 2-3 2.2.2 Additional Temporary Workspace Areas 2-7 2.2.2. ContingentWinter Construction Workspace 2-8 2.2.3 Pipe Storage and Contractor Yards 2-8 2.2.4 Access Roads 2-9 i 579 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2.2.5 Aboveground Facilities 2-10 2.3 Construction Procedures 2-11 2.3.1 General Pipeline Construction Procedures 2-14 2.3.1.1 Survey and Staking 2-15 2.3.1.2 Clearing and Grading 2-1 2.3.1.3 Trenching 2-17 2.3.1.4 Pipe Stringing, Bending, and Welding 2-1 2.3.1.5 Lowering-in and Backfilling 2-18 2.3.1.6 Hydrostatic Testing 2-18 2.3.1.7 Final Tie-in 2-19 2.3.1.8 Commissioning 2-19 2.3.1.9 Cleanup and Restoration 2-1 2.3.2 Special Construction Procedures 2-19 2.3.2.1 Road, Highway, and Railroad Crossings 2-20 2.3.2.2 Steep Terrain 2-20 2.3.2.3 Waterbody Crossings 2-21 2.3.2.4 Wetland Crossings 2-24 2.3.2.5 Blasting 2-25 2.3.2.6 Residential Construction 2-26 2.3.2.7 Fences and Grazing 2-26 2.3.2.8 Construction Immediately Adjacent to Foreign Lines 2-27 2.3.3 Aboveground Facility Construction Procedures 2-27 2.3.4 Corrosion Protection and Detection Systems 2-31 2.4 Construction Workforce and Schedule 2-31 2.5 Environmental Inspection, Compliance Monitoring, and Post-Approval Variances 2-32 2.5.1 Compliance Monitoring 2-33 2.5.2 Post-Approval Variance Process 2-34 2.6 Operation and Maintenance 2-34 ROW 2.6.1 Monitoring and Maintenance 2-34 2.6.2 Pipeline Integrity 2-35 2.7 Future Plans and Abandonment 2-35 2.8 Permits, Approvals, and Regulatory Requirements ..2-36 3.0 ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS 3-1 3.1 Geology 3-1 3.1.1 Geology and Physiography 3-1 3.1.2 Mineral Resources 3-1 3.1.3 Geologic Hazards 3-4