Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Planned SPLNG Third Berth Expansion Project, Request for Comments on Environmental Issues: Sabine Pass LNG, L.P., 18549-18551 [2018-08835]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 82 (Friday, April 27, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18549-18551]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08835]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. PF18-3-000]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the 
Planned SPLNG Third Berth Expansion Project, Request for Comments on 
Environmental Issues: Sabine Pass LNG, L.P.

    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 Sabine Pass Liquefied Natural 
Gas (SPLNG) Third Berth Expansion Project involving construction and 
operation of facilities by, SPLNG L.P. in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. 
The Commission will use this EA in its decision-making process to 
determine whether the project is in the public interest.
    This notice announces the opening of the scoping process the 
Commission will use to gather input from the public and interested 
agencies on the project. You can make a difference by providing us with 
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. To ensure that your comments are timely and 
properly recorded, please send your comments so that the Commission 
receives them in Washington, DC on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on 
May 21, 2018.
    If you sent comments on this project to the Commission before the 
opening of this docket on February 23, 2018, you will need to file 
those comments in Docket No. PF18-3-000 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 planned 
project and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.

Public Participation

    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 expert staff available to assist you at (202) 502-8258 
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 
Documents and Filings. 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 
Documents and Filings. With eFiling, you can provide comments in a 
variety

[[Page 18550]]

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 following address. Be sure to reference the project docket number 
(PF18-3-000) with your submission: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, 
DC 20426.

Summary of the Planned Project

    SPLNG plans to construct and operate an expansion of the existing 
Sabine Pass LNG facility (SPLNG Terminal), located in Cameron Parish, 
Louisiana on the Sabine Pass Channel. The planned expansion of the 
SPLNG Terminal consists of the addition of a third marine berth and 
supporting facilities. The third marine berth would be used to load LNG 
vessels for export and would be sized to accommodate vessels with 
capacities up to 180,000 cubic meters. The supporting facilities would 
include tie-ins to the existing SPLNG Terminal loading lines and boil 
off gas lines associated with the five existing LNG storage tanks. The 
project would also include the addition of the following facilities:

 LNG loading system;
 marine facilities;
 sewage collection and treatment system;
 LNG spill control system;
 utilities system;
 fire protection and fire and gas detection systems; and
 stormwater drainage system.

    The general location of the planned project is shown in appendix 1.

Land Requirements for Construction

    Construction of the planned facilities would disturb about 381 
acres of land. About 45.8 acres in water would be affected by dredging 
within the Sabine Pass Channel for the creation of the third marine 
berth. Following construction, SPLNG would maintain about 100.1 acres 
for permanent operation of the third marine berth and associated 
facilities. Temporary construction areas would be restored and revert 
to former uses.

The EA Process

    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the 
Commission to take into account the environmental impacts that could 
result from an action whenever it considers the authorization of LNG 
facilities under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act. NEPA also requires 
us \1\ to discover and address 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 
comments on the scope of the issues to address in the EA. We will 
consider all filed comments during the preparation of the EA.
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    \1\ We, us, and our refer to the environmental staff of the 
Commission's Office of Energy Projects.
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    In the EA we will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of 
the construction and operation of the planned project under these 
general headings:

 Geology and soils;
 land use;
 water resources, fisheries, and wetlands;
 cultural resources;
 vegetation and wildlife;
 air quality and noise;
 endangered and threatened species;
 public safety; and
 cumulative impacts.

    We will also evaluate possible alternatives to the planned project 
or portions of the project, and make recommendations on how to lessen 
or avoid impacts on the various resource areas.
    Although no formal application has been filed, we have already 
initiated our NEPA review under the Commission's pre-filing process. 
The purpose of the pre-filing process is to encourage early involvement 
of interested stakeholders and to identify and resolve issues before 
the FERC receives an application. As part of our pre-filing review, we 
have begun to contact some federal and state agencies to discuss their 
involvement in the scoping process and the preparation of the EA.
    The EA will present our independent analysis of the issues. We will 
publish and distribute the EA for public comment. We will consider all 
comments on the EA before we make our recommendations to the 
Commission. To ensure we have the opportunity to consider and address 
your comments, please carefully follow the instructions in the Public 
Participation section, beginning on page 2.
    With this notice, we are asking agencies with jurisdiction by law 
and/or special expertise with respect to the environmental issues 
related to this project to formally cooperate with us in the 
preparation of the EA.\2\ 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. Currently, the U.S. Department of Transportation has expressed 
its intention to participate as a cooperating agency in the preparation 
of the EA to satisfy its NEPA responsibilities related to this project.
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    \2\ 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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Consultations 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, we are using this notice to initiate consultation 
with the applicable State Historic Preservation Office(s), 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.\3\ We will define the project-specific Area of 
Potential Effects (APE) in consultation with the SHPO(s) as the project 
develops. On natural gas facility projects, the APE at a minimum 
encompasses all areas subject to ground disturbance. Our EA for this 
project will document our findings on the impacts on historic 
properties and summarize the status of consultations under section 106.
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    \3\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 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

    We have already identified several issues that we think deserve 
attention based on a preliminary review of the planned facilities and 
the environmental information provided by SPLNG. This preliminary list 
of issues may change based on your comments and our analysis.
     Evaluation of temporary and permanent impacts on wetlands 
and the development of appropriate mitigation;
     potential impacts on essential fish habitat;
     evaluation of the environmental impacts from increased LNG 
vessel traffic;
     potential impacts of the construction workforce on local 
housing, infrastructure, public services, transportation, and economy; 
and
     public safety and hazards associated with LNG facilities.

[[Page 18551]]

Environmental Mailing List

    The environmental mailing list 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 project facilities, and anyone who submits 
comments on the project. We will update the environmental mailing list 
as the analysis proceeds to ensure that we send the information related 
to this environmental review to all individuals, organizations, and 
government entities interested in and/or potentially affected by the 
planned project.
    Copies of the completed EA will be sent to the environmental 
mailing list for public review and comment. If you would prefer to 
receive a paper copy of the document instead of the CD version or would 
like to remove your name from the mailing list, please return the 
attached Information Request (appendix 2).

Becoming an Intervenor

    Once SPLNG files its application with the Commission, you may want 
to become an intervenor which is an official party to the Commission's 
proceeding. Intervenors play a more formal role in the process and are 
able to file briefs, appear at hearings, and be heard by the courts if 
they choose to appeal the Commission's final ruling. An intervenor 
formally participates in the proceeding by filing a request to 
intervene. Motions to intervene are more fully described at https://www.ferc.gov/resources/guides/how-to/intervene.asp. Instructions for 
becoming an intervenor are in the ``Document-less Intervention Guide'' 
under the e-filing link on the Commission's website. Please note that 
the Commission will not accept requests for intervenor status at this 
time. You must wait until the Commission receives a formal application 
for the project.

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 (www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. Click on the 
eLibrary link, click on General Search and enter the docket number, 
excluding the last three digits in the Docket Number field (i.e., PF18-
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 eLibrary link also provides access to the 
texts of 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 www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp.
    Finally, public sessions or site visits will be posted on the 
Commission's calendar located at www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along with other related information.

    Dated: April 20, 2018.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-08835 Filed 4-26-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P