[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 104 (Friday, May 30, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32538-32539]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-13418]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2002-14134]


Port Pelican LLC Deepwater Port License Application

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS, and Maritime Administrative, DOT.

ACTION: Draft environmental impact statement, notice of availability 
and request for public comments; notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration announce 
the availability of the draft environmental impact statement for the 
Port Pelican LLC Deepwater Port License Application. We request your 
input on this draft environmental impact statement, which covers the 
construction and operation of a liquefied natural gas deepwater port 
known as ``Port Pelican'' and associated anchorage on the Outer 
Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 36 miles south 
southwest of Freshwater City, Louisiana.

DATES: The draft environmental impact statement (EIS) will be available 
on May 30, 2003, and comments must reach the Coast Guard on or before 
July 15, 2003. A public meeting will be held on July 1, 2003, 3 p.m. to 
7 p.m., in Lafayette, LA.

ADDRESSES: The draft EIS will be available in the docket on the 
Internet at http://dms.dot.gov under docket number USCG-2002-14134 or 
by contacting the U.S. Coast Guard as indicated in FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT. The meeting location is: Lafayette Hilton Hotel, 
West Pinhook Road, Lafayette, LA 70503, (337) 235-6111.
    Comments may be submitted in several ways. To make sure your 
comments and related material are not entered more than once in the 
docket, please submit them by only one of the following means:
    (1) By mail to the Docket Management Facility (USCG-2002-14134), 
U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (2) By delivery to Room PL-401 on the Plaza Level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

[[Page 32539]]

The telephone number is (202) 366-9329.
    (3) By fax to the Docket Management Facility at (202) 493-2251.
    (4) Electronically through the Web Site for the Docket Management 
System at http://dms.dot.gov.
    The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this 
notice. Comments will become part of this docket and will be available 
along with the draft EIS for inspection or copying at Room PL-401, 
located on the Plaza Level of the Nassif Building at the above address 
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except for Federal 
holidays. You may also view this docket, including this notice and 
comments, on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.
    Anyone can search the electronic form of all comments received into 
any of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment 
(or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, 
business, labor union, etc.). You may review the Department of 
Transportation's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register 
published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78), or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions about the 
project, you may contact Commander Mark Prescott, U.S. Coast Guard at 
(202) 267-0225 or [email protected]. If you have questions on 
viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Dorothy Beard, 
Chief, Dockets, DOT, telephone (202) 366-5149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1504(f).

Request for Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments on this draft EIS (A copy of 
the draft EIS is available as indicated under ADDRESSES). If you do so, 
please include your name and address, identify the docket number for 
this notice (USCG-2002-14134) and give the reasons for each comment. 
You may submit your comments by mail, hand delivery, fax or electronic 
means to the Docket Management Facility at the address given under 
ADDRESSES, but please submit your comments and materials by only one 
means. If you submit them by mail or hand delivery, submit them in an 
unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for 
copying and electronic filing. If you submit them by mail, and would 
like to know if they reached the Facility, please enclose a stamped, 
self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all comments 
received during the comment period. Comments received during the draft 
EIS review period will be available in the public docket and addressed 
in the final EIS. A notice of availability of the final EIS will also 
be published in the Federal Register.

Public Meeting/Open House

    The Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration will host an 
informational open house from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 1, 
2003, at the Lafayette Hilton Hotel, West Pinhook Road, Lafayette, 
Louisiana. A public meeting will be held concurrently with the 
informational open house, and will commence at 5 p.m. We invite the 
public and representatives of interested agencies to attend and provide 
their views on the proposed action and the evaluation contained in the 
draft EIS (A copy of the draft EIS is available as indicated under 
ADDRESSES). If you plan to attend the meeting and need special 
assistance, such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable 
accommodations, contact the U.S. Coast Guard as indicated in FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Proposed Action

    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 Freshwater City, 
Louisiana, in Vermilion Block 140. Additional information on the 
application can be found online at http://dms.dot.gov under docket 
number USCG-2002-14134, or in the notice of application published in 
the Federal Register at 67 FR 79234 (Dec. 27, 2002).
    The proposed project would 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 would then be delivered to 
shippers using the national pipeline grid through interconnections with 
major interstate and intrastate pipelines.
    The project would consist of two concrete gravity based structure 
(GBS) units fixed to the seabed, which would include integral liquefied 
natural gas (LNG) storage tanks, 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.
    A 42-inch diameter offshore Pelican Interconnector Pipeline (PIPL), 
37 nautical miles in length, would be constructed as part of the 
project. The PIPL would transport gas from the terminal to a point near 
the Tiger Shoal Platform ``A'' where it would connect to the Henry-
Floodway Gas Gathering System (HFGGS). The HFGGS would deliver the gas 
to the onshore U.S. gas pipeline network.

Alternatives

    The draft EIS examines in detail an alternative location for siting 
of the project and a no-action alternative. The alternative site, 
approximately 30 miles east of Vermilion Block 140, would involve use 
of South Marsh Island Block 4.
    Evaluation of the no-action alternative, defined as not approving 
the license application, provides a baseline for comparing the impacts 
associated with the proposed action and use of the alternative site.

    Dated: May 22, 2003.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security and Environmental 
Protection, U.S. Coast Guard.
Raymond R. Barberesi,
Director, Office of Ports and Domestic Shipping, Maritime 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 03-13418 Filed 5-23-03; 3:17 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P