[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 184 (Friday, September 21, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58533-58534]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-23320]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the W.A. Parish Post-Combustion CO2 Capture 
and Sequestration Project, Southeastern TX

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of availability and public hearings.

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SUMMARY: DOE announces the availability of the Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement for the W.A. Parish Post-Combustion Carbon Dioxide 
(CO2) Capture and Sequestration Project (DOE/EIS-0473D) for public 
review and comment, as well as the dates, locations, and times for two 
public hearings. The draft environmental impact statement (EIS) 
analyzes the potential environmental impacts of a project proposed by 
NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG), which was selected by DOE to receive financial 
assistance under the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI) program. DOE's 
proposed action is to provide cost-shared funding to NRG under the 
CCPI. DOE proposes to provide NRG with up to $167 million of the 
overall project cost to support the construction and operation of NRG's 
W.A. Parish Post-Combustion CO2 Capture and Sequestration 
Project (Parish PCCS Project). NRG's proposed project would demonstrate 
the commercial feasibility of a retrofit, commercial-scale 
CO2 capture and compression system, coupled with use of the 
captured CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and ultimate 
sequestration. NRG would design and construct a system that would 
capture at least 90 percent of the CO2 in an up to 250-
megawatt equivalent (MWe) flue gas slipstream of the combustion exhaust 
gases from the existing 650-megawatt (MW) coal fired Unit 8 at NRG's 
W.A. Parish Plant in Fort Bend County, Texas. The captured 
CO2 (up to 5,475 tons per day) would be transported 
approximately 80 miles in a new pipeline to be constructed by NRG. The 
CO2 would be used for EOR and ultimately sequestered at the 
existing West Ranch oil field in Jackson County, Texas.

DATES: DOE invites the public to comment on the draft EIS during the 
public comment period, which ends November 5, 2012. DOE will consider 
all comments postmarked or received during the comment period in 
preparing the final EIS and will consider late comments to the extent 
practicable. In addition to receiving comments in writing and by email 
[See ADDRESSES], DOE will conduct two public hearings at which 
government agencies, private sector organizations, Native American 
tribes, and individuals are invited to present oral and written 
comments on the draft EIS. The public hearings will be held at the 
Thompsons Community Center, 134 Oilfield Road, Thompsons, Texas, on 
October 10, 2012, and at the Edna High School, 1303 W. Gayle Street, 
Edna, Texas, on October 11, 2012. Oral comments will be heard during 
the formal portion of the public hearings beginning at 7 p.m. The 
public is also invited to informal sessions beginning at 5 p.m. at the 
same locations to learn more about the project and DOE's proposed 
action. Representatives from DOE and NRG will be present at the 
informal sessions to discuss the proposed project, the CCPI program, 
and the EIS process. Displays and other information about DOE's 
proposed action and NRG's Parish PCCS Project will also be available.

ADDRESSES: Requests for paper or electronic copies of the draft EIS, 
requests to speak at the public hearings, or submission of written 
comments should be directed to: Mr. Mark W. Lusk, National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Document Manager, National Energy 
Technology Laboratory (NETL), 3610 Collins Ferry Road, M/S I07, P.O. 
Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26507-0880. Requests or comments can also be 
made by electronic mail to [email protected]; by telephone 
(412) 386-7435, toll free 1-877-812-1569; or by fax (304) 285-4403.
    The draft EIS is available on the NETL Web page at http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/others/nepa/index.html and on the DOE 
NEPA Web page at http://energy.gov/nepa/nepa-documents.htm. Copies of 
the draft EIS will also be available at the locations listed in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice. Written comments on 
the draft EIS should be marked ``Parish PCCS Project'' and sent to Mark 
W. Lusk, NEPA document manager, by one of the methods listed above. 
Oral comments on the draft EIS can be provided during the public 
hearings scheduled for the dates and locations provided in the DATES 
section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this 
project or the draft EIS, please contact Mr. Mark W. Lusk (see 
ADDRESSES). For general information on the DOE NEPA process, please 
contact Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and 
Compliance (GC-54), DOE, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 
20585; telephone (202) 586-4600; fax (202) 586-7031; or leave a toll 
free message at 1-800-472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE's proposed action is to provide 
financial assistance to NRG under the CCPI Program to support 
construction and operation of NRG's Parish PCCS Project. DOE would 
provide NRG with up to $167 million of the overall project cost, or 
about 20 percent of the estimated total costs. This funding would be 
used for project design and development, procurement of capital 
equipment, construction, CO2 capture plant operations, and 
CO2 monitoring during

