[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 67 (Friday, April 7, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17950-17952]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-5106]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2004-17659]


Compass Port LLC Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port License; 
Final Environmental Impact Statement and Final Public Hearings

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) for the Compass Port 
natural gas deepwater port license application. MARAD, the Coast Guard, 
FERC and USACE request public comments on the FEIS. The USCG and MARAD 
will hold public hearings, and request public comments, on matters 
relevant to the approval or denial of the license application. The 
application describes a project that would be located in the Mobile 
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and Mississippi Sound areas of the U.S. 
Gulf of Mexico, in lease block Mobile 910, approximately 11 miles south 
of Dauphin Island, Alabama.

DATES: The public hearing on Dauphin Island, Alabama will be held on 
April 26, 2006, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and will be preceded by an 
informational open house from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The public hearing in 
Pascagoula, Mississippi will be held on April 27, 2006, from 5 p.m. to 
7 p.m., and will be preceded by an informational open house from 3 p.m. 
to 4:30 p.m.
    The public hearings 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 May 22, 2006, ending the 45 day public comment 
period. Federal and State agencies may submit comments on the 
application, recommended conditions for licensing, or letters of no 
objection by June 11, 2006 (45 days after the final public hearings). 
Also by June 11, 2006, the Governors of the adjacent coastal states of 
Alabama and Mississippi may 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 July 26, 2006 (90 days after the public 
hearings).

ADDRESSES: The public hearing and informational open house in Dauphin 
Island, Alabama will be held at: Dauphin Island Chamber of Commerce, 
402 La Vente Street, Dauphin Island, Alabama 36528, phone: 251-861-
5524.
    The public hearing and informational open house in Pascagoula, 
Mississippi will be held at: Pascagoula High School Library, 1716 
Tucker Avenue, Pascagoula, Mississippi 39567, phone: 228-938-6451.
    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 17659. Copies are also 
available for review at Pascagoula Public Library, Pascagoula, MS, 
phone: 228-769-3060; Spring Hill College Library, Mobile, AL, phone: 
251-380-3870; Mose Hudson Tapia Public Library, Bayou La Batre, AL, 
phone: 334-824-4213; Bell/Whittington Public Library, Portland, TX, 
phone: 361-777-0921; and Corpus Christi Public Library, Corpus Christi, 
TX, phone: 361-758-5276.
    Address docket submissions for USCG-2004-17659 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

[[Page 17951]]

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. The docket number is USCG-2004-17659.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Raymond Martin, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone: 202-267-1683, email: [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 on matters 
relevant to the approval or denial of 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 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 
FEIS or the approval or denial of the license application. The public 
meeting is not the only opportunity you have to comment. 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). MARAD and the Coast Guard will consider all comments submitted 
during the public comment period.
    Submissions should include:
     Docket number USCG-2004-17659.
     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 website 
(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.
    To submit comments to the FERC docket (CP04-114-000 and CP04-115-
000), 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 for the attention of Gas 
Branch 2, PJ11.2
     Reference Docket No. CP04-114-000 and CP04-115-000; and
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before May 22, 2006.
    Please note that FERC is continuing to experience delays in mail 
deliveries from the U.S. Postal Service. As a result, we will include 
all comments that we receive within a reasonable time frame in our 
environmental analysis of this project. However, 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 User's Guide. Before you can file 
comments, you will need to create a free account which can be created 
online.
    Comments will be considered by the FERC but will not serve to make 
the commenter a party to the proceeding. Any person seeking to become a 
party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene pursuant to 
Rule 214 of the FERC's Rules of Practice and Procedures (18 CFR 
385.214).
    Anyone may intervene in this proceeding based on this FEIS. You 
must file your request to intervene as specified above. You do not need 
intervener status to have your comments considered.
    The FEIS has been placed in the public files of the FERC and is 
available for distribution and public inspection at: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, Public Reference Room, 888 First Street, NE., 
Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426; 202-502-8371. A limited number of copies 
are available from the Public Reference Room identified above. In 
addition, copies of the FEIS have been mailed to federal, state and 
local agencies; public interest groups; individuals who have requested 
the FEIS; newspapers; and parties to this proceeding.
    Additional information about the project is available from the 
FERC's Office of External Affairs, at 1-866-208-FERC or on the FERC 
Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. Click 
on the eLibrary link, click on ``General Search'' and enter the docket 
number excluding the last three digits in the Docket Number field. Be 
sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For assistance, 
please contact FERC Online Support at [email protected] or 
toll free at 1-866-208-3676, or for TTY, contact (202)502-8659. The 
eLibrary link also provides access to the texts of formal documents 
issued by the FERC, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings.
    In addition, the FERC now offers a free service called 
eSubscription which 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. Go to http://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.
    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is also a cooperating 
agency in the NEPA process for this project. If you would like to 
submit comments to the USACE on proposed actions in Alabama, mail them 
to: Mr. Chuck Sumner, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

[[Page 17952]]

Regulatory Branch, CESAM-OP-SP, P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-0001.
    If you would like to submit comments to the USACE on proposed 
actions in Texas, mail them to: Mr. Reagan Richter, U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, 5151 Flynn Parkway Ste. 306, Corpus Christi, TX 78411-4318. 
Mail your comments so that they will be received, on or before May 22, 
2006.

Supplementary Information/Background

Proposed Action

    We published information about deepwater ports, the statutes and 
regulations governing their licensing, the receipt of the current 
application, and a notice of intent to prepare an EIS for the Proposed 
Compass Port Deepwater Port at 69 FR 35657, June 25, 2004 and we have 
announced the availability of the draft EIS at 70 FR 7288, February 11, 
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 plan calls for the Proposed Deepwater Port to be 
located in the Mobile Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and Mississippi 
Sound areas of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, approximately 11 miles off 
Dauphin Island, Alabama in lease block Mobile 910. Compass Port would 
serve as an LNG receiving, storage, and regasification facility, 
located in approximately 70 feet of water depth, and would incorporate 
docking facilities, unloading facilities, two LNG storage tanks, an 
offshore pipeline and support facilities.
    The Proposed Deepwater Port would be able to receive LNG carriers 
up to 255,000 cubic meters cargo capacity. LNG carrier arrival 
frequency would be planned to match specified terminal gas delivery 
rates. LNG would be stored in two integral full-containment tanks, each 
with a capacity of 150,000 cubic meters, and a combined capacity of 
300,000 cubic meters of LNG.
    The regasification process would consist of lifting the LNG from 
the storage tanks, pumping the LNG to pipeline pressure, vaporizing 
across heat exchanging equipment, and sending out through the pipeline 
to custody transfer metering for ultimate delivery to downstream 
interstate pipeline capacity. No gas conditioning is required since the 
incoming LNG will meet the gas quality specifications of the downstream 
pipelines. The Proposed Deepwater Port would be designed for an average 
delivery of approximately 1.0 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of 
pipeline quality gas.
    Compass Port LLC also proposes the installation of approximately 
26.8 miles of 36-inch diameter natural gas transmission pipeline on the 
OCS. In addition, approximately 4.9 miles of 36-inch diameter pipeline 
would be installed onshore to connect the proposed deepwater port and 
offshore pipeline with existing gas distribution pipelines near Coden, 
Alabama.
    The applicant has proposed the Kiewit Offshore Services site in 
Ingleside, TX for the fabrication of the concrete GBS's which would be 
used to contain the LNG storage tanks.

    Dated: April 4, 2006.
Joel C. Richard,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. E6-5106 Filed 4-6-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P