Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America; Notice of Application

On March 23, 2004, Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (Natural), 747 East 22nd Street, Lombard, Illinois 60148, filed an application in the above-referenced docket, pursuant to Section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA), and Part 157 of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (Commission) Regulations for authorization to acquire and operate a 38.6-mile, 30-inch pipeline segment known as Black Marlin which extends from Bryan County, Oklahoma to Lamar County, Texas, and to construct certain minor tie-in facilities. In addition, Natural requests authorization to lease 60,000 MMBtu per day of short-haul capacity to Northern Natural Gas Company (Northern) in order for Northern to continue providing transportation service for Lamar Power Partners pursuant to Section 311 of the Natural Gas Policy Act, all as more fully set forth in the application which is on file with the Commission and open to public inspection.

This filing is available for review at the Commission in the Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov using the “e-Library” link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket number field to access the document. For assistance, contact FERC at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call toll-free, (866) 208-3676, or for TTY, (202) 502-8659.

Any questions regarding this application should be directed to Bruce Newsome, Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America, Vice President, Rates and Regulatory Division, 747 East 22nd Street, Lombard, Illinois 60148 at (630) 691-3526.

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 14 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 commenters 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 commenters will not be required to serve copies of filed documents on all other parties. However, the non-party commenters will not receive copies of all documents filed by other parties or issued by the 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.

Protests and interventions may be filed electronically via the Internet in lieu of paper; see, 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's Web site under the “e-Filing” link. The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings.

Comment Date: April 20, 2004.