After the series of divide-and-conquer landowner meetings Spectra just held, another series of Open Houses starts in December: here’s the schedule. Later, FERC may hold and sponsor Scoping Meetings. Local counties can hold public hearings in addition to all these, and Andrea Grover said in front of multiple witnesses that Spectra would speak and answer questions at such a county public hearing.

Update 3 Dec 2013: Brooks County, Georgia already had a citizen speak. Lowndes County, Georgia is having Sabal Trail speak. See the calendar. See also Sabal Trail’s own list of open houses.

There’s also a meeting of the corporate cast of characters with FERC on November 5, 2013. I wonder if intervenors could attend that meeting, at least by telephone?

The Open House roadshow gets to Albany Dec 11, Moultrie Dec 12, and Clyattville Dec 16, interleaved with meetings in Alabama and Florida.

Here’s FERC’s definition of Open Houses:

One common misunderstanding is the difference between Open Houses and Scoping Meetings. Open Houses are sponsored by the Company, and Scoping Meetings are sponsored by FERC (see discussion below for information on Scoping Meetings). As part of the Company’s community outreach program in Commission’s pre-filing process, the Company will hold Open Houses in the vicinity of the proposed project area to share information about its project with the public.

The Commission frequently sends staff to attend open houses during pre-filing to answer questions, discuss the FERC’s pre-filing process, and invite stakeholders/public to participate in the environmental and certificate application proceedings. An important component of the NEPA review of projects involves public input early in the process.

The goal of the Commission’s pre-filing process is to notify all project stakeholders, including potentially affected property owners, so that Company and the Commission Staff can provide a forum to hear the issues relevant to those stakeholders. The Company may then incorporate proposed mitigation measures into the project design from comments received from stakeholders.

And here’s FERC’s definition of Scoping Meetings:

Scoping meetings, which are sponsored by FERC, are utilized by staff to identify relevant issues of major Certificate projects, pursuant to NEPA. Scoping is the process of defining and refining the scope of a environmental impact statement (EIS) or environmental assessment (EA) and the alternatives to be investigated. The scoping process is one of the opportunities for public involvement. Affected property owners and other stakeholders can provide detailed comments about issues pertaining to their properties. For example, stakeholders can provide information on sensitive environmental features in the project area; suggest alternatives to be evaluated; or help identify construction constraints.

FERC staff may hold public scoping meetings in the project area for major projects that typically require an EIS or EA. The scoping meetings are typically held during the Commission’s pre-filing process, but may be held after the application is officially filed with the Commission.

FERC scoping meetings are open to the general public and are structured for people to make statements to the FERC staff about the project. FERC staff describes the environmental review process with members of the public, provides relevant information, and answers procedural questions. The Company is present and typically gives a summary of its project and is available before and after the formal part of the meeting for questions and answers. One of the main purposes of a formal scoping meeting is so the members of the public get an opportunity to speak their concerns. Comments on the proposed project may be submitted in written form or made verbally during the course of the scoping meeting. The scoping meetings are recorded by a stenographer and will become part of the formal record of the Commission proceeding on the project. Scoping meeting transcripts are accessible and placed in the record through the Commission’s eLibrary system, in the docket number assigned to the proceeding.

Information gathered at scoping meetings during pre-filing help the Company prepare environmental mitigation measures to present in its environmental resource reports filed with the Commission in its Certificate Application. In return, this information provides FERC staff with the resources needed to publish a more complete environmental document for public review. Companies not involved in the pre-filing process are not afforded the benefit of resolving stakeholder concerns prior to filing their Certificate Applications.

Here’s the entire Open House schedule. on the FERC website and in HTML. Notice the subtle addition to the corporate cast of characters: “Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC By: Sabal Trail Management, LLC, Its Operator”. A shell company operated by a shell company. And there are four incorporations of Sabal Trail Management LLC, in Texas, Delaware, Alabama, and Florida.

20131023-5065 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 10/23/2013 12:59:39 PM

October 23, 2013

Ms. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20426

Re:	Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC Sabal Trail Project, Docket No. PF14-1-000 Open Houses, Inter-Agency Meeting Schedule and Stakeholder Notifications

Dear Ms. Bose:

On October 16, 2013, the Director of the Office of Energy Projects issued a letter in the above referenced docket approving the request of Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC (“Sabal Trail”) to commence the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“Commission”) Pre-filing Review Process of its proposed Sabal Trail Project (“Project”). Pursuant to Section 157.21(f)(1) of the Commission’s regulations, 1 Sabal Trail hereby submits, as an attachment, the dates and locations for the 18 established open houses for affected landowners, interested stakeholders (including agencies), and Commission Staff.

