[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 113 (Thursday, June 11, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35634-35635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12621]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Warm Springs, North River, and Glenwood-Pedlar Ranger Districts, 
George Washington National Forest; Highland, Bath, and Augusta 
Counties, Virginia; Marlington Ranger District, Monongahela National 
Forest; Pocahontas County, West Virginia, Atlantic Coast Pipeline and 
Supply Header Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact 
statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service is preparing a Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to the 2017 Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission (FERC) Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(FEIS) for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and Supply Header project. 
The ACP proposed action that is specific to National Forest System 
(NFS) lands is to construct, operate and maintain a 42-inch natural gas 
pipeline with associated facilities, such as roads, across the 
Monogahela (MNF) and George Washington National Forests (GWNF).

DATES: The Draft SEIS is expected to be available in July 2020 and the 
Final SEIS is anticipated later in 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For media inquiries or to leave a 
message about the project on the GWNF, please contact Nadine Siak at: 
[email protected] or leave a voicemail at 1-888-603-0261. For 
media inquiries or to leave a message about the project on the MNF, 
please contact Kelly Bridges at [email protected] or 304-635-4432. 
Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may 
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 
between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and History

    On November 17, 2017, the Forest Service adopted the environmental 
analysis prepared by FERC for the ACP and Supply Header Project, and a 
final Record of Decision (ROD) was signed by the Southern and Eastern 
Regional Foresters. The ROD: (1) Authorized the use and occupancy of 
NFS lands for Atlantic Coastal Pipeline, LLC (Atlantic) to construct, 
operate and maintain a 42-inch interstate natural gas pipeline across 
the MNF and GWNF, and (2) Amended the MNF's and GWNF's Land and 
Resource Management Plans (Forest Plans) to allow the project to be 
consistent with the Forest Plans.
    On January 23, 2018 the Forest Service issued the special use 
permit (SUP) and granted the right of way. On December 13, 2018, the 
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the Forest Service ROD and the 
SUP issued to the ACP (Cowpasture River Preservation Ass'n v. U.S. 
Forest Service). The Court identified both National Forest Management 
Act (NFMA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) deficiencies as 
well as a Mineral Leasing Act issue which was granted a writ of 
certiorari by the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court 
of the United States recently held oral argument regarding whether the 
Forest Service can issue a Mineral Leasing Act authorization to cross 
the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (ANST) where it traverses the NFS 
lands. A decision is expected soon. The proposed action includes 
constructing the pipeline underneath the ANST. The Forest Service will 
potentially have to revise this NOI after the Supreme Court ruling. For 
more detailed information on the background and history of the ACP 
project, see the project website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/gwj/home/?cid=stelprd3824603.

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose of the project is to authorize the use and occupancy of 
NFS lands for Atlantic to construct, operate, and maintain a 42-inch 
interstate natural gas pipeline across the MNF and GWNF. A Forest 
Service decision is needed because the proposed route crosses 
approximately 21 miles of NFS lands and applications for natural gas 
pipelines that involve Federal land are governed by Section 28 of the 
Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (30 U.S.C. 181) and the Energy Policy Act 
of 2005.
    There is a need for a supplemental analysis and new decision 
because the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the Forest Service 
ROD and SUP. The Court identified both NFMA and NEPA issues. To resolve 
the Court's NFMA issues, there is a need to apply Forest Service 
Planning Rule requirements for soil, water, and threatened and 
endangered species to the Forest Plan amendments, consistent with 36 
CFR 219.13(b)(5). The Court also identified NEPA deficiencies including 
the need for the Forest Service to analyze off-forest routes, and to 
evaluate erosion, sedimentation, and water quality effects in relation 
to anticipated mitigation effectiveness. There is a related need to 
amend the MNF's and GWNF's Forest Plans for the project to be 
consistent with the two Forest Plans. There is also a need to consider 
relevant, new information in the SEIS. The Forest Service will also 
evaluate any relevant changed circumstances since the ROD was signed in 
November 2017. Changed circumstances include, but are not limited to, 
new federally listed threatened and endangered species and critical 
habitat designations. The existing condition, i.e., environmental 
baseline, also needs to be updated where relevant.

Proposed Action

    In response to the purpose and need, the following activities are 
proposed to be authorized by the Forest Service under a SUP:
     Construct a 42-inch pipeline across 5.1 miles of the MNF 
and 15.1 miles on the GWNF. Construction is expected to take 
approximately two years.
     Authorize a 125-foot-wide temporary construction right-of-
way for pipeline installation. For most pipeline construction 
activities, this width would accommodate large equipment, pipe 
stringing and set up, welding, the trench, and the temporary storage of 
topsoil and trench spoil. The construction width would be reduced to 
approximately 75 feet in most wetlands and other ecologically sensitive 
areas, such as riparian habitat.
     Install above-ground facilities, limited to pipeline 
markers (e.g., at road and trail crossings) to advise the public of 
pipeline presence and cathodic pipeline protection test stations that 
are required by Department of Transportation.
     Maintain and improve as needed approximately 63 miles of 
roads (29 miles on the MNF and 34 miles on the GWNF) to support 
pipeline construction and operation. Improvement would include drainage 
structures, light grading, graveling, and spot widening to accommodate 
construction traffic.
     Construct approximately 19 miles of roads. Of those, 
approximately 7 miles would be new contruction (6 miles on the MNF and 
1 mile on the GWNF) and 12 miles of improved, existing road prisms (3 
miles on MNF and 9 miles on the GWNF). Improving the road prisms is 
considered new

