[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 14, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13213-13215]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-3594]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket No. USCG-2004-17696]


Freeport McMoRan Energy L.L.C. Main Pass Energy Hub Liquefied 
Natural Gas Deepwater Port License Application; Final Application 
Public Hearings and Final Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT.

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

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SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) announces the availability 
of the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on the Main Pass 
Energy Hub (MPEH) Deepwater Port License Application. Also, public 
hearings will be held on matters relevant to the approval or denial of 
the license application. The application describes a project that would 
be located in the Gulf of Mexico in Main Pass Lease Block 299 (MP 299), 
approximately 16 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana.

DATES: Three public hearings will be held. The public hearing in Grand 
Bay, Alabama will be on March 21, 2006, 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 hearing in Pascagoula, Mississippi will be on March 22, 2006, 
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 hearing in New Orleans, 
Louisiana, will be on March 23, 2006, 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 hearings may end later than the stated times, depending on the 
number wishing to speak.
    Material submitted in response to the request for comments must 
reach the Docket Management Facility on or before April 24, 2006, 
ending the 45 day public comment period. Federal and State agencies 
must submit comments on the application, recommended conditions for 
licensing, or letters of no objection by May 7, 2006 (45 days after the 
final public hearings). Also by May 7, 2006, the Governors of the 
adjacent coastal states of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi must 
approve, disapprove, or notify MARAD of inconsistencies with State 
programs relating to environmental protection, land and water use, and 
coastal zone management for which MARAD may condition the license to 
make consistent. MARAD must issue a record of decision (ROD) to 
approve, approve with conditions, or deny the DWP license application 
by June 21, 2006 (90 days after the public hearings.)

ADDRESSES: The first public hearing and informational open house will 
be held at the Grand Bay St. Elmo Community Center, 11610 Highway 90 
West, Grand Bay, Alabama, phone: 251-865-4010. The second public 
hearing and informational open house will be held at the La Font Inn, 
2703 Denny Avenue, Pascagoula, Mississippi, phone: 228-762-7111. The 
third public hearing and informational open house will be held at the 
Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel, Two Poydras Street, New Orleans, 
Louisiana, phone: 504-561-0500.
    A copy of the FEIS, license application, and associated 
documentation is available for viewing at the DOT's docket management 
Web site: http://dms.dot.gov under docket number 17696. Copies are also 
available for review at the Pascagoula Public Library, MS, 228-769-
3060; Bayou La Batre City Public Library, AL, 251-824-4213; Mobile 
Public Main Library, AL, 251-208-7106; Terrebonne Parish Library Main 
Branch, LA, 985-876-5861; Plaquemines Parish Public Library, LA, 985-
657-7121; New Orleans Public Main Library, LA, 504-529-7989; Morgan 
City Public Library (St. Mary Parish), LA, 504-380-4646; and Ingleside 
Public Library, TX, 361-776-5355.
    The public docket for this license application bears a U.S. Coast 
Guard (USCG) docket number, because the U.S. Coast Guard handles much 
of the processing for the license application. Address docket 
submissions for USCG-2004-17696 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: H. Keith Lesnick, Senior 
Transportation Specialist, Deepwater Ports Program Manager, U.S. 
Maritime Administration, telephone: 202-366-1624 or 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 Hearing and Open House

    We invite you to learn about the proposed deepwater port at the 
informational open house, and to comment at the public hearing on the 
proposed action and the evaluation contained in the FEIS and the 
license application. Speaker registration will be available at the 
door. In order to allow everyone a chance to speak, we may limit 
speaker time, or extend the hearing 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 hearing, 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 hearing, 
and need special assistance such as sign language interpretation or 
other reasonable accommodation, please notify MARAD (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 
FEIS and license application. You can submit material to the Docket 
Management Facility during the public comment period (see DATES). We 
will consider all comments submitted during the public comment period.
    Submissions should include:
     Docket number USCG-2004-17696.
     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

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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.

Proposed Action

    We published a notice of application for the proposed MPEH LNG 
Terminal LLC deepwater port at 69 FR 32363 (June 9, 2004); a notice of 
intent to prepare an EIS at 69 FR 45337 (July 29, 2004); and announced 
the availability of the draft EIS (DEIS) at 70 FR 35277 (June 17, 
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 FEIS.

Summary of the Application

    The application calls for the proposed deepwater port to be located 
in the Gulf of Mexico on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), 
approximately 16 miles offshore southeast Louisiana in Main Pass Block 
299. It would be located in a water depth of approximately 210 feet (64 
meters). The proposed location is a former sulphur mining facility. The 
project would utilize four existing platforms, along with associated 
bridges and support structures, with appropriate modifications and 
additions as part of the deepwater port. Two new platforms would be 
constructed to support liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks, and a 
patent-pending berthing system to berth the LNG carriers would be 
installed.
    Freeport-McMoRan Energy LLC (FME) proposes the installation of 
approximately 192 miles of natural gas and natural gas liquid (NGL) 
transmission pipelines on the OCS, varying in size ranging from 12 to 
36 inches in diameter. Five proposed pipelines would connect the 
deepwater port with several existing gas distribution pipelines, one of 
which would connect with a gas distribution pipeline near Coden, 
Alabama. The NGL derived from natural gas conditioning (i.e. ethane, 
propane, and butanes) would be delivered via a 12-inch pipeline to an 
existing NGL facility near Venice, Louisiana. A proposed metering 
platform would be installed at Main Pass 164 and would also provide a 
tie-in location for two lateral transmission lines.
    The proposed project would sit atop a salt dome, approximately 2 
miles in diameter. An on-site total gas storage capacity of 
approximately 28 billion cubic feet would be provided in three salt 
caverns to be constructed under the deepwater port.
    The deepwater port facility would consist of LNG storage tanks, LNG 
carrier berthing provisions, LNG unloading arms, low and high pressure 
pumps, vaporizers, a gas conditioning plant, salt cavern gas storage, 
compression, dehydration, metering, utility systems, general facilities 
and accommodations. The terminal would be able to receive LNG carriers 
ranging in capacity between 60,000 and 160,000 cubic meters. LNG would 
be stored in six tanks located on two new fixed platforms. Each tank 
would have an approximate gross capacity of 24,660 cubic meters, for a 
total net capacity of approximately 145,000 cubic meters. Four 
unloading arms would be provided to offload the LNG carriers at a rate 
of 10,500 to 12,000 cubic meters per hour. The facility would have 
living quarters to routinely accommodate up to 50 personnel, but would 
be capable of accommodating up to 94 personnel for brief periods.
    The FME MPEH would be designed to handle a nominal capacity of 7.0 
million metric tons per year of LNG, or 350 billion cubic feet per year 
of gas. This is equivalent to an average delivery of approximately 1.0 
billion cubic feet per day (bcfd). The facility would be capable of 
delivering a peak of 1.6 bcfd of pipeline-quality natural gas during 
periods of high demand, and a peak of 85,000 barrels per day of natural 
gas liquids.

Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity

    The onshore portion of this project shoreward of the mean high 
water line falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission (FERC) and must receive a separate authorization 
from the FERC. As required by their regulations, FERC will also 
maintain a docket. The FERC docket numbers for this project are CP04-
68-000 and CP04-69-000. To submit comments to the FERC docket, send an 
original and two copies of your comments to Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 
20426. Label one copy of the comments to the Attention of Gas Branch 2. 
The FERC strongly encourages electronic filing of any comments or 
interventions or protests to this proceeding. See 18 CFR 
385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the FERC's Web site at 
http://www.ferc.gov under the ``e-Filing'' link and the link to the 
Users Guide. Additional information about the project is available from 
the Commission's Office of External Affairs at 1-866-208 FERC (3372) or 
on the FERC Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov). Using the 
``eLibrary'' link, select ``General Search'' from the eLibrary menu, 
enter the selected date range and ``Docket Number'' (i.e., CP04-68-000 
or CP04-69-000), and follow the instructions. For assistance with 
access to eLibrary, the helpline can be reached at 1-866-208-3676, TTY 
202-502-8659, or at [email protected]. The eLibrary link on 
the FERC Internet Web site also provides access to the texts of formal 
documents issued by the Commission, such as orders, notices, and 
rulemakings. In addition, the FERC now offers a free service called 
eSubscription that allows you to keep track of all formal issuances and 
submittals in specific dockets. This can reduce the amount of time you 
spend researching proceedings by automatically providing you with 
notification of these filings, document summaries, and direct links to 
the documents. To register for this service, go to http://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.

Department of Army Permit

    On July 22, 2005, the New Orleans District, Army Corps of Engineers 
issued a joint public notice advising all interested parties of the 
proposed activity for which a Department of the Army permit is being 
sought and soliciting comments and information necessary to evaluate 
the probable

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impact on the public interest. Comments should be furnished to the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, OD-SW, P.O. Box 60267, 
New Orleans, LA 70160-0267.

    Dated: March 9, 2006.
Joel C. Richard,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. E6-3594 Filed 3-13-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P