[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 142 (Tuesday, July 26, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43141-43143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-3962]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP05-361-000]


Freeport LNG Development, L.P.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Freeport LNG Phase II Project 
and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

July 19, 2005.
    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) that will 
discuss the environmental impacts of Freeport LNG Development, L.P.'s 
(Freeport LNG) proposal to site, construct, and operate the following 
additional facilities at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import 
terminal on Quintana Island, Brazoria County, Texas: (1) An additional 
marine berthing dock and associated unloading facilities for LNG ships, 
(2) new and expanded vaporization systems; and (3) an additional LNG 
storage tank.

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    These facilities would constitute Freeport LNG's ``Phase II 
Project'' which would complement the ``Phase I Project'' that was 
authorized by the Commission on June 18, 2004 in Docket No. CP03-75-
000. The Phase I Project is currently under construction. The Freeport 
LNG Phase II Project would increase the LNG import terminal's planned 
send-out capacity from 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcfd) to 4.0 
Bcfd and the number of LNG ships from 200 to 400 ships per year.
    This notice announces the opening of the scoping period that will 
be used to gather environmental input from the public and interested 
agencies on the project. Please note that the scoping period will close 
on August 22, 2005. Details on how to submit comments are provided in 
the Public Participation section of this notice.
    This notice is being sent to potentially affected landowners; 
Federal, state, and local government agencies; elected officials; 
environmental and public interest groups; Native American Tribes, other 
interested parties; local libraries and newspapers. State and local 
government representatives are asked to notify their constituents of 
this planned project and encourage them to comment on their areas of 
concern.
    A fact sheet prepared by the FERC entitled ``An Interstate Natural 
Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I Need To Know?'' is available for 
viewing on the FERC Web site (http://www.ferc.gov). This fact sheet 
addresses a number of typically asked questions, including how to 
participate in the Commission's proceedings.

Summary of Proposed Project

    In the Commission's June 18, 2004 Order for the Phase I Project, 
Freeport LNG was authorized to construct and operate an LNG import 
terminal consisting of a single LNG ship berth, two LNG storage tanks, 
associated vaporization facilities, and a 9.6-mile-long natural gas 
send-out pipeline.\1\ The Freeport LNG Phase II Project would require 
removal of an abandoned barge dock and the dredging of a second ship 
berth adjacent to the Phase I berth, expansion of the Phase I 
vaporization facilities and utility systems to accommodate the 
increased terminal capacity, and construction of a third LNG tank west 
of and adjacent to the Phase I storage tanks. The Freeport LNG Phase II 
facilities would be adjacent to or within the boundary of the Phase I 
site. The location of the Phase I and Freeport LNG Phase II site 
boundaries are shown on the map in Appendix 1.\2\
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    \1\ On April 1, 2005, Freeport LNG filed an amendment to its 
Phase I Project and requested authorization to change the diameter 
of its previously approved pipeline from 36 inches to 42 inches. 
This proposal will be the focus of a separate environmental review. 
The Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environment Assessment for this 
proposal was issued on June 13, 2005.
    \2\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being 
printed in the Federal Register. Copies of all appendices, other 
than appendix 1 (maps), are available on the Commission's Web site 
at the ``eLibrary'' link or from the Commission's Public Reference 
Room, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 
502-8371. For instructions on connecting to eLibrary refer to the 
last page of this notice. Copies of the appendices were sent to all 
those receiving this notice in the mail.
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Land Requirements for Construction

    The Freeport LNG Phase II Project would affect a total of 94.4 
acres of land and water. Of this total, approximately 38.3 acres (34.7 
acres of land and 3.6 acres of water) would be new impacts (i.e., not 
affected by Phase I construction activities). Of the new area to be 
disturbed, 13.2 acres would be temporary impacts and 25.1 acres would 
be permanently impacted for operation.

Non-Jurisdictional Facilities

    Freeport LNG also proposes to develop an underground natural gas 
storage facility at Stratton, near the end of the Phase I send-out 
pipeline. This facility would include the following major components: 
two salt dome natural gas storage caverns, two well pads and two well 
heads, one salt dome test well, one natural gas handling facility, one 
solution mining plant, two natural gas pipelines totaling 1.51 miles, 
two raw water disposal pipelines totaling 1.92 miles, two brine 
disposal pipelines totaling 1.92 miles, and one diesel pipeline 
totaling 0.46 mile. Construction of these facilities would affect 
approximately 50.7 acres of open land, and an additional 9.6 acres of 
land that would be disturbed as part of construction of the Phase I 
send-out pipeline. Approximately 25 acres would be permanently impacted 
by operation. This natural gas storage facility would be authorized and 
regulated by the Texas Railroad Commission.

