[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 39 (Friday, February 27, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9348-9349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-4408]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2004-16860]


Gulf Landing LLC Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port License 
Application; Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS; and Maritime Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent; notice of public meeting; and request for 
public comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) 
announce their intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
(EIS), and hold a public meeting/informational open house to discuss 
issues to be addressed in the EIS, for the project described in the 
Gulf Landing LLC Deepwater Port License Application. The plan 
description in the license application calls for construction of a 
liquefied natural gas (LNG) Deepwater Port known as ``Gulf Landing'', 
associated anchorages, and pipeline connections in the Gulf of Mexico, 
approximately 38 miles south of Cameron Parish, Louisiana, located in 
55 feet of water in Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Block West Cameron 
213. The Coast Guard seeks public and agency input on the scope of the 
EIS. Specifically, the Coast Guard requests input on any environmental 
concerns that the public may have related to the proposal to construct 
a new Deepwater Port, sources of relevant data or information, and any 
suggested analysis methods for inclusion in the EIS.

DATES: The public meeting will be held March 16, 2004, from 1 p.m. to 5 
p.m., in Lafayette, LA. Comments and related material must reach the 
Docket on or before April 15, 2004.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting/open house location is: Marriott 
Courtyard, 214 East Kaliste Saloon Road, Lafayette, LA 70508, phone 
number (337) 232-5005.
    You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard docket number 
USCG-2004-16860 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S. 
Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one 
of the following methods:
    (1) Web site: http://dms.dot.gov.
    (2) Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (3) Fax: 202-493-2251.
    (4) Delivery: 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. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    (5) Federal eRulemaking Portal:  http://www.regulations.gov.
    The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this 
notice. Comments will become part of this docket and will be available 
for inspection or copying in 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
the project, or the meeting, call Lieutenant Derek Dostie at 202-267-
0626, or email at [email protected]. If you have questions on 
viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Andrea M. Jenkins, 
Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-0271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Submitting Comments

    You may submit comments and related materials on this notice, the 
public meeting, or concerning the application. Persons submitting 
comments should include their names and addresses, the docket number 
(USCG-2004-16860), and the reasons for each comment. You may submit 
your comments and materials 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 choose to submit them by mail or hand delivery, submit 
them in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, and 
suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you submit them by mail 
and would like to know if they reach the facility, please enclose a 
stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all 
comments and materials received during the comment period. All comments 
received will be posted, without change, to http://dms.dot.gov and will 
include any personal information you have provided. We have an 
agreement with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to use their 
Docket Management Facility. Please see DOT's ``Privacy Act'' paragraph 
below.

Viewing Comments and Documents

    To view comments, as well as documents mentioned in this preamble 
as being available in the docket, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time 
and conduct a simple search using the docket number. You may also visit 
the Docket Management Facility in 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.

Privacy Act

    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 Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register 
published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.

Background Information

    On November 3, 2003, the Coast Guard and MARAD received an 
application from Gulf Landing LLC (``Gulf Landing''), 1301 McKinney, 
Suite 700, Houston, Texas 77010 for all federal authorizations required 
for a license to own, construct and operate a deepwater port off the 
coast of Louisiana. Supplemental information was furnished at our 
request on December 12, 2003. On January 5, 2004, we determined that 
the application contained all information required by the Deepwater 
Port Act and a Notice of Application was published in the Federal 
Register on January 22, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 14). 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).

[[Page 9349]]

    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 State seaward boundaries and used or intended for use as 
a port or terminal for the transportation, storage, and further 
handling of oil or natural gas for transportation to any State.
    A deepwater port 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 provides, ``For all applications, the 
Secretary, in cooperation with other involved Federal agencies and 
departments, shall comply with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).'' This notice is intended to meet the 
requirements of NEPA and to provide general information about the 
procedure that will be followed in complying with NEPA.

