[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 122 (Tuesday, June 25, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38024-38026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15082]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. PF13-9-000]


Magnolia LNG, LLC; Liquefied Natural Gas Limited; Notice of 
Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Planned 
Magnolia Liquefied Natural Gas Project, Request for Comments on 
Environmental Issues, and Notice of Public Scoping Meeting

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) that 
will discuss the environmental impacts of the Magnolia Liquefied 
Natural Gas Project (Magnolia LNG Project) involving construction and 
operation of facilities by Magnolia LNG, LLC (Magnolia) in Calcasieu 
Parish, Louisiana. The Commission will use this EIS in its decision-
making process to determine whether the project is in the public 
convenience and necessity.
    This notice announces the opening of the scoping process the 
Commission will use to gather input from the public and interested 
agencies on the project. Your input will help the Commission staff 
determine what issues they need to evaluate in the EIS. Please note 
that the scoping period will close on July 19, 2013.
    You may submit comments in written form or verbally. Further 
details on how to submit written comments are in the Public 
Participation section of this notice. In lieu of or in addition to 
sending written comments, the Commission invites you to attend the 
public scoping meeting scheduled as follows:

FERC Public Scoping Meeting, Magnolia LNG Project, July 11, 2013; 6:00 
p.m. local time.

Historic Cash & Carry Building, 801 Enterprise Blvd., Lake Charles, LA 
70601.

    This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental 
mailing list for this project. State and local government 
representatives should notify their constituents of this planned 
project and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.

Summary of the Planned Project

    Magnolia, a newly formed subsidiary of Liquefied Natural Gas 
Limited, plans to build, own, and operate the Magnolia LNG facility 
located on land at the Port of Lake Charles within Calcasieu Parish, 
south of Lake Charles, Louisiana. The facility would receive natural 
gas from North American sources via an existing pipeline and would 
liquefy and store it for export and domestic use.
    The Magnolia LNG Project would consist of the following facilities:
     Four liquefaction trains, with a capacity of 2.0 metric 
tons per annum (mtpa) for a total of 8.0 mtpa nominal capacity;
     approximately 200 feet of interconnect pipeline located 
entirely within the project site;
     two LNG storage tanks with a capacity of approximately 
160,000 cubic meters each;
     an LNG vessel loading terminal and berth; and
     an LNG truck loading area, as well as other ancillary 
facilities.
    The general location of the project facilities is shown in Appendix 
1.\1\
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    \1\ The appendices referenced in this notice will not appear in 
the Federal Register. Copies of the appendices were sent to all 
those receiving this notice in the mail and are available at 
www.ferc.gov using the link called ``eLibrary'' 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.
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Land Requirements for Construction

    The planned liquefaction facilities would be constructed on an 
approximately 108-acre parcel of land located within Industrial Canal 
South Shore PLC Tract 475 at the Port of Lake Charles. The construction 
of the LNG vessel loading terminal and berth would require 
approximately 1.3 million cubic yards of material to be dredged from 
the Industrial Canal. The location is zoned for heavy industrial use on 
an industrial canal off the main Calcasieu River Ship Channel. Magnolia 
is still in the planning phase for the Magnolia LNG Project and some 
additional workspace requirements have not been finalized.

The EIS Process

    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the 
Commission to take into account the environmental impacts that could 
result from an action whenever it considers the issuance of an 
authorization under Section 3a of the Natural Gas Act. NEPA also 
requires us \2\ 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 EIS on the 
important environmental issues. By this notice, the Commission requests 
public comments on the scope of the issues to address in the EIS. We 
will consider all

[[Page 38025]]

filed comments during the preparation of the EIS.
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    \2\ ``We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Commission's Office of Energy Projects.
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    In the EIS, we will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of 
the construction and operation of the planned project under these 
general headings:
     Geology and soils;
     land use;
     water resources and wetlands;
     cultural resources;
     vegetation, fisheries, and wildlife;
     socioeconomics;
     air quality and noise;
     endangered and threatened species; and
     public safety.
    We will also evaluate possible alternatives to the planned project 
or portions of the project, and make recommendations on how to lessen 
or avoid impacts on the various resource areas.
    Although no formal application has been filed, we have already 
initiated our NEPA review under the Commission's pre-filing process. 
The purpose of the pre-filing process is to encourage early involvement 
of interested stakeholders and to identify and resolve issues before 
the FERC receives an application. As part of our pre-filing review, we 
have begun to contact some federal and state agencies to discuss their 
involvement in the scoping process and the preparation of the EIS. In 
addition, representatives from the FERC participated in the public open 
house sponsored by Magnolia in Lake Charles, Louisiana on May 2, 2013 
to explain the environmental review process and answer questions from 
interested stakeholders.
    The EIS will present our independent analysis of the issues. We 
will publish and distribute the draft EIS for public comment. After the 
comment period, we will consider all timely comments and revise the 
document, as necessary, before issuing a final EIS. To ensure we have 
the opportunity to consider and address your comments, please carefully 
follow the instructions in the Public Participation section beginning 
on page 5 of this notice.
    With this notice, we are asking agencies with jurisdiction by law 
and/or special expertise with respect to the environmental issues 
related to this project to formally cooperate with us in the 
preparation of the EIS.\3\ Agencies that would like to request 
cooperating agency status should follow the instructions for filing 
comments provided under the Public Participation section of this 
notice. Currently, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers have expressed their intention to participate as cooperating 
agencies in the preparation of the EIS.
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    \3\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing 
cooperating agency responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal 
Regulations, Sec.  1501.6.
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Consultations Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation 
Act

