[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 111 (Thursday, June 10, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31288-31289]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-14704]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Prepation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Floating 
Production, Storage, and Offloading Systems on the Gulf of Mexico Outer 
Continental Shelf

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS).

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SUMMARY: The Minerals Management Service (MMS) will prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on floating production, storage, 
and offloading (FPSO) systems on the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Outer 
Continental Shelf (OCS). The MMS has awarded a contract to Ecology and 
Environment, Inc. (E&E) to prepare the EIS to examine the use of FPSO 
systems in the deepwater areas (water depths greater than 200 meters or 
656 feet) in the Central and Western Planning Areas of the GOM OCS. The 
contract was awarded in April 1999; it is anticipated that completion 
of the EIS will take 18 months. Based upon the analysis in the EIS, the 
MMS will decide whether FPSO systems will be an acceptable option for 
consideration for use on the GOM OCS; the decision will not constitute 
approval for the use of any particular FPSO at any specific site. 
Individual plans proposing use of an FPSO will be subject to MMS's 
established project-specific and site-specific evaluation and decision 
process.
    1. Authority. Pursuant to the regulations implementing the 
procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 
the MMS is announcing its intent to prepare an EIS on FPSO systems on 
the GOM OCS. This NOI also serves to announce the scoping process for 
this DEIS. Throughout the scoping process, Federal and State agencies, 
local governments, and other interested parties will have the 
opportunity to aid the MMS in determining the scope of the DEIS, 
significant issues that should be addressed, and alternatives to be 
considered.
    2. Proposed Action. FPSO's may be used as production facilities to 
develop marginally economic or remote oil fields in the deepwater areas 
of the GOM OCS. This DEIS will consider scenarios that represent the 
potential range of FPSO activities that could occur if the proposed 
action were implemented. The ``base case'' of the proposed action to be 
evaluated is a permanently moored, double-hulled, shipshaped FPSO with 
up to 1 million barrels of crude oil storage capability. The seafloor 
well equipment and on-board production equipment will be the same types 
as those used with other deepwater production facilities. Produced oil 
will be offloaded to nondynamically positioned, 500,000-barrel-capacity 
shuttle tankers for transport to ports in Texas or Louisiana or to the 
Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP). Associated or produced gas will be 
transferred to shore via a gas pipeline.
    The range of the proposed action will include technical variations 
such as the use of disconnectable moorings, single

[[Page 31289]]

hull or single bottom design variations, non-shipshaped FPSO systems, 
increased crude oil storage up to 2.3 million barrels, dynamically 
positioned shuttle tankers, reinjection of natural gas for later 
recovery, and gas-to-liquids conversion.
    3. Alternatives. One of the alternatives to be considered in the 
DEIS is the exclusion of FPSO systems from the ``lightering prohibited 
area'' established by the U.S. Coast Guard at 33 CFR part 156 subpart 
C. Other alternatives may be identified during the scoping process.
    4. Scoping. Scoping is an open and early process for determining 
the scope of the DEIS and for identifying significant issues related to 
a proposed action. Scoping also provides an opportunity for interested 
parties to help identify alternatives to the proposed action. For this 
DEIS, public scoping meetings will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on 
June 21, 1999, at the Natural Resources Center--Room 1003, Texas A&M 
University in Corpus Christi, Texas; on June 22, 1999, at the Radisson 
Hotel and Conference Center, 9100 Gulf Freeway, Houston, Texas; on June 
23, 1999, at the Beaumont Hilton in Beaumont, Texas; on June 24, 1999, 
at the Players Island Hotel in Lake Charles, Louisiana; and on June 28, 
1999, at the Radisson Inn Airport in Kenner (New Orleans), Louisiana. 
Additional information on the scoping meetings will be distributed to 
interested parties. Details on the times and locations for the public 
scoping meetings will also be advertised in local media and are 
available on the MMS website at http://www.mms.gov or through the MMS 
Public Information Office at 1-800-200-GULF or GulfPublicI[email protected].
    5. Comments on the NOI. In addition to participation at the scoping 
meetings, Federal and State agencies, local governments, and other 
interested parties are invited to send their written comments on the 
scope of the DEIS, significant issues to be addressed, and alternatives 
that should be considered in the DEIS to the contact person at the 
address listed below. Comments should be enclosed in an envelope 
labeled ``Comments on the NOI to Prepare a DEIS on FPSO's'' and should 
be submitted no later than 45 days after publication of this NOI in the 
Federal Register.
    6. Decisions. The MMS will make several decisions based on the 
analysis in the EIS; (a) whether FPSO systems will be permitted in the 
Central and Western Planning Areas of the GOM OCS; (b) the range of 
acceptable FPSO operations; and (c) the potential exclusion of FPSO 
systems in certain geographic areas of the Central and Western Planning 
Areas of the GOM OCS; or (d) a decision for no action. The no action 
alternative will mean that FPSO systems will not be permitted in the 
Central and Western Planning Areas of the GOM OCS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Questions concerning the NEPA process and the 
DEIS should be directed to Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico 
OCS Region, Attention: Ms. Deborah Cranswick (MS 5410), 1201 Elmwood 
Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394, telephone (504) 736-
2744.

    Dated: June 4, 1999.
Chris C. Oynes,
Regional Director, Gulf of Mexico, OCS Region.
[FR Doc. 99-14704 Filed 6-9-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-M