[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23667-23669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08133]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. CP22-503-000, CP22-502-000]


Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line 
Company, LLC; Notice of Availability of The Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for The Proposed Virginia Reliability Project and 
Commonwealth Energy Connector Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) 
for the Virginia Reliability Project (VRP), proposed by Columbia Gas 
Transmission, LLC (Columbia) and the Commonwealth Energy Connector 
Project (CEC Project) proposed by Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line 
Company, LLC (Transco) in the above-referenced dockets.
    Columbia requests authorization to construct and operate its VRP in 
Greensville, Prince George, Sussex, Surry, Southampton, and Isle of 
Wight Counties, Virginia, and in the cities of Suffolk and Chesapeake, 
Virginia. The VRP is designed to provide an additional 100,000 
Dekatherms per day (Dth/d) of firm transportation service for Virginia 
Natural Gas, Inc. (VNG), from Emporia I/C to VNG's existing delivery 
point in Chesapeake County, Virginia.
    Transco requests authorization to construct, operate, and maintain 
its CEC Project in Mecklenburg, Brunswick, and Greensville Counties, 
Virginia. The CEC Project is designed to provide an additional 105,000 
Dth/d of firm transportation service for VNG from Transco's existing 
Station 165 Zone 5 Pooling Point in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, to 
the existing interconnection between Transco and Columbia in 
Greensville County, Virginia (Emporia I/C), where VNG has contracted 
with Columbia for further firm transportation service.
    The draft EIS assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the VRP and the CEC Project (the 
Projects) in accordance with the requirements of the

[[Page 23668]]

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The FERC staff concludes that 
approval of the proposed Projects, with the mitigation measures 
recommended in the EIS, would result in some adverse environmental 
impacts; however, with the exception of potential impacts on climate 
change, FERC staff concludes that impacts would be reduced to less than 
significant levels. Regarding climate change impacts, the EIS is not 
characterizing the Projects' greenhouse gas emissions as significant or 
not significant because the Commission is conducting a generic 
proceeding to determine whether and how the Commission will conduct 
significance determinations going forward.\1\
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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. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Norfolk District, and the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) participated as cooperating 
agencies 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. Although the cooperating agencies provided input to the 
conclusions and recommendations presented in the draft EIS, the 
agencies will present their own conclusions and recommendations in any 
applicable Records of Decision or other documentation for the Projects.
    The draft EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the following VRP facilities, all in 
Virginia:
     replacement of about 49.2 miles of the existing 12-inch-
diameter VM-107 and VM-108 pipelines with 24-inch-diameter pipeline 
mostly within Columbia's existing right-of-way, in Sussex, Surry, 
Southampton, and Isle of Wight Counties, as well as in the cities of 
Suffolk and Chesapeake;
     installation of one new 5,500-horsepower (HP) dual-drive 
compressor unit at the existing Emporia Compressor Station in 
Greensville County;
     modification of the existing compressor units and an 
increase in power by 2,700 HP at the existing Petersburg Compressor 
Station in Prince George County;
     modification of the Emporia Point of Receipt in 
Greensville County, Regulator Station 7423 in Prince George County, and 
MS-831010 Point of Delivery in Chesapeake; and
     replacement of eight mainline valves (MLV), installation 
of one new MLV and five new launchers/receivers, and replacement or 
installation of other minor appurtenant facilities.
    The draft EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the following CEC Project facilities, all 
in Virginia:
     construction of a 6.35-mile-long, 24-inch-diameter 
pipeline loop \2\ (referred to as the Commonwealth Loop), including 
valve and launcher/receiver facilities, in Brunswick and Greensville 
Counties;
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    \2\ A pipeline loop is a segment of pipe constructed parallel to 
an existing pipeline to increase capacity.
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     addition of a 33,000-HP electric motor-driven compressor 
unit at the existing Compressor Station 168 in Mecklenburg County; and
     modification of the existing Emporia Metering and 
Regulation Station in Greensville County.
    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 area of the 
Projects. 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., CP22-503-000 or CP22-502-000). 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 
Daylight Time on June 5, 2023.
    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; 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-
503-000 or CP22-502-000) 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.
    (4) In lieu of sending written or electronic comments, the 
Commission invites you to attend one of the in-person or virtual public 
comment sessions its staff will conduct to receive comments on the 
draft EIS. The primary goal of these comment sessions is to have you 
identify the specific environmental issues and concerns with the draft 
EIS. Individual oral comments will be taken on a one-on-one basis with 
a court reporter. This format is designed to receive the maximum amount 
of oral

[[Page 23669]]

comments in a convenient way during the timeframe allotted.
    The in-person comment sessions are scheduled as follows:

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               Date and time                          Location
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Tuesday April 25, 2023, 5:00 p.m.--8:00     Appomattox Event Center, 9 W
 p.m..                                       Old St. #100, Petersburg,
                                             VA 23803, 804-613-4512.
Wednesday April 26, 2023, 5:00 p.m.-8:00    Chesapeake Conference
 p.m..                                       Center, 700 Conference
                                             Center Dr., Chesapeake, VA
                                             23320, 757-382-2500.
Thursday April 27, 2023, 5:00 p.m.--8:00    Golden Leaf Commons, 1300
 p.m..                                       Greensville County, Cir B,
                                             Emporia, VA 23847, 434-348-
                                             4125.
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    Each in-person comment session is scheduled from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 
p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. You may arrive at any time after 5:00 p.m. 
There will not be a formal presentation by Commission staff when the 
session opens. If you wish to speak, the Commission staff will hand out 
numbers in the order of your arrival. Comments will be taken until 8:00 
p.m. However, if no additional numbers have been handed out and all 
individuals who wish to provide comments have had an opportunity to do 
so, staff may conclude the session at 7:30 p.m. Please see appendix 1 
for additional information on the session format and conduct.\3\
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    \3\ The appendices referenced in this notice will not appear in 
the Federal Register. Copies of the appendices were sent to all 
those receiving this notice in the mail and are available at 
www.ferc.gov using the link called ``eLibrary'' or from the 
Commission's Public Reference Room, 888 First Street NE, Washington, 
DC 20426, or call (202) 502-8371.
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    Your oral comments will be recorded by the court reporter (with 
FERC staff or a representative present) and become part of the public 
record for this proceeding. If a significant number of people are 
interested in providing oral comments in the one-on-one settings, a 
time limit of 5 minutes may be implemented for each commentor. Although 
there will not be a formal presentation, Commission staff will be 
available throughout the comment session to answer your questions about 
the environmental review process.
    FERC staff will also conduct a virtual comment session by 
telephone, scheduled as follows:

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               Date and time                       Call-in number
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Wednesday, May 3, 2023, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.    800-857-4883, Participant
 Eastern Daylight Time.                      Passcode: 6833301.
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    Individual oral comments will be taken on a one-on-one basis with a 
court reporter present on the line. You may call at any time after 5:00 
p.m., at which time you will be placed on mute and hold. Calls will be 
answered in the order they are received. Once your call is answered, 
you will have the opportunity to provide your comment directly to a 
court reporter with FERC staff or a representative present on the line. 
A time limit of 3 minutes will be implemented for each commentor.
    Transcripts of the virtual and in-person comment sessions will be 
publicly available on FERC's eLibrary system (see page 3 for 
instructions on using eLibrary).
    It is important to note that the Commission provides equal 
consideration to all comments received, whether filed in written form 
or provided orally at a comment session.
    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 Projects 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: April 11, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-08133 Filed 4-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P