[[Page 35635]]

construction because they are not currently managed as open roads.
     The pipeline would be constructed and maintained in 
accordance with an updated construction, operation, and maintenance 
plan (COM Plan) that includes details on restoration, rehabilitation, 
visual resources, and all required mitigation for reducing or 
eliminating impacts to resources. See the FERC FEIS, Sec. 1.4 for a 
complete list of requirements for the ACP.
    Four Forest Plan standards on the MNF and nine Forest Plan 
standards in Management Area 5C on the GWNF would be amended (see 
``Forest Plan Amendment'' section) to ensure the SUP is consistent with 
the Forest Plans. Upon completion of pipeline construction, a longer-
term SUP would be issued for a period up to 30 years for the operation 
and maintenance of a right-of-way.

Forest Plan Amendments

    The Forest Plan Amendment on the MNF would modify four standards as 
described in Tables 2 and 3 in the 2017 Forest Service ROD including 
SW06 (severe rutting), SW07 (use of wheeled and/or tracked, motorized 
equipment), SW03 (disturbed soil rehabilitation), and TE07 (threatened 
and endangered species, special use permits).
    The Forest Plan Amendment on the GWNF would place the ACP into 
Management Area 5C (Designated Utility Corridors) and amend FW-244 
(utility corridors), FW-5 (revegetation), FW-8 (water saturated areas), 
FW-16 (exposed soil in channeled ephemeral zones), FW-17 (residual 
basal area in channeled ephemeral zones), use of wheeled and/or 
tracked, motorized equipment), 11-003 (exposed soil within riparian 
corridors), 4A-025 (Appalachian National Scenic Trail), 2C3-015 
(Eligible Recreational River Area), and FW-182 (scenic integrity 
objectives).
    The Planning Rule at 36 CFR 219.13(b)(2) requires responsible 
officials to provide notice of which substantive requirements of 36 CFR 
219.8 through 219.11 are likely to be directly related to the 
amendment. Whether a rule provision is directly related to an amendment 
is determined by any one of the following: The purpose for the 
amendment, a beneficial effect of the amendment, a substantial adverse 
effect of the amendment, or a lessening of plan protections by the 
amendment (36 CFR 219.13(b)(5)). Based on those criteria, the 
substantive Planning Rule provisions that are likely to be directly 
related to the amendments are: Sec.  219.8(a)(1) (terrestrial 
ecosystems); Sec.  219.8(a)(2)(ii) (soils and water productivity); 
Sec.  219.8(a)(2)(iv) (water resources); Sec.  219.8(a)(3)(i) 
(ecological integrity of riparian areas); Sec.  219.9(b) (contributions 
to recovery of threatened and endangered species); Sec.  219.10(a)(3) 
(utility corridors); Sec.  219.10(b)(1)(vi) (other designated areas); 
Sec.  219.10(b)(1)(i) (scenic character); and Sec.  219.11(c) (timber 
harvesting for purposes other than timber production).

Responsible Official

    The responsible officials are the Regional Foresters for the 
Southern and Eastern Regions.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    Given the purpose and need, the Regional Foresters will review the 
proposed action, alternatives, the environmental consequences, the 
stipulations (mitigation) that would be applicable in the SUP, public 
comment, and the project record in order to make the following 
decisions on whether to: (1) Authorize the use and occupancy of NFS 
land for Atlantic to construct, operate, and maintain a natural gas 
pipeline that crosses NFS lands administered by the MNF and GWNF via 
issuance of a SUP; (2) Approve Forest Plan amendments that would modify 
four standards in the MNF's Forest Plan and nine standards in the 
GWNF's Forest Plan; and (3) Adopt all or portions of the FERC FEIS.
    While the Supply Header project was inclued in the FERC FEIS, it is 
not on NFS lands. Therefore, no analysis will be prepared or decision 
made on this project.

Public Engagement Process

    Scoping was completed and summarized in the FERC FEIS (FEIS, 
Section ES-2, 1.3). Written, specific comments, including those that 
were relevant to NFS lands, identified concerns and issues that were 
addressed in the FEIS. Scoping will not be repeated and this SEIS will 
focus on the following:
     Issues identified in the Court ruling including the 
potential for the proposal to cause adverse impacts to soil, water, and 
threatened and Endangered Species Act (ESA) Threatened and Endangered 
species and their habitat;
     The purpose and impact of the Forest Plan amendments on 
affected resources (soil, water, ESA Threatened and Endangered species, 
scenic integrity, ANST, and eligible recreation rivers) and consistency 
with the Planning Rule;
     The feasibility and practicality of having routes that are 
not on NFS lands; and,
     A re-evaluaton and assessment of erosion, sedimentation, 
and water quality effects in relation to anticipated mitigation 
effectiveness.
    Additional opportunities for public comment will be provided when 
the Draft SEIS is available. A Forest Service decision to authorize the 
construction and operation of the ACP will be subject to the Forest 
Service predecisional administrative review procedures established in 
36 CFR 218 (per 36 CFR 219.59(b)). Those wishing to object must meet 
the requirements at 36 CFR 218, Subpart A and B for the project.

Lisa A. Northrop,
Acting Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 2020-12621 Filed 6-10-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411-15-P