[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 33 (Friday, February 17, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8630-8631]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-2349]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 5312]


Authorizing Valero Logistics Operations L.P. to Construct, 
Connect, Operate, and Maintain a Pipeline Crossing the International 
Boundary Between the United States and Mexico

    By virtue of the authority vested in me as Under Secretary of State 
for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs under Executive Order 
13337, 69 FR 25299 (2004), and Department of State Delegation of 
Authority No. 118-2 of January 26, 2006; having considered the 
environmental effects of the proposed action in accordance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321-4370f) and 
other statutes related to environmental concerns; having considered the 
proposed action in accordance with Section 470f of the National 
Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470-470a-2); and having requested 
and received views of various Federal and State agencies and other 
interested persons; I hereby grant permission, subject to the 
conditions herein set forth, to Valero Logistics Operations L.P., a 
corporation formed under the laws of the state of Delaware, with its 
principal place of business in San Antonio Texas (hereinafter ``the 
permittee'' or ``Valero''), to construct, connect, operate and maintain 
a pipeline crossing the international boundary in the vicinity of 
Hidalgo, Texas. The pipeline will be used to transport light naphtha 
(``naphtha'') across the border from Mexico to the Valero Terminal in 
Hidalgo County, Texas, crossing the Rio Grande River. The proposed 
pipeline would connect the Valero terminal in Edinburg, Texas, with the 
Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) Burgos gas plant near Reynoso in the state 
of Tamaulipas, Mexico.
    The term ``facilities'' as used in this permit means the pipeline 
and any land, structures, installations or equipment appurtenant 
thereto.
    The term ``United States facilities'' as used in this permit means 
those parts of the facilities located in the United States.
    As stated in permittee's application of June 22, 2005 for a permit 
pursuant to Executive Order 13337, the United States facilities of the 
pipeline project will consist of the following major components:
     The U.S. portion of the project consists of approximately 
34 miles of new pipeline from a location on the Rio Grande southeast of 
Penitas, to the Valero terminal approximately 6 miles north of downtown 
Edinburg.
     An above-ground metering station for tariff purposes that 
will be located 1.2 miles north of the Rio Grande crossing.
     At the Valero Edinburg Terminal, naphtha would be stored 
in a new dedicated 80,000 barrel naphtha storage tank. Naphtha would be 
pumped from this tank through a new pipeline currently being built by 
Valero to link its Edinburg and Harlingen terminals, and to link its 
Harlingen terminal with the Port of Brownsville.
    This permit is subject to the following conditions:
    Article 1. The United States facilities and operations herein 
described shall be subject to all the conditions, provisions, and 
requirements of this permit and any amendment thereof; further that 
this permit may be terminated at the will of the Secretary of State of 
the United States or the Secretary's delegate or may be amended by the 
Secretary of State of the United States or the Secretary's delegate at 
will or upon proper application therefore; further that the permittee 
shall make no substantial change in the location of the United States 
facilities in the immediate vicinity of the international boundary line 
or in the operation authorized by this permit until such changes have 
been approved by the Secretary of State of the United States or the 
Secretary's delegate.
    Article 2. The operation and maintenance of the facilities shall be 
in all material respects as described in permittee's application for a 
Presidential permit under Executive Order 13337 filed on June 22, 2005 
(the ``Application''), as amended by any comments received from federal 
and state agencies, the response to those comments, the Final 
Environmental Assessment and the Finding of No Significant Impact 
(FONSI) to be published in the Federal Register.
    Article 3. The standards for, and the manner of, construction, 
connection, operation, and maintenance of the United States facilities 
shall be subject to inspection and approval by the representatives of 
any Federal or State agency concerned. The permittee shall allow duly 
authorized officers and employees of such agencies free and 
unrestricted access to said facilities in the performance of their 
official duties.
    Article 4. The permittee shall comply with all applicable Federal 
and State laws and regulations regarding the construction, connection, 
operation, and maintenance of the United States facilities and with all 
applicable industrial codes. The permittee shall obtain requisite 
permits from Mexican authorities, as well as the relevant state and 
local governmental entities, and relevant federal agencies.
    Article 5. Upon the termination, revocation, or surrender of this 
permit, and unless otherwise agreed by the Secretary of State or the 
Secretary's delegate, the United States facilities in the immediate 
vicinity of the international boundary line shall be removed by, and at 
the expense of, the permittee within such time as the Secretary of 
State of the United States or the Secretary's delegate may specify, and 
upon failure of the permittee to remove, or to take such other 
appropriate action with respect to, this portion of the United States 
facilities as ordered, the Secretary of State or the Secretary's 
delegate may direct that possession of such facilities be taken and 
that they be removed or other appropriate action taken, at the expense 
of the permittee; and the permittee shall have no claim for damages by 
reason of such possession, removal, or other action.
    Article 6. If, in the future, it should appear to the Secretaries 
of the Army or Homeland Security (or either Secretary's delegate) or 
the United States Coast Guard that any facilities or operations 
permitted hereunder cause unreasonable obstructions to the free 
navigation of any of the navigable waters of the United States, the 
permittee may be required, upon notice from the Secretary of the Army 
or the Secretary of Homeland Security (or either Secretary's Delegate) 
or the United States Coast Guard, to remove or alter such of the 
facilities as are owned by it so as to render navigation through such 
waters free and unobstructed.
    Article 7. This permit is subject to the limitations, terms, and 
conditions contained in any orders or regulations issued by any 
competent agency of the United States Government with respect to the 
United States facilities. This permit shall continue in force and 
effect only so long as the permittee shall continue the operations 
hereby

