[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 249 (Friday, December 27, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79234-79235]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-32831]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Coast Guard

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2002-14134]


Port Pelican LLC Deepwater Port License Application

AGENCY: Coast Guard and Maritime Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of application.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) give 
notice, as required by the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended, that 
they have received an application for the licensing of a deepwater 
port, and that the application appears to contain the required 
information. The notice summarizes the applicant's plans and the 
procedures we will follow in considering the application.

DATES: Any public hearing held in connection with this application must 
be held not later than August 25, 2003. The application will be 
approved or denied within 90 days after the last public hearing held on 
the application.

ADDRESSES: The mailing address for the clerk in this proceeding is: 
Commandant (G-M), U.S. Coast Guard, 2100 Second Street SW., Washington 
DC 20593-0001. Public docket USCG-2002-14134 is maintained by the 
Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-
401, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. The Docket 
Management Facility office maintains a Web site, http://dms.dot.gov, 
and can be reached by telephone at 202-366-9329 or fax at 202-493-2251.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice 
call Robert Nelson, U.S. Coast Guard, (202) 267-0496, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Receipt of application; determination. On 
November 25, 2002, the Coast Guard and MARAD received an application 
from Port Pelican LLC, Suite 2700, 1111 Bagby, Houston, Texas 77002 for 
all Federal authorizations required for a license to own, construct and 
operate a deepwater port off the coast of Louisiana. On December 16, 
2002, we determined that the application appears to contain all 
required information. The application and related documentation 
supplied by the applicant (except for certain protected information 
specified in 33 U.S.C. 1513) may be viewed in the public docket (see 
ADDRESSES).
    Background. According to the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended 
(the Act, 33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.), a deepwater port is a fixed or 
floating manmade structure other than a vessel, or a group of 
structures, located beyond the territorial sea and off the coast of the 
U.S., used or intended for use as a port or terminal for the 
transportation, storage, and further handling of oil for transportation 
to any State. The Act was most recently amended by the Maritime 
Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA, Public Law 107-295), which 
extends the deepwater port definition to include natural gas facilities 
.
    The Deepwater ports must be licensed, and the Act provides that a 
license applicant submit detailed plans for its facility to the 
Secretary of Transportation, along with its application. The Secretary 
has delegated the processing of deepwater port applications to the 
Coast Guard and MARAD. The Act allows 21 days following receipt of the 
application to determine if it contains all required information. If it 
does, we must publish a notice of application in the Federal Register 
and summarize the plans. This notice is intended to meet those 
requirements of the Act and to provide general information about the 
procedure that will be followed in considering the application.
    Application procedure. We consider the application on its merits. 
Under the Act, we have 240 days from the date this notice is published 
to hold at least one public hearing, which is your opportunity to 
submit written or oral comment on the application. We will publish a 
separate Federal Register notice to notify you of any hearing we decide 
to hold. At least one hearing must be held in each adjacent coastal 
state. Pursuant to 33 U.S.C. 1508, we designate Louisiana as an 
adjacent coastal state. Other states may apply for adjacent coastal 
state status in accordance with 33 U.S.C. 1508(a)(2). After the last 
public hearing, Federal agencies have 45 days in which to comment to us 
on the application, and approval or denial of the application must 
follow within 90 days after the last public hearing. Details of the 
application process are described in 33 U.S.C. 1504 and in 33 CFR part 
148.
    The present application involves a proposed liquefied natural gas 
(LNG) facility. As such, MTSA excepts the application from the 
restrictions of 33 U.S.C. 1504(d) (1)-(3) and 33 U.S.C. 1504(i) (1)-
(3). While this permits submission and consideration of competing 
applications for the same ``application area'', there may still be 
practical restrictions from a navigation safety standpoint with regard 
to the proximity of multiple deepwater ports.
    We will review the application under the current deepwater port 
regulations published in 33 CFR part 148. On May 30, 2002 (67 FR 37920) 
the Coast Guard published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) 
indicating its intent to revise those regulations. Public comments have 
been received in response to the NPRM and we will consider those 
comments prior to adopting revised regulations. In addition, MTSA 
mandates that we revise existing deepwater port regulations as soon as 
practicable to implement extension of deepwater port regulations to 
natural gas. It also allows for the issuance of an interim final rule 
without public notice and comment. Thus, the current regulations may be 
amended before we have fully processed the application. In that event, 
the amended regulations will govern further processing of the 
application as soon as they take effect.
    Summary of the application. The application plan calls for 
construction of the Port Pelican Deepwater Port and associated 
anchorage in an area situated in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 36 
miles south southwest of Fresh Water City, Louisiana, in Vermilion 
Block 140 with a safety zone extending into part of Vermilion Block 
139.
    The Port Pelican Project (the Project) will deliver natural gas to 
the United States Gulf Coast using existing gas supply and gathering 
systems in the Gulf of Mexico and southern Louisiana. Gas will then be 
delivered to shippers using the national pipeline grid through 
interconnections with major interstate and intrastate pipelines.
    The Project consists of the Port Pelican Terminal (the Terminal), 
an LNG receiving, storage and regasification facility and the Pelican 
Interconnector Pipeline (PIPL) to transport the gas to the existing 
offshore gas gathering system.
    The Project will consist of two concrete gravity based structure 
(GBS) units fixed to the seabed, which will include integral LNG 
storage tanks,

[[Page 79235]]

support deck mounted LNG receiving and vaporization equipment and 
utilities, berthing accommodations for LNG carriers, facilities for 
delivery of natural gas to a pipeline transportation system, and 
personnel accommodations.
    The Terminal will be able to receive the largest LNG carriers in 
service or on order in 2002. LNG carrier arrival frequency will be 
planned to match specified terminal gas delivery rates. All marine 
systems, communication, navigation aids and equipment necessary to 
conduct safe LNG carrier operations and receiving of product during 
specified atmospheric and sea states will be provided at the port.
    The regasification process consists of lifting the LNG from storage 
tanks, pumping the cold liquid to pipeline pressure, vaporization 
across heat exchanging equipment and delivery through custody transfer 
metering to the gas pipeline network. No gas conditioning is required 
for the Terminal since the incoming LNG will be pipeline quality.
    A 42-inch diameter offshore Pelican Interconnector Pipeline, 37 
nautical miles in length, will be constructed as part of the Pelican 
Project. The PIPL will transport gas from the Terminal to a point near 
the Tiger Shoal Platform ``A'' where it will connect to the Henry-
Floodway Gas Gathering System (HFGGS). The HFGGS will deliver the gas 
to the onshore U.S. gas pipeline network.
    The Terminal will be constructed in two phases. Phase I includes 
the installation of two GBS units with internal storage tanks and 
facilities for LNG offloading, and vaporization capability to deliver a 
peal 1.0 billion standard cubic feet per day (SCFD) of natural gas to 
the pipeline system. Additional vaporization equipment and associated 
support equipment and facilities will be installed during Phase II to 
increase the facility vaporization and send out rate to 2.0 billion 
SCFD peak.

    Dated: December 20, 2002.
Paul J. Pluta,
Rerad Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Marine 
Safety, Security and Environmental Protection.
Raymond R. Barberesi,
Director, Office of Ports and Domestic Shipping, U.S. Maritime 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 02-32831 Filed 12-24-02; 11:04 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P