[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 154 (Tuesday, August 11, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48097-48098]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-19686]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. CP09-6-001; CP09-7-001; Docket No. CP13-507-000]


LNG Development Company, LLC; Oregon Pipeline Company, LLC; 
Northwest Pipeline LLC; Notice of Availability of the Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Oregon LNG Terminal and 
Pipeline Project and Washington Expansion Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) 
for the Oregon LNG Terminal and Pipeline Project (Oregon LNG Project) 
proposed by LNG Development Company, LLC and Oregon Pipeline Company, 
LLC (collectively referred to as Oregon LNG) and the Washington 
Expansion Project proposed by Northwest Pipeline LLC (Northwest) in the 
above-referenced dockets. Oregon LNG requests authorization under 
Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) to site, construct, and operate 
an import/export liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Warrenton, 
Oregon. Oregon LNG also requests a Certificate of Public Convenience 
and Necessity (Certificate) pursuant to Section 7(c) of the NGA to 
construct and operate a natural gas pipeline from the proposed LNG 
terminal to an interconnect with the interstate transmission system of 
Northwest near Woodland, Washington. Northwest requests a Certificate 
pursuant to Section 7(c) of the NGA to expand the capacity of its 
existing natural gas transmission facilities between Woodland and 
Sumas, Washington. The primary purpose of the projects is to export an 
equivalent of about 456 billion cubic feet per year of natural gas to 
foreign markets.
    The draft EIS assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the Oregon LNG and Washington Expansion 
Projects in accordance with the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The FERC staff concludes that approval 
of the proposed projects would result in some adverse environmental 
impacts; however, most of these impacts would be reduced to less-than-
significant levels with the implementation of Oregon LNG's and 
Northwest's proposed mitigation and the additional measures recommended 
in the draft EIS.
    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. 
Department of Energy, and U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline 
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration participated as 
cooperating agencies in the preparation of the EIS. Cooperating 
agencies have jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to 
resources potentially affected by the proposal and participate in the 
NEPA analysis. Although the cooperating agencies provided input to the 
conclusions and recommendations presented in the draft EIS, the 
agencies will present their own conclusions and recommendations in 
their respective records of decision or determinations for the 
projects.
    The draft EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the following facilities associated with 
the Oregon LNG Project:
     One marine terminal with a ship berth for one LNG marine 
carrier;
     two full-containment storage tanks, each designed to store 
160,000 cubic meters of LNG;
     natural gas pretreatment facilities;
     two liquefaction process trains, regasification 
facilities, and other related terminal support structures and systems;
     an 86.8-mile-long, 36-inch-diameter bidirectional 
pipeline; and
     one 40-megawatt (MW), 48,000-horsepower (hp) electrically 
driven gas compressor station.
    For the Washington Expansion Project, the draft EIS addresses the 
potential environmental effects of the construction and operation of:
     140.6 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline loop \1\ along 
Northwest's existing pipeline in 10 noncontiguous segments;
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    \1\ A pipeline loop is a segment of pipe constructed parallel to 
an existing pipeline to increase capacity.
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     ancillary pipeline facilities; and
     96,000 hp of additional compression at five existing 
compressor stations.
    Northwest's project would also include abandonment and removal of 
existing pipeline and aboveground facilities.
    The FERC staff mailed copies of the draft EIS to federal, state, 
and local government representatives and agencies; elected officials; 
environmental and public interest groups; Native American tribes; 
potentially affected landowners; other interested individuals and 
nongovernmental organizations; newspapers and libraries in the project 
area; and parties to these proceedings. Paper copy versions of this EIS 
were mailed to those specifically requesting them; all others received 
a compact disk version. In addition, the draft EIS is available for 
public viewing on the FERC's Web site (www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary 
link. A limited number of hardcopies are available for distribution and 
public inspection at: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Public 
Reference Room, 888 First Street NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426, 
(202) 502-8371.
    Any person wishing to comment on the draft EIS may do so. To ensure 
consideration of your comments on the proposal in the final EIS, it is 
important that the Commission receive your comments on or before 
October 6, 2015.
    For your convenience, there are four methods you can use to submit 
your comments to the Commission. In all instances, please reference the 
project docket numbers (CP09-6-001, CP09-7-001, and CP13-507-000) 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 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,

[[Page 48098]]

please select ``Comment on a Filing'' as the filing type.
    (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.
    (4) In lieu of sending written or electronic comments, the 
Commission invites you to attend one of the public comment meetings its 
staff will conduct during the draft EIS comment period and in the 
project area to receive comments on the draft EIS. We encourage 
interested groups and individuals to attend and present oral comments 
on the draft EIS. Transcripts of the meetings will be available for 
review in eLibrary under the project docket numbers. A notice of 
meeting times and locations will be sent to the environmental mailing 
list and posted on the FERC eLibrary.
    Any person seeking to become a party to the proceeding must file a 
motion to intervene pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of 
Practice and Procedures (Title 18 Code of Federal Regulations Part 
385.214).\2\ Only intervenors have the right to seek rehearing of the 
Commission's decision. The Commission grants affected landowners and 
others with environmental concerns intervenor status upon showing good 
cause by stating that they have a clear and direct interest in this 
proceeding that no other party can adequately represent. Simply filing 
environmental comments will not give you intervenor status, but you do 
not need intervenor status to have your comments considered.
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    \2\ See the previous discussion on the methods for filing 
comments.
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    Questions?
    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(s) excluding the last three digits in the Docket Number field 
(i.e., CP09-6-001, CP09-7-001, and CP13-507-000). 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; 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 that 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.

    Dated: August 5, 2015.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-19686 Filed 8-10-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P