[Federal Register: September 4, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 171)]
[Notices]
[Page 52592-52593]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04se03-55]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
[USCG-2003-14294]
El Paso Energy Bridge Gulf of Mexico, LLC Deepwater Port License
Application
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS, and Maritime Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of public hearing; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the U.S. Maritime
Administration (MARAD) will hold a public hearing to receive
information relevant to the issuance or denial of the requisite federal
license for the proposed El Paso Energy Bridge Gulf of Mexico, LLC
(Energy Bridge GOM) Deepwater Port project. The proposed Energy Bridge
GOM Deepwater Port would be located in West Cameron Area, South
Addition, Block 603 (WC603) in the Central Area of the Gulf of Mexico,
approximately 106 miles due south of the Louisiana coastline. We
encourage interested individuals and organizations to attend the public
hearing and submit comments. We also seek comments from anyone unable
to attend the public hearing. In conjunction with the public hearing,
the USCG and MARAD will also hold an informational open house regarding
the proposed Energy Bridge GOM Deepwater Port project.
DATES: The public hearing will be held on Friday, October 3, 2003, 3
p.m. to 6 p.m., in New Orleans, Louisiana. The informational open house
will be held on Friday, October 3, 2003, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., in New
Orleans, LA. The public hearing may be adjourned as early as 5 p.m. if
there is no significant attendance or participation during the first
two hours. The public hearing will continue beyond 6 p.m. if necessary
to ensure all individuals present at that time who wish to comment have
an opportunity to do so.
Comments intended for inclusion in the public docket [USCG-2003-
14294] must reach the Docket Management Facility on or before November
17, 2003.
ADDRESSES: The public hearing and informational open house will be held
at the following location: New Orleans Marriott, 555 Canal Street, New
Orleans, Louisiana 70130, (504) 581-1000.
You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket number
USCG-2003-14294 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S.
Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one
of the following methods:
(1) Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov.
(2) Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(3) Fax: 202-493-2251.
(4) Delivery: Room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif
Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone
number is 202-366-9329.
(5) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information concerning
this notice, the Energy Bridge GOM Deepwater Port license application,
or the public hearing or informational open house, contact Commander
Mark Prescott, U.S. Coast Guard at (202) 267-0225 or
mprescott@comdt.uscg.mil. For questions on viewing or submitting
material to the docket, call Ms. Andrea Jenkins, Program Manager,
Docket Operations, Department of Transportation, at (202) 366-0271.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation and Request for Comments
Whether or not you attend the public hearing or informational open
house, we encourage you to submit written comments and related
materials. All comments received will be posted, without change, to
http://dms.dot.gov and will include any personal information you have
provided. We have an agreement with the Department of Transportation
(DOT) to use the Docket Management Facility. Please see DOT's ``Privacy
Act'' paragraph below.
Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include your
name and address, identify the docket number [USCG-2003-14294],
indicate your specific concern, and give the reason for each comment.
You may submit your comments and material by electronic means, mail,
fax, or delivery to the Docket Management Facility at the address under
ADDRESSES; but please submit your comments and material by only one
means. If you submit them by mail or delivery, submit them in an
unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for
copying and electronic filing. If you submit them by mail and would
like to know that they reached the Facility, please enclose a stamped,
self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all comments and
material received during the comment period.
Viewing comments and documents: To view comments, as well as
documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket,
go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time and conduct a simple search using
the docket number USCG-2003-14294. You may also visit the Docket
Management Facility in room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif
Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review the
Department of Transportation's Privacy Act Statement in the Federal
Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may visit
http://dms.dot.gov.
Public Hearing/Informational Open House
The Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration will hold a public
hearing from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, October 3, 2003, at the New
Orleans Marriott, 555 Canal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. An
informational open house will be held prior to the public meeting from
1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the same location. We invite the public and
representatives of interested agencies to attend and provide comments
on the proposed license application. If you plan to attend the public
hearing or informational open house and need special assistance, such
as sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodations,
contact the U.S. Coast Guard as indicated in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
[[Page 52593]]
Proposed Deepwater Port Background Information
The proposed Energy Bridge GOM Deepwater Port would deliver natural
gas to the United States Gulf Coast using existing gas supply and
gathering systems in the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana. Gas would then
be delivered to shippers using the national pipeline grid through
interconnections with major interstate and intrastate pipelines.
The project would consist of a Submerged Turret Loading (STL)
system that would be comprised of a submerged turret buoy; chains,
lines, and anchors; a flexible riser; and a subsea manifold. A 20-inch
seabed pipeline would be constructed as part of the project.
Liquified natural gas (LNG) would be transported on an El Paso
Energy Bridge Vessel (EPEBV) from various sources worldwide. When the
EPEBV, a conventional LNG tanker fitted with regasification equipment
on board the vessel, reached the location of the Deepwater Port, it
would retrieve and connect to the STL system. The submerged buoy would
be raised from its subsurface location, and drawn into an opening in
the hull of the vessel. After the buoy was attached to the vessel, the
on-board LNG regasification process would commence. The gas would then
be discharged through the buoy into the subsea flexible riser, to the
manifold, and finally to the pipeline which would enable additional
natural gas supplies to enter key domestic markets in the United
States.
License Application Background Information
The Energy Bridge GOM Deepwater Port license application was
submitted to the Secretary of Transportation on December 20, 2002. The
license application calls for construction of the Energy Bridge GOM
Deepwater Port in an area situated in the Central Area of the Gulf of
Mexico, approximately 106 miles south of the Louisiana coastline, in
West Cameron Area, South Addition, Block 603 (WC603). Additional
information concerning the contents of the application can be found
online at http://dms.dot.gov under docket number USCG-2003-14294, or in
the notice of application published in the Federal Register at 68 FR
3299 (January 23, 2003). This public hearing is being held pursuant to
33 U.S.C. 1504(g) to receive information relevant to the issuance or
denial of the requisite federal license for the proposed Energy Bridge
GOM Deepwater Port project.
Procedural
Any person who wishes may appear and speak or present evidence at
this public hearing. Persons planning to speak at the hearing should
contact the U.S. Coast Guard as indicated in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT, any time prior to the hearing, indicating the approximate
amount of time required. Written statements and exhibits may be
submitted in place of or in addition to oral statements and will be
made a part of the hearing record. Written statements and exhibits may
be delivered before or during the hearing, or they may be submitted for
up to 45 days following the date of the hearing to the Docket
Management Facility listed under ADDRESSES.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security, and Environmental
Protection, Coast Guard.
Raymond R. Barberisi,
Director, Office of Ports and Domestic Shipping, U.S. Maritime
Administration.
[FR Doc. 03-22528 Filed 9-3-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P