[Federal Register: September 2, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 170)]
[Notices]
[Page 52375-52377]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02se05-58]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket Nos. CP05-83-000, CP05-84-000, CP05-85-000, CP05-86-000]
Port Arthur LNG, L.P.; Port Arthur Pipeline, L.P.; Notice of
Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Draft
General Conformity Determination for the Port Arthur LNG Project
August 26, 2005.
The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or
Commission) has prepared this draft Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) for the construction and operation of the liquefied natural gas
(LNG) import terminal and natural gas pipeline facilities (referred to
as the Port Arthur LNG Project or Project) as proposed by Port Arthur
LNG, L.P. and Port Arthur Pipeline, L.P. (collectively Sempra) in the
above-referenced dockets.
The draft EIS was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The staff concludes that
approval of the Port Arthur LNG Project, with appropriate mitigating
measures as recommended, would have limited adverse environmental
impact. The draft EIS evaluates alternatives to the proposal,
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including system alternatives, alternative sites for the LNG import
terminal, and pipeline alternatives. The draft EIS also contains our
draft General Conformity Analysis and Essential Fish Habitat Analysis.
The purpose of the Port Arthur LNG Project is to allow access to
LNG supplies and thus provide a new, stable source of between 1.5 and
3.0 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to supplement the
diminishing supplies while utilizing, to the extent practicable, the
existing natural gas pipeline infrastructure within the Gulf of Mexico
region of the U.S.; and allow natural gas delivery to markets in the
Midwestern and Northeastern markets by use of existing interstate
natural gas pipeline systems. Sempra's proposed facilities would be
constructed in two phases and would ultimately provide an average of
3.0 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to the existing pipeline
infrastructure in Texas and Louisiana, and to potential other end-users
in the Midwestern and Northeastern natural gas markets.
The draft EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the
construction and operation of the following facilities in Jefferson and
Orange Counties, Texas, and Cameron, Calcasieu, and Beauregard
Parishes, Louisiana:
A protected LNG unloading slip with ship maneuvering area
(turning basin);
LNG ship unloading system consisting of two berths each
consisting of four 16-inch unloading arms and one 16-inch vapor return
arm, mooring and breasting dolphins, gangway tower, firewater monitors,
service utilities and associated valves and piping. LNG transfer from
the ship to the on-shore storage system would be through two 36-inch-
diameter unloading lines, one per berth. Each berth would be sized for
an unloading rate of 17,500 cubic meters per hour (m\3\/hr); although,
only one ship would be unloaded at a time during Phase I;
LNG storage system consisting of a total of six full-
containment LNG storage tanks each with a nominal capacity of 160,000
cubic meters (m\3\) (1,006,000 barrels). Each tank would be equipped
with three can-type, fully submerged LNG in-tank pumps sized for 2,976
gallons per minute (gpm) each;
Boil-off gas (BOG) recovery system consisting of 4
reciprocating BOG compressors each sized for 13,887 pounds per hour
(lb/hr), four integrally geared return gas blowers, each sized for
32,228 lb/hr, and one direct-contact recondenser;
LNG transfer system to transfer LNG from the recondenser
to the send-out LNG vaporizers. The transfer system would consist of 16
pot-mounted LNG booster pumps (two being spares) each sized for 1,964
gpm;
LNG vaporization system consisting of 12 shell-and-tube
LNG vaporizers (two being spares) each sized for 0.305 Bcf/d. The heat
source to the vaporizers would be heated water;
Hot water heating system consisting of 8 gas-fired hot
water heaters each sized for 348 million British thermal units per hour
(MMBtu/hr) and 6 centrifugal hot water circulation pumps (two being
spares) each sized for 11,727 gpm;
Emergency vent system; LNG spill containment system; fire
water system; fuel gas, nitrogen, instrument/plant air and service
water utility systems; various hazard detection, control, and
prevention systems; and cryogenic piping, electrical, and
instrumentation systems;
Utilities, buildings and support facilities; facilities
for pig launchers and receivers; and metering facilities; and
Approximately 73 miles of 36-inch-diameter natural gas
pipeline and associated ancillary pipeline facilities.
Comment Procedures and Public Meetings
Any person wishing to comment on the draft EIS may do so. To ensure
consideration prior to a Commission decision on the proposal, it is
important that we receive your comments before the date specified
below. Please carefully follow these instructions to ensure that your
comments are received in time and properly recorded:
Send an original and two copies of your comments to:
Magalie R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street, NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
Reference Docket No. CP05-83-000 et al.;
Label one copy of the comments for the attention of Gas
Branch 2, PJ11.2; and
Mail your comments so that they will be received in
Washington, DC on or before October 17, 2005.
Please note that we are continuing to experience delays in mail
deliveries from the U.S. Postal Service. As a result, we will include
all comments that we receive within a reasonable time frame in our
environmental analysis of this Project. However, the Commission
strongly encourages electronic filing of any comments or interventions
to this proceeding. See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions
on the Commission's Web site at http: //http://www.ferc.gov under the ``e-
Filing'' link and the link to the User's Guide. Before you can file
comments you will need to create a free account, which can be created
by clicking on ``Login to File'' and then ``New User Account.''
In addition to or in lieu of sending written comments, we invite
you to attend the public comment meetings we have scheduled as follows:
October 4, 2005, 7 p.m. (CST); VFW Post 9854, 222 Highway 109 S,
Vinton, Louisiana, Telephone: (337) 589-5832.
October 5, 2005, 7 p.m. (CST); Holiday Inn Park Central, 2929 Jimmy
Johnson Blvd., Port Arthur, Texas, Telephone: (409) 724-5000.
Interested groups and individuals are encouraged to attend and
present oral comments on the environmental impact described in the
draft EIS. Transcripts of the meeting will be prepared.
After these comments have been reviewed, any significant new issues
are investigated, and modifications are made to the draft EIS, a final
EIS will be published and distributed by the staff. The final EIS will
contain the staff's responses to timely comments received on the draft
EIS.
Comments will be considered by the Commission but will not serve to
make the commentor a party to the proceeding. Any person seeking to
become a party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene
pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and
Procedures (18 CFR 385.214). Anyone may intervene in this proceeding
based on this draft EIS. You must file your request to intervene as
specified above.\1\ You do not need intervener status to have your
comments considered.
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\1\ Interventions may also be filed electronically via the
Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing
comments electronically.
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The draft EIS has been placed in the public files of the FERC and
is available for public inspection at: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 888 First
Street, NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8371.
A limited number of copies of the draft EIS are available from the
Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch identified above. In
addition, copies of the draft EIS have been mailed to Federal, State,
and local agencies; elected officials; public interest groups;
individuals and affected landowners who requested a copy of the draft
EIS; and parties to these proceedings.
Additional information about the Project is available from the
Commission's Office of External Affairs,
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at 1-866-208-FERC or on the FERC Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov
) using the eLibrary link. Click on the ``eLibrary'' link,
click on ``General Search'' and enter the docket number excluding the
last three digits in the Docket Number field. Be sure you have selected
an appropriate date range. For assistance, please contact FERC Online
Support at: FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll free at 1-866-208-3676,
or for TTY at (202) 502-8659. 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 Commission now offers a free service called
eSubscription which 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. Go to the eSubscription link on the FERC Internet Web
site.
Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-4811 Filed 9-1-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P