148 FERC ¶ 61,244 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION Before Commissioners: Cheryl A. LaFleur, Chairman; Philip D. Moeller, Tony Clark, and Norman C. Bay. Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP Docket No. CP13-113-000 ORDER GRANTING SECTION 3 AND SECTION 7 AUTHORIZATIONS (Issued September 29, 2014) Paragraph Numbers I. Background ............................................................................................................................ 3. II. Proposal ................................................................................................................................. 7. A. Dominion’s Cove Point Liquefaction Project .................................................................. 7. B. Virginia Facilities ............................................................................................................. 12. C. Services ............................................................................................................................. 18. III. Public Notice ....................................................................................................................... 20. IV. Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 26. A. Dominion’s Cove Point Liquefaction Project .................................................................. 26. B. Virginia Facilities ............................................................................................................. 34. 1. Subsidization ................................................................................................................. 37. 2. Existing Customers ....................................................................................................... 38. a. Turnback of Service Opportunity ............................................................................. 38. b. Impacts on Existing Pipeline Service ....................................................................... 49. 3. Existing Pipelines ......................................................................................................... 57. 4. Landowners .................................................................................................................. 58. 5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 59. C. Rates ................................................................................................................................. 60. 1. Virginia Facilities ......................................................................................................... 60. a. Recourse Rates ......................................................................................................... 62. b. Negotiated Rate ........................................................................................................ 64. Docket No. CP13-113-000 - 2 - 2. Fuel and other Surcharges ............................................................................................ 65. 3. Tariff Proposals ............................................................................................................ 69. a. GT&C Section 30 ..................................................................................................... 72. b. Tariff Provisions and Existing Import Customers ................................................... 79. c. Non-Conforming Provisions .................................................................................... 87. d. Receipt and Delivery Points ..................................................................................... 89. D. Accounting ....................................................................................................................... 95. E. Environmental Analysis ................................................................................................... 98. 1. Pre-Filing Review ........................................................................................................ 98. 2. Application Review ...................................................................................................... 101. 3. Major Environmental Issues Addressed in the EA ....................................................... 108. a. Earthquakes and the Moran Landing Fault Zone ..................................................... 108. b. Foundations Soil Conditions .................................................................................... 111. c. Subsidence and Sinkholes ........................................................................................ 114. d. Groundwater/Aquifers .............................................................................................. 116. e. Ballast Water ............................................................................................................ 126. f. Aquatic Resources/Offsite Area B ............................................................................ 131. g. Terrestrial Wildlife, Vegetation, and Protected Species .......................................... 136. h. Light Emissions/Visual Resources ........................................................................... 143. i. Property Values ......................................................................................................... 146. j. Environmental Justice ............................................................................................... 148. k. Socioeconomic Impacts............................................................................................ 151. l. Shipping Impacts ....................................................................................................... 153. m. Population Estimates ............................................................................................... 154. n. Traffic ....................................................................................................................... 156. o. Air Emissions .......................................................................................................... 160. p. Air Modeling ............................................................................................................ 172. q. Noise ......................................................................................................................... 178. r. Public Safety ............................................................................................................. 184. s. Consequence Modeling ............................................................................................ 218. t. Indirect Impacts ......................................................................................................... 225. u. Cumulative Impacts.................................................................................................. 238. v. Climate Change ........................................................................................................ 243. w. Segmentation ........................................................................................................... 249. x. Alternatives .............................................................................................................. 264. y. Sufficiency of the EA ............................................................................................... 265. 4. Environmental Conclusions ......................................................................................... 281. F. Sufficiency of Evidence on the Record ............................................................................ 283. Docket No. CP13-113-000 - 3 - 1. On April 1, 2013, Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP (Dominion)1 filed an application for authority under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA)2 and Part 153 of the Commission’s regulations3 to site, construct, and operate facilities for the liquefaction and export of domestically-produced natural gas (Cove Point Liquefaction Project) at Dominion’s existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Calvert County, Maryland.4 Dominion also seeks authority under section 7(c) of the NGA5 and Part 157 of the Commission’s regulations,6 to construct and operate facilities at its existing compressor station and metering and regulating (M&R) site in Fairfax County, Virginia, and at its M&R site in Loudoun County, Virginia (collectively, Virginia Facilities). 2. For the reasons discussed below, we will authorize Dominion’s proposal under section 3 to construct and operate the Cove Point Liquefaction Project. We will also authorize Dominion’s proposal under section 7(c) to construct and operate the Virginia Facilities. The authorizations issued to Dominion are subject to the conditions discussed below. I. Background 3. Dominion, a limited partnership organized and existing under the laws of Delaware, is a natural gas company as defined by section 2(6) of the NGA engaged in the business of transporting natural gas in interstate commerce.7 Dominion owns the existing Cove Point LNG Terminal (Cove Point Terminal) near Lusby, in Calvert County, Maryland, as well as an 88-mile-long gas pipeline (Cove Point Pipeline) that extends west from the terminal to connections with interstate pipelines in Loudoun and Fairfax Counties, Virginia. The Cove Point Terminal and Cove Point Pipeline were initially authorized in 1972 to receive LNG imports and transport natural gas to U.S. markets.8 1 Dominion