[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 170 (Friday, September 2, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52422-52423]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-17553]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2005-22219]


Northeast Gateway Energy Bridge, L.L.C., Liquefied Natural Gas 
Deepwater Port License Application

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

ACTION: Notice of application.

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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 May 1, 2006, and 
requires a decision on the application to be made not later than July 
31, 2006.

ADDRESSES: The public docket for USCG-2005-22219 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: Roddy Bachman, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone: 202-267-1752, email: [email protected]. If you have 
questions on viewing the docket, call Andrea M. Jenkins, Program 
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone: 202-366-0271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 52423]]

Receipt of Application

    On June 13, 2005, the Coast Guard and MARAD received an application 
from Northeast Gateway Energy Bridge, L.L.C., a subsidiary of 
Excelerate Energy Limited Partnership, 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). On August 19, 2005, we determined that the 
application contains 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.
    Adeepwater 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 we determine that an application contains 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, Massachusetts is the adjacent 
coastal State for this application. Other States can apply for adjacent 
coastal State status in accordance with 33 U.S.C. 1508(a)(2).

Summary of the Application

    Northeast Gateway Energy Bridge, L.L.C., has proposed a facility to 
import liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the New England region 
providing a base load delivery of 400 million cubic feet per day 
(MMcfd) and capable of peak deliveries of approximately 800 MMcfd or 
more. The facility will be located offshore in Massachusetts Bay, 
approximately 13 miles south-southeast of the city of Gloucester, MA, 
in federal waters approximately 270 to 290 feet in depth, commonly 
referred to as Block 125.
    Northeast Gateway will deliver natural gas to onshore markets via a 
new 24-inch pipeline, approximately 16.4 miles in length, from the 
proposed deepwater port to the existing offshore 30-inch Algonquin 
HubLine Pipeline System. The proposed new pipeline lateral will be 
owned and operated by Algonquin Gas Transmission. Algonquin is seeking 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval for the pipeline 
concurrent with this deepwater port application. The new pipeline will 
also be included in the National Environmental Policy Act review as 
part of the deepwater port application process.
    The Northeast Gateway facility will consist of two subsea submerged 
turret loading buoys (STL buoys), two flexible risers, two pipeline end 
manifolds (PLEMs), and two subsea flow lines. Each STL buoy will 
connect to a PLEM using the flexible riser assembly, and the PLEM will 
connect to the subsea flow line. A fleet of specially designed Energy 
Bridge regasification vessels (EBRVs), each capable of transporting 
approximately 4.9 million cubic feet (138,000 cubic meters) of LNG, 
will deliver natural gas to the Northeast Gateway deepwater port.
    The EBRVs will vaporize the LNG in a closed Loop mode of 
recirculating fresh water on-board the ship requiring no intake or 
discharge of seawater. Natural gas fired boilers will be used to 
generate steam for the regasification facilities as well as to provide 
vessel electrical needs in normal operation.

    Dated: August 29, 2005.
Howard L. Hime,
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. 05-17553 Filed 9-1-05; 8:45 am]
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