Notice2025-12759
Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC; Notice Of Schedule For The Preparation Of An Environmental Assessment For The Proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate Amendment Project
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 9, 2025
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 129 (Wednesday, July 9, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 9, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30225-30226]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-12759]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP25-60-000]
Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC; Notice Of Schedule For The
Preparation Of An Environmental Assessment For The Proposed Mountain
Valley Pipeline Southgate Amendment Project
On February 3, 2025, Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC filed an
application in Docket No. CP25-60-000 requesting a Certificate of
Public Convenience and Necessity pursuant to Section 7(c) of the
Natural Gas Act, and Part 157 of the Commission's regulations to amend
Mountain Valley's certificate of public convenience and necessity for
the Southgate Project authorized by the Commission in Docket No. CP19-
14-000.\1\ The amended project known as the Mountain Valley Pipeline
(MVP) Southgate Amendment Project (Amendment Project) would increase
the operating capacity from 375,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) to
550,000 Dth/d.
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\1\ Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, 171 FERC ] 61,232 (2020).
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On February 18, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(Commission or FERC) issued its Notice of Application for the Amendment
Project. Among other things, that notice alerted agencies issuing
federal authorizations of the requirement to complete all necessary
reviews and to reach a final decision on a request for a federal
authorization within 90 days of the date of issuance of the Commission
staff's environmental document for the Project.
This notice identifies Commission staff's intention to prepare an
environmental assessment (EA) for the Project and the planned schedule
for the completion of the environmental review.\2\ The EA will be
issued for a 30-day comment period.
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\2\ For tracking purposes under the National Environmental
Policy Act, the unique identification number for documents relating
to this environmental review is EAXX-019-20-000-1751374027.
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Schedule for Environmental Review
Issuance of EA--October 3, 2025
90-day Federal Authorization Decision Deadline \3\--January 1, 2026
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\3\ The Commission's deadline applies to the decisions of other
federal agencies, and state agencies acting under federally
delegated authority, that are responsible for federal
authorizations, permits, and other approvals necessary for proposed
projects under the Natural Gas Act. Per 18 CFR 157.22(a), the
Commission's deadline for other agency's decisions applies unless a
schedule is otherwise established by federal law.
If a schedule change becomes necessary, additional notice will be
provided so that the relevant agencies are kept informed of the
Project's progress.
Project Description
In February 2020, FERC issued a final Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) that analyzed the Southgate Project. On June 18, 2020,
the Commission authorized the Southgate Project. MVP further evaluated
the Southgate Project and proposes modifications as part of the
Amendment Project.\4\
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\4\ Construction of the Southgate Project has not yet started.
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The Amendment Project includes modifications to the previously
authorized Southgate Project and would originate at Transcontinental
Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC's Zone 5 Compressor Station 165 in
Pittsylvania County, Virginia and end in Rockingham County, North
Carolina. The Amendment Project would remove the Lambert Compressor
Station, decrease the length of the pipeline from 75.1 miles to 31.3
miles, increase the pipeline diameter from 16- and 24-inch diameters to
30-inch diameter, change the location of two meter (interconnect)
stations, adopt several route variations for engineering and
environmental reasons, remove four mainline valves, remove two cathodic
protection groundbeds, and add two new contractor yards.
Background
On May 22, 2025, the Commission issued a Notice of Scoping Period
Requesting Comments on Environmental Issues for the Proposed Mountain
Valley Pipeline Southgate Amendment Project and Notice of Public
Scoping Session (Notice of Scoping). The Notice of Scoping was sent to
affected landowners; federal, state, and local government agencies;
elected officials; environmental and public interest groups; Native
American tribes; other interested parties; and local libraries and
newspapers. In response to the Notice of Scoping, the Commission
received comments from multiple stakeholders including the Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality; the Commonwealth of Virginia
Department of Conservation and Recreation--Division of Natural
Heritage; the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office;
Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC; Appalachian Voices; a
joint filing from Appalachian Voices, Blue Ridge Environmental Defense
League, Center for Biological Diversity, Chesapeake Climate Action
Network, 7 Directions of Service, Sierra Club, Southern Alliance for
Clean Energy, Wild Virginia, Katie Whitehead, and Robert McNutt;
Virginia Scientist Community Interface; Chesapeake Climate Action
Network; Southern Environmental Law Center; and 20 individuals.
The primary issues raised by the commenters are concerns regarding
groundwater, waterbodies, wetlands, threatened and endangered species,
forested areas, cumulative impacts, air emissions, and pipeline safety
associated with the increased diameter and capacity. All substantive
environmental comments will be addressed in the EA.
[[Page 30226]]
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Virginia and North Carolina
Ecological Services Field Offices are cooperating agencies in the
preparation of the EA.
Additional Information
In order to receive notification of the issuance of the EA and to
keep track of formal issuances and submittals in specific dockets, the
Commission offers a free service called eSubscription. This service
provides automatic notification of filings made to subscribed dockets,
document summaries, and direct links to the documents. Go to <a href="https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview">https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview</a> to register for eSubscription.
The Commission's Office of Public Participation (OPP) supports
meaningful public engagement and participation in Commission
proceedings. OPP can help members of the public, including landowners,
community organizations, Tribal members and others, access publicly
available information and navigate Commission processes. For public
inquiries and assistance with making filings such as interventions,
comments, or requests for rehearing, the public is encouraged to
contact OPP at (202) 502-6595 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#400f101000262532236e272f36"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9ad5cacadafcffe8f9b4fdf5ec">[email protected]</span></a>.
Additional information about the Project is available from the
Commission's Office of External Affairs at (866) 208-FERC or on the
FERC website (<a href="http://www.ferc.gov">www.ferc.gov</a>). Using the ``eLibrary'' link, select
``General Search'' from the eLibrary menu, enter the selected date
range and ``Docket Number'' excluding the last three digits (i.e.,
CP25-60), and follow the instructions. For assistance with access to
eLibrary, the helpline can be reached at (866) 208-3676, TTY (202) 502-
8659, or at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6d2b283f2e2203010403083e181d1d021f192d0b081f0e430a021b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="367073647579585a5f585365434646594442765053445518515940">[email protected]</span></a>. The eLibrary link on the FERC
website also provides access to the texts of formal documents issued by
the Commission, such as orders, notices, and rule makings.
Dated: July 3, 2025.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-12759 Filed 7-8-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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