[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 78 (Friday, April 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22744-22745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-9858]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice 7422]
Notice of Availability of the Supplemental Draft Environmental
Impact Statement for the Proposed TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline
Project
AGENCY: Department of State.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: Consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
of 1969, as amended, the Department of State (DOS) has prepared a
supplemental draft environmental impact statement (SDEIS) for the
proposed TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, LP (TransCanada) Keystone XL
Project (Project). On September 19, 2008, TransCanada filed an
application for a Presidential Permit for the construction, connection,
operation, and maintenance of a pipeline and associated facilities at
the border of the U.S. and Canada for the transport of crude oil across
the U.S.-Canada international boundary. The Secretary of State is
designated and empowered to receive all applications for Presidential
Permits, as referred to in Executive Order 13337, as amended, for the
construction, connection, operation, or maintenance, at the borders of
the United States, of facilities for the exportation or importation of
petroleum, petroleum products, coal, or other fuels to or from a
foreign country. TransCanada has requested authorization to construct
and operate border crossing facilities at the U.S.-Canadian border in
Phillips County, near Morgan, Montana, in connection with its proposed
international pipeline project (Keystone XL Project) that is designed
to transport Canadian crude oil production from the Western Canadian
Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) to destinations in the south central United
States, including to a new tank farm in Cushing, Oklahoma, and to
delivery points in the Port Arthur and East Houston areas of Texas.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOS served as the lead Federal agency for
the environmental review of the proposed Project consistent with NEPA,
and issued a draft environmental impact statement (draft EIS) for
public review on April 16, 2010. The Federal and state agencies that
served as cooperating agencies in the development of the draft EIS
include the U.S. Department of Agriculture--Natural Resources
Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency, and Rural Utilities Service;
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the U.S. Department of Energy,
Western Area Power Administration; the U.S. Department of the
Interior--Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service; the U.S. Department of Transportation,
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of
Pipeline Safety; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and the
Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Cooperating agencies
either have jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to
the environmental impacts assessed in connection with the proposal and
are participating with DOS in analysis of those environmental impacts.
The public comment period for the draft EIS officially closed on
July 2, 2010. DOS accepted written comments and verbal comments
presented at over
[[Page 22745]]
20 public comment meetings held along the proposed pipeline route in
Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, as well as in
Washington, DC. As a result, over 8,000 separate comments were received
and reviewed. In an adequacy assessment of the draft EIS, DOS
determined that no new issues of substance emerged from the comments
received. However, after the draft EIS was issued, additional and
updated information became available related to the proposed Project
and its potential impacts on the environment. Although the adequacy
determination for the draft EIS indicated that it would not be
mandatory to issue a supplemental document to comply with NEPA, DOS
decided that decision-makers and the public would benefit from
additional public review of, and comment on, both the information that
was not available at the time the draft EIS was issued and the portions
of the EIS that were revised to address the new information and
comments on the draft EIS.
The SDEIS includes revised information on the proposed Project
facilities, including design, construction, and maintenance; additional
regulatory requirements; and additional potential connected actions.
The SDEIS includes additional information on existing groundwater
conditions and potential impacts to groundwater that could result from
an accidental discharge from the proposed Project, expanded information
on the potential impacts of an accidental discharge from the proposed
Project, additional alternatives to the proposed Project, and expanded
environmental justice considerations. The SDEIS also includes
additional information on the composition of crude oils that would be
transported by the proposed Project in comparison to other heavy crude
oils, potential refinery emissions, and greenhouse gas (GHG) and
climate change considerations. Appendices to the SDEIS include copies
of new reports and other documents relevant to the proposed Project,
petroleum market impacts, lifecycle GHG emissions, and additional
requirements for pipeline construction, operation, maintenance, and
inspection.
Copies of the SDEIS have been mailed to interested Federal, state
and local agencies; public interest groups; individuals and affected
landowners who requested a copy of the SDEIS; libraries; newspapers;
and other stakeholders. A list of public libraries to which copies of
the SDEIS have been mailed is available online at http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov. If you would like to request that a
copy be sent to a public library not already on this list or to an
organization involved with the Project, please e-mail [email protected].
Copies will be mailed while supplies last.
Comment Procedures: Any person wishing to comment on the SDEIS may
do so. DOS requests that comments be limited to the subject matter
addressed in this SDEIS. DOS will only respond to comments that
directly address information provided in the SDEIS. DOS will consider
only those comments received by the end of the comment period during
preparation of the final EIS. To ensure consideration prior to issuance
of the final EIS (a prerequisite to a DOS decision on the proposal), it
is important that DOS receive your comments no later than June 6, 2011
(45 days after publication of this notice). Comments on the SDEIS can
be submitted to DOS using any of the following methods:
DOS Keystone XL Project Web site: http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov.
E-mail to: [email protected].
Mail to: Keystone XL EIS Project, P.O. Box 96503-98500,
Washington, DC 20090-6503.
Fax: 206-269-0098.
Comments received will be included in the Administrative Record without
change and may, at the sole discretion of DOS, be made available on-
line at http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov, including any
personal information provided, unless the commenter indicates that the
comment includes information claimed to be confidential business
information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted
by statute. If you submit an electronic comment, we recommend that you
include your name and other contact information in the body of your
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If we cannot read your
comment because of technical difficulties and cannot contact you for
clarification, we may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic
comments should avoid the use of any special characters, any form of
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
DOS will publish and distribute a final EIS that will contain
responses to timely and relevant comments received on the SDEIS, as
well as to the comments on the draft EIS that were previously submitted
to DOS. The final EIS will also include text revised in response to
comments on the draft EIS and the SDEIS. From the date of issuance of
the final EIS, the public will have 30 days to comment and cooperating
agencies will have 90 days to comment before DOS makes a determination
under Executive Order 13337 on whether issuance of this permit is in
the U.S. national interest. DOS will host a public meeting in
Washington, DC following issuance of the final EIS.
Further Information: Additional information on the proposed
Keystone XL Project is available for viewing and download at the DOS
Keystone XL Project related Web site: http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov. Information on the Web site includes the Keystone
application for a Presidential Permit, including associated maps and
drawings; the draft EIS and the SDEIS; a 2010 report prepared by EnSys
Energy and Systems, Inc. (EnSys) that was contracted by the U.S.
Department of Energy, Office of Policy & International Affairs to
evaluate different North American crude oil transport scenarios through
2030 to assist DOS in better understanding the potential impacts of the
presence or absence of the proposed Project on U.S. refining and
petroleum imports and also on international markets; a list of
libraries where the draft EIS and SDEIS may be viewed; and other
Project information.
Additional information on the proposed Keystone XL Project in
Montana is available at: http://svc.mt.gov/deq/wmaKeystoneXL/.
Dated: April 15, 2011.
Willem H. Brakel,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy, Bureau of Oceans and
International, Environmental and Scientific Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2011-9858 Filed 4-21-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-07-P