Department of State June 15, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. (TransCanada) has applied to the United States Department of State for a Presidential Permit authorizing the construction, operation, and maintenance of facilities at the border of the United States for the importation of crude oil from a foreign country (Canada). Authorization is being requested in connection with TransCanada's proposed international pipeline project (the revised Keystone XL Project), which is designed to transport crude oil from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and the Williston Basin to existing pipeline facilities near Steele City, Nebraska for onward transport to markets in the Texas Gulf Coast area. The Department of State receives and considers applications for Presidential Permits for such energy-related pipelines pursuant to authority delegated to it by the President under Executive Order 13337 of April 30, 2004 (69 FR 25299), as amended. To issue a Permit, the Department of State must find that issuance would serve the national interest. In the course of processing such applications, the Department consults extensively with concerned Federal and State agencies, and invites public comment in arriving at its determination. The Department of State previously evaluated potential impacts resulting from construction, operation, and maintenance of a longer pipeline that would have terminated in the Port Arthur and east Houston areas of Texas. The Final Environmental Impact Statement for that proposed project was issued on August 26, 2011. On January 18, 2012, the Department announced its determination that the projectas presented and analyzed at that timedid not serve the national interest. Archived documents can be found at www.keystonepipeline- xl.state.gov/archive/index.htm. TransCanada has submitted a new Presidential Permit application with a revised proposed route that extends from the Canadian border in Phillips County, Montana to Steele City, Nebraska and avoids the Sand Hills region of Nebraska. The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality has identified the Sand Hills region and is currently evaluating the potential impacts associated with the proposed new route(s). The Department of State has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to facilitate coordination and cooperation between the State and the Federal government. TransCanada has indicated to the Department of State that it has decided to proceed with construction of a pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast of Texas, which had been included as part of the Keystone XL project in the previous application, as an independent project. Thus, TransCanada did not include the proposed pipeline from Cushing to the Gulf Coast as part of the project in the revised Presidential Permit application. With respect to the application submitted by TransCanada, the Department of State has concluded, consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, that the issuance of the new Presidential Permit would constitute a major Federal action that may have a significant impact upon the environment. For this reason, Department of State intends to prepare a Supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement dated August 26, 2011, to address reasonably foreseeable impacts from the proposed action and alternatives. Additionally the Department of State has determined that it will undertake a review of the potential issuance of the Presidential Permit consistent with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and is consequently initiating the appropriate consultation. Consultation will be conducted with State Historic Preservation Officers, Indian tribes, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and other consulting parties, as appropriate, to determine the locations (if any) of potential sites for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places as well as the potential eligibility and findings of effect for cultural resources identified within the Keystone XL Area of Potential Effect. The purpose of this Notice of Intent (NOI) is to inform the public about the proposed action, announce plans for scoping opportunities, invite public participation in the scoping process, and solicit public comments for consideration in establishing the scope and content of the SEIS.