[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 49 (Friday, March 13, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13362-13364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05692]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. PF15-4-000]


Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Planned Coastal Bend Header Project 
and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) that will 
discuss the environmental impacts of the Coastal Bend Header Project 
(Project) involving construction and operation of facilities by Gulf 
South Pipeline Company, LP (Gulf South) in southeastern Texas. The 
Commission will use this EA in its decision-making process to determine 
whether construction and operation of 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 during the scoping process will 
help the Commission staff determine what issues need to be evaluated in 
the EA. The Commission staff will also use the scoping process to help 
determine whether preparation of an environmental impact statement is 
more appropriate for this Project based upon the potential significance 
of the anticipated levels of impact. Please note that the scoping 
period will close on April 3, 2015. This is not your only public input 
opportunity; please refer to the Environmental Review Process flow 
chart in Appendix 1.\1\
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    \1\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being 
printed in the Federal Register. Copies of 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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    Further details on how to submit written comments are in the Public 
Participation section of this notice. If you sent comments on this 
project to the Commission before the opening of this docket on November 
5, 2014, you will need to file those comments in Docket No. PF15-4-000 
to ensure they are considered as part of this proceeding.
    This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental 
mailing list for this Project. State and local government officials are 
asked to notify their constituents of this planned Project and 
encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.
    If you are a landowner receiving this notice, a company 
representative may contact you about the acquisition of an easement to 
construct, operate, and maintain the planned facilities. The company 
would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement. However, if 
the Commission approves the Project, that approval conveys with it the 
right of eminent domain. Therefore, if easement negotiations fail to 
produce an agreement, Gulf South could initiate condemnation 
proceedings where compensation would be determined in accordance with 
state law.
    A fact sheet prepared by the FERC entitled ``An Interstate Natural 
Gas Facility on My Land? What Do I Need to Know?'' is available for 
viewing on the FERC Web site (www.ferc.gov). This fact sheet addresses 
a number of typically asked questions, including the use of eminent 
domain and how to participate in the Commission's proceedings.

Summary of the Planned Project

    Gulf South plans to construct a new gas pipeline in Wharton and 
Brazoria Counties, Texas, a new compressor station in Wharton County 
along the new pipeline, and two new compressor stations and upgrades at 
two compressor stations along Gulf South's existing Index 129 pipeline 
in Fort Bend, Harris, Polk, and Sabine Counties, Texas. The new 
pipeline would enable delivery of 1.54 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/
d) of natural gas to the proposed Freeport Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) 
Export Terminal near Freeport, Texas. The general locations of the 
planned pipeline facilities are depicted in the figures included in 
Appendix 2.\2\
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    \2\ 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 Additional Information section 
on page 7 of this notice.
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    Specifically, the Project would include construction and operation 
of the following facilities:
     64 miles of 36-inch diameter pipeline, called the Coastal 
Bend Header, commencing at a new interconnect with Tennessee Gas 
Pipeline Company, LLC northwest of Hungerford in Wharton County, Texas 
and terminating at the existing Freeport LNG Stratton Ridge meter site 
near Clute in Brazoria County, Texas;
     one new 93,500-horsepower (hp) gas-fired compressor 
station, called the Wilson Compressor Station, in Wharton County, 
Texas;
     one new 26,000-hp electric motor driven compressor 
station, called the Brazos Compressor Station, in Fort Bend County, 
Texas;
     one new 10,000-hp electric motor driven compressor 
station, called the North Houston Compressor Station, at an existing 
Gulf South property in Harris County, Texas;
     piping modifications within the fence line at Gulf South's 
existing Goodrich Compressor Station along the Index 129 pipeline in 
Polk County, Texas;
     piping modifications and a new 15,900-hp gas-fired 
compressor unit within the fence line at Gulf South's former Magasco 
Compressor Station along the Index 129 pipeline in Sabine County, 
Texas; and
     seven interconnects with various interstate and intrastate 
gas pipelines, including an interconnect with Gulf South's Index 129 
pipeline, which Gulf South plans to construct at a later time under its 
blanket certificate authority.
    Gulf South plans to begin Project construction in spring 2017 if 
all required permits, certificates, and authorizations are obtained. 
Gulf South's planned in-service date for Project facilities is spring 
2018.

[[Page 13363]]

Land Requirements for Construction

    Gulf South is still in the planning phase for the project, and 
workspace requirements have not been finalized. However, based on 
currently available plans, approximately 42 percent of the Coastal Bend 
Header pipeline route parallels existing pipeline, utility, or road 
rights-of-way. Pipeline construction would directly affect 
approximately 991 acres of land temporarily during construction, and 
480 acres would be retained as permanent right-of-way. Construction of 
the new Wilson and Brazos Compressor Stations would impact a total of 
approximately 57 acres temporarily and 20 acres permanently. 
Construction of the new North Houston Compressor Station would impact 
approximately 12 acres temporarily and 6 acres permanently, all within 
Gulf South's existing property line at that site. The upgrades to the 
existing Goodrich Compressor Station and the former Magasco Compressor 
Station would impact a total of approximately 15 acres temporarily and 
9 acres permanently, all within the existing fence lines of those 
facilities. Metering, regulating, mainline valve, and other ancillary 
facilities would affect a total of approximately 16 acres during 
construction and 13 acres permanently.

