Public Scoping Session for the Desert Southwest Expansion Project (PF26-9-000) (Deming, NM)

Docket No. PF26-9-000

This notice announces the opening of the scoping process the Commission will use to gather input from the public and interested agencies regarding the Project.  As part of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process, the Commission takes into account concerns the public may have about proposals and the environmental effects that could result from its action whenever it considers the issuance of a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.  This gathering of public input is referred to as “scoping.”  The main goal of the scoping process is to focus the analysis in the environmental document on the important environmental issues.  Additional information about the Commission’s NEPA process is described below in the NEPA Process and Environmental Document section of this notice. 

Comments

By this notice, the Commission requests public comments on the scope of issues to address in the environmental document.  To ensure that your comments are timely and properly recorded, please submit your comments so that the Commission receives them in Washington, DC on or before 5:00 pm Eastern Time on August 5, 2026.  Comments may be submitted in written or oral form.  Further details on how to submit comments are provided in the Public Participation section of this notice.

Your comments should focus on the potential environmental effects, reasonable alternatives, and measures to avoid or lessen environmental effects.  Your input will help the Commission staff determine what issues they need to evaluate in the environmental document.  Commission staff will consider all written and oral comments during the preparation of the environmental document.  

If you submitted comments on this project to the Commission before the opening of this docket on March 27, 2026, you will need to file those comments in Docket No. PF26-9-000 to ensure they are considered. 

The primary goal of these scoping sessions is to have you identify the specific environmental issues and concerns that should be considered in the environmental document.  Individual oral comments will be taken on a one-on-one basis with a court reporter.  This format is designed to receive the maximum amount of oral comments in a convenient way during the timeframe allotted.

Each scoping session is scheduled from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm local time.  You may arrive at any time after 5:00 pm.  There will not be a formal presentation by Commission staff when the session opens.  If you wish to speak, the Commission staff will hand out numbers in the order of your arrival.  Comments will be taken until 7:00 pm.  However, if no additional numbers have been handed out and all individuals who wish to provide comments have had an opportunity to do so, staff may conclude the session at 6:30 pm.  Please see appendix 1 for additional information on the session format and conduct.[1]

Your scoping comments will be recorded by a court reporter (with FERC staff or representative present) and become part of the public record for this proceeding.  Transcripts will be publicly available on FERC’s eLibrary system (see the last page of this notice for instructions on using eLibrary).  If a significant number of people are interested in providing oral comments in the one-on-one settings, a time limit of 5 minutes may be implemented for each commentor. 

It is important to note that the Commission provides equal consideration to all comments received, whether filed in written form or provided orally at a scoping session.  Although there will not be a formal presentation, Commission staff will be available throughout the scoping session to answer your questions about the environmental review process.  Representatives from Transwestern will also be present to answer project-specific questions.