[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 124 (Thursday, July 1, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35082-35083]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14067]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP20-527-000]


Columbia Gulf Transmission, LLC; Notice of Availability of The 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for The Proposed East Lateral 
Xpress Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) 
for the East Lateral XPress Project (Project), proposed by Columbia 
Gulf Transmission, LLC (Columbia Gulf) in the above-referenced docket. 
Columbia Gulf requests authorization to construct and operate natural 
gas transmission facilities in Louisiana. The Project is designed to 
provide a total of 725 million standard cubic feet per day of firm 
transportation capacity, through a combination of incremental and 
existing capacity on Columbia Gulf's interstate natural gas pipeline 
system, to an interconnect with Venture Global Gator Express, LLC, for 
ultimate delivery as feed gas for Venture Global Plaquemines LNG, LLC's 
facility in Plaquemines Parish.
    The draft EIS responds to comments that were received on the 
Commission's March 16, 2021 Environmental Assessment (EA) \1\ and 
discloses downstream greenhouse gas emissions for the Project. With the 
exception of climate change impacts, the FERC staff concludes that 
approval of the proposed Project, with the mitigation measures 
recommended in this EIS, would not result in significant environmental 
impacts. FERC staff continues to be unable to determine significance 
with regards to climate change impacts.
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    \1\ The Project's Environmental Assessment is available on 
eLibrary under accession no. 20210316-3010.
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    The draft EIS incorporates the above referenced EA, which addressed 
the potential environmental effects of the construction and operation 
of the following Project facilities:
     8.1 miles of 30-inch-diameter pipeline lateral within 
Barataria Bay in Jefferson and Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana;
     Centerville Compressor Station--a new 23,470-horsepower 
(hp) compressor station at an abandoned Columbia Gulf compressor 
station site in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana;
     Golden Meadow Compressor Station--a new 23,470-hp 
compressor station adjacent to an existing tie-in facility in Lafourche 
Parish, Louisiana;
     a point of delivery meter station in Plaquemines Parish, 
Louisiana; and
     a tie-in facility with two mainline valves and other 
appurtenances on a new platform in Barataria Bay, Jefferson Parish, 
Louisiana.
    The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability of the 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed East Lateral 
Xpress Project 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 draft EIS 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 draft EIS 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 
(i.e., CP20-527). 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 draft EIS 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 draft EIS may do so. 
Your comments should focus on the draft EIS's disclosure and discussion 
of potential environmental effects, including climate impacts, measures 
to avoid or lessen environmental impacts, and completeness of the 
submitted alternatives, information and analyses. 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 5:00 
p.m. Eastern Time on August 16, 2021.

[[Page 35083]]

    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 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 file your comments electronically by 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.'' 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 Commission. Be sure to reference the project docket number (CP20-
527-000) 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, Maryland 20852.
    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 (18 CFR part 385.214). Motions to intervene are 
more fully described at https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/ferc-online/how-guides. Only intervenors have the right to seek rehearing or 
judicial review 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 which 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.

Questions?

    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 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 https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview to 
register for eSubscription.

    Dated: June 25, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-14067 Filed 6-30-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P