Further, Sabal Trail hereby submits that a meeting with Commission Staff is scheduled on November 5, 2013, to discuss the Pre-filing Review Process, including the coordination and frequency of inter-agency meetings to be held during the Pre-filing Review Process. Meeting participants will include Commission Staff and representatives from Sabal Trail, Florida Southeast Connection, LLC, Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC and Merjent, Inc., the selected third party contractor. Sabal Trail will communicate to inter-agencies the schedule that is established during this meeting.

Pursuant to Section 157.21(f)(3) of the Commission’s regulations, 2 Sabal Trail will contact all Project stakeholders, including affected landowners as defined in Section 157.6(d)(2) of the Commission’s regulations, 3 by October 30, 2013.

Should you have any questions regarding this filing, please contact the undersigned at (713) 627-4102 or Joe Payne, Manager, Rates and Certificates at (713) 627-5093.

Sincerely,
Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC
By: Sabal Trail Management, LLC,
Its Operator
/s/ Lisa A. Connolly ______________
Lisa A. Connolly, General Manager
Rates and Certificates

Attachment

cc:	Lauren O’Donnell (FERC) Mike McGehee (FERC) John Peconom (FERC) Jessica Harris (FERC)

1 18 C.F.R. § 157.21(f)(1) (2013).

2 18 C.F.R. § 157.21(f)(3) (2013).

3 18 C.F.R. § 157.6(d)(2) (2013).

Dates and Locations for Sabal Trail Open Houses

1. Tuesday, December 3, 2013
   Central Alabama Community College
   1675 Cherokee Rd.
   Alexander City, AL 35010
   5:00pm to 7:30pm
   
2. Tuesday, December 3, 2013
   Suwannee County Agricultural Complex
   Coliseum
   1302 11th St, SW
   Live Oak, FL 32064
   5:00pm to 7:30pm
   
3. Wednesday, December 4, 2013
   Opelika Sportsplex & Aquatics Center
   Adult Center
   1001 Andrews Rd.
   Opelika, AL 36801
   5:00pm to 7:30pm
   
4. Wednesday, December 4, 2013
   Branford High School
   405 S. Reynolds Street
   Branford, FL 32208
   5:00pm to 7:30pm
   
5. Thursday, December 5, 2013
   Russell County High School
   4699 Old Seale Highway
   Seale, AL 36875
   5:00pm to 7:30pm
   
6. Thursday, December 5, 2013
   Bell High School
   930 South Main Street
   Bell, FL 32619
   5:00pm to 7:30pm
   
7. Monday, December 9, 2013
   Stewart County High School
   7062 Green Grove Rd.
   Lumpkin, GA 31815
   5:00pm to 7:30pm
   
8. Monday, December 9, 2013
   Williston Elementary School
   801 South Main Street
   Williston, FL 32696
   5:00pm to 7:30pm
   
9. Tuesday, December 10, 2013
   Terrell Middle-High School
   201 Greenwave Blvd.
   Dawson, GA 39842
   5:00pm to 7:30pm
   
10. Tuesday, December 10, 2013
    Dunnellon High School
    10055 SW 180th Ave. Rd.
    Dunnellon, FL 34432
    5:00pm to 7:30pm
    
11. Wednesday, December 11, 2013
    Albany Technical College
    Kirkland Conference Center
    1704 S. Slappey Blvd.
    Albany, GA 31707
    5:00pm to 7:30pm
    
12. Wednesday, December 11, 2013
    Lake Panasoffkee Community Building
    52 CR-527N
    Lake Panasoffkee, FL 33538
    5:00pm to 7:30pm
    
13. Thursday, December 12, 2013
    Moultrie Technical Facility
    Building A (VPC Conference Center)
    800 Veterans Parkway N.
    Moultrie, GA 31788
    5:00pm to 7:30pm
    
14. Thursday, December 12, 2013
    South Lake High School
    15600 Silver Eagle Rd.
    Groveland, FL 34736
    5:00pm to 7:30pm
    
15. Monday, December 16, 2013
    Clyattville Elementary School
    5386 Madison Hwy
    Valdosta, GA 31601
    5:00pm to 7:30pm
    
16. Monday, December 16, 2013
    Westside K-8 School
    2551 Westside Blvd.
    Kissimmee, FL 34747
    5:00pm to 7:30pm
    
17. Tuesday, December 17, 2013
    North Florida Community College
    325 Turner Davis Dr.
    Madison, FL 32340
    5:00pm to 7:30pm
    
18. Tuesday, December 17, 2013
    Kissimmee Middle School
    2410 Dyer Blvd.
    Kissimmee, FL 34741
    5:00pm to 7:30pm
    

20131023-5065 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 10/23/2013 12:59:39 PM

Document Content(s)

PF14-1 Open Houses, Notification and Meetings Letter .PDF………….1-5

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