[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 206 (Thursday, October 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59702-59703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23482]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP20-27-000]


North Baja Pipeline, LLC; Notice of Availability of the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed North Baja XPress 
Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a final environmental impact statement (EIS) 
for the North Baja XPress Project (Project), proposed by North Baja 
Pipeline, LLC (North Baja) in the above-referenced docket. North Baja 
requests authorization to modify an existing compressor station in La 
Paz County, Arizona, as well as install additional flow measurement 
facilities and piping modifications at two existing meter stations in 
La Paz County, Arizona and Imperial County, California, respectively. 
North Baja states that the purpose of the Project is enable the 
transport of 495,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas to the United 
States/Mexico border for its shipper, Sempra LNG international, LLC.
    The final EIS assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the Project in accordance with the 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. The final EIS is 
not a decision document. It presents Commission staff's independent 
analysis of the environmental issues for the Commission to consider 
when addressing the merits of all issues in this proceeding.
    The final EIS responds to comments that were received on the 
Commission's September 8, 2020 Environmental Assessment (EA) and July 
9, 2021 draft EIS \1\ and discloses downstream greenhouse gas emissions 
for the Project. With the exception of climate change impacts, FERC 
staff concludes that approval of the proposed Project, with the 
mitigation measures recommended in the EIS, would not result in 
significant environmental impacts. FERC staff continues to be unable to 
determine significance with regards to climate change impacts.
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    \1\ The Project's EA is available on eLibrary under accession 
no. 20200908-3009, and the draft EIS is available under accession 
no. 20210709-3005.
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    The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
participated as a cooperating agency in the preparation of the EA and 
the EIS. Cooperating agencies have jurisdiction by law or special 
expertise with respect to resources potentially affected by the 
proposal and participate in the National Environmental Policy Act 
analysis. The BLM may adopt and use the EA and EIS to consider the 
issuance of a right-of-way grant for the use of a temporary workspace 
requested by North Baja on BLM-administered public lands adjacent to 
the Ogilby Meter Station in Imperial County, California.
    The final EIS incorporates the above-referenced EA, which addressed 
the potential environmental effects of the construction and operation 
of the following Project facilities:
     One new 31,900-horsepower compressor unit and restaging of 
two existing 7,700-horsepower compressor units at North Baja's existing 
Ehrenberg Compressor Station in La Paz County, Arizona; and
     flow measurement facilities and piping modifications at 
North Baja's existing El Paso and Ogilby Meter Stations in La Paz 
County, Arizona and Imperial County, California, respectively.
    The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability of the 
Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed North Baja XPress 
Project to federal, state, and local government representatives and 
agencies; elected officials; environmental and public interest groups; 
Native American tribes; potentially affected landowners and other 
interested individuals and groups; and newspapers and libraries in the 
Project area. The final EIS is only available in electronic format. It 
may be viewed and downloaded from the FERC's website (www.ferc.gov), on 
the natural gas environmental documents page (https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/natural-gas/environment/environmental-documents). In 
addition, the final EIS may be accessed by using the eLibrary link on 
the FERC's website. Click on the eLibrary link (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search) select ``General Search'' and enter 
the docket number in the ``Docket Number'' field (i.e. CP20-27-000). Be 
sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For assistance, 
please contact FERC Online Support at [email protected] or 
toll free at (866) 208-3676, or for TTY, contact (202) 502-8659.

[[Page 59703]]

    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. The eLibrary link 
also provides access to the texts of all formal documents issued by the 
Commission, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings.
    In addition, the Commission offers a free service called 
eSubscription that allows you to keep track of all formal issuances and 
submittals in specific dockets. 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 https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview to 
register for eSubscription.

    Dated: October 22, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-23482 Filed 10-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


