[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 54 (Monday, March 22, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13644-13645]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-6125]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
[USCG-2006-24644]
TORP Terminal LP, Bienville Offshore Energy Terminal Liquefied
Natural Gas Deepwater Port License Application; Final Amended
Application Public Hearing and Final Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement
AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of availability; notice of public meeting; request for
comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration, in cooperation with the U.S.
Coast Guard, announces the availability of the Final Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) for the TORP Terminal LP,
Bienville Offshore Energy Terminal (BOET) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
Deepwater Port amended license application. The amended application
describes an LNG deepwater port project that would be located in the
Gulf of Mexico, in Main Pass block MP 258, approximately 63 miles south
of Mobile Point, Alabama. The Maritime Administration and U.S. Coast
Guard will hold a public meeting, and request public comments on
matters relevant to the approval or denial of the amended license
application. Publication of this notice begins a 30-day comment period
and provides information on how to participate in the process.
DATES: The public meeting will be held in Mobile, Alabama on March 31,
2010, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and will be preceded by an open house from
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The public meeting 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 by April 30, 2010.
ADDRESSES: The open house and public meeting will be held at the Mobile
Convention Center, One South Water Street, Mobile, Alabama 36602;
telephone: 251-208-2100.
The Draft and Final Supplemental EIS, the amended application,
comments and associated documentation are available for viewing at the
Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Web site: http://www.regulations.gov under docket number USCG-2006-24644.
Docket submissions for USCG-2006-24644 should be addressed to:
Department of Transportation, Docket Management Facility, West
Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.,
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 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays. The Facility telephone number is 202-366-9329,
the fax number is 202-493-2251, and the Web site for electronic
submissions or for electronic access to docket contents is http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Patrick Marchman, Maritime
Administration, telephone: 202-366-8805, e-mail:
[email protected]; or LT Hannah Kawamoto, U.S. Coast Guard,
telephone: 202-372-1437, e-mail: [email protected]. If you
have questions on viewing the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-493-0402.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Meeting and Open House
We invite you to learn about the proposed deepwater port at an
informational open house, and to comment at a public meeting on the
proposed action and the evaluation contained in the FSEIS, and on
matters relevant to the approval or denial of the license application.
In order to allow everyone a chance to speak at the public meeting, we
may limit speaker time, or extend the meeting hours, or both. Before
speaking, 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
Federal Docket Management Facility (see Request for Comments).
Our public meeting location is wheelchair-accessible. If you plan
to attend the open house or public meeting and need special assistance
such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodation,
please notify the Maritime Administration (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT) at least three (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
FSEIS and on matters relevant to the approval or denial of the license
application. The public meeting is not the only opportunity you have to
comment. In addition to or in place of attending this meeting, you can
submit comments to the Docket Management Facility during the public
comment period (see DATES). We will consider all comments and material
received during the comment period.
Submissions should include:
Docket number USCG-2006-24644.
Your name and address.
Submit comments or material using only one of the following
methods:
Electronic submission to FDMS, http://www.regulations.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[frac12] by 11 inches, and suitable for
copying and electronic scanning. If you mail your submission and want
to know when it reaches the Facility, please 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 FDMS Web site
(http://www.regulations.gov) and will include any personal information
you provide. Therefore, submitting this information
[[Page 13645]]
makes it public. You may wish to read the Privacy and Use Notice that
is available on the FDMS Web site and the Department of Transportation
Privacy Act Notice that appeared in the Federal Register on April 11,
2000 (65 FR 19477) (see Privacy Act). You may view docket submissions
at the Department of Transportation Docket Management Facility or
electronically on the FDMS Web site (see ADDRESSES).
Background
The Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental EIS for the proposed
action was published in the Federal Register at 74 FR 39136, August 5,
2009 and the Draft Supplemental EIS was published in the Federal
Register at 74 FR 60310, November 20, 2009. The Draft and Final
Supplemental EIS, application materials and associated comments are
available on the docket at http://www.regulations.gov under docket
number USCG-2006-24644. Information from the ``Summary of the
Application'' from previous Federal Register notices is included below
for your convenience.
