[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 31, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6252-6253]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-01931]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP22-44-000]


Equitrans, L.P.; Notice of Availability of the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Ohio Valley Connector 
Expansion Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a final environmental impact statement (EIS) 
for the Ohio Valley Expansion Project (Project), proposed by Equitrans, 
LP (Equitrans) in the above-referenced docket. Equitrans requests 
authorization to construct and operate approximately 5.5 miles of new 
pipeline and pipeline loop; \1\ acquire and add compression to one non-
jurisdictional compressor station; and add compression at two existing 
compression facilities in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. The 
Project would provide approximately 350,000 dekatherms per day of 
natural gas to mid-continent and Gulf Coast markets, create new 
transportation paths, and provide long-term reliability.
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    \1\ A pipeline loop is a segment of pipe constructed next to an 
existing pipeline to increase capacity.
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    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 (NEPA). FERC 
staff concludes that approval of the proposed Project, with the 
mitigation measures recommended in the EIS, would not result in 
significant adverse impacts. Regarding climate change impacts, this EIS 
is not characterizing the Project's greenhouse gas emissions as 
significant or insignificant because the Commission is conducting a 
generic proceeding to determine whether and how the Commission will 
conclude significance going forward.\2\ The EIS also concludes that no 
system, route, or other alternative would meet the Project objective 
while providing a significant environmental advantage over the Project 
as proposed.
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    \2\ Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Natural Gas 
Infrastructure Project Reviews, 178 FERC ] 61,108 (2022); 178 FERC ] 
61,197 (2022).
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    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District (COE) 
participated as a cooperating agency in the preparation of the EIS. A 
cooperating agency has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with 
respect to resources potentially affected by the proposal and 
participate in the NEPA analysis. Although a cooperating agency 
provides input to the conclusions and recommendations presented in an 
EIS, the agency may present its own conclusions and recommendations in 
any applicable Record of Decision for a project. Accordingly, the final 
EIS for this Project is intended to fulfill the COE's NEPA obligations, 
as applicable, and to support the COE's subsequent conclusions and 
decisions.
    The final EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the following Project facilities:

Greene County, Pennsylvania

     Acquisition of the existing non-jurisdictional Cygrymus 
Compressor Station and addition of two Solar Taurus 70 turbines;
     approximately 0.5 mile of new 16-inch-diameter natural gas 
pipeline (H-327);
     approximately 0.5 mile of new 12-inch-diameter natural gas 
pipeline (H-328); and
     ancillary facilities, such as a valve yard, taps, and 
internal inspection device (e.g., pig launchers and receivers\3\).
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    \3\ A ``pig'' is a tool that the pipeline company inserts into 
and pushes through the pipeline for cleaning, conducting internal 
inspections, or other purposes.

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Wetzel County, West Virginia

     addition of one Solar Mars 100 compressor at the existing 
Corona Compressor Station;
     approximately 3.7 miles of new 24-inch-diameter natural 
gas pipeline (H-326);
     approximately 129 feet of new 8-inch-diameter natural gas 
pipeline (H-329);
     approximately 0.7 mile of new 16-inch-diameter natural gas 
pipeline (H-330);
     approximately 0.09 mile of new 16-inch-diameter natural 
gas pipeline (H-330 Spur);
     approximately 160 feet of new 12-inch-diameter natural gas 
pipeline; and
     ancillary facilities, such as mainline valves, valve 
yards, measuring equipment, and pigging facilities.

Monroe County, Ohio

     addition of one Solar Titan 130 compressor at the existing 
Plasma Compressor Station.
    The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability of the 
final EIS 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, excluding the last 
three digits (i.e., CP22-44). 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.
    In accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) 
regulations implementing NEPA, no agency decision on a proposed action 
may be made until 30 days after the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency publishes a notice of availability of the final EIS in the 
Federal Register. However, the CEQ regulations provide an exception to 
this rule when an agency decision is subject to a formal internal 
appeal process that allows other agencies or the public to make their 
views known. In such cases, the agency decision may be made at the same 
time the notice of the final EIS is published, allowing both periods to 
run concurrently. The Commission decision for this proposed action is 
subject to a 30-day rehearing period.
    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.
    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 which 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/

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ferc-online/overview to register for eSubscription.

    Dated: January 20, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-01931 Filed 1-30-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


