Draft Addendum to Environmental Review Documents Concerning Exports of Natural Gas From the United States, 32258-32259 [2014-12931]
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32258
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 107 / Wednesday, June 4, 2014 / Notices
would not accept or process the used
fuel.
Potential Areas of Environmental
Analysis
DOE has tentatively identified the
following areas for analysis in the
German HEU Fuel EA. The list is
presented to facilitate comment on the
scope of the EA and is not intended to
be comprehensive or to predetermine
the potential impacts to be analyzed.
• Impacts to the general population
and workers from radiological and
nonradiological releases, and other
worker health and safety impacts.
• Impacts of emissions on air and
water quality, including impacts of
greenhouse gas emissions on climate
change.
• Impacts on ecological systems and
threatened and endangered species.
• Impacts of waste management
activities.
• Impacts of the transportation of
radioactive materials, including
transport across the ocean.
• Impacts that could occur as a result
of postulated accidents and intentional
destructive acts (terrorist actions and
sabotage).
• Potential disproportionately high
and adverse effects on low-income and
minority populations (environmental
justice).
• Short-term and long-term land use
impacts, including potential impacts of
disposal.
• Cumulative impacts.
NEPA Process
Following the public scoping period
and after consideration of all comments
received during scoping, DOE will
prepare a Draft German HEU Fuel EA.
DOE will announce its availability to
the public for comment, provide a
public comment period, and conduct a
public hearing to receive comments on
the Draft EA. All comments submitted
on the Draft EA during the public
comment period will be considered and
addressed in the Final German HEU
Fuel EA. DOE will address comments
submitted after the close of the public
comment period on the Draft EA to the
extent practicable. Based on the EA
analysis, DOE will either issue a
Finding of No Significant Impact or
announce its intent to prepare an
environmental impact statement (EIS).
If DOE determines that an EIS is
needed, either during preparation of the
EA or after completing the EA, DOE
would issue in the Federal Register an
NOI to prepare an EIS. In that case, the
current scoping process would serve as
the scoping process that normally
would follow an NOI to prepare an EIS.
DOE would not solicit additional
scoping comments but would consider
any comments on the scope of the EA
received during this scoping process in
preparing the EIS.
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 29,
2014.
David Huizenga,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental
Management.
[FR Doc. 2014–12933 Filed 6–3–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[DOE/EIS–0487; DOE/EIS–0488; DOE/EIS–
0489; et. al.]
Draft Addendum to Environmental
Review Documents Concerning
Exports of Natural Gas From the
United States
Office of Fossil Energy,
Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of Draft
Addendum to Environmental Review
Documents Concerning Exports of
Natural Gas from the United States.
AGENCY:
Freeport LNG Expansion, L.P. and FLNG Liquefaction, LLCD ..................................................................................................
Cameron LNG, LLC ........................................................................................................................................................................
Jordan Cove Energy Project, L.P ...................................................................................................................................................
Lake Charles Exports, LLC and Trunkline LNG Export, LLC .....................................................................................................
LNG Development Company, LLC (d/b/a Oregon LNG) .............................................................................................................
Cheniere Marketing, LLC ..............................................................................................................................................................
Excelerate Liquefaction Solutions I, LLC .....................................................................................................................................
CE FLNG, LLC ................................................................................................................................................................................
Magnolia LNG, LLC .......................................................................................................................................................................
Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP .....................................................................................................................................................
Southern LNG Company, L.L.C ....................................................................................................................................................
Golden Pass Products LLC ............................................................................................................................................................
Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC ......................................................................................................................................................
The Office of Fossil Energy
(FE) of the Department of Energy (DOE)
announces the availability of the Draft
Addendum to Environmental Review
Documents Concerning Exports of
Natural Gas From The United States
(Addendum) for public review and
comment. The purpose of this
Addendum is to provide additional
information to the public regarding the
potential environmental impacts of
unconventional natural gas exploration
and production activities. DOE has
received many comments in related
proceedings expressing concerns about
the potential impacts from increased
development of unconventional natural
gas resources in the United States,
particularly production that involves
hydraulic fracturing. While not required
by the National Environmental Policy
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:17 Jun 03, 2014
Jkt 232001
Act (NEPA), DOE has prepared this
Addendum in an effort to be responsive
to the public and provide the best
information available. DOE is making
this draft Addendum available for
public review and comment, and will
consider comments prior to finalizing
this Addendum.
