Document ID: FERC-2014-1082-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: General Conformity Determinations: Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP; Cove Point Liquefaction Project
Posted Date: 2014-08-25T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 164 (Monday, August 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50643-50644]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20060]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP13-113-000]

Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP; Notice of Final General Conformity 
Determination for the Cove Point Liquefaction Project

    On May 15, 2014, the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (FERC or Commission) issued a Draft General Conformity 
Determination (GCD) concurrent with the Environmental Assessment for 
the Cove Point Liquefaction Project (EA). The Draft GCD assessed the 
potential air quality impacts associated with the construction and 
operation of facilities to process and export domestically-sourced 
liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the existing Cove Point LNG Terminal in 
Calvert County, Maryland. In accordance with the General Conformity 
Regulations under the Code of Federal Regulations Chapter 40 Part 
93.156, the Draft GCD was issued for a 30-day public comment period. No 
comments were received on the Draft GCD; therefore, the Commission 
staff is issuing this notice to announce the Draft GCD is now the Final 
GCD.
    The GCD was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the Clean Air 
Act. The FERC staff concludes that the Project will achieve conformity 
in Maryland and Virginia. Copies of the Draft GCD were previously 
mailed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, the 
Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Maryland Department of 
Environment, and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
    The GCD addresses the potential air quality impacts from Dominion 
Cove Point LNG, LP's (Dominion) construction and operation of the 
following LNG terminal and natural gas pipeline facilities:
     One LNG liquefaction train consisting of gas treatment 
equipment, natural gas-fired turbine-driven refrigerant compressors, 
additional power generation including waste heat-driven steam turbine 
generators, and minor modifications to the existing pier at the LNG 
terminal;
     The use of two construction off-site areas in Calvert 
County, Maryland;
     The addition of up to 62,500 horsepower of electric-driven 
compression at the existing Pleasant Valley Compressor Station in 
Fairfax County, Virginia; and
     Modifications to an existing metering and regulating in 
Loudoun County, Virginia.
    We received several general comments on the EA related to General 
Conformity noting that Dominion would purchase emission reduction 
credits in Frederick County, Maryland to meet the General Conformity 
requirements. The GCD identifies that the Project is located within the 
Washington, DC ozone nonattainment air quality control region (AQCR). 
The Clean Air Act defines nonattainment areas as ``any area that does 
not meet (or that contributes to ambient air quality in a nearby area 
that does not meet) the national primary or secondary ambient air 
quality standard for the pollutant''. The EA explains that in order to 
achieve improved air quality within a nonattainment area, reductions 
are required throughout the entire AQCR. The General Conformity 
Regulations require that offsets be purchased ``within the same 
nonattainment or maintenance area (or a nearby area of equal or higher 
classification provided the emissions from that area contribute to the 
violations, or have contributed to violations in the past)''. Frederick 
County is also within the Washington, DC ozone nonattainment AQCR and 
Dominion has purchased more than the required amount of offsets for the 
Project, which will sufficiently offset nitrogen dioxide emissions from 
the Project.
    The GCD was placed in the public files of the FERC on May 15, 2014 
concurrent with the EA, is available for public viewing on the FERC's 
Web site at www.ferc.gov using the eLibrary link. A limited number of 
copies of the EA are available for distribution and public inspection 
at: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Public Reference Room, 888 
First Street NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8371.
    Additional information about the project is available from the 
Commission's Office of External Affairs at (866) 208-FERC or on the 
FERC Web site (www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link and the Project 
docket number (e.g., CP13-113). The eLibrary link on the FERC Web site 
also provides access to the texts of formal documents issued by

[[Page 50644]]

the Commission, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings.

    Dated: August 18, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-20060 Filed 8-22-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P