§ 380.6 - Actions that require an environmental impact statement.

§ 380.6 Actions that require an environmental impact statement.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, an environmental impact statement will normally be prepared first for the following projects:

(1) Authorization under sections 3 or 7 of the Natural Gas Act and DOE Delegation Order No. 0204-112 for the siting, construction, and operation of jurisdictional liquefied natural gas import/export facilities used wholly or in part to liquefy, store, or regasify liquefied natural gas transported by water;

(2) Certificate applications under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act to develop an underground natural gas storage facility except where depleted oil or natural gas producing fields are used;

(3) Major pipeline construction projects under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act using rights-of-way in which there is no existing natural gas pipeline;

(4) Licenses under Part I of the Federal Power Act and part 4 of this chapter for construction of any unconstructed water power projects; and

(5) Major electric transmission facilities under section 216 of the Federal Power Act and DOE Delegation Order No. 00-004.00A using right-of-way in which there is no existing facility.

(b) If the Commission believes that a proposed action identified in paragraph (a) of this section may not be a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, an environmental assessment, rather than an environmental impact statement, will be prepared first. Depending on the outcome of the environmental assessment, an environmental impact statement may or may not be prepared.

(c) An environmental impact statement will not be required if an environmental assessment indicates that a proposal has adverse environmental affects and the proposal is not approved.

[Order 486, 52 FR 47910, Dec. 17, 1987, as amended at 53 FR 8177, Mar. 14, 1988; Order 486-B, 53 FR 26437, July 13, 1988; Order 689, 71 FR 69470, Dec. 1, 2006; Order 756, 77 FR 4895, Feb. 1, 2012]