www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2010/04/06
 
    FERC approves major pipeline project from Rockies to Ore. (04/06/2010)
Colin Sullivan, E&E reporter
Federal regulators late yesterday approved a 675-mile pipeline that would criss-cross mountains, high desert and fault lines in the West to bring Wyoming natural gas to California and the Pacific Northwest.

The $3 billion Ruby Pipeline, to be owned and operated by El Paso Corp. and an investment group based in New York, won the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's endorsement after developers crafted a mitigation plan that attempts to offset harm to rare wildlife and habitat in the region.

To obtain rights of way over miles of public lands, Ruby Pipeline LLC, a subsidiary of Houston-based El Paso Corp., agreed to conservation agreements with the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and several state agencies to address the effects to the greater sage grouse and other species.

FERC officials said the environmental harm to be caused by the project is signigicant but worth the cost given the project's expected effect on natural gas supplies in the West, which have long been constrained by an aging delivery system.

"The proposed pipeline will bring domestic gas supplies to markets that now depend on declining imports of Canadian gas supplies," the FERC order said, adding that "any adverse impacts on existing pipelines currently transporting Canadian gas ... may be mitigated by the new opportunities that Ruby's new pipeline will create for the existing pipelines to transport gas from additional sources."

FERC also noted that 58 percent of the route would be sited on federal and state lands, and Ruby has obtained landowner permission to survey 99 percent of the proposed right of way.

Opposition from environmental groups was based on likely destruction of sagebrush steppe habitat, which is vital for small game species like the greater sage grouse and pygmy rabbit. FWS determined last month that the sage grouse did not deserve protections under the Endangered Species Act, a decision that may have helped clear the way for federal approval of the project.

FERC officials indicated they were satisfied with a conservation agreement wrought by Ruby developers, BLM, FWS and authorities in Utah, Nevada and Wyoming under which Ruby agreed to not remove sagebrush during routine vegetation maintenance activities after construction.

The ruling also cited the role of a third-party monitor to police construction. "The Ruby project will not be authorized to be placed into service until commission staff is satisfied that the applicable project conditions have been satisfied and that the right-of-way restoration is proceeding satisfactorily," the order said.
El Paso claims carbon neutrality
El Paso, for its part, is claiming the project would be the first-ever "carbon neutral" pipeline in the United States. As part of its bid to gain approval and pacify regulators in California concerned about greenhouse gas emissions, the company submitted to FERC a proposal to offset the project's emissions by purchasing renewable energy credits, greenhouse gas allowances and carbon offsets.

But FERC said the commission could not authorize a mandatory greenhouse gas offsets program, given the absence of a federal law on carbon costs. The commission did, however, agree to accept the voluntary side of Ruby's carbon neutrality pledge, which the company says would account for 523,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide the project may emit per year.

A FERC spokeswoman confirmed that the decision marks the first time the commission had adopted such a plan.

"Yes, this is the first time FERC has accepted such a method of dealing with GHGs," said spokeswoman Mary O'Driscoll. "No one has ever proposed it before."