[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 117 (Friday, June 16, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37814-37816]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-15282]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

Coast Guard

[USCG-2000-6981]


Deepwater Port License Amendments

AGENCY: The Office of the Secretary (OST) and the United States Coast 
Guard (USCG), DOT.

[[Page 37815]]


ACTION: Notice of change.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary announces the issuance, effective June 7, 2000, 
of an amended and updated license to own, construct and operate the 
deepwater port known as LOOP (the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, LLC) and 
of LOOP's operations manual addendum. The amended license and operating 
manual addendum respond to LOOP's April 29, 1998 petition to the 
Commandant for review and amendment of its license issued on January 
17, 1977. The amendments and changes conform to legislative changes 
enacted over the past 20 years and more accurately reflect current 
operating conditions at the deepwater port.
    The amended license and operations manual addendum and remarks by 
the Commandant and Office of the Secretary explaining the amendments 
may be viewed electronically through the Web Site for the Docket 
Management System at http://dms.dot.gov. and will be available for 
inspection or copying at room PL-401 on the Plaza Level of the Nassif 
Building at 400 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20590 between 9 a.m. 
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lieutenant Commander Russ Proctor, 
Ports & Facilities Compliance Division (G-MOC-3), U.S. Coast Guard 
Headquarters, 2100 Second Street SW., Washington, DC 20593-0001, 
telephone 202-267-0499, fax 202-267-0506, or Nancy R. Kessler, Senior 
Attorney-Advisor, Office of the Secretary, Office of Environmental, 
Civil Rights, and General Law (OST-C-10), U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, 
telephone 202-366-9301, fax 202-366-9170. For questions on viewing the 
license and operations manual addendum, call Dorothy Y. Beard, Chief, 
Dockets, Department of Transportation, telephone 202-366-5149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose

    The Deepwater Port Act (33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) (Act), as amended 
by the Deepwater Port Act Amendments of 1984 (Pub. Law 98-419) and the 
Deepwater Port Modernization Act of 1996 (Pub. Law 104-324), authorizes 
the Secretary of Transportation to amend a deepwater port license on 
petition of a licensee. The Act directs the Secretary to review any 
condition of a deepwater port license to determine if the condition is 
uniform with conditions of other deepwater port licenses and whether it 
is reasonable and necessary to meet the objectives of the Act. The Act 
further directs the Secretary to amend or rescind any condition no 
longer necessary or otherwise required by any federal agency under the 
Act.
    The Deepwater Port Act of 1974 established a comprehensive 
regulatory structure for the location, construction, and operation of 
deepwater ports to respond to environmental and safety concerns over 
the growing use of supertankers navigating coastal ports. On January 
17, 1977, then Secretary of Transportation William T. Coleman, Jr. 
issued to LOOP a 20-year term license to own, construct and operate the 
deepwater port off the shores of southern Louisiana, pursuant to the 
Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (``the Act'') (Pub. L. 93-627, 33 U.S.C. 
1501 et seq.). On August 1, 1977, then Secretary of Transportation 
Brock Adams received LOOP's acceptance of the license. LOOP has since 
constructed and operated the nation's only deepwater port.
    Since the passage of the 1974 Act, other methods of delivering oil 
to the United States, such as offshore lightering activities have 
provided significant market competition for LOOP. The Deepwater Port 
Act Amendments of 1984 (1984 Amendments) and the Deepwater Port 
Modernization Act of 1996 (1996 Modernization Act) responded to the 
competitive environment and removed unnecessary and burdensome 
requirements that hindered LOOP's economic viability.
    The 1984 Amendments, for example, (1) simplified procedures for 
amendment, transfer, and reinstatement of a deepwater port license; (2) 
extended the term of a deepwater port license from 20 years to an 
indefinite period covering the life of the facility; and (3) relieved 
deepwater ports of economic regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (while reserving future regulatory authority if appropriate 
competitive conditions no longer exist). The 1996 Modernization Act 
encouraged greater use of deepwater ports, particularly for Outer 
Continental Shelf oil; streamlined the deepwater port regulatory 
structure; and eliminated requirements for advance antitrust review (by 
the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission).
    We have processed the license amendment through an informal, 
simplified administrative process, consistent with the changes made by 
the 1984 Amendments. The 1984 Amendments require only a ``petition'' 
for a license amendment, as distinguished from a formal, comprehensive 
``application'' for license issuance. 33 U.S.C. 1502(4); 1503(b). We 
examined LOOP's license in light of the statutory direction that we 
review deepwater port license conditions to determine whether they are 
reasonable and necessary to meet the Act's objectives. 33 U.S.C. 
1503(e)(1). Our changes, in response to LOOP's petition to amend its 
license, conform to the statutory requirement that we ``amend or 
rescind any condition that is no longer necessary or otherwise required 
by any Federal department or agency'' under the Act. 33 U.S.C. 
1503(e)(1).
    The Commandant, pursuant to delegated authority, processed LOOP's 
April 29, 1998, application for amendment of its license to construct 
and operate a deepwater port. 49 CFR part 1.46(s). I have the reserved 
authority to issue the amended license. 49 CFR part 1.44(o).
    The license amendments eliminate: (1) The license term; (2) 
references to the original, outdated application; and (3) economic 
requirements (nondiscrimination, access for shipments, tariffs, 
required expansion) arising from the outdated common carrier obligation 
and from antitrust review that has been repealed. The amendments also: 
update the license to recognize completion of certain port 
construction; permit more flexible Coast Guard review of off-shore 
facilities; and transfer some operating procedures to the Operations 
Manual without eliminating any environmental protection provisions.
    We have determined that the license amendments do not eliminate any 
environmental protection provisions. Certain conditions of the original 
license have been transferred verbatim to the addendum to LOOP's 
Operations Manual and the license conditions also require LOOP to 
operate the port in accordance with an approved Operations Manual. Both 
documents are binding sources of legal authority, and the environmental 
protections and enforcement procedures therefore have not changed. 
These changes conform to the 1996 Modernization Act requirement that, 
to the extent practicable, the deepwater port's operating procedures 
should be stated in an operations manual, approved by the Coast Guard, 
rather than in detailed and specific license conditions. 33 U.S.C. 
1503(e)(1).
    Accordingly, I have directed the Federal Register publication of 
the amended License to Own, Construct and Operate a Deepwater Port 
issued to LOOP LLC.


[[Page 37816]]


    Dated: June 1, 2000.
Rodney E. Slater,
Secretary of Transportation.
[FR Doc. 00-15282 Filed 6-15-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P; 4910-62-P