[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 149 (Monday, August 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46616-46619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16810]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP20-481-000]
Rio Bravo Pipeline Company, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Rio Bravo Pipeline Project
Amendment, and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues
The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or
Commission) will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) that will
discuss the environmental impacts of the Rio Bravo Pipeline Project
Amendment (Project Amendment) involving construction and operation of
facilities by Rio Bravo Pipeline Company, LLC (RB Pipeline) in Jim
Wells, Kleberg, Kenedy, Willacy, and Cameron Counties, Texas. The
Commission will use this EA in its decision-making process to determine
whether the project is in the public convenience and necessity.
This notice announces the opening of the scoping process the
Commission will use to gather input from the public and interested
agencies about issues regarding the Project Amendment. The National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the Commission to take into
account the environmental impacts that could result from its action
whenever it considers the issuance of a Certificate of Public
Convenience and Necessity. NEPA also requires the Commission to
discover concerns the public may have about proposals. This process is
referred to as scoping. The main goal of the scoping process is to
focus the analysis in the EA on the important environmental issues. By
this notice, the Commission requests public
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comments on the scope of issues to address in the EA. To ensure that
your comments are timely and properly recorded, please submit your
comments so that the Commission receives them in Washington, DC on or
before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on August 27, 2020. Comments may be
submitted in written form.
Further details on how to submit comments are provided in the
Public Participation section of this notice.
You can make a difference by submitting your specific comments or
concerns about the project. Your comments should focus on the potential
environmental effects, reasonable alternatives, and measures to avoid
or lessen environmental impacts. Your input will help the Commission
staff determine what issues they need to evaluate in the EA. Commission
staff will consider all written comments during the preparation of the
EA.
If you sent comments on this project to the Commission before the
opening of this docket on June 16, 2020, you will need to file those
comments in Docket No. CP20-481- 000 to ensure they are considered as
part of this proceeding.
This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental
mailing list for this project. State and local government
representatives should notify their constituents of this proposed
project and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.
If you are a landowner receiving this notice, a pipeline company
representative may contact you about the acquisition of an easement to
construct, operate, and maintain the proposed facilities. The company
would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable easement agreement. You
are not required to enter into an agreement. However, if the Commission
approves the Project Amendment, the Natural Gas Act conveys the right
of eminent domain to the company. Therefore, if you and the company do
not reach an easement agreement, the pipeline company could initiate
condemnation proceedings in court. In such instances, compensation
would be determined by a judge in accordance with state law.
RB Pipeline provided landowners with a fact sheet prepared by the
FERC entitled An Interstate Natural Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I
Need To Know? This fact sheet addresses a number of typically asked
questions, including the use of eminent domain and how to participate
in the Commission's proceedings. It is also available for viewing on
the FERC website (www.ferc.gov) under the natural gas Landowner Topics
link.
Public Participation
The Commission offers a free service called eSubscription which
makes it easy to stay informed of all issuances and submittals
regarding the dockets/projects to which you subscribe. These instant
email notifications are the fastest way to receive notification and
provide a link to the document files which can reduce the amount of
time you spend researching proceedings. Go to https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview to register for eSubscription.
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, which is located on the Commission's website (www.ferc.gov)
under the link to FERC Online. Using eComment 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, which is located 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 will be asked to select the type of filing you are
making; a comment on a particular project is considered a 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 (CP20-
481-000) 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.
Please note this is not your only public input opportunity; please
refer to the review process flow chart in appendix 1.\1\
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\1\ 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. For instructions on connecting to eLibrary,
refer to the last page of this notice.
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Summary of the Proposed Project
RB Pipeline proposes to modify the facilities approved in the
Commission's Order Granting Authorizations under Sections 3 and 7 of
the Natural Gas Act (Order) issued on November 22, 2019. The Rio Bravo
Pipeline, as authorized, consists of a 2.4-mile-long, 42-inch-diameter
pipeline, including 0.8 mile of dual pipeline (referred to as the
Header System) in Kleber and Jim Wells Counties; 135.5 miles of
parallel 42-inch-diameter pipelines originating in Kleberg County and
terminating at Rio Grande LNG, LLC's Rio Grande liquefied natural gas
(LNG) Terminal in Cameron County (referred to as Pipelines 1 and 2);
four metering sites along the Header System; two interconnect booster
compressor stations, each with a metering site; three compressor
stations (one at the Rio Grande LNG Terminal); and other associated
utilities, systems, and facilities, all in Texas.
As part of the Project Amendment, RB Pipeline proposes the
following pipeline facility modifications:
Decrease the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP)
of the 2.4- mile-long Header System pipeline from 1,480 pounds per
square inch gauge (psig) to 1,200 psig;
construct an extension of 0.2 mile of mainline pipeline
for each Pipeline 1 and 2 for a total of 135.7 miles each;
increase the diameter of Pipeline 1 from 42 inches to 48
inches and increase the MAOP of both pipelines from 1,480 psig to 1,825
psig (Pipeline 2 will remain a 42-inch-diameter pipeline); and
increase the transportation capacity of Pipeline 1 from
2.25 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) to 2.6 Bcf/d, and decrease the
transportation capacity of Pipeline 2 from 2.25 Bcf/d to 1.9 Bcf/d,
resulting in the total authorized capacity of 4.5 Bcf/d remaining
unchanged.
