[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 65 (Thursday, April 5, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16779-16781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6315]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. CP06-470-000; CP06-471-000; CP06-472-000; CP06-473-000; 
CP06-474-000]


Southern LNG Inc.; Elba Express Company, L.L.C.; Southern Natural 
Gas Company; Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Elba III Project

March 30, 2007.
    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 
for the Elba III Project, proposed by Southern LNG Inc. (Southern LNG), 
Elba Express Company, L.L.C. (EEC), and their parent company Southern 
Natural Gas Company (Southern), a subsidiary of El Paso Corporation. As 
described in the above-referenced dockets, this project would consist 
of the following components:
     Southern LNG's expansion of the existing Elba Island 
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Import Terminal near Savannah in Chatham 
County, Georgia;
     EEC's construction and operation of natural gas pipeline 
and compression facilities (Elba Express Pipeline) extending between 
existing facilities owned by Southern in Chatham County and those of 
Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corporation (Transco) in Hart County, 
Georgia and Anderson County, South Carolina; and
     Southern's abandonment by sale to EEC of an undivided 
interest in its pipeline facilities that extend between the LNG import 
terminal and the existing Port Wentworth Meter Station (where the Elba 
Express Pipeline would begin), and purchase of an undivided interest in 
the first 10 miles of the Elba Express Pipeline.
    The draft EIS was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), and was completed 
with the cooperation of the U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard), the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers (COE), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries). A 
cooperating agency has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with 
respect to potential environmental impacts associated with the 
proposal, and participates in the NEPA analysis.
    The Coast Guard is responsible for determining the suitability of a 
waterway for LNG marine traffic; in this instance, the determination 
would be issued as a Letter of Recommendation with conditions. The 
Captain of the Port Savannah is the point of contact for this action. 
The COE would need to evaluate the project and issue Section 404 
Permits for wetland impacts associated with expansion of the terminal 
and pipeline construction, easements where the pipeline would cross 
COE-managed lands, modifications to existing COE Mitigation Lands, and 
an approval for a large fuel-carrying pipeline to cross federal 
property. NOAA Fisheries has responsibilities for evaluating potential 
impacts on essential fish habitat and threatened or endangered aquatic 
species.
    The FERC staff has concluded that if the project is constructed and 
operated in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, each 
project sponsor's proposed mitigation, and the staff's additional 
mitigation recommendations, it would have limited adverse environmental 
impact and would be an environmentally acceptable action.
    The draft EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of 
construction and operation of the following LNG terminal and natural 
gas pipeline facilities:

Elba Terminal Expansion

    The proposed expansion of the existing LNG import terminal would: 
(a) More than double the site's LNG storage capacity by adding 405,000 
cubic meters (m3) of new storage; (b) substantially increase 
the facility's existing vaporization capacity; (c) upgrade the 
terminal's send-out meter station to increase the natural gas send-out 
capacity of the facility by an additional 900 million cubic feet per 
day (MMcfd); and (d) modify the terminal's LNG tanker berthing and 
unloading facilities to accommodate larger tankers and provide for 
simultaneous unloading of two LNG tankers. All of the planned 
facilities would be located entirely within the existing 190-acre 
facility site on Elba Island.
    The LNG terminal expansion would be constructed in two phases, A 
and B. Southern LNG anticipates completing Phase A as early as January 
2010. Phase A would include the following facilities:
    a. One new 200,000-m3 (1.25 million barrels [bbls]) LNG 
storage tank, one associated boil-off gas condenser, and three boil-off 
gas compressors;
    b. three submerged combustion vaporizers, each with a peak capacity 
of 180 MMcfd (providing a total peak send-out capacity of 1,755 MMcfd 
for the full facility at the completion of phase A); and
    c. modifications to the unloading docks to accommodate larger LNG

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tankers and to allow simultaneous unloading of two LNG tankers. The 
modifications to the dual berthing slip include:

--Adding four mooring dolphins (two for each berth);
--dredging approximately 72,000 cubic yards of material from the slope 
at the back of the existing slip (and disposing of dredged material 
into the existing spoil disposal area adjacent to the terminal); and
--installing a sheet pile bulkhead at the back of the slip.