DATES: Comments are to be filed using
procedures detailed in the Public
Comment section no later than 4:30
p.m., Eastern Time, July 21, 2014.
ADDRESSES:
Electronic Filing Using Online Form:
https://energy.gov/fe/Draft-UpstreamAddendum.
Regular Mail: U.S. Department of
Energy (FE–34), Attn: Addendum
Comments, Office of Oil & Gas Global
Security & Supply, Office of Fossil
PO 00000
Frm 00046
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
[DOE/EIS–0487].
DOE/EIS–0488].
DOE/EIS–0489].
DOE/EIS–0491].
DOE/EIS–0492].
DOE/EIS–0493].
DOE/EIS–0494].
DOE/EIS–0497].
DOE/EIS–0498].
DOE/EA–1942].
DOE/EA–1963].
DOE/EA–1971].
DOE/EA–1983].
Energy, P.O. Box 44375, Washington,
DC 20026–4375
Hand Delivery or Private Delivery
Services (e.g., FedEx, UPS, etc.): U.S.
Department of Energy (FE–34), Attn:
Addendum Comments, Office of Oil &
Gas Global Security & Supply, Office of
Fossil Energy, Forrestal Building, Room
3E–042, 1000 Independence Avenue
SW., Washington, DC 20585
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
John Anderson, U.S. Department of
Energy (FE–34), Office of Natural Gas
Regulatory Activities, Office of Fossil
Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 3E–
042, 1000 Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586–
0521.
Edward LeDuc, U.S. Department of
Energy (GC–51), Office of the
E:\FR\FM\04JNN1.SGM
04JNN1
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 107 / Wednesday, June 4, 2014 / Notices
Assistant General Counsel for
Environment, Forrestal Building, 1000
Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586–
4007
Section
3(a) of the Natural Gas Act, 15 U.S.C.
717b(a), directs the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) to authorize proposed
exports of natural gas to countries with
which the United States does not have
a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) requiring
national treatment for trade in natural
gas (non-FTA countries), unless DOE
finds that the proposed exportation will
not be consistent with the public
interest.
DOE presently has before it numerous
applications to export liquefied natural
gas (LNG) to non-FTA countries. The
project proponents in these applications
also have applied to the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) for
approvals related to onshore LNG
facilities. FERC is the lead federal
agency for the preparation of
environmental assessments (EAs) and
environmental impact statements (EISs)
required under the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for
the applications that are pending before
both federal agencies. DOE is
participating as a cooperating agency in
these NEPA reviews.
Several parties and commenters to
these proceedings have urged DOE to
review the potential environmental
impacts of natural gas production
activities, particularly the hydraulic
fracturing of shale formations. These
parties and commenters reason that
authorizing exports of LNG to non-FTA
countries would induce additional
natural gas production in the United
States, and that the environmental
impacts of the additional natural gas
production should be considered as a
factor affecting the public interest.
Fundamental uncertainties constrain
the ability to predict what, if any,
domestic natural gas production would
be induced by granting any specific
authorization or authorizations to export
LNG to non-FTA countries. Receiving a
non-FTA authorization from DOE does
not guarantee that a particular facility
would be financed and built; nor does
it guarantee that, even if built, market
conditions would continue to favor
export once the facility is operational.
Numerous LNG import facilities were
previously authorized by DOE, received
financing, and were built, only to see
declining use over the past decade.
The current rapid development of
unconventional natural gas resources
will likely continue, with or without the
export of natural gas. Potential impacts
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:05 Jun 03, 2014
Jkt 232001
associated with the development of
unconventional natural gas resources
will exist whenever it is produced,
much the same as the conventional
natural gas industry has for decades.
