[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 91 (Thursday, May 11, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27492-27493]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7199]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. CP05-360-000; CP05-357-000; CP05-358-000; CP05-359-000]


Creole Trail LNG, L.P.; Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline Company; 
Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Creole Trail LNG Terminal and Pipeline Project

May 5, 2006.
    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared this final Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) for the construction and operation of the liquefied natural gas 
(LNG) import terminal and natural gas pipeline facilities, referred to 
as the Creole Trail LNG Terminal and Pipeline Project (Creole Trail 
Project), as proposed by Creole Trail LNG, L.P. and Cheniere Creole 
Trail Pipeline Company \1\ (collectively referred to as Creole Trail) 
in the above-referenced dockets.
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    \1\ On March 23, 2006, Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline Company 
filed a letter with the Commission stating that on or about March 
31, 2006, Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline Company will be merged 
under Delaware law into Creole Trail Pipeline, L.P. Creole Trail 
Pipeline L.P. will be formed solely for the purpose of acquiring 
Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline Company and will be the surviving 
legal entity. Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline Company requests in its 
letter that the Commission issue a certificate of public convenience 
and necessity to Creole Trail Pipeline, L.P.
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    The final EIS was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the 
National Environmental Policy Act. The staff concludes that approval of 
the Creole Trail Project, with appropriate mitigating measures as 
recommended, would have limited adverse environmental impact. The final 
EIS evaluates alternatives to the proposal, including system 
alternatives, alternative sites for the LNG import terminal, and 
pipeline alternatives.
    The purpose of the Creole Trail Project is to provide the 
facilities necessary to meet growing demand for natural gas in the 
United States by providing access to a reliable and stable supply of 
natural gas from diverse areas of the world and to allow natural gas 
delivery to the Gulf of Mexico coast, midwest, northeast, and Atlantic 
markets using existing interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline 
systems.
    The final EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the following facilities in Cameron, 
Calcasieu, Beauregard, Allen, Jefferson Davis, and Acadia Parishes, 
Louisiana: \2\
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    \2\ Since the draft EIS was issued in December 2005, Creole 
Trail filed a project amendment to withdraw a 6.8-mile-long 20-inch-
diameter lateral pipeline, referred to in the draft EIS as the 
Hackberry lateral.
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     A ship unloading slip with two protected berths, each 
equipped with three liquid unloading arms and one vapor return arm;
     Four LNG storage tanks, each with a usable volume of 
1,006,400 barrels (160,000 cubic meters (m3));
     Twenty-one high pressure LNG sendout pumps, each with a 
capacity of 1,686 gallons per minute (384 m3 per hour);
     Twenty-one high pressure submerged combustion vaporizers, 
each with a capacity of 183 million cubic feet per day;
     Three boil-off gas compressors;
     Ancillary utilities, buildings, and service facilities at 
the LNG terminal;
     116.8 miles of dual 42-inch-diameter natural gas pipeline;
     17 meter and regulation facilities; and
     Associated pipeline facilities including pig launcher and 
receiver facilities, and eight MLVs along each of the individual 
pipelines in the dual pipeline system.
    The final EIS has been placed in the public files of the FERC and 
is available for distribution and public inspection at: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, Public Reference Room, 888 First Street, NE., 
Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426. (202) 502-8371.
    A limited number of copies of the final EIS are available from the 
Public Reference Room identified above. In addition, copies of the 
final EIS have been mailed to Federal, state, and local agencies; 
elected officials; public interest groups; individuals and affected 
landowners who requested a copy of the EIS; libraries; newspapers; and 
parties to these proceedings.
    In accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) 
regulations implementing NEPA, no agency decision on a proposed action 
may be made until 30 days after the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) publishes a notice of availability of a final EIS. 
However, the CEQ regulations provide an exception to this rule when an 
agency decision is subject to a formal internal process that 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 of the 
final EIS is published, allowing both periods to run concurrently. 
Should the FERC issue Creole Trail authorizations for the proposed 
project, it would be subject to a 30-day rehearing period.
    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 TTY 
at (202) 502-8659. The eLibrary link on the FERC Internet Web site 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 that 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

[[Page 27493]]

to the documents. Go to http://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E6-7199 Filed 5-10-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P