Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 174 / Friday, September 7, 2018 / Notices 45427 

The U.S. Department of 

Transportation, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, and U.S. Department 

of Energy are cooperating agencies in 

the preparation of the EA. 

Additional Information 

In order to receive notification of the 

issuance of the EA and to keep track of 

all formal issuances and submittals in 

specific dockets, the Commission offers 

a free service called eSubscription. 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/docsfiling/esubscription.asp. 

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, select General Search 

from the eLibrary menu, enter the 

selected date range and Docket Number 

excluding the last three digits (i.e., 

CP17–470), and follow the instructions. 

For assistance with access to eLibrary, 

the helpline can be reached at (866) 

208–3676, TTY (202) 502–8659, or at 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. 

The eLibrary link on the FERC 

website also provides access to the texts 

of formal documents issued by the 

Commission, such as orders, notices, 

and rule makings. 

Dated: August 31, 2018. 

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr., 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19402 Filed 9–6–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket Nos. CP16–454–000; CP16–455– 

000] 

Notice of Schedule for Environmental 

Review of the Rio Grande LNG, LLC 

and Rio Bravo Pipeline Company, LLC 

Rio Grande LNG Project 

On May 5, 2016, Rio Grande LNG, 

LLC (RG LNG) filed an application in 

Docket No. CP16–454–000 requesting 

authorization pursuant to Section 3(a) of 

the Natural Gas Act (NGA) to construct 

and operate liquefied natural gas (LNG) 

export facilities. On the same day, Rio 

Bravo Pipeline Company, LLC (RB 

Pipeline) filed an application in Docket 

No. CP16–455–000, requesting a 

Certificate of Public Convenience and 

Necessity pursuant to Section 7(c) of the 

NGA to construct, operate, and maintain 

certain natural gas pipeline facilities. 

The combined projects, collectively 

referred to as the Rio Grande LNG 

Project, would provide gas and 

processing to produce up to 27 million 

tons per annum of LNG for export. On 

August 17, 2016, in Order No. 3869, the 

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of 

Fossil Energy, granted to RG LNG a 

long-term, multi-contract authorization 

to export LNG to Free Trade Agreement 

nations. 

On May 19, 2016, the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC or 

Commission) issued its Notice of 

Application for the project. Among 

other things, that notice alerted other 

agencies issuing federal authorizations 

of the requirement to complete all 

necessary reviews and to reach a final 

decision on the request for a federal 

authorization within 90 days of the date 

of issuance of the Commission staff’s 

final Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS) for the Rio Grande LNG Project. 

This instant notice identifies the FERC 

staff’s planned schedule for completion 

of the final EIS for the project, which is 

based on an issuance of the draft EIS in 

October 2018. The forecasted schedule 

for both the draft and final EIS is based 

upon RG LNG and RB Pipeline 

providing complete and timely 

responses to any future data requests. In 

addition, the schedule assumes that the 

cooperating agencies will provide input 

on their areas of responsibility on a 

timely basis. 

Schedule for Environmental Review 

Issuance of Notice of Availability of the 

final EIS—April 26, 2019 

90-Day Federal Authorization Decision 

Deadline—July 25, 2019 

If a schedule change becomes 

necessary for the final EIS, an additional 

notice will be provided so that the 

relevant agencies are kept informed of 

the project’s progress. 

Project Description 

RG LNG and RB Pipeline, collectively 

the Rio Grande Developers (RG 

Developers), propose to construct and 

operate natural gas pipelines and 

liquefaction facilities in Jim Wells, 

Kleberg, Kenedy, Willacy, and Cameron 

Counties, Texas. The Rio Bravo Pipeline 

would include two new parallel 42- 

inch-diameter natural gas pipelines, 

each about 135.5 miles long, capable of 

transporting 4.5 billion cubic feet per 

day of natural gas. In addition, a 2.4- 

mile-long header system at the origin of 

the pipelines would interconnect with 

existing natural gas transmission 

pipelines. The pipeline facilities would 

include three new compressor stations 

in Kleberg, Kenedy, and Cameron 

Counties and two new interconnect 

booster stations in Kenedy County. 

The Rio Grande LNG Terminal would 

be located on 750.4 acres of an 

approximately 1,000-acre site along the 

Brownsville Ship Channel about 5.5 

miles inland from the channel entrance, 

in Cameron County, Texas. The terminal 

would include six liquefaction trains 

capable of producing 27 million tons 

per annum of LNG; marine facilities, 

including two LNG berths, a turning 

basin, and a material offloading facility; 

truck loading and unloading facilities 

for LNG and natural gas liquids; and 

four LNG storage tanks. If approved, RG 

Developers would construct the project 

in stages. Operation of the first 

liquefaction train, and one of the two 

parallel pipelines, is proposed to begin 

during the fourth quarter of 2021; 

operation of the full project is proposed 

for early 2025. 

