Public Notice: Opportunity to comment on a Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification for the "CO2 Sequestration Pipeline Phase II Project” under USACE CWA Section 404 Nationwide Permit 58
Summary
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received a request from Southern Ute Growth Fund on behalf of Red Cedar Gathering Company as its authorized agent for a Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 water quality certification (WQC) for the above project. Section 401(a)(1) of the CWA requires applicants for Federal permits and licenses that may result in any discharge into waters of the United States to obtain certification or waiver from the certifying authority where the discharge would originate. Where no state agency or Tribe has authority to give such certification, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the certifying authority. In this case, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe has authority to provide CWA Section 401 certification for discharges occurring within any lands on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation that are held in trust by the United States for that Tribe. However, neither the State of Colorado nor the Southern Ute Indian Tribe has the authority to provide CWA Section 401 certification for discharges occurring within any lands on the Reservation that are not held in trust by the United States for that Tribe.
Action
EPA will act on this certification request by July 12, 2024, by either: (1) granting certification; (2) granting certification with conditions; (3) denying certification; or (4) expressly waiving certification consistent with CWA Section 401 and the EPA’s implementing regulations at 40 CFR 121.
The proposed project would be covered under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) CWA Section 404 Nationwide Permit (NWP) 58 which authorizes utility line activities for water and other substances and addresses impacts to Waters of the U.S. from pipeline activities that are not related to oil, natural gas, or petrochemicals.
Applicant’s Name: Red Cedar Gathering Company
Waterways: Pine Gulch and a tributary to Pine Gulch within the exterior boundaries of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation
Location: Pine Gulch (37.137610 -107.785532) and Tributary to Pine Gulch (37.145364 -107.778438) in the Florida River watershed
Project Description: The proposed project would capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the SIMCOE LLC and Harvest Midstream plants near the Durango – La Plata County airport and deliver the gas to Red Cedar’s Arkansas Loop/Simpson Gas Treating Facility approximately 6 miles to the south. The proposed pipeline would be trenched through two perennial drainages south and east of the Harvest Midstream facility resulting in potential impacts to Waters of the U.S. within the exterior boundaries of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation.
Public Hearings: Any person may request, in writing, within the comment period specified in this notice, that a public hearing be held to consider this application. If the EPA determines that a public hearing is appropriate or necessary, the EPA will schedule a public hearing. You may request a public hearing using the information in the “How to Comment” box on the righthand side of this webpage.
Public Comments
All comments received prior to the end of the comment period will be considered in the preparation of the Clean Water Action Section 401 Water Quality Certification and will be part of the administrative record. The written comment is considered the official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. Submit comments as described in the box at right.
Notification and details of any public comment period extension will only be posted on this page.
At this time there is no opportunity to review the submitted material and documents in person at an EPA office. These documents are only available electronically and can be provided upon request. Do not submit any information you consider to be Confidential Business Information. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. Interested parties on our email list will also be notified by email. If you are unable to submit electronically or to request additional information, public notice updates, submit comments or provide additional information relevant to this certification, please contact Estella Moore, or the applicant at the contact information provided below.
Estella Moore (R8CWA401@epa.gov)
Life Scientist
Water Division | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8
Telephone Number: (303) 312-6357
PROJECT APPLICANT
Red Cedar Gathering Company
Dan Jefferson (djefferson@redcedargathering.com)
970-764-6900
Agent’s Name:
Southern Ute Growth Fund
Steve Kem (Skem@sugf.com)
970-764-6491