[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 202 (Thursday, October 20, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61151-61152]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-21007]



[[Page 61151]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2005-22611]


Neptune LNG, L.L.C., Liquefied 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 meeting; request for 
comments.

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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 Federal waters of the Outer Continental Shelf in Blocks 
NK 19-04 6525 and NK 19-04 6575, approximately 22 miles northeast of 
Boston, Massachusetts, and approximately 7 miles south-southeast of 
Gloucester, Massachusetts. 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: A public meeting will be held in Boston, MA on November 2, 2005. 
There will also be a public meeting in Gloucester, MA on November 3, 
2005. Both meetings will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be preceded 
by an informational open house from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The public 
meetings may end later than the stated time, depending on the number of 
persons wishing to speak.
    A portion of the public meeting will be conducted by the 
Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs in compliance 
with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. That meeting will be 
noticed separately in the Massachusetts Journal.
    Material submitted in response to the request for comments for the 
scoping process must reach the Docket Management Facility by November 
18, 2005.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting in Boston will be held at: Faneuil Hall 
in Boston, MA-1 Faneuil Hall Square, 2nd floor meeting hall, Phone: 
(617) 635-3105. The public meeting in Gloucester will be at: Gloucester 
High School, Auditorium, 32 L.O. Johnson Rd, Gloucester, MA, Phone: 
(978) 281-9870.
    Address docket submissions for USCG-2005-22611 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 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, e-mail: [email protected]. If you have 
questions on viewing the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, 
Docket Operations, telephone: 202-493-0402.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Meeting and Open House

    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 meeting, 
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 the 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 the open house or public meeting, and need special 
assistance such as sign 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 
meeting is 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-2005-22611.
     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 Web site.

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 
58729, October 7, 2005. The ``Summary of the Application'' from that 
publication is reprinted below for your convenience.

[[Page 61152]]

    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 project manager 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 project manager 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

    Neptune LNG, L.L.C. proposes to construct, own and operate a 
deepwater port, named Neptune, in the Federal waters of the Outer 
Continental Shelf on blocks NK 19-04 6525 and NK 19-04 6575, 
approximately 22 miles northeast of Boston, Massachusetts, and 
approximately 7 miles south-southeast of Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 
a water depth of approximately 250 feet. The Neptune deepwater port 
would be capable of mooring up to two approximately 140,000 cubic meter 
capacity LNG carriers by means of a submerged unloading buoy system.
    The LNG carriers, or shuttle regasification vessels (SRVs), would 
be equipped to store, transport and vaporize LNG, and to odorize and 
meter natural gas which would then be sent out by conventional subsea 
pipelines. Each SRV would have insulated storage tanks located within 
its hull. Each tank would be equipped with an in-tank pump to circulate 
and transfer LNG to the vaporization facilities located on the deck of 
the SRV. The proposed vaporization system would be closed-loop water-
glycol, re-circulating heat exchangers heated by steam from boil-off 
gas/vaporized LNG-fired boilers.
    The major fixed components of the proposed deepwater port would be 
an unloading buoy system, eight mooring lines consisting of wire rope 
and chain connecting to anchor points on the seabed, eight suction pile 
anchor points, approximately 2.5 miles of natural gas flow line with 
flexible pipe risers and risers manifolds, and approximately 11 miles 
of 24-inch natural gas transmission line with a hot tap and transition 
manifold to connect to the existing Algonquin HublineSM.
    Neptune would have an average throughput capacity of 400 million 
standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) and a peak capacity of 
approximately 750 MMscfd. Natural gas would be sent out by means of two 
flexible risers and a subsea flowline leading to a 24-inch gas 
transmission line. These risers and flow line would connect the 
deepwater port to the existing 30-inch Algonquin HublineSM. 
No onshore components or storage facilities are associated with the 
proposed deepwater port application.
    Construction of the deepwater port components would be expected to 
take 36 months, with a startup of commercial operations in late 2009. 
The deepwater port would be designed, constructed and operated in 
accordance with applicable codes and standards and would have an 
expected operating life of approximately 20 years.
    In addition, pipelines within the three-mile limit require an Army 
Corps of Engineers (USACE) permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water 
Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act. Structures such as 
the moorings and lateral pipelines beyond the three-mile limit require 
a Section 10 permit.
    As required by their regulations, the USACE will maintain a permit 
file. The USACE New England District phone number is 978-318-8338 and 
their Web site is http://www.nae.usace.army.mil. The new pipeline will 
be included in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review as 
part of the deepwater port application process. The USACE, as a 
cooperating agency, will assist in the NEPA process as described in 40 
CFR 1501.6; will be participating in the scoping meetings; and will 
conduct joint public meetings with the Coast Guard and MARAD when the 
draft EIS is released for public comment. Comments sent to the USACE 
will also be incorporated into the DOT docket and EIS to ensure 
consistency with the NEPA Process.

    Dated: October 13, 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. 05-21007 Filed 10-19-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P