Exporting natural gas may accelerate the
timing of the development
unconventional resources and the
associated potential impacts. However,
it is not reasonable to assume that
unconventional natural gas production
and the associated potential impacts
will not occur if natural gas exports to
non-FTA countries are prohibited.
Accordingly, to provide the public
with a more complete understanding of
potential impacts, DOE has prepared
this draft Addendum to discuss the
potential environmental impacts
associated with unconventional natural
gas production in the lower-48 states.
By including this discussion of natural
gas production activities, DOE is going
beyond what NEPA requires. While
DOE has made broad projections about
the types of resources from which
additional production may come, DOE
cannot meaningfully estimate where,
when, or by what method any
additional natural gas would be
produced. Therefore, DOE cannot
meaningfully analyze the specific
environmental impacts of such
production, which are nearly all local or
regional in nature. As DOE explained in
Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC, DOE/FE
Order No. 2961–A (Aug. 7, 2012),
lacking an understanding of where and
when additional gas production will
arise, the environmental impacts
resulting from production activity
induced by LNG exports to non-FTA
countries are not ‘‘reasonably
foreseeable’’ within the meaning of the
Council on Environmental Quality’s
(CEQ) NEPA regulations (40 CFR
1508.7).
The Addendum is intended to
provide information only on the impact
areas most often associated with
unconventional natural gas production.
The Addendum is not the result of new
analysis or research, but rather is based
on DOE’s review of existing studies and
analyses. A key resource in preparing
the Addendum was the report
Environmental Impacts of
Unconventional Natural Gas
Development and Production (May 29,
2014), prepared by the National Energy
Technology Laboratory, a DOE
Laboratory.
Public Comment
In response to this Notice, any person
may file comments. DOE prefers
comments to be filed using the online
form (method 1). However, for those
lacking access to the Internet, comments
PO 00000
Frm 00047
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 9990
32259
may be filed using method 2 or 3. The
three methods are: (1) submission of
comments using the online form at
https://energy.gov/fe/Draft-UpstreamAddendum; (2) mailing comments to the
Office of Oil and Gas Global Security
and Supply at the address listed in
ADDRESSES; or (3) delivering comments
(by hand or courier) to the Office of Oil
and Gas Global Security and Supply at
the address listed in ADDRESSES. All
filings must include a reference to Draft
Upstream Addendum. PLEASE NOTE:
DOE/FE is not accepting any comments
by email. Any hardcopy filing submitted
that is greater in length than 50 pages
must also include, at the time of the
filing, a digital copy on disk of the
entire submission in PDF format. Please
do not include any active hyperlinks or
password protection in any of the
electronic documents related to the
filing. All electronic filings submitted to
DOE must follow these guidelines to
ensure that all documents are filed in a
timely manner. All comments filed in
response to this Notice will be publicly
available on the DOE/FE Web site
(https://energy.gov/fe/Draft-UpstreamAddendum).
DOE will consider all comments
received until the close of the comment
period. Comments must be limited to
the issues and potential impacts
addressed in the Addendum, and DOE
may disregard comments that are not
germane.
Commenters should be advised that
filings with DOE shall be subject to
public disclosure, so submissions
should be free of any personally
identifiable information (PII) or other
information that the individual does not
wish to be revealed in a public forum.
The Addendum and other relevant
documents are available for download at
https://energy.gov/fe/Draft-UpstreamAddendum and for inspection and
copying in the Division of Natural Gas
Regulatory Activities docket room,
Room 3E–042, 1000 Independence
Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585.
The docket room is open between the
hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 29,
2014.
Christopher A. Smith,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office
of Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. 2014–12931 Filed 6–3–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
E:\FR\FM\04JNN1.SGM
04JNN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 107 (Wednesday, June 4, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32258-32259]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12931]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[DOE/EIS-0487; DOE/EIS-0488; DOE/EIS-0489; et. al.]
