Notice of Availability of the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline Project, 22744-22745 [2011-9858]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 78 (Friday, April 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22744-22745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-9858]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 7422]


Notice of Availability of the Supplemental Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Proposed TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline 
Project

AGENCY: Department of State.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: Consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
of 1969, as amended, the Department of State (DOS) has prepared a 
supplemental draft environmental impact statement (SDEIS) for the 
proposed TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, LP (TransCanada) Keystone XL 
Project (Project). On September 19, 2008, TransCanada filed an 
application for a Presidential Permit for the construction, connection, 
operation, and maintenance of a pipeline and associated facilities at 
the border of the U.S. and Canada for the transport of crude oil across 
the U.S.-Canada international boundary. The Secretary of State is 
designated and empowered to receive all applications for Presidential 
Permits, as referred to in Executive Order 13337, as amended, for the 
construction, connection, operation, or maintenance, at the borders of 
the United States, of facilities for the exportation or importation of 
petroleum, petroleum products, coal, or other fuels to or from a 
foreign country. TransCanada has requested authorization to construct 
and operate border crossing facilities at the U.S.-Canadian border in 
Phillips County, near Morgan, Montana, in connection with its proposed 
international pipeline project (Keystone XL Project) that is designed 
to transport Canadian crude oil production from the Western Canadian 
Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) to destinations in the south central United 
States, including to a new tank farm in Cushing, Oklahoma, and to 
delivery points in the Port Arthur and East Houston areas of Texas.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOS served as the lead Federal agency for 
the environmental review of the proposed Project consistent with NEPA, 
and issued a draft environmental impact statement (draft EIS) for 
public review on April 16, 2010. The Federal and state agencies that 
served as cooperating agencies in the development of the draft EIS 
include the U.S. Department of Agriculture--Natural Resources 
Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency, and Rural Utilities Service; 
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the U.S. Department of Energy, 
Western Area Power Administration; the U.S. Department of the 
Interior--Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service; the U.S. Department of Transportation, 
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of 
Pipeline Safety; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and the 
Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Cooperating agencies 
either have jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to 
the environmental impacts assessed in connection with the proposal and 
are participating with DOS in analysis of those environmental impacts.
    The public comment period for the draft EIS officially closed on 
July 2, 2010. DOS accepted written comments and verbal comments 
presented at over

[[Page 22745]]

20 public comment meetings held along the proposed pipeline route in 
Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, as well as in 
Washington, DC. As a result, over 8,000 separate comments were received 
and reviewed. In an adequacy assessment of the draft EIS, DOS 
determined that no new issues of substance emerged from the comments 
received. However, after the draft EIS was issued, additional and 
updated information became available related to the proposed Project 
and its potential impacts on the environment. Although the adequacy 
determination for the draft EIS indicated that it would not be 
mandatory to issue a supplemental document to comply with NEPA, DOS 
decided that decision-makers and the public would benefit from 
additional public review of, and comment on, both the information that 
was not available at the time the draft EIS was issued and the portions 
of the EIS that were revised to address the new information and 
comments on the draft EIS.
    The SDEIS includes revised information on the proposed Project 
facilities, including design, construction, and maintenance; additional 
regulatory requirements; and additional potential connected actions. 
The SDEIS includes additional information on existing groundwater 
conditions and potential impacts to groundwater that could result from 
an accidental discharge from the proposed Project, expanded information 
on the potential impacts of an accidental discharge from the proposed 
Project, additional alternatives to the proposed Project, and expanded 
environmental justice considerations. The SDEIS also includes 
additional information on the composition of crude oils that would be 
transported by the proposed Project in comparison to other heavy crude 
oils, potential refinery emissions, and greenhouse gas (GHG) and 
climate change considerations. Appendices to the SDEIS include copies 
of new reports and other documents relevant to the proposed Project, 
petroleum market impacts, lifecycle GHG emissions, and additional 
requirements for pipeline construction, operation, maintenance, and 
inspection.
    Copies of the SDEIS have been mailed to interested Federal, state 
and local agencies; public interest groups; individuals and affected 
landowners who requested a copy of the SDEIS; libraries; newspapers; 
and other stakeholders. A list of public libraries to which copies of 
the SDEIS have been mailed is available online at https://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov. If you would like to request that a 
copy be sent to a public library not already on this list or to an 
organization involved with the Project, please e-mail YuanAW@state.gov. 
Copies will be mailed while supplies last.
    Comment Procedures: Any person wishing to comment on the SDEIS may 
do so. DOS requests that comments be limited to the subject matter 
addressed in this SDEIS. DOS will only respond to comments that 
directly address information provided in the SDEIS. DOS will consider 
only those comments received by the end of the comment period during 
preparation of the final EIS. To ensure consideration prior to issuance 
of the final EIS (a prerequisite to a DOS decision on the proposal), it 
is important that DOS receive your comments no later than June 6, 2011 
(45 days after publication of this notice). Comments on the SDEIS can 
be submitted to DOS using any of the following methods:
     DOS Keystone XL Project Web site: https://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov.
     E-mail to: keystonexl@cardno.com.
     Mail to: Keystone XL EIS Project, P.O. Box 96503-98500, 
Washington, DC 20090-6503.
     Fax: 206-269-0098.

Comments received will be included in the Administrative Record without 
change and may, at the sole discretion of DOS, be made available on-
line at https://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov, including any 
personal information provided, unless the commenter indicates that the 
comment includes information claimed to be confidential business 
information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute. If you submit an electronic comment, we recommend that you 
include your name and other contact information in the body of your 
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If we cannot read your 
comment because of technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, we may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic 
comments should avoid the use of any special characters, any form of 
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
    DOS will publish and distribute a final EIS that will contain 
responses to timely and relevant comments received on the SDEIS, as 
well as to the comments on the draft EIS that were previously submitted 
to DOS. The final EIS will also include text revised in response to 
comments on the draft EIS and the SDEIS. From the date of issuance of 
the final EIS, the public will have 30 days to comment and cooperating 
agencies will have 90 days to comment before DOS makes a determination 
under Executive Order 13337 on whether issuance of this permit is in 
the U.S. national interest. DOS will host a public meeting in 
Washington, DC following issuance of the final EIS.
    Further Information: Additional information on the proposed 
Keystone XL Project is available for viewing and download at the DOS 
Keystone XL Project related Web site: https://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov. Information on the Web site includes the Keystone 
application for a Presidential Permit, including associated maps and 
drawings; the draft EIS and the SDEIS; a 2010 report prepared by EnSys 
Energy and Systems, Inc. (EnSys) that was contracted by the U.S. 
Department of Energy, Office of Policy & International Affairs to 
evaluate different North American crude oil transport scenarios through 
2030 to assist DOS in better understanding the potential impacts of the 
presence or absence of the proposed Project on U.S. refining and 
petroleum imports and also on international markets; a list of 
libraries where the draft EIS and SDEIS may be viewed; and other 
Project information.
    Additional information on the proposed Keystone XL Project in 
Montana is available at: https://svc.mt.gov/deq/wmaKeystoneXL/.

     Dated: April 15, 2011.
Willem H. Brakel,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy, Bureau of Oceans and 
International, Environmental and Scientific Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2011-9858 Filed 4-21-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-07-P