[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 249 (Tuesday, December 29, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85628-85629]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28712]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP20-481-000]


Rio Bravo Pipeline Company, LLC; Notice of Availability of the 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Rio Bravo Pipeline Project 
Amendment

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for the Rio 
Bravo Pipeline Project Amendment (Project Amendment), proposed by Rio 
Bravo Pipeline Company, LLC (RB Pipeline) in the above-referenced 
docket. RB Pipeline filed an application in Docket No. CP20-481-000 
requesting a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity pursuant 
to Section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act to construct and operate certain 
natural gas pipeline facilities. The proposed Project Amendment would 
modify the pipeline system facilities approved in the Commission's 
Order Granting Authorizations under Sections 3 and 7 of the Natural Gas 
Act (Order) issued on November 22, 2019, that will transport natural 
gas to Rio Grande LNG, LLC's previously approved (but not yet 
constructed) liquefied natural gas (LNG) Terminal in Cameron County, 
Texas. RB Pipeline's entire pipeline system as authorized, and as 
modified by the Project Amendment, is located entirely in Texas.
    The EA assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the Project Amendment in accordance with 
the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The 
FERC staff concludes that approval of the proposed project, with 
appropriate mitigating measures, would not constitute a major federal 
action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.
    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of 
Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 
participated as cooperating agencies in the preparation of the EA. 
Cooperating agencies have jurisdiction by law or special expertise with 
respect to resources potentially affected by the proposal and 
participate in the NEPA analysis.
    The Rio Bravo Pipeline Project, as authorized in the November 2019 
Order, consists of a 2.4-mile-long, 42-inch-diameter pipeline, 
including 0.8 mile of dual pipeline (referred to as the Header System) 
in Kleberg and Jim Wells Counties; 135.5 miles of parallel 42-inch-
diameter pipelines originating in Kleberg County and terminating at Rio 
Grande LNG, LLC's Rio Grande LNG Terminal in Cameron County (referred 
to as Pipelines 1 and 2); four metering sites along the Header System; 
two interconnect booster compressor stations, each with a metering 
site; three compressor stations (one at the Rio Grande LNG Terminal); 
and other associated utilities, systems, and facilities, all in Texas. 
As part of the Project Amendment, RB Pipeline proposes various facility 
modifications to the authorized pipeline system:
     Decrease the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) 
of the 2.4-mile-long Header System pipeline from 1,480 pounds per 
square inch gauge (psig) to 1,200 psig;
     construct an extension of 0.2 mile of mainline pipeline 
for each of

[[Page 85629]]

Pipelines 1 and 2 for a total of 135.7 miles each;
     increase the diameter of Pipeline 1 from 42 inches to 48 
inches and increase the MAOP of both pipelines from 1,480 psig to 1,825 
psig (Pipeline 2 will remain a 42-inch-diameter pipeline); and
     increase the transportation capacity of Pipeline 1 from 
2.25 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) to 2.6 Bcf/d, and decrease the 
transportation capacity of Pipeline 2 from 2.25 Bcf/d to 1.9 Bcf/d, 
resulting in the total authorized capacity of 4.5 Bcf/d remaining 
unchanged.
    The Project Amendment also includes modifications to the following 
aboveground facilities that are authorized (but as yet unbuilt) along 
the Rio Bravo Pipeline right-of-way:
     Eliminate Compressor Station 2 in Kenedy County;
     eliminate Compressor Station 3 within the Rio Grande LNG 
Terminal in Cameron County, except for a meter and other ancillary 
facilities within the LNG Terminal;
     eliminate all facilities associated with Booster Stations 
1 and 2, including related meter stations, in Kenedy County; and
     increase the horsepower (hp) at Compressor Station 1 from 
180,000 hp to 282,000 hp by switching from six 30,000-hp natural gas 
compressor units to four 43,000-hp natural gas compressor units and two 
55,000-hp compressor units.
    The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability to 
federal, state, and local government representatives and agencies; 
elected officials; environmental and public interest groups; Native 
American tribes; potentially affected landowners and other interested 
individuals and groups; and newspapers and libraries in the project 
area. The EA is only available in electronic format. It may be viewed 
and downloaded from the FERC's website (www.ferc.gov), on the natural 
gas environmental documents page (https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/natural-gas/environment/environmental-documents). In addition, the EA 
may be accessed by using the eLibrary link on the FERC's website. Click 
on the eLibrary link (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search), 
select ``General Search'' and enter the docket number in the ``Docket 
Number'' field, excluding the last three digits (i.e., CP20-481). 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 EA is not a decision document. It presents Commission staff's 
independent analysis of the environmental issues for the Commission to 
consider when addressing the merits of all issues in this proceeding. 
Any person wishing to comment on the EA may do so. Your comments should 
focus on the EA's disclosure and discussion of potential environmental 
effects, reasonable alternatives, and measures to avoid or lessen 
environmental impacts. The more specific your comments, the more useful 
they will be. To ensure that the Commission has the opportunity to 
consider your comments prior to making its decision on the Project 
Amendment, it is important that we receive your comments in Washington, 
DC on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on January 20, 2021.
    For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to file 
your comments to the Commission. The Commission encourages electronic 
filing of comments and has staff available to assist you at (866) 208-
3676 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 website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to 
FERC Online. This is an easy method for submitting brief, text-only 
comments on a project;
    (2) You can also file your comments electronically using the 
eFiling feature on the Commission's website (www.ferc.gov) under the 
link to FERC Online. 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 Commission. Be sure to reference the project docket number (CP20-
481-000) on your letter. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service 
must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 
20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.
    Filing environmental comments will not give you intervenor status, 
but you do not need intervenor status to have your comments considered. 
Only intervenors have the right to seek rehearing or judicial review of 
the Commission's decision. At this point in this proceeding, the 
timeframe for filing timely intervention requests has expired. Any 
person seeking to become a party to the proceeding must file a motion 
to intervene out-of-time pursuant to Rule 214(b)(3) and (d) of the 
Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures (18 CFR 385.214(b)(3) and 
(d)) and show good cause why the time limitation should be waived. 
Motions to intervene are more fully described at https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/ferc-online/how-guides.
    Additional information about the project is available from the 
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208-FERC, or on the 
FERC website (www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. The eLibrary link 
also provides access to the texts of all 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 https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview to 
register for eSubscription.

    Dated: December 21, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-28712 Filed 12-28-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P