[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 96 (Thursday, May 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31746-31747]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10618]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP23-3-000]


Tres Palacios Gas Storage LLC; Notice of Availability of the 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Tres Palacios Cavern 4 
Expansion Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for the Tres 
Palacios Cavern 4 Expansion Project, proposed by Tres Palacios Gas 
Storage LLC (Tres Palacios) in the above-referenced docket. Tres 
Palacios requests authorization to expand its certificated natural gas 
storage capacity at its existing natural gas storage facility (the 
Storage Facility) in Matagorda County, Texas.
    The EA assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the Tres Palacios Cavern 4 Expansion 
Project 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 proposed Tres Palacios Cavern 4 Expansion Project includes the 
following facilities and activities:
     conversion of an existing third-party brine production 
well (Trull 11) into a natural gas storage cavern (Cavern 4);
     development of the Trull 11 well pad site for Cavern 4 
(Cavern 4 Well Pad);
     construction of a 0.6-mile-long, 16-inch-diameter pipeline 
(new Cavern 4 Pipeline) including cathodic protection along the 
proposed pipeline, connecting Cavern 4 to the certificated facilities 
at the existing Storage Facility;
     abandonment in place of a 15,300 horsepower (HP) electric-
motor driven centrifugal compressor unit;
     installation of a new 5,500 HP electric-motor driven 
reciprocating compressor unit;
     addition of a new 2.5 million British thermal units per 
hour dehydration unit;
     construction of various related facilities, including a 
new permanent access road for the Cavern 4 Well Pad; and
     non-jurisdictional facilities consisting of a new electric 
service line to the Cavern 4 Well Pad and a new fiber optic line from 
the Cavern 4 Well Pad to the Storage Facility.
    The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability of the 
EA 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 a library 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-

[[Page 31747]]

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., CP23-3). 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 this project, it 
is important that we receive your comments in Washington, DC, on or 
before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 12, 2023.
    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 (CP23-3-
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/how-intervene.
    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: May 12, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-10618 Filed 5-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P