Public Record Service

Energy and permitting policy, read from the public record.

Register entry No. 0026Record of decision89 FR 22401; Docket No. CP24-75-000

FERC staff issues final EIS for Sabine Pass Stage 5 LNG expansion, Docket No. CP24-75-001

The final environmental impact statement for three new liquefaction trains in Cameron Parish and a 55.6-mile Texas pipeline arrived on its September 25 target date. It starts a 90-day clock for other federal permits; the Commission's own order and DOE's non-FTA export decision are still ahead.

Entered by
Public Record Service
Date
Sources
8 cited

Summary

Nine hundred fifty billion cubic feet of natural gas a year: that is the liquefaction capacity Cheniere’s Sabine Pass Stage 5 Expansion Project would add in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, according to the application now before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [4]. FERC staff has issued the final environmental impact statement for the project, in a notice dated September 25, 2026 and published in the Federal Register on September 30 at 91 FR 61844, in Docket Nos. CP24-75-001, CP25-505-000 and CP25-506-000 [1]. The applicants are Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC, Sabine Pass Liquefaction Stage V, LLC, Sabine Crossing Pipeline, LLC and Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline, L.P., and they filed under sections 3 and 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act [1, 4].

What the record shows

The final EIS covers three groups of facilities [1]:

  • SPLNG Terminal Expansion: Trains 7, 8 and 9 and appurtenant facilities at the existing Sabine Pass LNG terminal.
  • Sabine Crossing Pipeline: about 55.6 miles of 48-inch pipeline, four 52,500-horsepower modular compressor packages at a new Hamshire Compressor Station, six new meter stations, four pig traps and three mainline valves.
  • Creole Trail aboveground facilities: two 23,470-horsepower compressor packages at the existing Gillis Compressor Station in Beauregard Parish, one 52,500-horsepower package at a new Tarpon Compressor Station in Cameron Parish, and a new 16-inch meter and flow control run inside the terminal.

The application notice gives the scale behind those facilities. Each train would have a maximum capacity of about 300 Bcf a year, or 6.0 mtpa, and a boil-off gas re-liquefaction unit would add another 50 Bcf a year [4]. The pipeline would let Sabine Pass take delivery of up to 2.7 Bcf a day at the terminal, and the Creole Trail work would add up to 0.9 Bcf a day of transportation capacity [4]. Sabine Crossing estimated its pipeline’s cost at $1,626,222,797; Cheniere Creole Trail put its expansion at $390,269,433 [4].

Staff’s conclusion is stated in two parts. The notice says that “for most resources, the construction and operation of the Project would result in limited environmental effects,” but that “some long-term and permanent environmental effects would occur in wetlands, forested lands, visual resources, and on air quality” [1]. It then concludes “that effects would be less than significant” once the applicants’ own avoidance, minimization and mitigation measures and the conditions staff recommends are in place [1]. On the terminal’s design, a preliminary engineering review found “acceptable layers of protection or safeguards” against a hazardous event reaching the offsite public [1].

That language is unchanged from the draft. The April 8 notice of the draft EIS carried the same paragraph, word for word, from “limited environmental effects” through the safeguards finding [2]. One sentence about cooperating agencies did change: the draft notice said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would adopt the EIS to consider a Clean Water Act section 404 permit, and the final notice does not repeat that line [1, 2]. Both notices list the same cooperating agencies: two Corps districts, the Department of Transportation, the Coast Guard, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service and the Department of Energy, each of which will present its own conclusions in its own record of decision where one applies [1, 2].

The application-stage figures give a sense of what the “long-term and permanent” effects refer to. FERC’s 2025 notice of intent said the terminal expansion would disturb about 263.5 acres outside the existing facility and keep about 248.7 acres in operation, that the pipeline would need about 1,209.5 acres for construction and 431.5 acres for operation, and that the project would affect 614 acres of wetlands during construction, with a permanent loss of 91.9 acres [3]. The same notice put total hazardous air pollutant emissions at 52.3 tons [3]. About 35.6 miles of the pipeline, or 64 percent, would run alongside existing pipelines [3].

Where it sits in the process

The docket numbers carry the project’s history. Sabine Pass first filed for Stage 5 on February 29, 2024, in Docket No. CP24-75-000, for two trains of about 7.0 mtpa each, two 220,000-cubic-meter storage tanks and a roll-on, roll-off dock; Sabine Crossing pulled its pipeline out of that joint application on March 13, 2024 [5]. On June 6, 2025, the applicants refiled with a three-train design, with the Sabine Crossing pipeline back in the filing and a Creole Trail expansion added; the three dockets now run together as CP24-75-001, CP25-505-000 and CP25-506-000 [4]. Pre-filing review had run in Docket No. PF23-2-000 since May 30, 2023 [4].

