[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 141 (Wednesday, July 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44291-44293]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15877]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP20-455-000]


Freeport LNG Development, L.P., FLNG Liquefaction, LLC, FLNG 
Liquefaction 2, LLC, FLNG Liquefaction 3, LLC; Notice of Intent To 
Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Noble Gas 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 Noble Gas Project involving 
construction and operation of facilities by Freeport LNG Development, 
L.P., FLNG Liquefaction, LLC, FLNG Liquefaction 2, LLC, and FLNG 
Liquefaction 3, LLC (together referred to as Freeport LNG) in Brazoria 
County, Texas. The Commission will use this EA

[[Page 44292]]

in its decision-making process to determine whether the project is in 
the public interest.
    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 an authorization. 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 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 August 17, 2020.
    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 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 May 13, 2020, you will need to file those 
comments in Docket No. CP20-455-000 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.

Public Participation

    The Commission offers a free service called eSubscription which 
makes it easy to stay informed of all issuances and submittals 
regarding the dockets/projects to which you subscribe. These instant 
email notifications are the fastest way to receive notification and 
provide a link to the document files which can reduce the amount of 
time you spend researching proceedings. Go to https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview to register for eSubscription.
    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 FERC Online. 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 FERC Online. 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 using the U.S. Postal Service. Be sure to 
reference the project docket number (CP20-455-000) with your 
submission: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. 
Submissions sent via any other carrier must be sent to: Kimberly D. 
Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 2225 Wilkins 
Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

Summary of the Proposed Project

    Freeport LNG requests authorization to site, construct, and operate 
modifications to Freeport LNG's existing Pretreatment Facility in 
Brazoria County, Texas, to allow for the extraction of helium from the 
existing compressed boil-off gas (BOG) pipeline. The Pretreatment 
Facility is part of the Freeport LNG Terminal facilities, and is 
located about 1.5 miles from the Freeport LNG Terminal facilities on 
Quintana Island. The modifications to the Pretreatment Facility include 
tie-ins to the BOG pipeline, a firewater system, and a nitrogen utility 
unit at the Pretreatment Facility. The purpose is to support the 
extraction of helium from the BOG pipeline. These tie-ins, along with a 
non-jurisdictional helium extraction and purification plant and 
associated non-jurisdictional electric supply tie-in, are referred to 
collectively as the Noble Gas Project (Project).
    The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix 
1.\1\
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    \1\ The appendices referenced in this notice will not appear in 
the Federal Register. Copies of appendices were sent to all those 
receiving this notice in the mail and are available at www.ferc.gov 
using the link called eLibrary or from the Commission's Public 
Reference Room, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426, or call 
(202) 502-8371. For instructions on connecting to eLibrary, refer to 
the last page of this notice.
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Land Requirements for Construction

    The Project would be located entirely within Freeport LNG's 
existing Pretreatment Facility. Construction would affect about 3.6 
acres and operation would affect less than 0.1 acre of land within the 
current Pretreatment Facility footprint. A 9.9-acre existing access 
road would be used during construction of the Project.

The EA Process

    The EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the 
construction and operation of the proposed project under these general 
headings:
     Geology and soils;
     water resources and wetlands;
     vegetation and wildlife;
     threatened and endangered species;
     cultural resources;
     land use;
     air quality and noise;
     public safety; and
     cumulative impacts.
    Commission staff will also evaluate reasonable alternatives to the 
proposed project or portions of the project, and make recommendations 
on how to lessen or avoid impacts on the various resource areas.
    The EA will present Commission staffs' independent analysis of the 
issues. The EA will be available in electronic format in the public 
record through eLibrary \2\ and the Commission's natural gas 
environmental documents web page (https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/natural-gas/environment/environmental-documents). If eSubscribed, you 
will receive instant email notification when the EA is issued. The EA 
may be issued for an allotted public comment period. Commission staff 
will consider all comments on the EA before making recommendations to 
the Commission. To ensure Commission staff have the opportunity to 
address your comments, please carefully follow the instructions in the 
Public Participation section, beginning on page 2.
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    \2\ For instructions on connecting to eLibrary, refer to the 
last page of this notice.
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    With this notice, the Commission is asking agencies with 
jurisdiction by law

[[Page 44293]]

and/or special expertise with respect to the environmental issues of 
this project to formally cooperate in the preparation of the EA.\3\ 
Agencies that would like to request cooperating agency status should 
follow the instructions for filing comments provided under the Public 
Participation section of this notice.
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    \3\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing 
cooperating agency responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal 
Regulations, Part 1501.6.
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Consultation Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation 
Act

    In accordance with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's 
implementing regulations for section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act, the Commission is using this notice to initiate 
consultation with the applicable State Historic Preservation Office, 
and to solicit their views and those of other government agencies, 
interested Indian tribes, and the public on the project's potential 
effects on historic properties.\4\ The EA for this project will 
document findings on the impacts on historic properties and summarize 
the status of consultations under section 106.
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    \4\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's regulations 
are at Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 800. Those 
regulations define historic properties as any prehistoric or 
historic district, site, building, structure, or object included in 
or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic 
Places.
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Environmental Mailing List

    The environmental mailing list includes federal, state, and local 
government representatives and agencies; elected officials; 
environmental and public interest groups; Native American Tribes; other 
interested parties; and local libraries and newspapers. This list also 
includes all affected landowners (as defined in the Commission's 
regulations) who are potential right-of-way grantors, whose property 
may be used temporarily for project purposes, or who own homes within 
certain distances of aboveground facilities, and anyone who submits 
comments on the project. Commission staff will update the environmental 
mailing list as the analysis proceeds to ensure that Commission notices 
related to this environmental review are sent to all individuals, 
organizations, and government entities interested in and/or potentially 
affected by the proposed project.
    If the Commission issues the EA for an allotted public comment 
period, a Notice of Availability of the EA will be sent to the 
environmental mailing list and will provide instructions to access the 
electronic document on the FERC's website (www.ferc.gov). If you need 
to make changes to your name/address, or if you would like to remove 
your name from the mailing list, please return the attached Mailing 
List Update Form (appendix 2).

Additional Information

    Additional information about the project is available from the 
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208-FERC, or on the 
FERC website at www.ferc.gov using the eLibrary link. Click on the 
eLibrary link, click on General Search and enter the docket number in 
the Docket Number field, excluding the last three digits (i.e., CP20-
455). Be sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For 
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or (866) 208-3676, or for TTY, contact (202) 
502-8659. The eLibrary link also provides access to the texts of all 
formal documents issued by the Commission, such as orders, notices, and 
rulemakings.
    Public sessions or site visits will be posted on the Commission's 
calendar located at https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/events along with 
other related information.

    Dated: July 16, 2020.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-15877 Filed 7-21-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