Background 

On April 13, 2015, the Commission 

staff granted the RG Developers’ request 

to use the FERC’s Pre-filing 

environmental review process. On July 

23, 2015, the Commission issued a 

Notice of Intent to Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement for the 

Planned Rio Grande LNG Project and 

Rio Bravo Pipeline Project, Request for 

Comments on Environmental Issues, 

and Notice of Public Scoping Meetings 

(NOI) in Docket No. PF15–20–000. The 

NOI was issued during the pre-filing 

review of the project, and was sent to 

federal, state, and local government 

agencies; elected officials; affected 

landowners; environmental and public 

interest groups; Native American tribes 

and regional organizations; commentors 

and other interested parties; and local 

libraries and newspapers. Major issues 

raised during scoping include impacts 

on wildlife and wildlife habitat 

(including threatened and endangered 

species), aquatic resources, surface 

water, wetlands, public lands, visual 

resources, local ecotourism, public 

health and safety, air and noise quality, 

and cumulative impacts. 

The U.S Coast Guard, U.S. 

Department of Energy, U.S Department 

of Transportation, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, National Marine Fisheries 

Service, National Park Service, and 

Federal Aviation Administration are 

cooperating agencies in the preparation 

of the EIS. 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
45428 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 174 / Friday, September 7, 2018 / Notices 

Additional Information 

In order to receive notification of the 

issuance of the EIS and to keep track of 

all formal issuances and submittals in 

specific dockets, the Commission offers 

a free service called eSubscription. 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/docsfiling/esubscription.asp. 

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, select General Search 

from the eLibrary menu, enter the 

selected date range and Docket Number 

excluding the last three digits (i.e., 

CP16–454 or CP16–455), and follow the 

instructions. For assistance with access 

to eLibrary, the helpline can be reached 

at (866) 208–3676, TTY (202) 502–8659, 

or at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. The 

eLibrary link on the FERC website also 

provides access to the texts of formal 

documents issued by the Commission, 

such as orders, notices, and rule 

makings. 

Dated: August 31, 2018. 

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr., 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19398 Filed 9–6–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. CP18–525–000] 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Assessment for the 

Proposed Gulf South Pipeline 

Company, LP Willis Lateral Project, 

and Request for Comments on 

Environmental Issues 

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 Willis Lateral Project involving 

construction and operation of facilities 

by Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP 

(Gulf South) in Montgomery and San 

Jacinto Counties, Texas. The 

Commission will use this EA in its 

decision-making process to determine 

whether the project is in the public 

convenience and necessity. 

This notice announces the opening of 

the scoping process the Commission 

will use to gather input from the public 

and interested agencies about issues 

regarding the project. The National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

requires the Commission to take into 

account the environmental impacts that 

could result from its action whenever it 

considers the issuance of a Certificate of 

Public Convenience and Necessity. 

NEPA also requires the Commission to 

discover 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. To ensure that your comments 

are timely and properly recorded, please 

submit your comments so that the 

Commission receives them in 

Washington, DC on or before 5:00 p.m. 

Eastern Time on October 1, 2018. 

You can make a difference by 

submitting 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. Commission staff 

will consider and address all filed 

comments during the preparation of the 

EA. 

If you sent comments on this project 

to the Commission before the opening of 

this docket on July 13, 2018, you will 

need to file those comments in Docket 

No. CP18–525–000 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 

proposed project and encourage them to 

comment on their areas of concern. 

If you are a landowner receiving this 

notice, a pipeline company 

representative may contact you about 

the acquisition of an easement to 

construct, operate, and maintain the 

proposed facilities. The company would 

seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable 

easement agreement. You are not 

required to enter into an agreement. 

However, if the Commission approves 

the project, that approval conveys with 

it the right of eminent domain. 

Therefore, if you and the company do 

not reach an easement agreement, the 

pipeline company could initiate 

condemnation proceedings in court. In 

such instances, compensation would be 

determined by a judge in accordance 

with state law. 

Gulf South provided landowners with 

a fact sheet prepared by the FERC 

entitled ‘‘An Interstate Natural Gas 

Facility On My Land? What Do I Need 

To Know?’’ This fact sheet addresses a 

number of typically asked questions, 

including the use of eminent domain 

and how to participate in the 

Commission’s proceedings. It is also 

available for viewing on the FERC 

website (www.ferc.gov). 

Public Participation 

For your convenience, there are three 

methods you can use to submit your 

comments to the Commission. The 

Commission encourages electronic filing 

of comments and has staff available to 

assist you at (866) 208–3676 or 

FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. Please 

carefully follow these instructions so 

that your comments are properly 

recorded. 

(1) You can file your comments 

electronically using the eComment 

feature, which is located on the 

Commission’s website (www.ferc.gov) 

under the link to Documents and 

Filings. Using eComment 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, which is located on the 

Commission’s website (www.ferc.gov) 

under the link to Documents and 

Filings. With eFiling, you can provide 

comments in a variety of formats by 

attaching them as a file with your 

submission. New eFiling users must 

first create an account by clicking on 

‘‘eRegister.’’ You will be asked to select 

the type of filing you are making; a 

comment on a particular project is 

considered a ‘‘Comment on a Filing’’; 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 (CP18–525– 

000) with your submission: Kimberly D. 

Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street 

NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES