[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 97 (Thursday, May 19, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30475-30477]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10776]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP21-465-000; CP21-465-001; CP21-465-002]


Driftwood Pipeline LLC; Notice of Availability of the Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Line 200 and Line 300 
Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) 
for the Line 200 and Line 300 Project (Project), proposed by Driftwood 
Pipeline LLC (Driftwood) in the above-referenced docket. Driftwood 
proposes to construct and operate dual 42-inch-diameter natural gas 
pipelines originating near Ragley in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana 
southward to a proposed receiver facility near Carlyss in Calcasieu 
Parish, Louisiana. Additional facilities include one new compressor 
station, eleven meter stations, six mainline valves, and other 
aboveground facilities. The Project would provide a maximum seasonal 
capacity of 5.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to the Lake 
Charles market. According to Driftwood, its Project would provide 
enhanced supply access, resilience, and reliability to the natural gas 
market in the Lake Charles area.
    The draft EIS assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the Project in accordance with the 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The FERC 
staff concludes that approval of the proposed Project, with the 
mitigation measures recommended in the EIS, would result in some 
adverse environmental impacts, but none that are considered 
significant. Regarding climate change impacts, the Project's 
construction and operation emissions would increase the atmospheric 
concentration of greenhouse gasses (GHG), in combination with past, 
present, and future emissions from all other sources. This EIS is not

[[Page 30476]]

characterizing the Project's GHG emissions as significant or 
insignificant because the Commission is conducting a generic proceeding 
to determine whether and how the Commission will conduct significance 
determinations going forward.\1\ The EIS also concludes that no system, 
route, or other alternative would meet the Project objective while 
providing a significant environmental advantage over the Project as 
proposed.
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    \1\ Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Natural Gas 
Infrastructure Project Reviews, 178 FERC ] 61,108 (2022); 178 FERC 
61,197 (2022).
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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency participated as a 
cooperating agency 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.
    The draft EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the following project facilities:
     Installation of 36.9 miles of 42-inch-diameter pipeline in 
Beauregard and Calcasieu Parishes, Louisiana (Line 200);
     installation of 30.8 miles of 42-inch-diameter pipeline in 
Beauregard and Calcasieu Parishes, Louisiana (Line 300);
     installation of the new Indian Bayou Compressor Station 
(up to 211,200 horsepower of electric-driven compression in Beauregard 
Parish);
     installation of twelve new meter stations in Beauregard 
and Calcasieu Parishes;
     installation of a dual receiver facility at the terminus 
of Line 200 and Line 300 in Calcasieu Parish; and
     installation of six new mainline valves in Beauregard and 
Calcasieu Parishes.
    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 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, excluding the last 
three digits (i.e., CP21-465). 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 draft EIS's disclosure and discussion of 
potential environmental effects, measures to avoid or lessen 
environmental impacts, and the 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 
July 5, 2022.
    For your convenience, there are four methods you can use to submit 
your comments to the Commission. The Commission will provide equal 
consideration to all comments received, whether filed in written form 
or provided verbally. 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;
    (3) You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to 
the Commission. Be sure to reference the project docket number (CP21-
465) 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; or
    (4) In lieu of sending written or electronic comments, the 
Commission invites you to attend one of the virtual comment meetings to 
receive comments on the draft EIS. The dates and times of these 
meetings will be provided in a supplemental notice.
    The primary goal of these comment sessions is to have you identify 
the specific environmental issues and concerns that should be 
considered in the environmental document. Individual oral comments will 
be taken on a one-on-one basis with a court reporter present on the 
line. This format is designed to receive the maximum amount of oral 
comments, in a convenient way during the timeframe allotted, and is in 
response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There will not be a formal 
presentation by Commission staff when the session opens.
    Your verbal comments will be recorded by the court reporter (with 
FERC staff or representative present) and become part of the public 
record for this proceeding. Transcripts will be publicly available on 
FERC's eLibrary system (see page 3 for instructions on using eLibrary). 
If a significant number of people are interested in providing verbal 
comments in the one-on-one settings, a time limit of 5 minutes may be 
implemented for each commentor.
    It is important to note that verbal comments hold the same weight 
as written or electronically submitted comments. Although there will 
not be a formal presentation, Commission staff will be available to 
answer your questions about the environmental review process.
    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

[[Page 30477]]

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: May 13, 2022.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-10776 Filed 5-18-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P