The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will issue an environmental assessment September 18 on Freeport LNG Development's plan to demolish regasification equipment that has sat idle at its export terminal for more than a decade. The review sets a hard deadline: agencies responsible for permits tied to the project must reach final authorization decisions by December 17.
What Freeport LNG wants to remove
Freeport LNG filed the underlying request April 6 in FERC Docket No. CP03-75-000, asking to partially terminate its Natural Gas Act Section 3 authorization so it can abandon pipeline facilities the Commission had approved for importing and regasifying LNG. The company calls the proposal the Regasification Terminal Disconnect Project. Its LNG terminal on Quintana Island in Brazoria County, Texas, has operated only to liquefy gas for export, and Freeport LNG says the regasification facilities are no longer needed for that work.
How the teardown would work
The project would physically disconnect the regasification facilities from the liquefaction plant, then modify or relocate the equipment still needed for ongoing export operations. Freeport LNG plans to demolish and remove the regasification facilities, including their underground piping, equipment foundations and concrete paving. The company expects the work, including the design phase, to take about 22 months, with removal and modification running 12 months.
Review timeline
FERC issued a Notice of Motion to Vacate Certificate for the project April 20, which set the 90-day authorization deadline once Commission staff's environmental document is issued. The Commission opened a scoping period July 2, notifying affected landowners, federal, state and local government agencies, elected officials, environmental and public interest groups, Native American tribes, and local libraries and newspapers. No comments came in during that scoping period. FERC said it will provide additional notice if the review schedule changes.
