The proposed North Baja Pipeline to deliver natural gas to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico has received the final environmental go-ahead from the staffs of FERC, the California State Lands Commission and the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management.

If the project “is constructed as modified and in accordance with [North Baja’s] proposed mitigation and our recommendations, it would be an environmentally acceptable action,” the staffs of the three agencies concluded in the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on the pipeline (CP01-22).

The FEIS comes more than six months after FERC issued a preliminary determination (PD) on the non-environmental aspects of the North Baja project, which will carry up to 500 MMcf/d from a connection with El Paso Natural Gas near Ehrenberg, AZ, to fuel power plants and gas distribution systems in northern Mexico and southern California. With the FEIS now in hand, the North Baja project is only one step away from receiving a final certificate.

FERC issued the PD for the 80-mile U.S. leg of the 215-mile pipeline. The U.S. portion of the line would extend from the border-crossing facilities near Yuma, AZ, to Mexicali, Baja California, in Mexico. The Mexican government already has issued a transportation permit to Sempra Energy International to build the 135-mile Mexican portion, Gasoducto Bajanorte. The U.S. part of the pipeline is owned by PG&E Gas Transmission Holdings Corp., and is expected to cost about $146 million.

The agency staffs said the favorable FEIS was based on several factors: 1) about 83% of the project would be in or adjacent to various existing rights-of-way within a designated utility corridor; 2) North Baja Pipeline has agreed to implement its Construction Mitigation and Restoration (CM&R) plan to protect natural resources during construction, restoration and operation of the project; and 3) it has agreed to consult with federal agencies and Native Americans, if required, and take appropriate compliance actions before beginning construction in any given area.

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