US LNG Export project developer, Tellurian said that its Driftwood LNG project proposed near Lake Charles, Louisiana, on the U.S. Gulf Coast has been granted the final environmental impact statement. 

The United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued the EIS for the approximately 27.6 million ton per annum (mtpa) liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility and an associated 96-mile pipeline, Tellurian said in a statement.

Commenting on the EIS, Tellurian’s president and CEO Meg Gentle said, “We look forward to receiving the agency’s order granting authorization to site, construct and operate our Driftwood project. Tellurian will then stand ready to make a final investment decision and begin construction in the first half of 2019, with the first LNG expected in 2023.”

In its EIS, FERC noted that is looked into the potential environmental effects of the construction and operation of the Driftwood LNG project.

The commission said that the adverse impacts on the environment by the project “would be reduced to less than significant levels with the implementation of Driftwood’s proposed impact avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures and the additional measures recommended by staff in the final EIS.”