[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 129 (Thursday, July 7, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40516-40517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14457]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP22-2-000]


Gas Transmission Northwest LLC; Notice of Availability of the 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed GTN Xpress 
Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) 
for the GTN XPress Project (Project), proposed by Gas Transmission 
Northwest LLC (GTN) in the above-referenced docket. GTN proposes to 
modify existing compressor stations in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. 
This Project would increase the capacity of GTN's existing natural gas 
transmission system by about 150 million standard cubic feet per day 
between Idaho and Oregon. According to GTN, the Project is necessary to 
serve the growing market demand its system is experiencing.
    The draft EIS assesses the potential environmental effects of 
modifying and installing new facilities at the existing compressor 
stations 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, this 
EIS is not characterizing the Project's greenhouse gas 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 or other alternative would meet the Project 
objectives 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 is participating as 
cooperating agency in the preparation of the EIS. A cooperating agency 
has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to resources 
potentially affected by the proposal and participates in the NEPA 
analysis.
    The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability of the 
draft EIS to federal, state, and local government representatives and 
agencies; elected officials; environmental and public interest groups; 
Indian 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. CP22-2). 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' disclosure and discussion 
of

[[Page 40517]]

potential environmental effects, reasonable alternatives, and measures 
to avoid or lessen environmental impacts. 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 22, 2022.
    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 (CP22-2-
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/how-intervene. 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 30, 2022.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-14457 Filed 7-6-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P