[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 105 (Thursday, June 1, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31258-31260]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-8497]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2006-24644]


TORP Terminal LP, Bienville Offshore Energy Terminal Liquefied 
Natural Gas Deepwater Port License Application; Preparation of 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: 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 Gulf of Mexico, in Main Pass block MP 258, approximately 
63 miles south of Mobile Point, Alabama. 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. This notice announces public 
meetings and a public comment period to facilitate public 
participation.

DATES: The public meeting in Mobile, Alabama will be held on June 14, 
2006. The 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 earlier or 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 by June 
30, 2006.

ADDRESSES: The open house and public meeting will be held at: Mobile 
Convention Center, One South Water Street, Room 203, Mobile, Alabama 
36602; 251-208-2100.
    Address docket submissions for USCG-2006-24644 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 
number is 202-366-9329; the fax number is 202-493-2251; and its website 
for electronic submissions or for electronic access to docket contents 
is http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary K. Jager, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone: 202-372-1454, 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

[[Page 31259]]

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-2006-24644.
     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 at 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 
website 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 the proposed Bienville Offshore Energy Terminal deepwater port 
appeared in the Federal Register on May 5, 2006 (71 FR 26605). The 
``Summary of the Application'' from that publication is reprinted below 
for your convenience.
    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 contact person 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

    TORP Terminal LP, proposes to own, construct, and operate a 
deepwater port, named Bienville Offshore Energy Terminal (BOET), in the 
Federal waters of the Outer Continental Shelf on Main Pass block MP 
258, approximately 63 miles south of Mobile Point, Alabama, in a water 
depth of approximately 425 feet. The BOET Deepwater Port would be 
capable of mooring two LNG carriers of up to approximately 250,000 
cubic meter capacity by means of two Single Anchor Leg Moorings 
(SALMs).
    The LNG carriers would be off loaded one at a time to HiLoad 
floating re-gasification facilities, which use four submerged shell-
and-tube heat exchangers to vaporize the LNG before sending it via 14-
inch diameter flexible risers to a Pipeline End Manifold (PLEM) on the 
seafloor, then through 30-inch diameter pipeline to the support 
platform, where the gas will be metered and further sent out via 
interconnecting pipelines to four existing pipelines (Dauphin Island 
Gathering System Feedline, Transco Feedline, Destin Feedline, and 
Viosca Knoll Gathering System Feedline).
    The major fixed components of the proposed deepwater port would be 
the Support Platform, two PLEMs with ancillary risers and terminal 
pipelines, HiLoad parking line pilings, and approximately 25 miles of 
new pipeline.
    BOET will have an average throughput capacity of 1.2 billion 
standard cubic feet per day (Bscfd). No onshore pipelines or LNG 
storage facilities are associated with the proposed deepwater port 
application. A shore based facility will be used to

[[Page 31260]]

facilitate movement of personnel, equipment, supplies, and disposable 
materials between the Terminal and shore.
    Construction of the deepwater port would be expected to take 30 
months; with startup of commercial operations in the latter half of 
2009, should a license be issued. 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 25 
years.

Privacy Act

    Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70, pages 19477-78) or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov.

(Authority 49 CFR 1.66)

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.

    Dated: May 26, 2006.
Joel C. Richard,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
 [FR Doc. E6-8497 Filed 5-31-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P