[Federal Register: April 21, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 76)]
[Notices]
[Page 20762-20764]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21ap05-67]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
[USCG-2004-18474]
Pearl Crossing LNG Terminal LLC Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater
Port License Application; Draft Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS; Maritime Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of availability; notice of public meeting; request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD)
announce the availability of the draft environmental impact statement
(DEIS) on the Pearl Crossing LLC Deepwater Port License Application and
Pearl Crossing Pipeline LLC Application for a Certificate of Public
Convenience and
[[Page 20763]]
Necessity. The application describes a project that would be located in
the Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf West Cameron Block 220,
approximately 41 miles south of Cameron, Louisiana. The Coast Guard and
the Maritime Administration, as well as the cooperating agencies (i.e.,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
request public comment on the DEIS.
DATES: The DEIS will be available on April 22, 2005. Three public
meetings will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and each will be preceded
by an informational open house from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The first
meeting will be held in Sulphur, Louisiana on Tuesday, May 3, 2005. The
second meeting will be held in Johnsons Bayou, Louisiana on Wednesday,
May 4, 2005. The third meeting will be held in Portland, Texas on
Thursday, May 5, 2005. The public meetings may end later than the
stated time, depending on the number of persons wishing to speak.
Material submitted in response to the request for comments must reach
the Docket Management Facility on or before June 7, 2005.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting and informational open house in Sulphur,
Louisiana, will be held at the Holiday Inn Express, 102 Mallard Street,
phone: 337-625-2500.
The public meeting and informational open house in Johnsons Bayou,
Louisiana, will be held at the Johnsons Bayou Community Center, 5556
Gulf Beach Highway, phone: 337-569-2815.
The public meeting and informational open house in Portland, Texas,
will be held at the City of Portland Recreation Department, 2000 Billy
G. Webb Drive, phone: 361-777-3301.
Address docket submissions for USCG-2004-18474 to: Docket
Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
The Docket Management Facility accepts hand-delivered submissions,
and makes docket contents available for public inspection and copying,
at this address, in room PL-401, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays. The Facility's telephone is
202-366-9329, its fax is 202-493-2251, and its Web site for electronic
submissions or for electronic access to docket contents is http://dms.dot.gov
.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
call Lieutenant Ken Kusano, U.S. Coast Guard at 202-267-1184, or e-mail
at KKusano@comdt.uscg.mil. If you have questions on viewing or
submitting material to the docket, call Andrea Jenkins, Program
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-0271.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Meeting and Open House
We invite you to learn about the proposed deepwater port at the
informational open house, and to comment at the public meeting on the
proposed action and the evaluation contained in the DEIS.
Please notify the Coast Guard (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT)
if you wish to speak at the public meeting. In order to allow everyone
a chance to speak, we may limit speaker time, or extend the meeting
hours, or both. You must identify yourself, and any organization you
represent, by name. Your remarks will be recorded or transcribed for
inclusion in the public docket.
You may submit written material at the public meeting, either in
place of or in addition to speaking. Written material must include your
name and address, and will be included in the public docket.
Public docket materials will be made available to the public on the
Docket Management Facility's Docket Management System (DMS). See
``Request for Comments'' for information about DMS and your rights
under the Privacy Act.
If you plan to attend either the open house or the public meeting,
and need special assistance such as sign language interpretation or
other reasonable accommodation, please notify the Coast Guard (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) at least 3 business days in advance.
Include your contact information as well as information about your
specific needs.
Request for Comments
We request public comments or other relevant information on the
DEIS. The public meeting is not the only opportunity you have to
comment on the DEIS. In addition to or in place of attending the
meeting, you can submit material to the Docket Management Facility
during the public comment period (see DATES). The Coast Guard will
consider all comments submitted during the public comment period, and
then will prepare the final EIS. We will announce the availability of
the final EIS and once again give you an opportunity for review and
comment. (If you want that notice to be sent to you, please contact the
Coast Guard officer identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Submissions should include:
Docket number USCG-2004-18474.
Your name and address.
Your reasons for making each comment or for bringing
information to our attention.
Submit comments or material using only one of the following
methods:
Electronic submission to DMS, http://dms.dot.gov.
Fax, mail, or hand delivery to the Docket Management
Facility (see ADDRESSES). Faxed or hand delivered submissions must be
unbound, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, and suitable for copying
and electronic scanning. If you mail your submission and want to know
when it reaches the Facility, include a stamped, self-addressed
postcard or envelope.
Regardless of the method used for submitting comments or material,
all submissions will be posted, without change, to the DMS Web site
(http://dms.dot.gov), and will include any personal information you
provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public. You
may wish to read the Privacy Act notice that is available on the DMS
Web site, or the Department of Transportation Privacy Act Statement
that appeared in the Federal Register on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477).
You may view docket submissions at the Docket Management Facility
(see ADDRESSES), or electronically on the DMS Web site.
