The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has prepared a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline (KMLP) Project.
The Project facilities would be located in Cameron, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis, Acadia, and Evangeline Parishes in Louisiana and consist of approximately 132.2 miles of 42-inch-diameter pipeline; 1.2 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline; 2.3 miles of 24-inch-diameter pipeline; and associated mainline block valves, metering, tie-in, and pigging facilities. The purpose of the proposed facilities is to deliver at least 3,395,000 decatherms per day of regasified natural gas from the Sabine Pass Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal into the national pipeline and underground storage grid.
The final EIS was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are participating as cooperating agencies in the preparation of the EIS.
The FERC staff concludes that the Project, with the appropriate mitigation measures as recommended, would be an environmentally acceptable action. The principal reasons are:
- About 54 percent of the proposed pipeline route would collocate with or parallel existing rights-of-way;
- KMLP would use horizontal directional drilling across most sensitive areas, including major waterbodies, oyster reefs, several wetlands, congested pipeline corridors, and select roads and developed areas;
- KMLP would consult with resource agencies to further avoid and minimize impacts to wetlands, essential fish habitat, and threatened and endangered species;
- Construction would be done in accordance with the FERC's Upland Erosion Control, Revegetation, and Maintenance Plan and the FERC's Wetland and Waterbody Construction and Mitigation Procedures;
- All applicable permits and authorizations would be obtained by KMLP prior to initiating construction or operation activities; and
- An environmental inspection and monitoring program would ensure compliance with all mitigation measures that become conditions of any Commission authorization. The FERC Commissioners will take into consideration staff's recommendations and the final EIS when they make decisions on the Project.