[[Page 8631]]

authorized in accordance with such limitations, terms, and conditions.
    Article 8. When, in the opinion of the President of the United 
States, the national security of the United States demands it, due 
notice being given to the permittee by the Secretary of State of the 
United States or the Secretary's delegate, the United States shall have 
the right to enter upon and take possession of any of the United States 
facilities or parts thereof; to retain possession, management, and 
control thereof for such length of time as may appear to the President 
to be necessary to accomplish said purposes; and thereafter to restore 
possession and control to the permittee. In the event that the United 
States shall exercise such right, it shall pay to the permittee just 
and fair compensation for the use of such United States facilities upon 
the basis of a reasonable profit in normal conditions, and the cost of 
restoring said facilities to as good conditions as existed at the time 
of entering and taking over the same, less the reasonable value of any 
improvements that may have been made by the United States.
    Article 9. In the event of transfer of ownership or control of the 
United States facilities or any part thereof, this permit shall 
continue in effect temporarily for a reasonable time pending submission 
of a proper application by the transferee for a new and permanent 
permit, provided that notice of such transfer is given promptly in 
writing to the Department of State accompanied by a statement by the 
transferee under oath that the United States facilities and the 
operation and maintenance thereof authorized by this permit will remain 
substantially the same as before the transfer pending issuance to the 
transferee of a new and permanent permit.
    Article 10. (1) The permittee shall maintain the United States 
facilities and every part thereof in a condition of good repair for 
their safe operation.
    (2) The permittee shall save harmless and indemnify the United 
States from any and all claims or adjudged liability arising out of the 
construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of the facilities, 
including but not limited to environmental contamination from the 
release or threatened release or discharge of hazardous substances and 
hazardous waste.
    Article 11. The permittee shall acquire such right-of-way grants, 
easements, permits, and other authorizations as may become necessary 
and appropriate, including those required by the International Boundary 
and Water Commission.
    Article 12. The permittee shall file with the appropriate agencies 
of the Government of the United States such statements or reports under 
oath with respect to the United States facilities, and/or permittee's 
activities and operations in connection therewith, as are now or as may 
hereafter be required under any laws or regulations of the Government 
of the United States or its agencies.
    Article 13. The permittee shall take all appropriate measures to 
prevent or mitigate adverse environmental impacts or disruption of 
significant archeological resources in connection with the 
construction, operation and maintenance of the United States 
facilities, including those proposed to be performed by it in the Final 
Environmental Assessment dated September 2004 and the FONSI dated 
September 22, 2004. Construction of the facilities shall be performed 
in conformity with the proposed outline of work contained in the 
Application and the Final Environmental Assessment.
    Article 14. The permittee shall notify the Department of State if 
before or during construction historic or archeological properties are 
located and, to the extent construction has already started, will cease 
construction immediately. The permittee acknowledges that historic and 
archeological properties are protected under 49 U.S.C. Section 303 
(formerly Section 4(f)), and the permittee shall prepare a Section 4(f) 
statement if the United States facilities will have an effect on any 
historic or archeological properties.
    Article 15. The permittee shall comply with all agreed actions and 
obligations undertaken to be performed in its Application for a 
Presidential permit dated June 22, 2005, in the Final Environmental 
Assessment and in the FONSI issued by the Department of State and to be 
published in the Federal Register. The Final Environmental Assessment 
includes the Draft Environmental Assessment, dated May, 2005, all 
comments submitted by federal and state agencies on that document, the 
responses to those comments and all correspondence between agencies and 
the permittee addressing agency concerns.
    Article 16. The permittee shall not begin construction until it has 
obtained authorization for such construction from the Governments of 
the United States and Mexico through the exchange of diplomatic notes. 
The permittee shall provide written notice to the Department of State 
at such time as the construction authorized by this permit is begun and 
again at such time as construction is completed, interrupted or 
discontinued.
    Article 17. This permit shall issue fifteen days after the date of 
the determination by the Under Secretary of Economic, Business and 
Agricultural Affairs that issuance of this permit would serve the 
national interest, provided that the Department of State does not 
otherwise notify the permittee that the permit shall not issue.
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I, Josette Shiner, Under Secretary of State for 
Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs, have hereunto set my hand 
this 7th day of February, 2006 in Washington, DC.

Josette Shiner,
Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural 
Affairs, Department of State.
 [FR Doc. E6-2349 Filed 2-16-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-07-P