[Federal Register: February 27, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 39)]
[Page 9348-9349]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27fe04-75]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
[USCG-2004-16860]
Gulf Landing LLC Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port License
Application; Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS; and Maritime Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of intent; notice of public meeting; and request for
public comments.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD)
announce their intent to prepare an environmental impact statement
(EIS), and hold a public meeting/informational open house to discuss
issues to be addressed in the EIS, for the project described in the
Gulf Landing LLC Deepwater Port License Application. The plan
description in the license application calls for construction of a
liquefied natural gas (LNG) Deepwater Port known as ``Gulf Landing'',
associated anchorages, and pipeline connections in the Gulf of Mexico,
approximately 38 miles south of Cameron Parish, Louisiana, located in
55 feet of water in Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Block West Cameron
213. The Coast Guard seeks public and agency input on the scope of the
EIS. Specifically, the Coast Guard requests input on any environmental
concerns that the public may have related to the proposal to construct
a new Deepwater Port, sources of relevant data or information, and any
suggested analysis methods for inclusion in the EIS.
DATES: The public meeting will be held March 16, 2004, from 1 p.m. to 5
p.m., in Lafayette, LA. Comments and related material must reach the
Docket on or before April 15, 2004.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting/open house location is: Marriott
Courtyard, 214 East Kaliste Saloon Road, Lafayette, LA 70508, phone
number (337) 232-5005.
You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket number
USCG-2004-16860 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.
The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this
notice. Comments will become part of this docket and will be available
for inspection or copying in Room PL-401, located on the Plaza Level of
the Nassif Building at the above address between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except for Federal holidays. You may also view
this docket, including this notice and comments, on the Internet at
http://dms.dot.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
the project, or the meeting, call Lieutenant Derek Dostie at 202-267-
0626, or email at ddostie@comdt.uscg.mil. If you have questions on
viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Andrea M. Jenkins,
Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-0271.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Submitting Comments
You may submit comments and related materials on this notice, the
public meeting, or concerning the application. Persons submitting
comments should include their names and addresses, the docket number
(USCG-2004-16860), and the reasons for each comment. You may submit
your comments and materials by mail, hand delivery, fax, or electronic
means to the Docket Management Facility at the address given under
ADDRESSES; but please submit your comments and materials by only one
means. If you choose to submit them by mail or hand delivery, submit
them in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, and
suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you submit them by mail
and would like to know if they reach the facility, please enclose a
stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all
comments and materials received during the comment period. 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 their
Docket Management Facility. Please see DOT's ``Privacy Act'' paragraph
below.
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. 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
.
Background Information
On November 3, 2003, the Coast Guard and MARAD received an
application from Gulf Landing LLC (``Gulf Landing''), 1301 McKinney,
Suite 700, Houston, Texas 77010 for all federal authorizations required
for a license to own, construct and operate a deepwater port off the
coast of Louisiana. Supplemental information was furnished at our
request on December 12, 2003. On January 5, 2004, we determined that
the application contained all information required by the Deepwater
Port Act and a Notice of Application was published in the Federal
Register on January 22, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 14). The application
and related documentation supplied by the applicant (except for certain
protected information specified in 33 U.S.C. 1513) may be viewed in the
public docket (see ADDRESSES).
[[Page 9349]]
According to the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended (the Act;
33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.), a deepwater port is a fixed or floating
manmade structure other than a vessel, or a group of structures,
located beyond State seaward boundaries and used or intended for use as
a port or terminal for the transportation, storage, and further
handling of oil or natural gas for transportation to any State.
A deepwater port must be licensed, and the Act provides that a
license applicant submit detailed plans for its facility to the
Secretary of Transportation, along with its application. The Secretary
has delegated the processing of deepwater port applications to the
Coast Guard and MARAD. The Act provides, ``For all applications, the
Secretary, in cooperation with other involved Federal agencies and
departments, shall comply with the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).'' This notice is intended to meet the
requirements of NEPA and to provide general information about the
procedure that will be followed in complying with NEPA.
Proposed Action
The Coast Guard intends to prepare an EIS consistent with the
Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended (the Act, 33 U.S.C. 1501 et
seq.) NEPA (Section 102(2)(c), as implemented by the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508),
Department of Transportation (DOT) Order 5610C (Procedures for
Considering Environmental Impacts), and Coast Guard Policy
(Commandant's Instruction (COMDTINST) M16475.1D). The Coast Guard
anticipates having several cooperating agencies in this endeavor.
