2022-08467. Texas Gas Transmission, LLC; Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for The Proposed Henderson County Expansion Project

The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) has prepared a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Henderson County Expansion Project (Project), proposed by Texas Gas Transmission, LLC (Texas Gas) in the above-referenced docket. Texas Gas requests a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and Abandonment Authorization to construct, operate, and maintain, and abandon certain natural gas transmission pipeline facilities in Henderson and Webster Counties, Kentucky and Posey and Johnson Counties, Indiana. The Project purpose is to provide up to 220,000 dekatherms per day of new firm transportation service to CenterPoint Energy Indiana South's (CenterPoint) AB Brown Generating Station in Posey County, Indiana.

The draft 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 result in some adverse environmental impacts; however, with the exception of potential impacts on climate change, we conclude that impacts would be reduced to less than significant levels. 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 conduct significance determinations going forward.^[1]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency participated as a cooperating agency in the preparation of the EIS. Cooperating agencies have jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to resources potentially affected by the proposal and participate in the NEPA analysis. Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides input to the conclusions and recommendations presented in the draft EIS, the agency may present its own conclusions and recommendations in any applicable Records of Decision or other documentation for the Project.

The draft EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the construction and operation of the following project facilities:

• Henderson Lateral—Construction of an approximately 23.5-mile-long, 20-inch-diameter natural gas transmission pipeline extending from a new tie-in facility in Henderson County, Kentucky to the new AB Brown Meter and Regulating (M&R) Station in Posey County, Indiana (Henderson Lateral).
• AB Brown M&R Station and Point of Demarcation Site (Posey County, Indiana)—Construction of a delivery M&R station, receiver facility, and a 0.1-mile-long, 16-inch-diameter interconnecting pipeline terminating at the new Point of Demarcation Site, which would serve as CenterPoint's tie-in for Project facilities for its AB Brown Generating Station.
• Slaughters Compressor Station (Webster County, Kentucky)—Installation of a new 4,863-horsepower Solar Centaur 50 turbine compressor unit with piping modifications and other appurtenant facilities, abandonment in place of an existing compressor unit (Unit 5), and placement on standby of two existing compressor units (Unit 6 and Unit 7).
• New ancillary facilities including a mainline valve and tie-in facility in Henderson County, Kentucky and upgrades to an existing M&R station in Johnson County, Indiana.

The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Henderson County Expansion 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 draft 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 draft 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. , CP21-467). Be sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at [e-mail] or toll free at [phone], or for TTY, contact [phone].

The draft 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. Any person wishing to comment on the draft EIS may do so. Your comments should focus on draft EIS's disclosure and discussion of potential environmental effects, measures to avoid or lessen environmental impacts, and the completeness of the submitted alternatives, information and analyses. To ensure consideration of your comments on the proposal in the final EIS, it is important that the Commission receive your comments on or before 5:00pm Eastern Time on June 6, 2022.

For your convenience, there are four methods you can use to submit your comments to the Commission. The Commission will provide equal consideration to all comments received, whether filed in written form or provided verbally. The Commission encourages electronic filing of comments and has staff available to assist you at [phone] or [e-mail] . Please carefully follow these instructions so that your comments are properly recorded.

(1) You can file your comments electronically using the eComment feature on the Commission's website ( www.ferc.gov ) under the link to FERC Online. This 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 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.” If you are filing a comment on a particular project, please select “Comment on a Filing” as the filing type; or

(3) You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to the Commission. Be sure to reference the project docket number (CP21-467-000) on your letter. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: 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 addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

(4) In lieu of sending written or electronic comments, the Commission invites you to attend one of the virtual public comment sessions its staff will conduct by telephone to receive comments on the draft EIS, scheduled as follows:

Date and Time

Wednesday, May 18, 2022, 5:30-7:30 p.m. (CDT), Call in number: 800-779-8625, Participant Passcode: 3472916

Thursday, May 19, 2022, 1:30-3:30 p.m. (CDT), Call in number: 800-779-8625, Participant Passcode: 3472916

The primary goal of these comment sessions is to have you identify the specific environmental issues and concerns with the draft EIS. There will not be a formal presentation by Commission staff when the session opens. Individual oral comments will be taken on a one-on-one basis with a court reporter present on the line. This format is designed to receive the maximum amount of oral comments, in a convenient way during the timeframe allotted, and is in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Prospective commentors are encouraged to review the draft EIS to familiarize themselves with the Project prior to participating in the meeting.

Each comment session is scheduled from either 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. or else 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Central Time. You may call at any time after the listed start times, at which point you will be placed on mute and hold. Calls will be answered in the order they are received. Once answered, you will have the opportunity to provide your comment directly to a court reporter with FERC staff or representative present on the line. A time limit of 3 minutes will be implemented for each commentor.

Transcripts of all comments received during the comment sessions will be publicly available on FERC's eLibrary system (see page 2 of this notice for instructions on using eLibrary).

It is important to note that the Commission provides equal consideration to all comments received, whether filed in written form or provided at a virtual comment session.

Any person seeking to become a party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures (18 CFR part 385.214). Motions to intervene are more fully described at https://www.ferc.gov/​how-intervene . Only intervenors have the right to seek rehearing or judicial review of the Commission's decision. The Commission grants affected landowners and others with environmental concerns intervenor status upon showing good cause by stating that they have a clear and direct interest in this proceeding which no other party can adequately represent. Simply filing environmental comments will not give you intervenor status, but you do not need intervenor status to have your comments considered.

Questions?

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: April 14, 2022.

Debbie-Anne A. Reese,

Deputy Secretary.

Footnotes

1.   Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Natural Gas Infrastructure Project Reviews, 178 FERC ¶ 61,108 (2022); 178 FERC ¶ 61,197 (2022).