Proposed Action
We published a notice of intent to prepare an EIS for the proposed
Pearl Crossing LNG Terminal LLC deepwater port in the Federal Register
at 69 FR 50395, Aug, 16, 2004. The proposed action requiring
environmental review is the Federal licensing of the proposed deepwater
port described in ``Summary of the Application'' below, which is
reprinted from previous Federal Register notices in this docket.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
The alternatives to licensing are: (1) Licensing with conditions
(including conditions designed to mitigate environmental impact), and
(2) denying the application, which for purposes of environmental review
is the ``no-action'' alternative. These alternatives are more fully
discussed in the DEIS.
Summary of the Application
The application calls for the proposed deepwater port to be located
outside State waters in the Gulf of Mexico on the U.S. Outer
Continental Shelf, approximately 41 miles (66 kilometers) south of the
Louisiana coast in West Cameron Block 220. It would be located in a
water depth of approximately 62 feet (19 meters). The proposed Pearl
[[Page 20764]]
Crossing liquefied natural gas (LNG) deepwater port terminal would
serve as the platform for facilities to offload and regasify LNG.
The deepwater port terminal would include two concrete gravity-
based LNG storage tanks, LNG carrier berthing provisions, LNG unloading
arms, low and high pressure pumps, vaporizers, metering, utility
systems, general facilities, and accommodations for up to 60 persons.
The total net working capacity of the two integral LNG storage tanks
would be 250,000 cubic meters. Pearl Crossing proposes to regasify the
LNG using an open rack vaporization system. The terminal would have the
ability to accommodate two LNG carriers having capacities ranging from
125,000 to 250,000 cubic meters per vessel. The terminal would be
designed to have an average delivery of approximately 2.0 billion cubic
feet per day of pipeline quality gas.
The applicant proposes to install two 42-inch-diameter (1.1-meter)
offshore pipelines that would originate at the terminal and traverse
the Gulf of Mexico in a northwesterly direction to the high water mark
near Johnsons Bayou in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Each offshore
pipeline would have a throughput capacity of 1.4 billion standard cubic
feet per day (Bscfd) for a total peak capacity of 2.8 Bscfd.
Thereafter, the pipelines would continue onshore to multiple gas
delivery points in Louisiana and come under FERC jurisdiction as Pearl
Crossing Pipeline LLC. Pearl Crossing Pipeline LLC would transport
natural gas from the terminal/s two offshore pipelines to a metering
and distribution station in Johnsons Bayou for delivery to several
interstate and intrastate pipelines near the station. Once onshore, an
additional 63.75 miles (102.6 kilometers) of 42-inch-diameter (1.1-
meter) pipeline and five additional meter stations would be
constructed. The pipeline would terminate near Starks, Louisiana.
The project application includes a fabrication site where the
applicant proposes to construct the concrete GBS and its integral
components prior to towing the GBS out to the offshore LNG Terminal
site. The DEIS evaluates three potential fabrication sites located
within San Patricio and Nueces Counties, Texas, near Corpus Christi,
Texas.
Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity
The onshore portion of this project shoreward of the mean high
water line falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) and must receive a separate authorization
from the FERC. As required by their regulations, FERC will also
maintain a docket. The FERC docket numbers for this project are CP04-
374-000, CP04-375-000 and CP04-376-000. To submit comments to the FERC
docket, send an original and two copies of your comments to Secretary,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888, First St., NE., Room 1A,
Washington, DC 20426. Label one copy of the comments to the Attention
of Gas Branch 2. The FERC strongly encourages electronic filing of any
comments or interventions or protests to this proceeding. See 18 CFR
385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the FERC's Web site at
http://www.ferc.gov under the ``e-Filing'' link and the link to the
Users Guide. Additional information about the project is available from
the Commission's Office of External Affairs at 1-866-208 FERC (3372) or
on the FERC Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov). Using the
``eLibrary'' link, select ``General Search'' from the eLibrary menu,
enter the selected date range and ``Docket Number'' (i.e., CP04-374,
CP04-375 or CP04-376), and follow the instructions. Searches may also
be done using the phrase ``Pearl Crossing'' in the ``Text Search''
field. For assistance with access to eLibrary, the helpline can be
reached at 1-866-208-3676, TTY 202-502-8659, or at
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. The eLibrary link on the FERC Internet Web
site also provides access to the texts of formal documents issued by
the Commission, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings.
In addition, the FERC now offers a free service called
eSubscription that allows you to keep track of all formal issuances and
submittals in specific dockets. This can reduce the amount of time you
spend researching proceedings by automatically providing you with
notification of these filings, document summaries, and direct links to
the documents. To register for this service, go to http://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm
.
Department of Army Permit
New Orleans District, Army Corps of Engineers is issuing a public
notice advising all interested parties of the proposed activity for
which a Department of the Army permit is being sought and soliciting
comments and information necessary to evaluate the probable impact on
the public interest. Comments should be furnished to the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, OD-SW, PO Box 60267, New
Orleans, LA 70160-0267.
Dated: April 14, 2005.
Howard L. Hime,
Acting Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security, and
Environmental Protection, U.S. Coast Guard.
H. Keith Lesnick,
Senior Transportation, Specialist, Deepwater Ports, Program Manager,
U.S. Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 05-8006 Filed 4-20-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P