Workers on the Federal Vitality Regulatory Fee (FERC) has issued a remaining supplemental environmental affect assertion (SEIS) for NextDecade Corp.’s Rio Grande LNG and the related pipeline venture owned by Enbridge Inc.
FERC’s ongoing evaluation contains the primary 5 of eight liquefaction trains deliberate for Rio Grande LNG. Trains I to V every have a designed capability of 5.4 million metric tons each year (MMtpa), based on the proposal to FERC.
In the meantime the Rio Bravo Pipeline is designed to hold as much as 4.5 billion cubic toes a day of pure fuel from the Agua Dulce provide space to the liquefaction facility in Brownsville, Texas.
- Advertisement -
The brand new SEIS is in response to a remand by the Courtroom of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, issued August 2024, of FERC’s reauthorization of the initiatives. Within the August 2024 order the court docket vacated FERC’s authorization issued April 2023 as a result of the fee had not issued a supplemental EIS. The August 2024 ruling was the court docket’s second remand for the venture.
In March 2025, the court docket revised its August 2024 ruling and issued a remand with out vacatur.
Within the new SEIS, issued July 31, 2025, “FERC employees conclude that… communities within the areas close to the Rio Grande LNG Terminal could expertise important cumulative visible impacts”, FERC stated in an announcement on-line.
“Particular to air high quality impacts, we make clear that the venture’s air high quality impacts on communities with environmental justice issues would even be disproportionate and hostile; nonetheless, RG LNG’s air high quality evaluation demonstrates that air high quality impacts close to the Rio Grande LNG Terminal wouldn’t be important, aside from two discrete areas simply north of the LNG terminal the place the cumulative mannequin exhibits an exceedance of the annual PM2.5 SIL, and thus we conclude air high quality impacts in these areas could be important.
“Particular to the RB Pipeline, the revised air high quality dispersion modeling that exhibits that impacts from Compressor Station 1 wouldn’t exceed the NAAQS. Due to this fact, air high quality impacts on communities with environmental justice issues from operation of Compressor Station 1 could be lower than important.
“For all different sources, FERC employees continues to conclude that approval of the initiatives would end in lower than important impacts, with implementation of the environmental situations set forth within the Fee’s prior authorizations for the venture, and the extra mitigation measures really helpful within the remaining supplemental EIS”.
The brand new SEIS doesn’t suggest requiring a carbon seize and storage element for FERC to approve Rio Grande LNG.
“The Fee will consider the evaluation and conclusions of the ultimate supplemental EIS in its additional deserves order for the venture”, the assertion stated.
Rigzone requested NextDecade and Enbridge for remark about FERC’s conclusions within the new supplemental EIS.
NextDecade stated in its newest enterprise replace, revealed August 1, “FERC anticipates issuing a remaining order on the remand by November 20, 2025”.
Rio Grande LNG has already been permitted by the DOE to export to FTA and non-FTA nations.
Part I, which consists of trains I to III, is underneath building. NextDecade introduced a FID (remaining funding determination) on part I in July 2023, earmarking $18.4 billion then. The venture had been deliberate to have a carbon seize element. Nevertheless, NextDecade stated August 2024 it had withdrawn its allow utility to construct the emissions mitigation element.
NextDecade is working towards FIDs for trains IV and V. Prepare IV has been totally subscribed, based on the corporate.
“[T]he firm is growing and starting the allowing course of for trains VI by means of VIII”, NextDecade added within the enterprise replace.
To contact the writer, electronic mail jov.onsat@rigzone.com
Generated by readers, the feedback included herein don’t mirror the views and opinions of Rigzone. All feedback are topic to editorial evaluation. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting feedback will likely be eliminated.