Draft Addendum to Environmental Review Documents Concerning
Exports of Natural Gas From the United States
AGENCY: Office of Fossil Energy, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of Draft Addendum to Environmental
Review Documents Concerning Exports of Natural Gas from the United
States.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Freeport LNG Expansion, L.P. and FLNG [DOE/EIS-0487].
Liquefaction, LLCD.
Cameron LNG, LLC............................. DOE/EIS-0488].
Jordan Cove Energy Project, L.P.............. DOE/EIS-0489].
Lake Charles Exports, LLC and Trunkline LNG DOE/EIS-0491].
Export, LLC.
LNG Development Company, LLC (d/b/a Oregon DOE/EIS-0492].
LNG).
Cheniere Marketing, LLC...................... DOE/EIS-0493].
Excelerate Liquefaction Solutions I, LLC..... DOE/EIS-0494].
CE FLNG, LLC................................. DOE/EIS-0497].
Magnolia LNG, LLC............................ DOE/EIS-0498].
Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP.................. DOE/EA-1942].
Southern LNG Company, L.L.C.................. DOE/EA-1963].
Golden Pass Products LLC..................... DOE/EA-1971].
Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC................ DOE/EA-1983].
SUMMARY: The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy
(DOE) announces the availability of the Draft Addendum to Environmental
Review Documents Concerning Exports of Natural Gas From The United
States (Addendum) for public review and comment. The purpose of this
Addendum is to provide additional information to the public regarding
the potential environmental impacts of unconventional natural gas
exploration and production activities. DOE has received many comments
in related proceedings expressing concerns about the potential impacts
from increased development of unconventional natural gas resources in
the United States, particularly production that involves hydraulic
fracturing. While not required by the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), DOE has prepared this Addendum in an effort to be responsive to
the public and provide the best information available. DOE is making
this draft Addendum available for public review and comment, and will
consider comments prior to finalizing this Addendum.
DATES: Comments are to be filed using procedures detailed in the Public
Comment section no later than 4:30 p.m., Eastern Time, July 21, 2014.
ADDRESSES:
Electronic Filing Using Online Form: https://energy.gov/fe/Draft-Upstream-Addendum.
Regular Mail: U.S. Department of Energy (FE-34), Attn: Addendum
Comments, Office of Oil & Gas Global Security & Supply, Office of
Fossil Energy, P.O. Box 44375, Washington, DC 20026-4375
Hand Delivery or Private Delivery Services (e.g., FedEx, UPS,
etc.): U.S. Department of Energy (FE-34), Attn: Addendum Comments,
Office of Oil & Gas Global Security & Supply, Office of Fossil Energy,
Forrestal Building, Room 3E-042, 1000 Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20585
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
John Anderson, U.S. Department of Energy (FE-34), Office of Natural Gas
Regulatory Activities, Office of Fossil Energy, Forrestal Building,
Room 3E-042, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202)
586-0521.
Edward LeDuc, U.S. Department of Energy (GC-51), Office of the
[[Page 32259]]
Assistant General Counsel for Environment, Forrestal Building, 1000
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-4007
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 3(a) of the Natural Gas Act, 15
U.S.C. 717b(a), directs the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to
authorize proposed exports of natural gas to countries with which the
United States does not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) requiring
national treatment for trade in natural gas (non-FTA countries), unless
DOE finds that the proposed exportation will not be consistent with the
public interest.
DOE presently has before it numerous applications to export
liquefied natural gas (LNG) to non-FTA countries. The project
proponents in these applications also have applied to the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for approvals related to onshore
LNG facilities. FERC is the lead federal agency for the preparation of
environmental assessments (EAs) and environmental impact statements
(EISs) required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for
the applications that are pending before both federal agencies. DOE is
participating as a cooperating agency in these NEPA reviews.
Several parties and commenters to these proceedings have urged DOE
to review the potential environmental impacts of natural gas production
activities, particularly the hydraulic fracturing of shale formations.
These parties and commenters reason that authorizing exports of LNG to
non-FTA countries would induce additional natural gas production in the
United States, and that the environmental impacts of the additional
natural gas production should be considered as a factor affecting the
public interest.