NEPA requires Federal agencies to consider environmental impacts
that may result from a proposed action, to inform the public of
potential impacts and alternatives, and to facilitate public
involvement in the assessment process. The EIS describes in detail the
nature and extent of the environmental impacts of the Proposed Action
and each alternative, and discusses appropriate mitigation measures for
any adverse impacts. An EIS includes, among other matters, discussions
of the purpose and need for the Proposed Action, a description of
alternatives, a description of the affected environment, and an
evaluation of the environmental impacts of the Proposed Action and
alternatives.
The Gulf Landing EIS will assess the impacts of the alternatives,
including but not limited to, approving, approving with conditions or
not approving (No Action Alternative) the license application to
construct and operate Gulf Landing, on the natural and human
environment. The application plan calls for construction of a deepwater
port and associated anchorages in an area situated in the Gulf of
Mexico, approximately 38 miles south of Cameron, Louisiana in West
Cameron Block 213, in water depth of approximately 55 feet, and
adjacent to an existing shipping fairway servicing the Calcasieu River
and area ports.
Gulf Landing's terminal would be capable of storing up to 180,000
cubic meters of LNG and vaporizing up to 1.2 billion cubic feet per
day. Gulf Landing proposes to construct, own, and operate up to 5
pipelines that would interconnect with existing natural gas pipelines
located in the Gulf of Mexico. Gas would then be delivered to the
onshore national pipeline grid for delivery to any consumption market
east of the Rocky Mountains.
The project would consist of two concrete gravity base structures
(GBSs) housing the LNG containment facilities, along with topside
unloading and vaporization structures, living quarters, and a ship
berthing system.
The terminal would be able to receive LNG carriers with cargo
capacities between 125,000 and 160,000 cubic meters and unload up to
135 LNG carriers per year. LNG carrier arrival frequency would be
planned to match specified terminal gas delivery rates. All marine
systems, communication, navigation aids and equipment necessary to
conduct safe LNG carrier operations and receiving of cargo during
specified atmospheric and sea states would be provided at the port.
The regasification process would consist of lifting the LNG from
storage tanks, pumping the cold liquid to pipeline pressure, subsequent
vaporization of the LNG across heat exchanging equipment and send-out
through custody transfer metering to the gas pipeline network. No gas
conditioning is required for the terminal since the incoming LNG would
be pipeline quality.
Five offshore pipelines, ranging from 16 to 36 inches in diameter,
would be constructed and would transverse a combined 65.7 nautical
miles. Each pipeline would transport gas from the terminal to an
existing transmission pipeline where it would deliver the gas to the
onshore U.S. gas pipeline network. On average, Gulf Landing expects the
terminal would vaporize and deliver 1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcfd)
of natural gas to the pipelines, with a peak daily send out rate of 1.2
Bcfd.
As required by NEPA, the Coast Guard also will analyze the No
Action Alternative as a baseline for comparing the impacts of the
proposed project. For the purposes of this project, the No Action
Alternative is defined as not approving the Gulf Landing LLC Deepwater
Port License Application. The Coast Guard encourages public
participation in the EIS process. The scoping period will begin upon
publication of this notice in the Federal Register and continue for a
period of thirty (30) days. As part of the scoping process, and as
authorized by 40 CFR 1508.22(b)(4), the Coast Guard and MARAD will hold
a public scoping meeting and informational open house in Lafayette,
Louisiana, on March 16, 2004, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Marriott
Courtyard, 214 East Kaliste Saloon Road, Lafayette, LA 70505-2286,
(337) 232-5005. Public comments will be accepted at that meeting and
can also be submitted to the docket, as previously described under
ADDRESSES. If special assistance is required to attend the meeting,
such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable
accommodations, contact the U.S. Coast Guard as indicated in FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Following the scoping process, the Coast Guard will prepare a draft
EIS. A Notice of Availability will be published in the Federal Register
when the draft EIS is available. Public notices will be mailed or
emailed to those who have requested a copy of the draft EIS. The public
will be provided an opportunity to review the draft EIS and to offer
appropriate comments.
Comments received during the draft EIS review period will be
available in the public docket and made available in the final EIS. A
Notice of Availability of the final EIS will also be published in the
Federal Register.
Dated: February 24, 2004.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security, and Environmental
Protection, U.S. Coast Guard.
Raymond R. Barberesi,
Director, Office of Ports and Domestic Shipping, U.S. Maritime
Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-4408 Filed 2-24-04; 2:45 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P