[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 154 (Thursday, August 10, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45899-45900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-13097]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2004-17696]


Freeport McMoRan Energy L.L.C. Main Pass Energy Hub Liquefied 
Natural Gas Deepwater Port License Application Amendment; Preparation 
of Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of amended application; Notice of Intent; Request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD), and the U.S. Coast Guard 
announce that we have received an application amendment for the 
licensing of the Main Pass Energy Hub (MPEH) natural gas deepwater 
port, and that the application amendment contains the required 
information to continue processing the application. This notice 
summarizes the applicant's plans and the procedures that will be 
followed in considering this application amendment. The Coast Guard, in 
coordination with MARAD, will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) 
as part of the environmental review of this license application 
amendment. Publication of this notice also begins a public comment 
period on the application amendment and on the procedures and process 
to be followed in completing the review.
    The application amendment describes the change in project 
regassification technology from the ``open-loop'' vaporization system 
originally proposed for Main Pass Energy Hub to a ``closed-loop'' LNG 
vaporization system. The proposed closed-loop vaporization system is a 
submerged combustion vaporization system with selective catalytic 
reduction (SCV/SCR). The proposed facility would be constructed in the 
Gulf of Mexico in Main Pass Lease Block 299 (MP 299), approximately 16 
miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana. A Draft and Final Environmental 
Impact Statement were published on the original application on June 17, 
2005 and March 14, 2006, respectively.

DATES: Material submitted in response to the request for comment must 
reach the Docket Management Facility by September 11, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the license application, the Draft and Final 
Environmental Impact Statements (DEIS/FEIS), the application amendment 
and associated comments and documentation are available for viewing at 
the DOT's docket management Web site: http://dms.dot.gov under docket 
number 17696. 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 telephone number is 202-
366-9329, the fax number is 202-493-2251, and the Web site for 
electronic submissions or for electronic access to docket contents is 
http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roddy C. Bachman, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone: 202-372-1451, 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:

Receipt of Application Amendment

    On May 31, 2006, the Coast Guard and MARAD received an amendment 
for the Main Pass Energy Hub deepwater port license application from 
Freeport McMoRan Energy L.L.C.

Background

    The construction and operation of a deepwater port must be 
authorized by the Secretary of Transportation (as delegated to the 
Administrator of MARAD). Before a license decision is made, the DWPA 
and the implementing regulations found at 33 CFR part 148 et seq. 
provide for an application review following requirements set forth in 
the DWPA, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and other 
applicable laws and regulations. To comply with this requirement, the 
Coast Guard and MARAD, as the lead federal agencies for the license 
application review process under the DWPA and NEPA, completed a Draft 
EIS that was released on June 17, 2005. Workshops and public hearings 
were held in Grand Bay, Alabama, New Orleans, Louisiana, and 
Pascagoula, Mississippi to allow public comment and involvement. A 
Final EIS was released on March 14, 2006 and public hearings were held 
in each Adjacent Coastal State to comply with the requirements of the 
DWPA. During this public interest review process, extensive public and 
agency comments were submitted that discussed the project and the SCV 
and open rack vaporization (ORV) technologies as reasonable 
alternatives for the regasification

[[Page 45900]]

technology for the project. For this and other reasons, the Final EIS 
included a robust and detailed discussion and evaluation of both SCV 
and ORV technologies.
    The applicant is now proposing in this application amendment to 
change the project to use SCV in the place of ORV. Although SCV/SCR was 
fully evaluated as a reasonable alternative in sufficient detail to 
provide an in-depth public interest review of that alternative, the 
SCV/SCR system described in the FEIS was a somewhat generic system 
based on an existing application of this technology at an onshore LNG 
facility. The application amendment contains the actual design that 
would be used, and while very similar to the more generic system 
described in the FEIS, the expanded and refined information regarding 
the SCV/SCR warrants development of additional environmental evaluation 
and review. Following review and coordination of the amendment between 
MARAD, the Coast Guard, EPA, NOAA, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
(USACE), MARAD and the Coast Guard have determined that an 
Environmental Assessment will provide the appropriate level of NEPA 
review and analysis. The decision is based upon a finding that the 
proposed amendment: (i) Does not make substantial changes in the 
proposed action that are relevant to environmental concerns; and, (ii) 
there are no significant new circumstances or information relevant to 
environmental concerns and bearing on the proposed action or its 
impacts. Therefore, our evaluation confirms that the EA is an 
appropriate document to satisfy the DWPA and NEPA requirements in this 
situation. This process, preparation of an EA that describes the 
project changes and focuses the evaluation on the amendment, using and 
incorporating by reference the recently published FEIS, will meet the 
statutory requirements and intent of NEPA and the DWPA by providing a 
detailed environmental assessment of the changes. The process will 
allow ample opportunity for meaningful public comment and involvement. 
Our initial review of the changes proposed in the application amendment 
indicates a reduction in impacts in several key resource areas that 
were originally identified with the ORV technology. In addition, a 
number of comments from the public, and State and Federal agencies 
discussed and supported SCV as a preferred alternative.
    The Coast Guard will consider comments on the application 
amendment, the proposed changes (including the level of significance of 
the changes), and on the determination and process of using an EA for 
the environmental evaluation. Following completion and release of the 
EA, there will be a second public notice and a 45 day public comment 
period where the Coast Guard and MARAD will receive comments on both 
the EA and the amended application. Public hearings in the adjacent 
coastal states will be held approximately 2 weeks after release of the 
EA. A 45 day comment period will follow the public hearings during 
which the Governors of the adjacent coastal states may approve, 
disapprove or remain silent on the application, and the EPA 
Administrator will also be afforded an opportunity to inform the MARAD 
Administrator if the deepwater port as proposed would not conform with 
the applicable provisions of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, or 
the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act. Within 90 days of 
the final public hearing, MARAD will issue a record of decision (ROD) 
on the application.
    You can address any questions about the proposed action or the EA 
process to the Coast Guard project manager identified in FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

Request for Comments

    We request public comments or other relevant information on the 
application amendment and/or the environmental evaluation process 
described in this notice. Please reference the application amendment 
and the EIS that are available on the docket. 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 periods. Although MARAD and the Coast Guard 
have published a FEIS providing a full and complete evaluation of other 
aspects of the application, and this EA will focus on the application 
amendment, we will accept and consider comments on any aspect of the 
project or the process.
    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 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, 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.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.

    Dated: August 7, 2006.
Joel C. Richard,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
 [FR Doc. E6-13097 Filed 8-9-06; 8:45 am]
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