[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 111 (Friday, June 10, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33916-33918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-11558]


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

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2005-21232]


Beacon Port Natural Gas Deepwater Port License Application; 
Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement

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

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

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

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) 
announce that the Coast Guard intends to prepare an environmental 
impact statement (EIS) as part of the environmental review of this 
license application. The application describes a project that would be 
located in the Gulf of Mexico, in lease block High Island Area 27, on 
the outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Main Terminal would be located 
approximately 45 miles South of High Island and 50 miles East-Southeast 
of Galveston, Texas, with a riser platform in lease block West Cameron 
167, approximately 27 miles South of Holly Beach and 29 miles South-
Southeast of Johnson?s Bayou, Louisiana. Publication of this notice 
begins a scoping process that will help identify and determine the 
scope of environmental issues to be addressed in the EIS. This notice 
requests public participation in the scoping process and provides 
information on how to participate.

DATES: The public meeting in Corpus Christi, Texas will be held on June 
28, 2005; the public meeting in Galveston, Texas will be held on June 
29, 2005; and the public meeting in Lafayette, Louisiana will be held 
on June 30, 2005. Each public meeting will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 
p.m. and will be preceded by an open house from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
Public meetings may end earlier or later than the stated time, 
depending on the number of persons wishing to speak. Material submitted 
in response to the request for comments must reach the Docket 
Management Facility by July 11, 2005.

ADDRESSES: The public meetings will be held at:

Omni Bayfront Tower, 900 North Shoreline Boulevard, Corpus Christi, TX 
78401; telephone 361-887-1600;
San Luis Resort, 5222 Seawall Blvd, Galveston, TX 77551; telephone 409-
744-1500; and
Holiday Inn Central, 2032 NE Evangeline Thruway, Lafayette, LA 70501; 
telephone 337-233-6815.

    Address docket submissions for USCG-2005-21232 to: Docket 
Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    The Docket Management Facility accepts hand-delivered submissions, 
and makes docket contents 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 website for electronic 
submissions or for electronic access to docket contents is http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ray Martin, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone: 202-267-1683, 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:

Public Meetings and Open Houses

    We invite you to learn about the proposed deepwater port at an 
informational open house, and to comment at a public meeting on 
environmental issues related to the proposed deepwater port. Your 
comments will help us identify and refine the scope of the 
environmental issues to be addressed in the EIS.
    In order to allow everyone a chance to speak at the public 
meetings, we may limit speaker time, or extend the meeting hours, or 
both. You must identify yourself, and any organization you represent, 
by name. Your remarks will be recorded or transcribed for inclusion in 
the public docket.
    You may submit written material at a public meeting, either in 
place of or in addition to speaking. Written material must include your 
name and address, and will be included in the public docket.
    Public docket materials will be made available to the public on the 
Docket Management Facility's Docket Management System (DMS). See 
``Request for Comments'' for information about DMS and your rights 
under the Privacy Act.
    All our public meeting locations are wheelchair-accessible. If you 
plan to attend an open house or public meeting, and need special 
assistance such as sign

[[Page 33917]]

language interpretation or other reasonable accommodation, please 
notify the Coast Guard (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) at least 3 
business days in advance. Include your contact information as well as 
information about your specific needs.

Request for Comments

    We request public comments or other relevant information on 
environmental issues related to the proposed deepwater port. The public 
meetings are not the only opportunity you have to comment. In addition 
to or in place of attending a meeting, you can submit comments to the 
Docket Management Facility during the public comment period (see 
DATES). We will consider all comments and material received during the 
comment period.
    Submissions should include:
     Docket number USCG-2005-21232.
     Your name and address.
     Your reasons for making each comment or for bringing 
information to our attention.
    Submit comments or material using only one of the following 
methods:
     Electronic submission to DMS, http://dms.dot.gov.
     Fax, mail, or hand delivery to the Docket Management 
Facility (see ADDRESSES). Faxed or hand delivered submissions must be 
unbound, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, and suitable for copying 
and electronic scanning. If you mail your submission and want to know 
when it reaches the Facility, include a stamped, self-addressed 
postcard or envelope.
    Regardless of the method used for submitting comments or material, 
all submissions will be posted, without change, to the DMS Web site 
(http://dms.dot.gov), and will include any personal information you 
provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public. You 
may wish to read the Privacy Act notice that is available on the DMS 
Web site, or the Department of Transportation Privacy Act Statement 
that appeared in the Federal Register on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477).
    You may view docket submissions at the Docket Management Facility 
(see ADDRESSES), or electronically on the DMS website.

Background

    Information about deepwater ports, the statutes, and regulations 
governing their licensing, and the receipt of the current application 
for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) deepwater port appears at 70 FR 
29776, May 24, 2005. The ``Summary of the Application'' from that 
publication is reprinted below for your convenience.
    Consideration of a deepwater port license application includes 
review of the proposed deepwater port's natural and human environmental 
impacts. The Coast Guard is the lead agency for determining the scope 
of this review, and in this case the Coast Guard has determined that 
review must include preparation of an EIS. This notice of intent is 
required by 40 CFR 1508.22, and briefly describes the proposed action 
and possible alternatives and our proposed scoping process. You can 
address any questions about the proposed action, the scoping process, 
or the EIS to the Coast Guard official identified in FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

Proposed Action and Alternatives

    The proposed action requiring environmental review is the Federal 
licensing of the proposed deepwater port described in ``Summary of the 
Application'' below. The alternatives to licensing the proposed port 
are: (1) Licensing with conditions (including conditions designed to 
mitigate environmental impact), and (2) denying the application, which 
for purposes of environmental review is the ``no-action'' alternative.

Scoping Process

    Public scoping is an early and open process for identifying and 
determining the scope of issues to be addressed in the EIS. Scoping 
begins with this notice, continues through the public comment period 
(see DATES), and ends when the Coast Guard has completed the following 
actions:
     Invites the participation of Federal, State, and local 
agencies, any affected Indian tribe, the applicant, and other 
interested persons;
     Determines the actions, alternatives, and impacts 
described in 40 CFR 1508.25;
     Identifies and eliminates from detailed study those issues 
that are not significant or that have been covered elsewhere;
     Allocates responsibility for preparing EIS components;
     Indicates any related environmental assessments or 
environmental impact statements that are not part of the EIS;
     Identifies other relevant environmental review and 
consultation requirements;
     Indicates the relationship between timing of the 
environmental review and other aspects of the application process; and
     At its discretion, exercises the options provided in 40 
CFR 1501.7(b).
    Once the scoping process is complete, the Coast Guard will prepare 
a draft EIS, and we will publish a Federal Register notice announcing 
its public availability. (If you want that notice to be sent to you, 
please contact the Coast Guard officer identified in FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.) You will have an opportunity to review and 
comment on the draft EIS. The Coast Guard will consider those comments 
and then prepare the final EIS. As with the draft EIS, we will announce 
the availability of the final EIS and once again give you an 
opportunity for review and comment.

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 (ORVs). 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

[[Page 33918]]

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 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 per day (Bscfd) with a peak delivery of 
approximately 1.8 Bscfd.

    Dated: June 7, 2005.
Raymond J. Petow,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, 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. 05-11558 Filed 6-9-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P