Staff held scoping sessions in Cameron, Louisiana, and Port Arthur, Texas, in October 2023 and in Winnie, Texas, on August 28, 2024, and opened a further comment window that closed September 8, 2025 [3]. The draft EIS followed on April 8, 2026, with an in-person comment session on April 21 at the Sabine Pass Community Center and written comments due May 26 [2]. EPA logged the draft as EIS No. 20260035 [7].

What happens after the Sabine Pass final EIS?

The final EIS met the date FERC set in August 2025. That schedule listed the notice of availability for September 25, 2026 and a “90-day Federal Authorization Decision Deadline” of December 24, 2026 [3]. Under 18 CFR 157.22(a), that deadline applies to other federal agencies, and to state agencies using delegated federal authority, unless federal law sets a different schedule [3]. The June 2025 notice said Sabine Pass needs Clean Water Act section 401 water quality certification from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the Texas Railroad Commission [4].

The Commission’s own decision has no date in the record. The final EIS notice explains the two standards it will apply. For the export terminal, under section 3, FERC “shall authorize the proposal unless it finds that the proposed facilities will not be consistent with the public interest” [1]. For the pipelines, under section 7(c), it decides whether the facilities are in the public convenience and necessity, basing its decision on “both economic issues, including need, and environmental effects” [1].

Where does the DOE export application stand?

Exports run on a separate track at the Department of Energy, in Docket No. 24-27-LNG [6]. DOE granted the free trade agreement portion of the 2024 application in Order No. 5181 on October 17, 2024 [6]. The non-FTA portion was amended on June 6, 2025, the same day as the FERC refiling, to raise the requested volume by 50.54 Bcf a year to 950.0 Bcf a year and to change the term [6]. DOE took protests and comments on the amendment until August 8, 2025 [6]. DOE is one of the cooperating agencies on the EIS [1].

What the record does not show

The notice does not state the final figures. Acreage, wetland loss, emissions and the list of conditions staff recommends are in the EIS volumes, and the Federal Register notice reproduces none of them [1]. Whether those numbers moved from the 2025 notice of intent cannot be read from the notice.

It does not summarize what commenters said on the draft or how staff responded, beyond saying the analysis drew on scoping, information requests and contacts with agencies and other stakeholders [1].

It does not say whether the Corps still intends to adopt the EIS for its section 404 decision. The draft notice said so; the final notice is silent [1, 2].

Names and places shift between documents. The June 2025 notice spells the new compressor site “Hampshire”; the draft and final EIS notices use “Hamshire” [1, 2, 4]. The 2025 notice of intent lists Calcasieu Parish among the affected parishes; the final notice’s project description does not [1, 3]. In its DOE amendment, Sabine Pass asked for a term “from the first commercial exports from the Phase 5 Project,” a phrase that appears nowhere else in the record [6].

And the record does not show when the Commission will vote, whether DOE will act on the non-FTA request before or after it, or the timing of a final investment decision.

Positions on the record

Sabine Pass has explained its export request in its own terms. According to DOE’s notice, the company said it plans to build Stage 5 in two phases, Train 7 first and then Trains 8 and 9, and that its original request for a term ending December 31, 2050 would leave the later trains with less than 20 years of authority; a 25-year term from first exports, it said, solves that [6].

Cheniere described its commercial footing on August 6. The release said a subsidiary signed a lump-sum, turnkey engineering, procurement and construction contract with Bechtel for the first phase in May 2026 and released Bechtel to begin early engineering and procurement under a limited notice to proceed [8]. Cheniere described the first phase as a single train, Train 7, plus the boil-off gas re-liquefaction unit, with expected capacity of over 6 mtpa [8]. The company said a positive final investment decision depends on, among other things, the necessary regulatory approvals, and that both the FERC application and the DOE non-FTA application remained pending [8].

FERC staff’s position is the one in the EIS: less-than-significant effects with mitigation and recommended conditions [1]. The notice says the conclusions belong to staff and that the Commission will weigh them alongside need and the other issues in the dockets [1].

Reading-room questions

Questions readers bring to this record, answered from the documents cited below.

