Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 184 / Friday, September 21, 2012 / Notices 58533 

On page 10273, second column, 

correct the first sentence of NWP 15 to 

read as follows to reflect the fact that the 

U.S. Coast Guard authorizes bridges 

over navigable waters through permits 

issued under other statutory authorities, 

such as the General Bridge Act of 1946 

(33 U.S.C. 525, 528, 530, and 533), 

instead of Section 9 of the Rivers and 

Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 401): 

‘‘Discharges of dredged or fill material 

incidental to the construction of a 

bridge across navigable waters of the 

United States, including cofferdams, 

abutments, foundation seals, piers, and 

temporary construction and access fills, 

provided the construction of the bridge 

structure has been authorized by the 

U.S. Coast Guard under Section 9 of the 

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 or other 

applicable laws.’’ 

On page 10287, second column, 

correct the first sentence of paragraph 

(d)(2) of general condition 31 to read as 

follows: ‘‘For all NWP activities that 

require pre-construction notification 

and result in the loss of greater than 1⁄2- 

acre of waters of the United States, for 

NWP 21, 29, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 50, 51, 

and 52 activities that require preconstruction notification and will result 

in the loss of greater than 300 linear feet 

of stream bed, and for all NWP 48 

activities that require pre-construction 

notification, the district engineer will 

immediately provide (e.g., via email, 

facsimile transmission, overnight mail, 

or other expeditious manner) a copy of 

the complete PCN to the appropriate 

Federal or state offices (U.S. FWS, state 

natural resource or water quality 

agency, EPA, State Historic Preservation 

Officer (SHPO) or Tribal Historic 

Preservation Officer (THPO), and, if 

appropriate, the NMFS).’’ 

Dated: September 18, 2012. 

James R. Hannon, 

Chief, Operations and Regulatory Directorate 

of Civil Works. 

[FR Doc. 2012–23388 Filed 9–20–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–52–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Notice of Availability of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the W.A. Parish Post-Combustion CO2

Capture and Sequestration Project, 

Southeastern TX 

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy 

(DOE). 

ACTION: Notice of availability and public 

hearings. 

SUMMARY: DOE announces the 

availability of the Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement for the W.A. Parish 

Post-Combustion Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 

Capture and Sequestration Project 

(DOE/EIS–0473D) for public review and 

comment, as well as the dates, locations, 

and times for two public hearings. The 

draft environmental impact statement 

(EIS) analyzes the potential 

environmental impacts of a project 

proposed by NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG), 

which was selected by DOE to receive 

financial assistance under the Clean 

Coal Power Initiative (CCPI) program. 

DOE’s proposed action is to provide 

cost-shared funding to NRG under the 

CCPI. DOE proposes to provide NRG 

with up to $167 million of the overall 

project cost to support the construction 

and operation of NRG’s W.A. Parish 

Post-Combustion CO2 Capture and 

Sequestration Project (Parish PCCS 

Project). NRG’s proposed project would 

demonstrate the commercial feasibility 

of a retrofit, commercial-scale CO2

capture and compression system, 

coupled with use of the captured CO2

for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and 

ultimate sequestration. NRG would 

design and construct a system that 

would capture at least 90 percent of the 

CO2 in an up to 250-megawatt 

equivalent (MWe) flue gas slipstream of 

the combustion exhaust gases from the 

existing 650-megawatt (MW) coal fired 

Unit 8 at NRG’s W.A. Parish Plant in 

Fort Bend County, Texas. The captured 

CO2 (up to 5,475 tons per day) would be 

transported approximately 80 miles in a 

new pipeline to be constructed by NRG. 

The CO2 would be used for EOR and 

ultimately sequestered at the existing 

West Ranch oil field in Jackson County, 

Texas. 

DATES: DOE invites the public to 

comment on the draft EIS during the 

public comment period, which ends 

November 5, 2012. DOE will consider 

all comments postmarked or received 

during the comment period in preparing 

the final EIS and will consider late 

comments to the extent practicable. In 

addition to receiving comments in 

writing and by email [See ADDRESSES], 

DOE will conduct two public hearings 

at which government agencies, private 

sector organizations, Native American 

tribes, and individuals are invited to 

present oral and written comments on 

the draft EIS. The public hearings will 

be held at the Thompsons Community 

Center, 134 Oilfield Road, Thompsons, 

Texas, on October 10, 2012, and at the 

Edna High School, 1303 W. Gayle 

Street, Edna, Texas, on October 11, 

2012. Oral comments will be heard 

during the formal portion of the public 

hearings beginning at 7 p.m. The public 

is also invited to informal sessions 

beginning at 5 p.m. at the same 

locations to learn more about the project 

and DOE’s proposed action. 