[[Page 58534]]

the 35-month demonstration period of the CO2 capture and 
compression system.
    The proposed Parish PCCS Project would use an advanced amine-based 
CO2 absorption technology to capture at least 90 percent of 
the CO2 from an up to 250-MWe portion of the flue gas 
exhaust from Unit 8 of NRG's existing W.A. Parish Plant in Thompsons, 
Texas. The project would be designed to capture approximately 1.6 
million tons of CO2 per year from the Unit 8 exhaust that 
the facility would otherwise emit. The proposed CO2 capture 
facility would be constructed within NRG's existing 4,880-acre W.A. 
Parish Plant in rural Fort Bend County near the small town of 
Thompsons, Texas. A new natural gas fired cogeneration plant, estimated 
to be 80 MW in size, would also be constructed on the plant property to 
produce the auxiliary power and steam needed for operation of the 
proposed CO2 capture system.
    The captured CO2 would be compressed and transported via 
a new, approximately 80-mile long, 12-inch diameter underground 
pipeline to the existing West Ranch oil field in Jackson County, Texas, 
where it would be used for EOR and ultimately sequestered in geologic 
formations from 5,000 to 6,300 feet below ground surface. The proposed 
CO2 pipeline route crosses sparsely populated rural and 
agricultural lands in Fort Bend, Wharton, and Jackson Counties and 
would be located along or within existing mowed and maintained utility 
rights-of-way for approximately 85 percent of its length. The West 
Ranch oil field is located near the town of Vanderbilt, Texas. Existing 
wells at the West Ranch oil field would be used (i.e., refurbished or 
deepened, as needed) to the extent practicable for the proposed 
project. Some new injection wells would be drilled in accordance with 
underground injection control regulations, and would be installed on 
existing well pads to the extent practicable.
    Consistent with DOE's requirements under CCPI Round 3, NRG 
identified the following objectives for the Parish PCCS Project:
     Demonstration of advanced amine-based CO2 
absorption technology;
     Integration of a cogeneration plant into the project to 
meet the specific power and steam requirements of the CO2 
capture system;
     Demonstration of EOR with CO2 sequestration in 
a nearby oil field; and
     Demonstration of a CO2 monitoring program.
    DOE prepared this EIS pursuant to the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 United States Code [U.S.C.] 4321 et seq.) and in 
compliance with the Council on Environmental Quality implementing 
regulations for NEPA (40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) parts 1500 
through 1508) and DOE's NEPA implementing procedures (10 CFR part 
1021). Projects considered by DOE for possible CCPI funding originate 
as a private party's (e.g., electric power industry) application 
submitted to DOE in response to requirements specified in CCPI funding 
opportunity announcements. DOE's decision is to either accept or reject 
the project as proposed, including the proposed technology and the 
selected sites. However, DOE may require mitigation measures to reduce 
a project's potential impacts. Consequently, DOE's consideration of 
reasonable alternatives is limited to the technically acceptable 
application and the no action-alternative for each selected project.
    Under the no-action alternative, DOE would not provide cost-shared 
funding for the proposed Parish PCCS Project. In the absence of DOE 
cost-shared funding, NRG could still elect to construct and operate the 
proposed project. Therefore, the DOE no-action alternative could result 
in one of two scenarios:
     The proposed Parish PCCS Project would not be built, or
     The proposed Parish PCCS Project would be built by NRG 
without benefit of DOE cost-shared funding.

DOE assumes that if NRG proceeded with project development in the 
absence of DOE cost-shared funding, the project would include the 
features, attributes, and impacts as described for the proposed 
project. However, without DOE participation, it is possible that the 
project would be canceled. Therefore, for the purposes of analysis in 
the draft EIS, the DOE no-action alternative is defined as the no-build 
alternative. This means that the project would not be built and 
environmental conditions would not change from the current baseline 
(i.e., no new construction, resource use, or CO2 capture and 
storage would occur). Therefore, under the no-action alternative, the 
project technologies (i.e., large-scale CO2 capture and 
geologic storage) may not be implemented in the near term. 
Consequently, timely commercialization of these technologies for large-
scale, coal-fired electric generation facilities would be postponed and 
may not be realized. This scenario would not contribute to the CCPI 
goals to invest in the demonstration of advanced coal-based power 
generation technologies that capture the CO2 emissions and 
either sequester them or put them to beneficial use.
    The draft EIS analyzes the environmental consequences that may 
result from the proposed action and the no action alternative. 
Potential impacts identified during the scoping process and analyzed in 
the draft EIS relate to the following: Air quality and climate; 
greenhouse gases; geology; physiography and soils; groundwater; surface 
water; wetlands and floodplains; biological resources; cultural 
resources; land use and aesthetics; traffic and transportation; noise; 
materials and waste management; human health and safety; utilities; 
community services; socioeconomics; and environmental justice. DOE also 
intends to use the NEPA process and the analyses completed for the 
draft EIS to satisfy the requirements of Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act and DOE regulations regarding impacts to 
floodplains and wetlands.
    DOE distributed copies of the draft EIS to Members of Congress; 
Native American tribal governments; federal, state, and local 
officials; and agencies, organizations, and individuals who may be 
interested or affected. Copies of the draft EIS are available for 
review at the George Memorial Library, 1001 Golfview Drive, Richmond, 
TX 77469; the Albert George Branch Library, 9230 Gene Street, 
Needville, TX 77461; the Wharton County Library, 1920 North Fulton 
Street, Wharton, TX 77488; and the Jackson County Memorial Library, 411 
North Wells Street, Room 121, Edna, TX 77957. The draft EIS will also 
be available on the Internet at http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/others/nepa/index.html or http://energy.gov/nepa/nepa-documents.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 14, 2012.
Mark J. Matarrese,
Director, Office of Environment, Security, Safety & Health, Office of 
Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. 2012-23320 Filed 9-20-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P