Fundamental uncertainties constrain the ability to predict what, if
any, domestic natural gas production would be induced by granting any
specific authorization or authorizations to export LNG to non-FTA
countries. Receiving a non-FTA authorization from DOE does not
guarantee that a particular facility would be financed and built; nor
does it guarantee that, even if built, market conditions would continue
to favor export once the facility is operational. Numerous LNG import
facilities were previously authorized by DOE, received financing, and
were built, only to see declining use over the past decade.
The current rapid development of unconventional natural gas
resources will likely continue, with or without the export of natural
gas. Potential impacts associated with the development of
unconventional natural gas resources will exist whenever it is
produced, much the same as the conventional natural gas industry has
for decades. Exporting natural gas may accelerate the timing of the
development unconventional resources and the associated potential
impacts. However, it is not reasonable to assume that unconventional
natural gas production and the associated potential impacts will not
occur if natural gas exports to non-FTA countries are prohibited.
Accordingly, to provide the public with a more complete
understanding of potential impacts, DOE has prepared this draft
Addendum to discuss the potential environmental impacts associated with
unconventional natural gas production in the lower-48 states. By
including this discussion of natural gas production activities, DOE is
going beyond what NEPA requires. While DOE has made broad projections
about the types of resources from which additional production may come,
DOE cannot meaningfully estimate where, when, or by what method any
additional natural gas would be produced. Therefore, DOE cannot
meaningfully analyze the specific environmental impacts of such
production, which are nearly all local or regional in nature. As DOE
explained in Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC, DOE/FE Order No. 2961-A
(Aug. 7, 2012), lacking an understanding of where and when additional
gas production will arise, the environmental impacts resulting from
production activity induced by LNG exports to non-FTA countries are not
``reasonably foreseeable'' within the meaning of the Council on
Environmental Quality's (CEQ) NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1508.7).
The Addendum is intended to provide information only on the impact
areas most often associated with unconventional natural gas production.
The Addendum is not the result of new analysis or research, but rather
is based on DOE's review of existing studies and analyses. A key
resource in preparing the Addendum was the report Environmental Impacts
of Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Production (May 29,
2014), prepared by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, a DOE
Laboratory.
Public Comment
In response to this Notice, any person may file comments. DOE
prefers comments to be filed using the online form (method 1). However,
for those lacking access to the Internet, comments may be filed using
method 2 or 3. The three methods are: (1) submission of comments using
the online form at https://energy.gov/fe/Draft-Upstream-Addendum; (2)
mailing comments to the Office of Oil and Gas Global Security and
Supply at the address listed in ADDRESSES; or (3) delivering comments
(by hand or courier) to the Office of Oil and Gas Global Security and
Supply at the address listed in ADDRESSES. All filings must include a
reference to Draft Upstream Addendum. PLEASE NOTE: DOE/FE is not
accepting any comments by email. Any hardcopy filing submitted that is
greater in length than 50 pages must also include, at the time of the
filing, a digital copy on disk of the entire submission in PDF format.
Please do not include any active hyperlinks or password protection in
any of the electronic documents related to the filing. All electronic
filings submitted to DOE must follow these guidelines to ensure that
all documents are filed in a timely manner. All comments filed in
response to this Notice will be publicly available on the DOE/FE Web
site (https://energy.gov/fe/Draft-Upstream-Addendum).
DOE will consider all comments received until the close of the
comment period. Comments must be limited to the issues and potential
impacts addressed in the Addendum, and DOE may disregard comments that
are not germane.
Commenters should be advised that filings with DOE shall be subject
to public disclosure, so submissions should be free of any personally
identifiable information (PII) or other information that the individual
does not wish to be revealed in a public forum.
The Addendum and other relevant documents are available for
download at https://energy.gov/fe/Draft-Upstream-Addendum and for
inspection and copying in the Division of Natural Gas Regulatory
Activities docket room, Room 3E-042, 1000 Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20585. The docket room is open between the hours of 8:00
a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 29, 2014.
Christopher A. Smith,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. 2014-12931 Filed 6-3-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