The Project Amendment also includes modifications to the following
aboveground facilities that are authorized (but as yet unbuilt) along
the Rio Bravo Pipeline right-of- way:
Eliminate Compressor Station 2 in Kenedy County;
eliminate Compressor Station 3 within the Rio Grande LNG
Terminal in Cameron County, except for a meter and other ancillary
facilities within the LNG Terminal;
eliminate all facilities associated with Booster Stations
1 and 2, including
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related meter stations, in Kenedy County; and
increase the horsepower (hp) at Compressor Station 1 from
180,000 hp to 282,000 hp by switching from six 30,000-hp natural gas
compressor units to four 43,000-hp natural gas compressor units and two
55,000-hp compressor units.
The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix
2.
Land Requirements for Construction
The Rio Bravo Pipeline system, as authorized, will affect about
2,501.2 acres during construction; and about 1,330 acres of land would
be retained for permanent use during operation. The Project Amendment
would modify those totals to affect 2,457.8 acres during construction
and 1,286.7 acres during operation; the reduction in land requirements
would be due in large part to the elimination of Compressor Station 2
and Booster Stations 1 and 2.
The EA Process
The EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the
construction and operation of the Project Amendment under these general
headings:
geology and soils;
water resources and wetlands;
vegetation and wildlife;
threatened and endangered species;
cultural resources;
socioeconomics;
land use;
air quality and noise;
public safety; and
cumulative impacts.
Commission staff will also evaluate reasonable alternatives to the
proposed project or portions of the project, and make recommendations
on how to lessen or avoid impacts on the various resource areas.
The EA will present Commission staff's independent analysis of the
issues. The EA will be available in electronic format in the public
record through eLibrary \2\ and the Commission's natural gas
environmental documents web page (https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/natural-gas/environment/environmental- documents). If eSubscribed, you
will receive instant email notification when the EA is issued. The EA
may be issued for an allotted public comment period. Commission staff
will consider all comments on the EA before making recommendations to
the Commission. To ensure Commission staff have the opportunity to
address your comments, please carefully follow the instructions in the
Public Participation section, beginning on page 2.
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\2\ For instructions on connecting to eLibrary, refer to the
last page of this notice.
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With this notice, the Commission is asking agencies with
jurisdiction by law and/or special expertise with respect to the
environmental issues of this project to formally cooperate in the
preparation of the EA.\3\ Agencies that would like to request
cooperating agency status should follow the instructions for filing
comments provided under the Public Participation section of this
notice.
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\3\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing
cooperating agency responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 1501.6.
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Consultation Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation
Act
In accordance with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's
implementing regulations for section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act, the Commission is using this notice to initiate
consultation with the applicable State Historic Preservation Office,
and to solicit their views and those of other government agencies,
interested Indian tribes, and the public on the project's potential
effects on historic properties.\4\ The EA for this project will
document findings on the impacts on historic properties and summarize
the status of consultations under section 106.
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\4\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's regulations
are at Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 800. Those
regulations define historic properties as any prehistoric or
historic district, site, building, structure, or object included in
or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic
Places.
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Currently Identified Environmental Issues
Commission staff have already identified several issues that
deserve attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed
facilities and the environmental information provided by RB Pipeline.
This preliminary list of environmental issues may change based on your
comments and our analysis:
alternative systems analysis;
visual resources;
pipeline safety associated with the increased diameter and
capacity of Pipelines 1 and 2;
air quality impacts associated with the pipeline and
aboveground facilities;
noise impacts associated with pipeline construction and
operation;
cumulative impacts; and
climate change.
Environmental Mailing List
The environmental mailing list for the Project Amendment includes
federal, state, and local government representatives and agencies;
elected officials; environmental and public interest groups; Native
American Tribes; other interested parties; and local libraries and
newspapers. This list also includes all affected landowners (as defined
in the Commission's regulations) who are potential right-of-way
grantors, whose property may be used temporarily for project purposes,
or who own homes within certain distances of aboveground facilities,
and anyone who submits comments on the project and includes a mailing
address with their comments. Commission staff will update the
environmental mailing list as the analysis proceeds to ensure that
Commission notices related to this environmental review are sent to all
individuals, organizations, and government entities interested in and/
or potentially affected by the proposed project.
If the Commission issues the EA for an allotted public comment
period, a Notice of Availability of the EA will be sent to the
environmental mailing list and will provide instructions to access the
electronic document on the FERC's website (www.ferc.gov). If you need
to make changes to your name/address, or if you would like to remove
your name from the mailing list, please return the attached ``Mailing
List Update Form'' (appendix 3).
Additional Information
Additional information about the project is available from the
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208-FERC, or on the
FERC website at www.ferc.gov using the eLibrary link. Click on the
eLibrary link, click on General Search and enter the docket number in
the Docket Number field, excluding the last three digits (i.e., CP20-
481). Be sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at
[email protected] or (866) 208-3676, or for TTY, contact (202)
502-8659. The eLibrary link also provides access to the texts of all
formal documents issued by the Commission, such as orders, notices, and
rulemakings.
Public sessions or site visits will be posted on the Commission's
calendar located at https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/events along with
other related information.
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Dated: July 28, 2020.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-16810 Filed 7-31-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P