Representatives from DOE and NRG will 

be present at the informal sessions to 

discuss the proposed project, the CCPI 

program, and the EIS process. Displays 

and other information about DOE’s 

proposed action and NRG’s Parish PCCS 

Project will also be available. 

ADDRESSES: Requests for paper or 

electronic copies of the draft EIS, 

requests to speak at the public hearings, 

or submission of written comments 

should be directed to: Mr. Mark W. 

Lusk, National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA) Document Manager, 

National Energy Technology Laboratory 

(NETL), 3610 Collins Ferry Road, M/S 

I07, P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, WV 

26507–0880. Requests or comments can 

also be made by electronic mail to 

Parish.EIS0473@netl.doe.gov; by 

telephone (412) 386–7435, toll free 1– 

877–812–1569; or by fax (304) 285– 

4403. 

The draft EIS is available on the NETL 

Web page at http://www.netl.doe.gov/ 

publications/others/nepa/index.html 

and on the DOE NEPA Web page at 

http://energy.gov/nepa/nepadocuments.htm. Copies of the draft EIS 

will also be available at the locations 

listed in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section of this notice. 

Written comments on the draft EIS 

should be marked ‘‘Parish PCCS 

Project’’ and sent to Mark W. Lusk, 

NEPA document manager, by one of the 

methods listed above. Oral comments 

on the draft EIS can be provided during 

the public hearings scheduled for the 

dates and locations provided in the 

DATES section of this notice. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information about this project or 

the draft EIS, please contact Mr. Mark 

W. Lusk (see ADDRESSES). For general 

information on the DOE NEPA process, 

please contact Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, 

Director, Office of NEPA Policy and 

Compliance (GC–54), DOE, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585; telephone (202) 

586–4600; fax (202) 586–7031; or leave 

a toll free message at 1–800–472–2756. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE’s 

proposed action is to provide financial 

assistance to NRG under the CCPI 

Program to support construction and 

operation of NRG’s Parish PCCS Project. 

DOE would provide NRG with up to 

$167 million of the overall project cost, 

or about 20 percent of the estimated 

total costs. This funding would be used 

for project design and development, 

procurement of capital equipment, 

construction, CO2 capture plant 

operations, and CO2 monitoring during 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
58534 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 184 / Friday, September 21, 2012 / Notices 

the 35-month demonstration period of 

the CO2 capture and compression 

system. 

The proposed Parish PCCS Project 

would use an advanced amine-based 

CO2 absorption technology to capture at 

least 90 percent of the CO2 from an up 

to 250–MWe portion of the flue gas 

exhaust from Unit 8 of NRG’s existing 

W.A. Parish Plant in Thompsons, Texas. 

The project would be designed to 

capture approximately 1.6 million tons 

of CO2 per year from the Unit 8 exhaust 

that the facility would otherwise emit. 

The proposed CO2 capture facility 

would be constructed within NRG’s 

existing 4,880-acre W.A. Parish Plant in 

rural Fort Bend County near the small 

town of Thompsons, Texas. A new 

natural gas fired cogeneration plant, 

estimated to be 80 MW in size, would 

also be constructed on the plant 

property to produce the auxiliary power 

and steam needed for operation of the 

proposed CO2 capture system. 

The captured CO2 would be 

compressed and transported via a new, 

approximately 80-mile long, 12-inch 

diameter underground pipeline to the 

existing West Ranch oil field in Jackson 

County, Texas, where it would be used 

for EOR and ultimately sequestered in 

geologic formations from 5,000 to 6,300 

feet below ground surface. The 

proposed CO2 pipeline route crosses 

sparsely populated rural and 

agricultural lands in Fort Bend, 

Wharton, and Jackson Counties and 

would be located along or within 

existing mowed and maintained utility 

rights-of-way for approximately 85 

percent of its length. The West Ranch 

oil field is located near the town of 

Vanderbilt, Texas. Existing wells at the 

West Ranch oil field would be used (i.e., 

refurbished or deepened, as needed) to 

the extent practicable for the proposed 

project. Some new injection wells 

would be drilled in accordance with 

underground injection control 

regulations, and would be installed on 

existing well pads to the extent 

practicable. 

