Docket No. CP22-461-000
The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) has prepared a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC’s (Transco) Southside Reliability Enhancement Project (Project).
Transco proposes to construct and operate one new compressor station and modify two existing compressor stations and three existing meter stations in North Carolina and Virginia. The Project would provide an incremental 423,400 dekatherms per day of year-round firm transportation capacity from Transco’s Compressor Station 165 and the Pine Needle Storage Facility along the mainline and South Virginia Lateral pipeline systems to delivery points in North Carolina.
The EIS was prepared in compliance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality regulations for implementing NEPA (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR], 1502.13), and the FERC regulations implementing NEPA (18 CFR 380). The conclusions and recommendations presented in the EIS are those of the FERC environmental staff.
The FERC staff concludes that constructing and operating the Project would result in limited adverse environmental impacts. Most adverse environmental impacts would be temporary (during construction) or short-term (returning to background levels within 3 years following construction), but some permanent impacts, although not significant, would occur from Project operation. This determination is based on our review of the information provided by Transco and further developed from environmental information requests; scoping; literature research; a consideration of potential alternatives; and contacts with federal, state, and local agencies, tribes and other stakeholders. With implementation of Transco’s impact avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures, as well as adherence to Commission staff’s recommendations (found in section 5.2 of the EIS), Commission staff concludes that project effects would be reduced to less than significant levels, except for climate change impacts that are not characterized in this EIS as significant or insignificant.
The Commission will take into consideration staff’s recommendations in the EIS when they make a decision on the Project.