The EA Process

    We\3\ are preparing this EA to comply with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which requires the Commission to take 
into account the environmental impacts that could result from an action 
whenever it considers the issuance of a Certificate of Public 
Convenience and Necessity. NEPA also requires us to discover and 
address concerns the public may have about proposals. This process is 
referred to as ``scoping''. The main goal of the scoping process is to 
focus the analysis in the EA on the important environmental issues. By 
this Notice of Intent, the Commission staff requests public comments on 
the scope of the issues to address in the EA. All comments received are 
considered during the preparation of the EA. By this notice, we are 
also asking Federal, state, and local agencies with jurisdiction and/or 
special expertise with respect to environmental issues to formally 
cooperate with us in the preparation of the EA. Agencies that would 
like to request cooperating status should follow the instructions for 
filing comments below.
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    \3\ ''We'', ``us'', and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP).
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    Our independent analysis of the issues will be in the EA. Depending 
on the comments received during the scoping process, the EA may be 
published and mailed to Federal, state, and local agencies, public 
interest groups, interested individuals, affected landowners, 
newspapers, libraries, and the Commission's official service list for 
this proceeding. A comment period will be allotted for review if the EA 
is published. We will consider all comments on the EA before we make 
our recommendations to the Commission.

Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    We have already identified several issues that we think deserve 
attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed modifications 
and the environmental information provided by Freeport LNG. The 
following list of issues may be changed based on your comments and our 
analysis:
     Effects of dredging and disposal of 754,000 cubic yards of 
material to expand the existing berth area and an additional 144,000 
cubic yards of surface materials;
     Additional sedimentation associated with the additional 
dredging; and
     Impacts associated with the additional LNG ship traffic on 
the Freeport Harbor Channel.
    We will also evaluate possible alternatives to the proposed project 
or portions of the project and make recommendations on how to lessen or 
avoid impacts on the various resource areas.

Public Participation

    You can make a difference by providing us with your specific 
comments or concerns about the project. By becoming a commentor, your 
concerns will be addressed in the EA

[[Page 43143]]

and considered by the Commission. You should focus on the potential 
environmental effects of the proposal, alternatives to the proposal 
(including alternative locations and routes), and measures to avoid or 
lessen environmental impact. The more specific your comments, the more 
useful they will be. Please carefully follow these instructions to 
ensure that your comments are received in time and properly recorded:
     Send an original and two copies of your letter to: Magalie 
R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First 
St., NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
     Label one copy of the comments for the attention of Gas 
Branch 2.
     Reference Docket Number CP05-361-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before August 22, 2005.
    Please note that the Commission strongly encourages electronic 
filing of any comments or interventions or protests to this proceeding. 
See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's 
Web site at http://www.ferc.gov under the ``e-Filing'' link and the 
link to the User's Guide. Before you can file comments, you will need 
to create and account which can be created on-line.

Becoming an Intervenor

    In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want 
to become an official party to the proceeding known as an 
``intervenor''. Intervenors play a more formal role in the process. 
Among other things, intervenors have the right to receive copies of 
case-related Commission documents and filings by other intervenors. 
Likewise, each intervenor must send one electronic copy (using the 
Commission's eFiling system) or 14 paper copies of its filings to the 
Secretary of the Commission and must send a copy of its filings to all 
other parties on the Commission's service list for this proceeding. If 
you want to become an intervenor you must file a motion to intervene 
according to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and 
Procedure (18 CFR 385.214, see Appendix 2).\4\ Only intervenors have 
the right to seek rehearing of the Commission's decision.
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    \4\ Interventions may also be filed electronically via the 
Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing 
comments electronically.
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    Affected landowners and parties with environmental concerns may be 
granted intervenor status upon showing good cause by stating that they 
have a clear and direct interest in this proceeding which would not be 
adequately represented by any other parties. You do not need intervenor 
status to have your environmental comments considered.

Environmental Mailing List

    If you wish to remain on our environmental mailing list, please 
return the Information Request Form included in Appendix 3. If you do 
not return this form, you will be removed from our mailing list.

Additional Information

    Additional information about the project is available from the 
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at 1-866-208-FERC or on the 
FERC Internet Web site (http://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 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 TYY, 
contact (202)502-8659. The eLibrary link also provides access to the 
texts of formal documents issued by the Commission, such as orders, 
notices, and rulemakings.
    In addition, the Commission now offers a free service called 
eSubscription which allows you to keep track of all formal issuances 
and submittals in specific dockets. This can reduce the amount of time 
you spend researching proceedings by automatically providing you with 
notification of these filings, document summaries and direct links to 
the documents. Go to http://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-3962 Filed 7-25-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P