The EA 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 a 
Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. NEPA also requires us 
\3\ 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 EA on the important 
environmental issues. By this notice, the Commission requests public 
comments on the scope of the issues to address in the EA. All comments 
received will be considered during the preparation of the EA.
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    \3\ ``Us,'' ``we,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Commission's Office of Energy Projects.
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    In the EA 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;
     water resources;
     wetlands and vegetation;
     fish and wildlife including migratory birds;
     threatened and endangered species;
     land use, recreation, and visual resources;
     air quality and noise;
     cultural resources;
     socioeconomics;
     reliability and safety; and
     cumulative environmental impacts.
    We will also evaluate reasonable alternatives to the planned 
Project or portions of the Project, including the no action 
alternative, and make recommendations on how to minimize or avoid 
impacts on affected resources.
    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 an 
application is filed with the FERC. 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 EA. 
In addition, representatives from FERC participated in the public open 
houses sponsored by Gulf South in the Project area in January and 
February 2015 to explain the environmental review process to interested 
stakeholders.
    Our independent analysis of the issues will be presented in the EA. 
If the Commission staff determines the preparation of an EA is 
appropriate, the EA will be placed in the public record and be 
published and distributed to the public. A comment period will be 
allotted when the EA is noticed. We will consider all comments on the 
EA before we make our recommendations to the Commission. To ensure your 
comments are considered, please carefully follow the instructions in 
the Public Participation section beginning on page 6 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 environmental document.\4\ 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.
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    \4\ 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 
regulations for Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, 
we are using this notice to initiate consultation with the Texas 
Historical Commission which has been given the role of the State 
Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) for Texas, and to solicit the 
SHPO's view and those of other government agencies, interested Indian 
tribes, and the public on the Project's potential effects on historic 
properties.\5\ We will define the Project-specific Area of Potential 
Effects in consultation with the SHPO as the Project is further 
developed. Our environmental document for the Project will document our 
findings of the impacts on historic properties and summarize the status 
of consultations under Section 106.
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    \5\ 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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Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    We have already identified several issues that we think deserve 
attention based on a preliminary review of the Project facilities and 
information provided by Gulf South, comments made to us at Gulf South's 
open houses, and preliminary consultations with other agencies. It is 
worth noting that Gulf South has already made several modifications to 
the pipeline route and other Project facilities filed on December 12, 
2014, based on feedback from affected landowners and other stakeholders 
at the open house meetings and through other ongoing landowner and 
agency negotiations. The following preliminary list of issues may be 
changed based on your comments and our analysis:
     Gulf South has identified 92 waterbodies during 
preliminary field surveys that would be crossed within the proposed 
Project area. Five are characterized as major waterbodies with crossing 
widths of greater than 100 feet: Brazos River, Dry Bayou, an unnamed 
manmade pond, Bastrop Bayou, and Big Slough. Thirty-three of the 
waterbodies are characterized as intermediate, with a crossing width of 
greater than 10 feet but less than or equal to 100 feet, and 54 of the 
waterbodies are characterized as minor, with a crossing width of less 
than or equal to 10 feet.
     Gulf South has identified 40 wetlands during preliminary 
field surveys that would be crossed within the Project area. These 
include 22 palustrine emergent wetlands, 4 palustrine scrub shrub 
wetlands, and 14

[[Page 13364]]

palustrine forested wetlands, totaling approximately 24 acres.
     Temporary and permanent impacts on land use including 
farming, ranching, oil and gas production, sulfur extraction, and 
residential areas, and the development of appropriate mitigation and 
restoration measures. Gulf South has currently identified only one 
residence (house) and nine other structures (barns, storage buildings, 
etc.) within 50 feet of the construction right-of-way.
     Potential impacts on fish and wildlife habitat, including 
potential impacts on federally- and state-listed threatened and 
endangered species.
     Potential visual effects of the aboveground facilities on 
surrounding areas.
     Potential impacts on air quality and noise associated with 
construction and operation of the pipeline and compression facilities.
     Public safety and hazards associated with the transport of 
natural gas.
     Potential cumulative impacts associated with the recently 
authorized Freeport LNG Terminal and any other planned or proposed 
major projects in the vicinity.

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 minimize 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 
the Commission receives them in Washington, DC on or before April 3, 
2015.
    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 (PF15-4-000) 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) who are potential right-of-way grantors, whose 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.
    When an EA is published for distribution, copies 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 Gulf South 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 a formal 
application for the Project is filed with the Commission.

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., PF15-
4). 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 filings, document summaries, and direct links to the 
documents. Go to www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.
    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.
    Finally, Gulf South has established a Web site for the Project at 
http://www.gulfsouthpl.com/ExpansionProjects.aspx?id=4294967425. The 
Web site includes a description of the Project, permitting schedules 
and calendars, frequently asked questions and responses, and links to 
related press releases and news articles. You can also request 
additional information directly from Gulf South at (844) 211-6282 or by 
clicking on the following link on the Gulf South Web site that will 
take you to an online submittal form: http://www.gulfsouthpl.com/ExpansionProjects.aspx?ekfrm=4294967452.

    Dated: March 4, 2015.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-05692 Filed 3-12-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P