[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29775-29776]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10362]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2005-21232]


Beacon Port LLC, Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port License 
Application

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

ACTION: Notice of application.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) 
announce that they have received an application for the licensing of a 
natural gas deepwater port, and that the application appears to contain 
the required information. This notice summarizes the applicant's plans 
and the procedures that will be followed in considering the 
application.

DATES: The Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended, requires any public 
hearing on this application to be held not later than January 19, 2006, 
and requires a decision on the application to be made not later than 
April 19, 2006.

ADDRESSES: The public docket for USCG-2005-21232 is maintained by the: 
Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    Docket contents are available for public inspection and copying, at 
this address, in room PL-401, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays. The Facility's telephone is 202-366-
9329, its fax is 202-493-2251, and its Web site for electronic 
submissions or for electronic access to docket contents is http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lieutenant Commander Kevin Tone, U.S. 
Coast Guard, telephone: 202-267-0226, e-mail: [email protected]. If 
you have questions on viewing the docket, call Andrea M. Jenkins, 
Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone: 202-366-0271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Receipt of application

    On January 18, 2005, the Coast Guard and MARAD received an 
application from Beacon Port LLC, 600 N. Dairy Ashford, Houston, TX 
77079-1175 for all Federal authorizations required for a license to 
own, construct, and operate a deepwater port governed by the Deepwater 
Port Act of 1974, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq. (the Act). A 
portion of the original submission did not contain sufficient 
information. On April 16, 2005, we received revised information which 
enabled us to complete our review. On May 10, 2005, we determined that 
the application appeared to contain all information required by the 
Act.

Background

    According to the Act, 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 by the Secretary of 
Transportation. Statutory and regulatory requirements for licensing 
appear in 33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq. and in 33 CFR Part 148. Under 
delegations from and agreements between the Secretary of Transportation 
and the Secretary of Homeland Security, applications are processed by 
the Coast Guard and MARAD. Each application is considered on its 
merits.
    The Act provides strict deadlines for processing an application. 
Once a notice is published indicating that an application appears to 
contain the required information, we must hold public hearings on the 
application within 240 days, and the Secretary of Transportation must 
render a decision on the application within 330 days. We will publish 
additional Federal Register notices to inform you of these public 
hearings and other procedural milestones, including environmental 
review. The Secretary's decision, and other key documents, will be 
filed in the public docket.
    At least one public hearing must take place in each adjacent 
coastal State. For purposes of the Act, Louisiana and Texas are the 
adjacent coastal States for this application. Other States can apply 
for adjacent coastal State status in accordance with 33 U.S.C. 
1508(a)(2).

[[Page 29776]]

Summary of the Application

    The application plan calls for the proposed deepwater port terminal 
to be located outside State waters in the Gulf of Mexico on the U.S. 
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Beacon Port would consist of a Main 
Terminal, Riser Platform, and connecting pipelines. The Main Terminal 
would be located approximately 50 miles (80 km) off the coast, East-
Southeast of Galveston, TX (approximately 45 miles (72 km) South of 
High Island, TX) in OCS lease block High Island Area 27 (HIA 27). The 
Riser Platform would be located approximately 29 miles off the coast, 
South-Southeast of Johnson's Bayou, LA (approximately 27 miles South of 
Holly Beach, LA) in OCS lease block West Cameron 167 (WC 167). Beacon 
Port would serve as an LNG receiving, storage, and regasification 
facility. The Main terminal would be located in water depth of 
approximately 65 feet (20 m).
    The proposed Beacon Port Main Terminal would include: two concrete 
Gravity Based Structures (GBS) that would contain the LNG storage 
tanks, LNG carrier berthing provisions, LNG unloading arms, low and 
high pressure pumps, vaporizers, metering, utility systems, general 
facilities and accommodations. The Main Terminal would be able to 
receive LNG carriers up to 253,000 cubic meters cargo capacity. LNG 
carrier arrival frequency would be planned to match specified terminal 
gas delivery rates. The terminal would have storage capacity for up to 
300,000 cubic meters of LNG (150,000 cubic meters per tank) on site.
    Regasification of LNG would be accomplished through the use of open 
rack vaporizers (ORV's). In normal operation, four pumps would operate 
having a combined total flow rate of approximately 167.5 million 
gallons per day (26,400 m3/hr). At peak operation, five 
pumps would operate with a combined total flow rate of approximately 
203 million gallons per day (32,000 m3/hr).
    Beacon Port proposes the installation of approximately 46 miles of 
offshore natural gas transmission pipeline on the OCS. A 42-inch 
diameter pipeline would connect the Main Terminal with the Riser 
Platform. Three additional pipelines (24-inch, 20-inch, and 12.75-inch 
in diameter) are proposed to connect the Riser Platform with existing 
gas distribution pipelines in the West Cameron (WC) 167 OCS block. The 
deepwater port would be designed to handle an average delivery of 
approximately 1.5 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas per day 
(Bscfd) with a peak delivery of approximately 1.8 Bscfd.

    Dated: May 18, 2005.
B. R. Emond,
Acting Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security, and 
Environmental Protection U.S. Coast Guard.
H. Keith Lesnick,
Senior Transportation Specialist, Deepwater Ports Program Manager, U.S. 
Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 05-10362 Filed 5-23-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P