80 FR 8295 - SCT&E LNG, LLC; Amendment of Notice of Application for Long-Term, Multi-Contract Authorization To Export Liquefied Natural Gas to Non-Free Trade Agreement Countries

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 31 (February 17, 2015)

The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy (DOE) is amending a notice of application filed by SCT&E LNG, LLC (SCT&E LNG) on July 24, 2014, and published in the Federal Register on December 19, 2014 (Notice).\1\ The amended notice adds two environmental documents to the record in the SCT&E LNG docket. It also extends the Public Comment Period, ending February 17, 2015, by 20 days, to March 12, 2015, to ensure that interested parties have sufficient opportunity to review the documents in filing any protests, motions to intervene, notices of intervention, or written comments in response to the Application. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 17, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8295-8296]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03145]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[FE Docket No. 14-98-LNG]


SCT&E LNG, LLC; Amendment of Notice of Application for Long-Term, 
Multi-Contract Authorization To Export Liquefied Natural Gas to Non-
Free Trade Agreement Countries

AGENCY: Office of Fossil Energy, DOE.

ACTION: Amended notice of application and extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy 
(DOE) is amending a notice of application filed by SCT&E LNG, LLC 
(SCT&E LNG) on July 24, 2014, and published in the Federal Register on 
December 19, 2014 (Notice).\1\ The amended notice adds two 
environmental documents to the record in the SCT&E LNG docket. It also 
extends the Public Comment Period, ending February 17, 2015, by 20 
days, to March 12, 2015, to ensure that interested parties have 
sufficient opportunity to review the documents in filing any protests, 
motions to intervene, notices of intervention, or written comments in 
response to the Application.
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    \1\ Dep't of Energy, SCT&E LNG, LLC: Application for Long-Term, 
Multi-Contract Authorization to Export Liquefied Natural Gas to Non-
Free Trade Agreement Countries, 79 FR 75796 (Dec. 19, 2014).

DATES: The Public Comment Period, ending February 17, 2015, is extended 
by 20 days to March 12, 2015. Protests, motions to intervene or notices 
of intervention, as applicable, requests for additional procedures, and 
written comments are to be filed using procedures detailed in the 
Public Comment Procedures section of the Notice (79 FR 75796) no later 
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than 4:30 p.m., Eastern time.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may submit comments by any of the 
following methods:

Electronic Filing by Email

[email protected].

Regular Mail

U.S. Department of Energy (FE-34), Office of Oil and Gas Global 
Security and Supply, Office of Fossil Energy, P.O. Box 44375, 
Washington, DC 20026-4375.

Hand Delivery or Private Delivery Services

U.S. Department of Energy (FE-34), Office of Oil and Gas Global 
Security and Supply, Office of Fossil Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 
3E-042, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
Larine Moore or Marc Talbert, U.S. Department of Energy (FE-34), Office 
of Oil and Gas Global Security and Supply, Office of Fossil Energy, 
Forrestal Building, Room 3E-042, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-9478; (202) 586-7991.
Cassandra Bernstein, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Assistant 
General Counsel for Electricity and Fossil Energy, Forrestal Building,
    1000 Independence Avenue SW.,
    Washington, DC 20585,
    (202) 586-9793.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 19, 2014, DOE/FE gave notice of 
receipt of an application (Application), filed on July 24, 2014 (79 FR 
75796). The Application, filed under section 3(a) of the Natural Gas 
Act (NGA), requests long-term, multi-contract authorization to export 
domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) to any country with 
which the United States does not have a free trade agreement requiring 
national treatment for trade in natural gas and with which trade is not 
prohibited by U.S. law or policy (non-FTA countries). As set forth in 
the Notice, SCT&E LNG seeks authorization to export the LNG in a volume 
up to 12 million metric tons per annum, which SCT&E LNG states is 
equivalent to approximately 1.6 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day of 
natural gas (or 584 Bcf per year). SCT&E LNG seeks authorization to 
export the LNG by vessel from its proposed LNG terminal, which SCT&E 
LNG intends to construct, own, and operate on Monkey Island in the 
Calcasieu Ship Channel in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.\2\
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    \2\ Additional details can be found in SCT&E LNG's Application, 
posted on the DOE/FE Web site at: http://energy.gov/fe/downloads/scte-lng-llc-14-98-lng.
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    In the prior Notice, DOE/FE invited protests, motions to intervene, 
notices of intervention, and written comments on the Application during 
a 60-day Public Comment Period, which is currently scheduled to close 
no later than 4:30 p.m., Eastern time, February 17, 2015. After 
publication of the Notice, however, DOE/FE determined that it had 
inadvertently omitted two environmental documents from the record in 
the SCT&E LNG docket that potentially bear on SCT&E LNG's requested 
authorization. Therefore, DOE/FE is amending one section of the Notice, 
entitled ``DOE/FE Evaluation,'' to add the two documents identified 
below to the SCT&E LNG docket. Additionally, to provide interested 
parties with sufficient opportunity to review these documents in filing 
any protests, motions to intervene, notices of intervention, or written 
comments, DOE/FE is extending the comment period by 20 days. All other 
provisions and procedures of the Notice remain the same. The ``DOE/FE 
Evaluation'' section of the Notice is now amended to read as follows:

FDOE/FE Evaluation

    The Application will be reviewed pursuant to section 3(a) of the 
NGA, 15 U.S.C. 717b(a), and DOE will consider any issues required by 
law or policy. To the extent determined to be relevant, these issues 
will include the domestic need for the natural gas proposed to be 
exported, the adequacy of domestic natural gas supply, U.S. energy 
security, and the cumulative impact of the requested authorization and 
any other LNG export application(s) previously approved on domestic 
natural gas supply and demand fundamentals. DOE may also consider other 
factors bearing on the public interest, including the impact of the 
proposed exports on the U.S. economy (including GDP, consumers, and 
industry), job creation, the U.S. balance of trade, and international 
considerations; and whether the authorization is consistent

[[Page 8296]]

with DOE's policy of promoting competition in the marketplace by 
allowing commercial parties to freely negotiate their own trade 
arrangements. Additionally, DOE will consider the following 
environmental documents:
     Addendum to Environmental Review Documents Concerning 
Exports of Natural Gas From the United States, 79 FR 48132 (Aug. 15, 
2014); \3\ and
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    \3\ The Addendum and related documents are available at: http://energy.gov/fe/draft-addendum-environmental-review-documents-concerning-exports-natural-gas-united-states.
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     Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Perspective on Exporting 
Liquefied Natural Gas From the United States, 79 FR 32260 (June 4, 
2014).\4\
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    \4\ The Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Report is available at: http://energy.gov/fe/life-cycle-greenhouse-gas-perspective-exporting-liquefied-natural-gas-united-states.
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    Parties that may oppose this Application should address these 
issues in their comments and/or protests, as well as other issues 
deemed relevant to the Application.
    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. Sec.  4321 
et seq., requires DOE to give appropriate consideration to the 
environmental effects of its proposed decisions. No final decision will 
be issued in this proceeding until DOE has met its environmental 
responsibilities.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on February 10, 2015.
John A. Anderson,
Director, Office of Oil and Gas Global Security and Supply, Office of 
Oil and Natural Gas.
[FR Doc. 2015-03145 Filed 2-13-15; 8:45 am]
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