[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 217 (Thursday, November 9, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65877-65878]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-19009]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2005-21232]


Beacon Port LLC Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port License; 
Final Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Maritime Administration 
(MARAD) announce the availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (FEIS) for the Beacon Port liquefied natural gas deepwater 
port 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.

DATES: Material submitted in response to the request for comments must 
reach the Docket Management Facility on or before December 11, 2006.
    On November 3, 2006 the applicant informed MARAD and the Coast 
Guard that they are withdrawing the Beacon Port LLC Liquefied Natural 
Gas Deepwater Port License application. Therefore, public hearings on 
the Deepwater Port License will not be held since a license will not be 
granted on the withdrawn application.
    In their withdrawal notification the applicant indicated that they 
may determine at some future date to resubmit the Beacon Port license 
application (either modified or a new application for this location). 
In that event this Environmental Impact Statement may be used as the 
basis for any additional or updated NEPA documentation that would be 
necessary should the application be resubmitted. For that reason, 
comments relating to the FEIS are still being solicited.

ADDRESSES: Address docket submissions for USCG-2005-21232 to:

[[Page 65878]]

    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. The docket number is USCG-2005-21232.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Raymond Martin, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone: 202-372-1449, e-mail: [email protected]. If you have 
questions on viewing the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, 
Docket Operations, telephone: 202-493-0402.

Request for Comments

    We request public comments or other relevant information on the 
FEIS. You can submit material to the Docket Management Facility during 
the public comment period (see DATES). The Coast Guard and MARAD will 
consider all comments submitted during the public comment period. 
However, as we stated, no license will be issued on the withdrawn 
application that this EIS evaluates.
    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/Background

Proposed Action

    We published a notice of intent to prepare an EIS for the Proposed 
Beacon Port Deepwater Port at 71 FR 33916, June 10, 2005 and we 
announced the availability of the Draft EIS at 71 FR 11216, March 6, 
2006. 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 described a 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 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 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 proposed 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) were proposed to connect the Riser Platform with existing gas 
distribution pipelines in the 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.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.

    Dated: November 3, 2006.
Joel C. Richard,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. E6-19009 Filed 11-8-06; 8:45 am]
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