[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 2, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10883-10884]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04566]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R2-R-2016-N245; FXRS12610200000-167-FF02R06000]


Draft Environmental Assessment on a Proposed Right-of-Way Permit 
Application for Pipelines Crossing Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, 
Brazoria County, TX

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), make available 
the draft Environmental Assessment (dEA) for issuance of a right-of-way 
(ROW) permit to Praxair, Inc. (Praxair) for construction, operation, 
and maintenance of a 24-inch carbon steel pipeline for transport of 
nitrogen, and a 14-inch carbon steel pipeline for transport of 
hydrogen, within an existing maintained 4.3-mile ROW pipeline corridor, 
with 21 existing pipelines crossing the Brazoria National Wildlife 
Refuge (NWR) in Brazoria County, Texas.

DATES: To ensure consideration of written comments on the issues and 
possible alternatives to be addressed in the documents, they must be 
received no later than April 1, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments, questions, and requests for further information 
may be submitted by U.S. mail to Project Leader, Texas Mid-coast NWR 
Complex, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2547 County Road 316, 
Brazoria, TX 77422; by email at [email protected]; by phone at 
979-964-4011; or by fax to 979-964-4021.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, make 
available the dEA for issuance of a ROW permit for a segment (4.3 
miles) of the Praxair Dual Pipeline System Project on the Brazoria NWR. 
In accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), we advise the 
public that:
    1. We have gathered the information necessary to determine impacts 
and formulate alternatives for the dEA related to potential issuance of 
a ROW to the Applicant (Praxair); and
    2. The Applicant has developed a Construction Plan as part of the 
application for a ROW permit, which describes the measures the 
Applicant has agreed to take to minimize and mitigate impacts of the 
project.

Proposed Action

    The proposed action involves the issuance of a 10-foot ROW permit 
by the FWS and the subsequent construction, operation, and maintenance 
of the Proposed Project. The term of the permit would be for 30 years. 
Construction methods, including matting the entire temporary work area, 
directional drilling under wetlands rather than open trench, and 
utilizing a push/pull method for laying the pipe through the salty 
prairie, are all designed to minimize the impact to refuge habitats and 
wildlife. Although impacts have been minimized, wildlife utilizing the 
existing ROW and adjacent habitat will be disturbed and/or displaced 
during construction. The applicant proposes to provide funds to be 
utilized to conserve natural habitats that will be added to the 
Brazoria or San Bernard NWR.

Proposed Project

    Praxair proposes to use a combination of conventional open 
trenching and subsurface Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) in its 
construction methods to cross the refuge lands. The proposed two 
pipelines would be constructed at the same time, near the center of an 
existing maintained 300-foot-wide pipeline corridor, 4.3 miles in 
length, between existing pipelines. The existing pipeline corridor pre-
dates FWS ownership of the land in fee title, and extends from Farm-to-
Market Road 2004 on the northeast end to Austin Bayou on the southwest 
end. Construction of the proposed pipelines would require a 100-foot-
wide temporary work area, including 90 feet of temporary workspace used 
during construction activities, and a 10-foot-wide ROW after 
construction is complete. Praxair is working with FWS staff in the 
development of its proposed plan of operations in order to determine 
construction methods and develop measures to avoid or minimize 
potential adverse impacts during construction activities. However, some 
impacts are unavoidable and can reasonably be anticipated during 
pipeline construction, operations, and maintenance activities. 
Conventional trenching for simultaneous construction of the proposed 
two pipelines would require excavation of an open trench approximately 
5.5 to 6 feet deep, 8 feet wide at the bottom, and 19 feet wide at the 
surface, with an approximately 45-

[[Page 10884]]

degree slope on the sides, depending on soil conditions. Workspace 
required for HDD sites would be 300 feet by 300 feet.

Alternatives

    The only alternative to the proposed action that we are considering 
as part of this process is the No Action alternative, in which no ROW 
permit would be issued. Under a No Action alternative, the FWS would 
not issue the requested ROW permit; therefore, the Applicant would 
likely seek an alternate alignment, establishing a new ROW corridor 
around the refuge, as described in the dEA.

Public Availability of Documents

    In addition to any methods in ADDRESSES, you can view or obtain 
documents at the following locations:
     Texas Mid-Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex 
Headquarters Office, CR 316, Brazoria, TX, between the hours of 8 a.m. 
and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
     Our Web site: http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/Plan/plansinprogress.html.
     At the following public libraries:

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             Library                    Address           Phone number
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Brazoria County Library--City of  250 Circle Way,           979-415-2590
 Lake Jackson Branch.              Lake Jackson, TX
                                   77566.
Brazoria County Library--         401 E Cedar Street,       979-864-1519
 Angleton Branch.                  Angleton, TX 77515.
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Submitting Comments/Issues for Comment

    We consider comments substantive if they:
     Question, with reasonable basis, the accuracy of the 
information in the document;
     Question, with reasonable basis, the adequacy of the 
environmental assessment (EA);
     Present reasonable alternatives other than those presented 
in the EA; and/or
     Provide new or additional information relevant to the 
assessment.

Public Availability of Comments

    Written comments we receive become part of the public record 
associated with this action. Before including your address, phone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including 
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you can request in your comment that we withhold 
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will not consider anonymous 
comments. All submissions from organizations or businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses, will be made available for public 
disclosure in their entirety.

Authorities

    NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations; and 
the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (Refuge 
Administration Act), as amended by the National Wildlife Refuge System 
Improvement Act of 1997 (Refuge Improvement Act).

    Dated: February 25, 2016.
Joy Nicholopoulos,
Acting Regional Director, Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-04566 Filed 3-1-16; 8:45 am]
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