Consistent with DOE’s requirements 

under CCPI Round 3, NRG identified the 

following objectives for the Parish PCCS 

Project: 

• Demonstration of advanced aminebased CO2 absorption technology; 

• Integration of a cogeneration plant 

into the project to meet the specific 

power and steam requirements of the 

CO2 capture system; 

• Demonstration of EOR with CO2

sequestration in a nearby oil field; and 

• Demonstration of a CO2 monitoring 

program. 

DOE prepared this EIS pursuant to the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) of 1969 (42 United States Code 

[U.S.C.] 4321 et seq.) and in compliance 

with the Council on Environmental 

Quality implementing regulations for 

NEPA (40 Code of Federal Regulations 

(CFR) parts 1500 through 1508) and 

DOE’s NEPA implementing procedures 

(10 CFR part 1021). Projects considered 

by DOE for possible CCPI funding 

originate as a private party’s (e.g., 

electric power industry) application 

submitted to DOE in response to 

requirements specified in CCPI funding 

opportunity announcements. DOE’s 

decision is to either accept or reject the 

project as proposed, including the 

proposed technology and the selected 

sites. However, DOE may require 

mitigation measures to reduce a 

project’s potential impacts. 

Consequently, DOE’s consideration of 

reasonable alternatives is limited to the 

technically acceptable application and 

the no action-alternative for each 

selected project. 

Under the no-action alternative, DOE 

would not provide cost-shared funding 

for the proposed Parish PCCS Project. In 

the absence of DOE cost-shared funding, 

NRG could still elect to construct and 

operate the proposed project. Therefore, 

the DOE no-action alternative could 

result in one of two scenarios: 

• The proposed Parish PCCS Project 

would not be built, or 

• The proposed Parish PCCS Project 

would be built by NRG without benefit 

of DOE cost-shared funding. 

DOE assumes that if NRG proceeded 

with project development in the absence 

of DOE cost-shared funding, the project 

would include the features, attributes, 

and impacts as described for the 

proposed project. However, without 

DOE participation, it is possible that the 

project would be canceled. Therefore, 

for the purposes of analysis in the draft 

EIS, the DOE no-action alternative is 

defined as the no-build alternative. This 

means that the project would not be 

built and environmental conditions 

would not change from the current 

baseline (i.e., no new construction, 

resource use, or CO2 capture and storage 

would occur). Therefore, under the noaction alternative, the project 

technologies (i.e., large-scale CO2

capture and geologic storage) may not be 

implemented in the near term. 

Consequently, timely commercialization 

of these technologies for large-scale, 

coal-fired electric generation facilities 

would be postponed and may not be 

realized. This scenario would not 

contribute to the CCPI goals to invest in 

the demonstration of advanced coalbased power generation technologies 

that capture the CO2 emissions and 

either sequester them or put them to 

beneficial use. 

The draft EIS analyzes the 

environmental consequences that may 

result from the proposed action and the 

no action alternative. Potential impacts 

identified during the scoping process 

and analyzed in the draft EIS relate to 

the following: Air quality and climate; 

greenhouse gases; geology; 

physiography and soils; groundwater; 

surface water; wetlands and floodplains; 

biological resources; cultural resources; 

land use and aesthetics; traffic and 

transportation; noise; materials and 

waste management; human health and 

safety; utilities; community services; 

socioeconomics; and environmental 

justice. DOE also intends to use the 

NEPA process and the analyses 

completed for the draft EIS to satisfy the 

requirements of Section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act and 

DOE regulations regarding impacts to 

floodplains and wetlands. 

DOE distributed copies of the draft 

EIS to Members of Congress; Native 

American tribal governments; federal, 

state, and local officials; and agencies, 

organizations, and individuals who may 

be interested or affected. Copies of the 

draft EIS are available for review at the 

George Memorial Library, 1001 

Golfview Drive, Richmond, TX 77469; 

the Albert George Branch Library, 9230 

Gene Street, Needville, TX 77461; the 

Wharton County Library, 1920 North 

Fulton Street, Wharton, TX 77488; and 

the Jackson County Memorial Library, 

411 North Wells Street, Room 121, 

Edna, TX 77957. The draft EIS will also 

be available on the Internet at http:// 

www.netl.doe.gov/publications/others/ 

nepa/index.html or http://energy.gov/ 

nepa/nepa-documents. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 

14, 2012. 

Mark J. Matarrese, 

Director, Office of Environment, Security, 

Safety & Health, Office of Fossil Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2012–23320 Filed 9–20–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Electricity Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Office of Electricity Delivery 

and Energy Reliability, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of open meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces a 

meeting of the Electricity Advisory 

Committee (EAC). The Federal Advisory 

Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–463, 86 Stat. 

770) requires that public notice of these 


pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES