[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 43 (Monday, March 6, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11216-11217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-2110]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2005-21232]


Beacon Port Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port License 
Application; Draft Environmental Impact Statement

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

ACTION: Notice of availability; notice of public meeting; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) 
announce the availability of the draft environmental impact statement 
(DEIS) for 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. The 
Coast Guard and MARAD request public comments on the DEIS.

DATES: The public meeting in Lafayette, Louisiana will be held on March 
21, 2006; the public meeting in Galveston, Texas will be held on March 
22, 2006; and the public meeting in Corpus Christi, Texas will be held 
on March 23, 2006. 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. 
The public meeting may end 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 on 
or before April 17, 2006.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting and informational open house will be held 
at:
    Holiday Inn Central, 2032 NE. Evangeline Thruway, Lafayette, LA 
70501; telephone 337-233-6815; Galveston Island Convention Center at 
the San Luis Resort, 5600 Seawall Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77551, 
telephone 409-763-6564; and Omni Bayfront Tower, 900 North Shoreline 
Boulevard, Corpus Christi, TX 78401; telephone 361-887-1600.
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 Web site 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 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 the 
informational open house, and to comment at the public meeting on the 
proposed action and the evaluation contained in the DEIS.
    Please notify the Coast Guard (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) 
if you wish to speak at the public meeting. In order to allow everyone 
a chance to speak, 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.
    If you plan to attend either the open house or the 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 the 
DEIS. The public meeting is not the only opportunity you have to 
comment on the DEIS. In addition to or in place of attending the 
meeting, you can submit material to the Docket Management Facility 
during the public comment period (see DATES). The Coast Guard will 
consider all comments submitted during the public comment period, and 
then will prepare the final EIS. We will announce the availability of 
the final EIS and once again give you an opportunity for review and 
comment. (If you want that notice to be sent to you, please contact the 
Coast Guard contact person identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.) 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 Web site.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

[[Page 11217]]

Proposed Action

    We published a notice of intent to prepare an EIS for the proposed 
liquefied natural gas (LNG) deepwater port at 70 FR 33916, June 10, 
2005. The proposed action requiring environmental review is the Federal 
licensing of the proposed deepwater port described in ``Summary of the 
Application'' below, which is reprinted from previous Federal Register 
notices in this docket.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    The alternatives to licensing 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. These alternatives are more fully 
discussed in the DEIS.

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 with cargo capacities of up to 253,000 cubic 
meters. 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 
with a combined total flow rate of approximately 167.5 million gallons 
of sea water per day (26,400 m\3\/hr). At peak operation, five pumps 
would operate with a combined total flow rate of approximately 203 
million gallons of sea water per day (32,000 m\3\/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 
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: February 24, 2006.
Howard L. Hime,
Acting Director of Standards, Assistant Commandant for Prevention, U.S. 
Coast Guard.

H. Keith Lesnick,
Senior Transportation Specialist, Deepwater Ports Program Manager, U.S. 
Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 06-2110 Filed 3-3-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P