Response to Comments filed by Town of Pendleton of National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation and Empire Pipeline, Inc. under CP15-115.

national fuel Kenneth E. Webster (716) 857-7067 Attorney January 12, 2016 Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, N.E. Washington, DC 20426 Re: National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation and Empire Pipeline, Inc. Northern Access 2016 Project Docket Nos. CP15-115-000 and CP15-115-001 Dear Ms. Bose: National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation and Empire Pipeline, Inc. (collectively, National Fuel) hereby submit their response to the comments recently filed by the Town of Pendleton, New York, dated December 21, 2015. Please contact the undersigned if you have questions concerning this filing. Very truly yours, /s/ Kenneth Webster Kenneth Webster Attorney National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation and Empire Pipeline, Inc. Enc. cc: Christine Allen NATIONAL FUEL GAS SUPPLY CORPORATION / 6363 MAIN STREET / WILLIAMSVILLE, NY 14221-5887 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that I have this day served, in accordance with the provisions of Rule 2010 of the Commissions Rules of Practice and Procedure, the foregoing document upon each person designated on the official service list compiled by the Secretary of the Commission in this proceeding. Dated at Williamsville, New York this 12th day of January, 2016. /s/ Matthew J. Luzi Matthew J. Luzi National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. 6363 Main Street Williamsville, New York 14221 Telephone No. (716) 857-7813 NATIONAL FUEL GAS SUPPLY CORPORATION AND EMPIRE PIPELINE, INC. RESPONSES TO TOWN OF PENDLETONS SCOPING COMMENT Page No. Comment Response I. General Comments 1, FN 2 The deadline for scoping comments provided in the notice is The Town of Pendletons (Town) comments were not timely filed. The September 19, 2015. Since this is a Saturday, these comments are Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions (FERC) comment deadline was timely filed on the following Monday. December 19, 2015 (not September 19, 2015), which was extended to close of business (5:00 pm) on Monday, December 21, 2015 by virtue of the Saturday deadline. However, the Towns comments were filed after the close of business on December 21 (5:02 pm). As such, they are considered filed on December 22, the next business day. See 18 CFR 385.2001(2). 1, 2 absence of any domestic need for the proposed compressor These statements are based on inaccurate assumptions--that there is somehow station; whether the purported international need can be no domestic need for the proposed compressor station, when there is in fact supported will not be known until sometime after project approval. such a need. As stated in National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation (Supply) and Empire Pipeline, Inc.s (Empire, and collectively with Supply, National Fuel) March 17, 2015 Application (Application) for the Northern Access 2016 Project (Project), which has ...