Texas LNG Brownsville, LLC; Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Texas LNG Project, 10818 [2019-05500]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 56 (Friday, March 22, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 10818]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05500]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP16-116-000]


Texas LNG Brownsville, LLC; Notice of Availability of the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Texas LNG Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a final environmental impact statement (EIS) 
for the Texas LNG Project, proposed by Texas LNG Brownsville, LLC 
(Texas LNG) in the above-referenced docket. Texas LNG requests 
authorization to site, construct, modify, and operate liquefied natural 
gas (LNG) export facilities on the Brownsville Ship Channel in Cameron 
County, Texas. The Texas LNG Project would include a new LNG export 
terminal capable of producing up to 4 million tonnes per annum of LNG 
for export. The terminal would receive natural gas to the export 
facilities from a third-party intrastate pipeline.
    The final EIS assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the Texas LNG Project in accordance with 
the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The 
FERC staff concludes that approval of the Texas LNG Project would 
result in adverse environmental impacts. However, with the mitigation 
measures recommended in the EIS, impacts in the project area would be 
avoided or minimized and would not be significant, with the exception 
of visual resources when viewed from the Laguna Atascosa National 
Wildlife Refuge. In addition, the Texas LNG Project, combined with 
other projects in the geographic scope, including the Rio Grande LNG 
and Annova LNG Projects, would result in significant cumulative impacts 
from sediment/turbidity and shoreline erosion within the Brownsville 
Ship Channel during operations from vessel transits; on the federally 
listed ocelot and jaguarundi from habitat loss and potential for 
increased vehicular strikes during construction; on the federally 
listed aplomado falcon from habitat loss; and on visual resources from 
the presence of aboveground structures. Construction and operation of 
the Texas LNG Project would result in mostly temporary or short-term 
environmental impacts; however, some long-term and permanent 
environmental impacts would occur.
    The U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous 
Materials Safety Administration and Federal Aviation Administration, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
National Park Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service participated as 
cooperating agencies in the preparation of the EIS. Cooperating 
agencies have jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to 
resources potentially affected by the proposal and participate in the 
NEPA analysis. Although the cooperating agencies provided input to the 
conclusions and recommendations presented in the EIS, the agencies will 
present their own conclusions and recommendations in their respective 
Records of Decision for the project.
    The final EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the following project facilities:
     Gas gate station and interconnect facility;
     pretreatment facility to remove water, carbon dioxide, 
hydrogen sulfide, mercury, and heavier (pentane and above) 
hydrocarbons;
     a liquefaction facility consisting of two liquefaction 
trains utilizing Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APCI) C3MR 
technology and ancillary support facilities;
     two approximately 210,000 cubic meter (m\3\) aboveground 
full containment LNG storage tanks with cryogenic pipeline connections 
to the liquefaction facility and berthing dock;
     LNG carrier berthing dock capable of receiving LNG 
carriers between approximately 130,000 m\3\ and 180,000 m\3\ capacity;
     a permanent material offloading facility to allow 
waterborne deliveries of equipment and materials during construction 
and mooring of tug boats while an LNG carrier is at berth;
     thermal oxidizer, warm wet flare, cold dry flare, spare 
flare, acid gas flare, and marine flare; and
     administration, control, maintenance, and warehouse 
buildings and related parking lots; electrical transmission line and 
substation, water pipeline, septic system, and stormwater facilities/
outfalls.
    The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability 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 libraries in the project 
area. The final EIS is only available in electronic format. It may be 
viewed and downloaded from the FERC's website (www.ferc.gov), on the 
Environmental Documents page (https://www.ferc.gov/industries/gas/enviro/eis.asp). In addition, the final EIS may be accessed by using 
the eLibrary link on the FERC's website. Click on the eLibrary link 
(https://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp), click on General 
Search, and enter the docket number in the ``Docket Number'' field, 
excluding the last three digits (i.e. CP16-116). Be sure you have 
selected an appropriate date range. For assistance, please contact FERC 
Online Support at FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll free at (866) 208-
3676, or for TTY, contact (202) 502-8659.
    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 www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp.

    Dated: March 15, 2019.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-05500 Filed 3-21-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P