Proposed Action and Alternatives
The proposed action requiring environmental review is the Federal
licensing of the proposed deepwater port described in the ``Summary of
the Application'' below. The alternatives to approving and licensing
the proposed port are: (1) Approving and licensing with conditions
(including conditions designed to mitigate environmental impact), or
(2) denying the application, which for purposes of environmental review
is the ``no-action'' alternative. These alternatives are more fully
discussed in the FSEIS. The Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast
Guard are the lead Federal agencies for the preparation of the
Supplemental EIS. You may address any questions about the proposed
action or the FSEIS to the Maritime Administration project manager or
the U.S. Coast Guard project manager, both are identified in FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Summary of the Application
TORP Terminal LP proposes to own, construct, and operate a
deepwater port, the Bienville Offshore Energy Terminal (BOET), in the
Federal waters of the Outer Continental Shelf on Main Pass block MP
258, located approximately 63 miles south of Mobile Point, Alabama, in
a water depth of approximately 425 feet. The proposed BOET deepwater
port would be capable of mooring a single LNG carrier (LNGC) of up to
approximately 265,000 cubic meters (m3) (8.8 million cubic feet [ft3])
in capacity.
The LNGC would be off-loaded using a HiLoad LNG off-loading and
regasification unit (HiLoad), which is proprietary technology
consisting of a remotely operated floating LNG transfer and
regasification unit that connects to the hull of the LNGC. The HiLoad
unit would regasify the LNG and deliver the gas via flexible gas pipes
to the floating regasification unit (FRU) located approximately 300
meters (984 ft) from the HiLoad unit. Ambient air vaporizers (AAVs)
with methanol as an intermediate fluid (IF) would be located aboard the
FRU and would provide the heat required to regasify the LNG as part of
a closed-loop vaporization system design.
At the FRU, the gas would be metered and sent out via interconnect
pipelines to four existing offshore pipelines (Dauphin Natural Gas
Pipeline, Williams Natural Gas Pipeline, Destin Natural Gas Pipeline,
and Viosca Knoll Gathering System [VKGS] Gas Pipeline) that connect to
the onshore natural gas transmission pipeline system. Natural gas would
be delivered to customers through existing facilities. BOET would have
an average throughput capacity of 1.2 billion standard cubic feet of
gas per day (Bscfd) (33.9 million cubic meters of gas per day [m3/
day]).
BOET's major components would include a turret mooring system
(TMS), a FRU, a HiLoad unit, two mooring lines that connect the HiLoad
to the FRU, two high pressure (HP) flexible gas pipes, two floating IF
hoses, two umbilicals, and 22.7 mi (36. km) of new subsea pipelines.
No new onshore pipelines or LNG storage facilities are proposed as
part of the construction and operation of BOET. A shore-based facility
will be used to facilitate movement of personnel, equipment, supplies,
and disposable materials between the terminal and shore.
BOET will require permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency pursuant to the provisions of the Clean Air Act, as amended, and
the Clean Water Act, as amended.
Should a license be issued, construction of the deepwater port
would be expected to take thirty (30) months, with startup of
commercial operations anticipated for 2014. The deepwater port, if
licensed, would be designed, constructed, and operated in accordance
with applicable codes and standards and would have an expected
operating life of approximately 25 years.
Privacy Act
The electronic form of all comments received into the Federal
Docket Management System can be searched by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). The DOT Privacy Act
Statement can be viewed in the Federal Register published on April 11,
2000 (Volume 65, Number 70, pages 19477-78) or you may visit http://www.regulations.gov.
Authority: 49 CFR 1.66.
Dated: March 15, 2010.
By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
Christine Gurland,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-6125 Filed 3-19-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P