    These modifications would allow the slip to accommodate larger LNG 
tankers with an approximate overall length of 345 meters (m) (compared 
to the current 288 m), breadth of 55 m (currently 49 m), design laden 
draft of 12.0 m (currently 11.7 m), and displacement of 177,000 metric 
tons (currently 128,000 metric tons).
    Phase B would be completed no later than December 2012 and would 
include the following facilities:
    a. one new 200,000-m3 (1.25 million bbls) LNG storage 
tank; and
    b. three submerged combustion vaporizers (two for service and one 
spare), each with a peak capacity of 180 MMcfd (providing a total peak 
send-out capacity of 2,115 MMcfd for the full facility at the 
completion of phase B).
    Each phase would include all necessary ancillary equipment 
including related pumps, piping, controls and appurtenances, and 
associated systems (electrical, mechanical, civil, instrumentation, 
hazard detection, and fire protection) and buildings necessary to 
accommodate the associated tanks and vaporizer units.

Elba Express Pipeline

    EEC proposes to construct and operate about 188 miles of new 
natural gas pipeline and appurtenant facilities in Georgia and South 
Carolina. The pipeline would be constructed in two phases. The first 
phase is proposed to be placed in service no later than July 2011 with 
a design capacity of 945 MMcfd, and would consist of:
    a. a ``Southern Segment,'' which includes about 104.8 miles of 42-
inch-diameter pipeline extending from Port Wentworth to the existing 
Southern Wrens Compressor Station (Wrens) in Jefferson County, Georgia 
(to be collocated with existing Southern pipelines); and
    b. a ``Northern Segment,'' which includes about 83.1 miles of 36-
inch-diameter pipeline extending from Wrens to interconnects with 
Transco in Hart County, Georgia, and Anderson County, South Carolina.
    The second phase would involve construction and operation of a new 
10,000-horsepower compressor station near Millen, Jenkins County, 
Georgia, on a site where Southern currently operates other aboveground 
facilities. The compressor station would increase the pipeline design 
capacity by 230 MMcfd to a total of 1,175 MMcfd, and is proposed to be 
placed in service no later than January 2013.
    The draft 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.
    CD-ROM copies of the draft EIS have been mailed to federal, state, 
and local agencies; public interest groups; individuals and affected 
landowners who requested a copy of the draft EIS or provided comments 
during scoping; libraries and newspapers in the project area; and 
parties to this proceeding. Hard copy versions of the draft EIS were 
mailed to those specifically requesting them. A limited number of hard 
copies and CD-ROMs are available from the Public Reference Room 
identified above.

Comment Procedures and Public Meetings

    Any person wishing to comment on the draft EIS may do so. To ensure 
consideration prior to a Commission decision on the proposal, it is 
important that the Commission receive your comments before the date 
specified below. Please carefully follow these instructions to ensure 
that your comments are received and properly recorded:
     Send an original and two copies of your comments to: 
Philis J. Posey, Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
     Reference Docket Nos. CP06-470-000, et al.
     Label one copy of the comments for the attention of Gas 
Branch 1, DG2E.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before May 21, 2007.
    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 a free account, which can be created by clicking on ``Login to 
File'' and then ``New User Account.'' You will be asked to select the 
type of filing you are making. This filing is considered a ``Comment on 
Filing.''
    In lieu of sending written comments, you are invited to attend 
public comment meetings the FERC staff will conduct in the project area 
to receive comments on the draft EIS. Date, time, and location of these 
meetings will be sent under separate cover. Interested groups and 
individuals are encouraged to attend and present oral comments on the 
draft EIS. Transcripts of the meetings will be prepared.
    After these comments are reviewed, any significant new issues are 
investigated, and modifications are made to the draft EIS, a final EIS 
will be published and distributed. The final EIS will contain the FERC 
staff's responses to timely comments received on the draft EIS.
    Comments will be considered by the Commission but will not serve to 
make the commenter a party to the proceeding. Any person seeking to 
become a party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene 
pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and 
Procedures (18 CFR 385.214). Anyone may intervene in this proceeding 
based on this draft EIS. You must file your request to intervene as 
specified above.\1\ You do not need intervener status to have your 
comments considered.
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    \1\ 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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    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 (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, contact (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 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,

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document summaries and direct links to the documents. Go to the 
eSubscription link on the FERC Internet Web site.

Philis J. Posey,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-6315 Filed 4-4-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P