Proposed Action

    The Coast Guard intends to prepare an EIS consistent with the 
Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended (the Act, 33 U.S.C. 1501 et 
seq.) NEPA (Section 102(2)(c), as implemented by the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), 
Department of Transportation (DOT) Order 5610C (Procedures for 
Considering Environmental Impacts), and Coast Guard Policy 
(Commandant's Instruction (COMDTINST) M16475.1D). The Coast Guard 
anticipates having several cooperating agencies in this endeavor.
    NEPA requires Federal agencies to consider environmental impacts 
that may result from a proposed action, to inform the public of 
potential impacts and alternatives, and to facilitate public 
involvement in the assessment process. The EIS describes in detail the 
nature and extent of the environmental impacts of the Proposed Action 
and each alternative, and discusses appropriate mitigation measures for 
any adverse impacts. An EIS includes, among other matters, discussions 
of the purpose and need for the Proposed Action, a description of 
alternatives, a description of the affected environment, and an 
evaluation of the environmental impacts of the Proposed Action and 
alternatives.
    The Gulf Landing EIS will assess the impacts of the alternatives, 
including but not limited to, approving, approving with conditions or 
not approving (No Action Alternative) the license application to 
construct and operate Gulf Landing, on the natural and human 
environment. The application plan calls for construction of a deepwater 
port and associated anchorages in an area situated in the Gulf of 
Mexico, approximately 38 miles south of Cameron, Louisiana in West 
Cameron Block 213, in water depth of approximately 55 feet, and 
adjacent to an existing shipping fairway servicing the Calcasieu River 
and area ports.
    Gulf Landing's terminal would be capable of storing up to 180,000 
cubic meters of LNG and vaporizing up to 1.2 billion cubic feet per 
day. Gulf Landing proposes to construct, own, and operate up to 5 
pipelines that would interconnect with existing natural gas pipelines 
located in the Gulf of Mexico. Gas would then be delivered to the 
onshore national pipeline grid for delivery to any consumption market 
east of the Rocky Mountains.
    The project would consist of two concrete gravity base structures 
(GBSs) housing the LNG containment facilities, along with topside 
unloading and vaporization structures, living quarters, and a ship 
berthing system.
    The terminal would be able to receive LNG carriers with cargo 
capacities between 125,000 and 160,000 cubic meters and unload up to 
135 LNG carriers per year. LNG carrier arrival frequency would 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 cargo during 
specified atmospheric and sea states would be provided at the port.
    The regasification process would consist of lifting the LNG from 
storage tanks, pumping the cold liquid to pipeline pressure, subsequent 
vaporization of the LNG across heat exchanging equipment and send-out 
through custody transfer metering to the gas pipeline network. No gas 
conditioning is required for the terminal since the incoming LNG would 
be pipeline quality.
    Five offshore pipelines, ranging from 16 to 36 inches in diameter, 
would be constructed and would transverse a combined 65.7 nautical 
miles. Each pipeline would transport gas from the terminal to an 
existing transmission pipeline where it would deliver the gas to the 
onshore U.S. gas pipeline network. On average, Gulf Landing expects the 
terminal would vaporize and deliver 1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcfd) 
of natural gas to the pipelines, with a peak daily send out rate of 1.2 
Bcfd.
    As required by NEPA, the Coast Guard also will analyze the No 
Action Alternative as a baseline for comparing the impacts of the 
proposed project. For the purposes of this project, the No Action 
Alternative is defined as not approving the Gulf Landing LLC Deepwater 
Port License Application. The Coast Guard encourages public 
participation in the EIS process. The scoping period will begin upon 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register and continue for a 
period of thirty (30) days. As part of the scoping process, and as 
authorized by 40 CFR 1508.22(b)(4), the Coast Guard and MARAD will hold 
a public scoping meeting and informational open house in Lafayette, 
Louisiana, on March 16, 2004, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Marriott 
Courtyard, 214 East Kaliste Saloon Road, Lafayette, LA 70505-2286, 
(337) 232-5005. Public comments will be accepted at that meeting and 
can also be submitted to the docket, as previously described under 
ADDRESSES. If special assistance is required to attend the meeting, 
such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable 
accommodations, contact the U.S. Coast Guard as indicated in FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Following the scoping process, the Coast Guard will prepare a draft 
EIS. A Notice of Availability will be published in the Federal Register 
when the draft EIS is available. Public notices will be mailed or 
emailed to those who have requested a copy of the draft EIS. The public 
will be provided an opportunity to review the draft EIS and to offer 
appropriate comments.
    Comments received during the draft EIS review period will be 
available in the public docket and made available in the final EIS. A 
Notice of Availability of the final EIS will also be published in the 
Federal Register.

    Dated: February 24, 2004.
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, U.S. Maritime 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-4408 Filed 2-24-04; 2:45 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P