[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 133 (Monday, July 13, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40060-40062]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-16994]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP15-499-000]
Texas Eastern Transmission, LP; Notice of Intent to Prepare An
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed South Texas Expansion
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 South Texas Expansion Project
(Project) involving construction and operation of facilities by Texas
Eastern Transmission, LP (Texas Eastern) in Nueces, Matagorda,
Brazoria, Chambers, and Orange Counties, Texas. The Commission will use
this EA 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. 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.
Your input will help the Commission staff determine what issues they
need to evaluate in the EA. 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 30, 2015.
If you sent comments on this project to the Commission before the
opening of this docket on May 22, 2015, you will need to file those
comments in Docket No. CP15-499-000 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
representatives should notify their constituents of this proposed
project and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.
If you are a landowner receiving this notice, a Texas Eastern
representative
[[Page 40061]]
may contact you about the acquisition of an easement to construct,
operate, and maintain the proposed 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, the pipeline company could initiate condemnation
proceedings where compensation would be determined in accordance with
state law.
Texas Eastern provided landowners with a fact sheet prepared by the
FERC entitled ``An Interstate Natural Gas Facility On My Land? What Do
I Need To Know?'' 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. It is also available for viewing on
the FERC Web site (www.ferc.gov).
Public Participation
For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to submit
your comments to the Commission. The Commission encourages electronic
filing of comments and has expert staff available to assist you at
(202) 502-8258 or [email protected]. Please carefully follow these
instructions so that your comments are properly recorded.
(1) You can file your comments electronically using the eComment
feature on the Commission's Web site (www.ferc.gov) under the link to
Documents and Filings. This is an easy method for submitting brief,
text-only comments on a project;
(2) You can file your comments electronically by using the eFiling
feature 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.'' If you are filing a comment on a particular project,
please select ``Comment on a Filing'' as the filing type; or
(3) You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to
the following address. Be sure to reference the Project docket number
(CP15-499-000) with your submission: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Room 1A,
Washington, DC 20426.
Summary of the Proposed Project
Texas Eastern proposes to construct and operate pipeline and
compression facilities in Nueces, Matagorda, Brazoria, Chambers, and
Orange Counties, Texas. The Project would provide about 400,000
dekatherms of natural gas per day. According to Texas Eastern, its
Project would provide service to a customer by increasing flow in its
system to South Texas.
The Project would consist of the following facilities:
installation of an 8,400 horsepower (hp) compressor and a
meter and regulating station at the existing Petronila Station in
Nueces County, Texas;
installation of an 8,400 hp compressor unit and piping
modifications at the existing Blessing Compressor Station in Matagorda
County, Texas;
modification to piping and other compression facilities at
the Mont Belvieu Compressor Station in Chambers County, Texas, Vidor
Compressor Station in Orange County, Texas, and Angleton Compressor
Station in Brazoria County, Texas; and
modification to piping at existing launcher and receiver
sites along Texas Eastern's Line 16 in Brazoria, Chambers, and Orange
Counties, Texas.
The general location of the Project facilities is shown in appendix
1.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The appendices referenced in this notice will not appear 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Land Requirements for Construction
Construction of the proposed facilities would disturb about 122
acres of land for the aboveground facilities and the pipeline.
Following construction Texas Eastern would maintain 31 acres for
permanent operation of the Project's facilities; the remaining acreage
would be restored and revert to former uses. Changes to existing
facilities would be accomplished within the existing facilities' fence
lines.
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. The 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 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. We will consider all filed comments
during the preparation of the EA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ ``We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff
of the Commission's Office of Energy Projects.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the EA we will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of
the construction and operation of the proposed project under these
general headings:
geology and soils;
land use;
water resources, fisheries, and wetlands;
cultural resources;
vegetation and wildlife;
air quality and noise;
endangered and threatened species;
public safety; and
cumulative impacts
We will also evaluate reasonable alternatives to the proposed
Project or portions of the Project, and make recommendations on how to
lessen or avoid impacts on the various resource areas.
The EA will present our independent analysis of the issues. The EA
will be available in the public record through eLibrary. We will
consider all comments on the EA before making our recommendations to
the Commission. To ensure we have the opportunity to consider and
address your comments, please carefully follow the instructions in the
Public Participation section of this notice.
With this notice, we are asking agencies with jurisdiction by law
and/or special expertise with respect to the environmental issues of
this project to formally cooperate
with us in the preparation of the EA.\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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing
cooperating agency responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 1501.6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 consultations
with the Texas State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and to
solicit its views and those of other government agencies, interested
Indian tribes, and the public
[[Page 40062]]
on the Project's potential effects on historic properties.\4\ 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 right-of-way,
contractor/pipe storage yards, compressor stations, and access roads).
Our EA for this Project will document our findings on the impacts on
historic properties and summarize the status of consultations under
section 106.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's 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 of Historic
Places.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environmental Mailing List
The environmental mailing list includes federal, state, and local
government representatives and agencies; elected officials;
environmental and public interest groups; Indian 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
proposed Project.
If we publish and distribute the EA, copies of the EA 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 2).
Becoming an Intervenor
In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, 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.
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 at www.ferc.gov using the ``Documents & Filings'' 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., CP15-499). 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/docs-filing/esubscription.asp.
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: July 1, 2015.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-16994 Filed 7-10-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P