    In accordance with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's 
implementing regulations for section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act, we are using this notice to initiate consultation 
with the Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and to 
solicit its views and those of other government agencies, interested 
Indian tribes, and the public on the project's potential effects on 
historic properties.\4\
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    \4\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation regulations 
are at Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 800. Those 
regulations define historic properties as any prehistoric or 
historic district, site, building, structure, or object included in 
or eligible for inclusion in the National Register for Historic 
Places.
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    We will define the project-specific Area of Potential Effects (APE) 
in consultation with the SHPO as the project develops. On natural gas 
facility projects, the APE at a minimum encompasses all areas subject 
to ground disturbance (examples include construction area, contractor 
storage yards, and access roads). Our EIS for this project will 
document our findings on the impacts on historic properties and 
summarize the status of consultations under section 106.

Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    We have already identified several issues that we think deserve 
attention based on a preliminary review of the planned facilities and 
the environmental information provided by Magnolia. This preliminary 
list of issues may change based on your comments and our analysis. 
Issued identified include:
     Potential impacts on ship and barge traffic, recreational 
fishing, and aquatic resources in the Calcasieu Ship Channel;
     potential water quality impacts from dredging;
     visual effects on surrounding areas;
     public safety and hazards associated with the transport of 
natural gas and LNG; and
     potential impacts and benefits of the construction 
workforce on local housing, infrastructure, public services, and the 
economy.

Public Participation

    You can make a difference by providing us with your specific 
comments or concerns about the project. Your comments should focus on 
the potential environmental effects, reasonable alternatives, and 
measures to avoid or lessen environmental impacts. The more specific 
your comments, the more useful they will be. To ensure that your 
comments are timely and properly recorded, please send your comments so 
that the Commission receives them in Washington, DC on or before July 
19, 2013. This is not your only public input opportunity; please refer 
to the Environmental Review Process flowchart in Appendix 2.
    For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to submit 
your comments to the Commission. In all instances, please reference the 
project docket number (PF13-9-000) with your submission. The Commission 
encourages electronic filing of comments and has expert staff available 
to assist you at (202) 502-8258 or [email protected].
    (1) You can file your comments electronically using the eComment 
feature located on the Commission's Web site (www.ferc.gov) under the 
link to Documents and Filings. This is an easy method for interested 
persons to submit brief, text-only comments on a project;
    (2) You can file your comments electronically using the eFiling 
feature located on the Commission's Web site (www.ferc.gov) under the 
link to Documents and Filings. With eFiling, you can provide comments 
in a variety of formats by attaching them as a file with your 
submission. New eFiling users must first create an account by clicking 
on ``eRegister.'' You must select the type of filing you are making. If 
you are filing a comment on a particular project, please select 
``Comment on a Filing''; or
    (3) You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to 
the following address: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 
20426.

Environmental Mailing List

    The environmental mailing list includes federal, state, and local 
government representatives and agencies; elected officials; 
environmental and public interest groups; Native American Tribes; other 
interested parties; and local libraries and newspapers. This list also 
includes all affected landowners (as defined in the Commission's 
regulations) whose

[[Page 38026]]

property may be used temporarily for project purposes, or who own homes 
within certain distances of aboveground facilities, and anyone who 
submits comments on the project. We will update the environmental 
mailing list as the analysis proceeds to ensure that we send the 
information related to this environmental review to all individuals, 
organizations, and government entities interested in and/or potentially 
affected by the planned project.
    Copies of the completed draft EIS will be sent to the environmental 
mailing list for public review and comment. If you would prefer to 
receive a paper copy of the document instead of the CD version or would 
like to remove your name from the mailing list, please return the 
attached Information Request (Appendix 3).

Becoming an Intervenor

    Once Magnolia LNG, LLC files its application with the Commission, 
you may want to become an ``intervenor'' which is an official party to 
the Commission's proceeding. Intervenors play a more formal role in the 
process and are able to file briefs, appear at hearings, and be heard 
by the courts if they choose to appeal the Commission's final ruling. 
An intervenor formally participates in the proceeding by filing a 
request to intervene. Instructions for becoming an intervenor are in 
the User's Guide under the ``e-filing'' link on the Commission's Web 
site. Please note that the Commission will not accept requests for 
intervenor status at this time. You must wait until the Commission 
receives a formal application for the project. To know when a formal 
application is filed with the Commission, we recommend that interested 
parties eSubscribe to the docket for this project (PF13-9-000). 
Directions to eSubscribe are detailed below.

Additional Information

    Additional information about the project is available from the 
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208-FERC, or on the 
FERC 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 (i.e., PF13-
9). Be sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For 
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected] or toll free at (866) 208-3676, or for TTY, 
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 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 www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.
    Finally, public meetings or site visits will be posted on the 
Commission's calendar located at www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along with other related information.

    Dated: June 18, 2013.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-15082 Filed 6-24-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P