Did FERC approve the Sabine Pass Stage 5 expansion?
No. The final EIS is staff's environmental analysis, and the notice states it is not a decision document [1]. The Commission still has to rule on the applications under sections 3 and 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act [1].
What is the deadline for other federal permits for Sabine Pass Stage 5?
FERC's 2025 schedule set December 24, 2026 as the 90-day federal authorization decision deadline, keyed to a September 25, 2026 final EIS [3]. The deadline covers other federal agencies and state agencies acting under delegated federal authority, unless federal law sets another schedule [3].
How much LNG capacity would Sabine Pass Stage 5 add?
The June 2025 application describes three trains of about 6.0 mtpa each plus a boil-off gas re-liquefaction unit, for a total of 950 Bcf a year, or 19 mtpa [4]. Sabine Pass asked DOE for non-FTA exports of the same 950.0 Bcf a year [6].
Does Sabine Pass Stage 5 have DOE export approval?
Partly. DOE granted the free trade agreement portion in Order No. 5181 on October 17, 2024 [6]. Cheniere's August 6, 2026 release said the non-FTA application was still pending [8].
Which counties and parishes does the Sabine Crossing Pipeline cross?
The final EIS notice places the 48-inch pipeline and its aboveground facilities in Liberty, Chambers and Jefferson Counties, Texas, and Cameron Parish, Louisiana [1]. The Gillis Compressor Station expansion is in Beauregard Parish [1].

Note on sourcing

This report draws on FERC's Federal Register notices for the project, not on the final EIS volumes themselves; the acreage, wetland and emissions figures quoted are from the August 2025 notice of intent and describe the application as filed, and the final EIS may revise them. It does not draw on comments or protests filed in the FERC dockets or at DOE, so the views of intervenors and commenters are not represented here. Cheniere's statements on contracting and financing are the company's own. No DOE non-FTA export order for Docket No. 24-27-LNG had appeared in the Federal Register as of publication, and the final EIS notice sets no date for a Commission decision.

Sources

  1. Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC, Sabine Pass Liquefaction Stage V, LLC, Sabine Crossing Pipeline, LLC, Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline, L.P.; Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Sabine Pass Stage 5 Expansion Project, 91 FR 61844 (FR Doc. 2026-19983)Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, September 30, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  2. Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC; Sabine Pass Liquefaction Stage V, LLC; Sabine Crossing Pipeline, LLC; Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline, L.P.: Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Sabine Pass Stage 5 Expansion Project, 91 FR 17803 (FR Doc. 2026-06766)Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, April 8, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  3. Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Sabine Pass Stage 5 Expansion Project, Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, and Schedule for Environmental Review, 90 FR 38971 (FR Doc. 2025-15362)Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, August 13, 2025 · federalregister.gov
  4. Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC; Sabine Pass Liquefaction Stage V, LLC; Sabine Crossing, LLC; Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline, L.P; Notice of Application and Establishing Intervention Deadline, 90 FR 26808 (FR Doc. 2025-11578)Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, June 24, 2025 · federalregister.gov
  5. Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC; Sabine Pass Liquefaction Stage V, LLC; Sabine Crossing, LLC; Notice Accepting Application, Docket No. CP24-75-000, 89 FR 22401 (FR Doc. 2024-06773)Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, April 1, 2024 · federalregister.gov
  6. Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC and Sabine Pass Liquefaction Stage V, LLC; Amendment to Application for Long-Term Authorization To Export Liquefied Natural Gas to Non-Free Trade Agreement Nations, Docket No. 24-27-LNG, 90 FR 30221 (FR Doc. 2025-12762)U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, July 9, 2025 · federalregister.gov
  7. Environmental Impact Statements; Notice of Availability (EIS No. 20260035), 91 FR 18456 (FR Doc. 2026-06965)U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, April 10, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  8. Cheniere Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results and Raises Full Year 2026 Financial GuidanceCheniere Energy, Inc., August 6, 2026 · lngir.cheniere.com

Subject headings

Cross-references

Other register entries filed under the same subject headings.

  1. No. 0015 · Report · 5 shared headingsFERC opens scoping on Venture Global's CP2 LNG Expansion Project, Docket Nos. CP26-530 and CP26-533
  2. No. 0030 · Report · 3 shared headingsFERC opens scoping on Longboard LNG import terminal off Oʻahu, Docket No. PF26-10-000
  3. No. 0031 · Floor order · 2 shared headingsSenate order sets Nov. 9 cloture vote on motion to proceed to H.R. 2347, the vehicle for a permitting package