[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 129 (Friday, July 6, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37074-37076]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-13030]


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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 availability; notice of public meeting; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) 
announce the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS) for the TORP Terminal LP, Bienville Offshore Energy Terminal 
Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port 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. The Coast Guard and MARAD request public 
comments on the DEIS. Publication of this notice begins a 45 day 
comment period and provides information on how to participate in the 
process.

DATES: The public meeting in Mobile, Alabama will be held on July 25, 
2007. 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 people wishing to speak. Material submitted in response to the 
request for comments on the DEIS must reach the Docket Management 
Facility by August 20, 2007.

ADDRESSES: The open house and public meeting will be held at: Mobile 
Convention Center, One South Water Street, Room 203, Mobile, Alabama 
36602; telephone: 251-208-2100.
    The DEIS, the application, and associated documentation is 
available for viewing at the DOT's Docket Management System Web site: 
http://dms.dot.gov under docket number 24644. The DEIS is also 
available at public libraries in Mobile (Ben May Main Library and 
Spring Hill College

[[Page 37075]]

Library), Bayou La Batre (Mose Hudson Tapia Public Library), Orange 
Beach (Orange Beach Public Library), Daphne (Daphne Public Library), 
and Gulf Shores (Thomas B. Norton Public Library).
    Address docket submissions for USCG-2006-24644 to: Department of 
Transportation, Docket Management Facility, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, 
SE.,West Building,Ground Floor, Room W12-140,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 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. The Facility 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: Mary K. Jager, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone: 202-372-1454, e-mail: [email protected]; LTJG Hannah 
Kim, U.S. Coast Guard, telephone 202-372-1438, e-mail: 
[email protected]; or Gregory V. Sparkman, Maritime Administration, 
telephone 202-366-1908, 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 an 
informational open house, and to comment at a public hearing on the 
proposed action and the evaluation contained in the DEIS.
    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 Management System (DMS). See 
``Request for Comments'' for information about DMS and your rights 
under the Privacy Act.
    All public meeting locations will be wheelchair-accessible. If you 
plan to attend the open house or public hearing, 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 
DEIS. The public hearing 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 for the DEIS. We will announce the 
availability of the Final EIS (FEIS) and once again give you the 
opportunity to review and comment. If you want that notice sent 
directly to you please contact representatives at the public hearing or 
the Coast Guard representative identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.
    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, 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.

Background

    Information about deepwater ports, the statutes, and regulations 
governing their licensing, and the receipt of the current application 
for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) deepwater port appears at 71 FR 
26605, May 5, 2006. The Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS for the 
proposed action was published in the Federal Register at 71 FR 31258, 
June 1, 2006. The DEIS, application materials and associated comments 
are available on the docket. Information from the ``Summary of the 
Application'' from previous Federal Register notices is included below 
for your convenience.

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. 
These alternatives are more fully discussed in the DEIS. The Coast 
Guard and MARAD are the lead Federal agencies for the preparation of 
the EIS. You can address any questions about the proposed action or the 
DEIS to the Coast Guard project manager identified in FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

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 Single Anchor Leg Moorings.
    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 natural gas 
via 14-inch diameter flexible risers to a Pipeline End Manifold (PLEM) 
on the seafloor, then through a 30-inch diameter pipeline to the 
support platform, where the gas will be metered and further sent via 
interconnecting pipelines to four existing pipelines (Dauphin Island 
Gathering System Feedline, Transco Feedline, Destin Feedline, and 
Viosca Knoll Gathering System Feedline).

[[Page 37076]]

    The major components of the proposed deepwater port would be the 
Support Platform, two HiLoad floating LNG transfer and re-gasification 
units, two PLEMs with ancillary risers and terminal pipelines, HiLoad 
parking line pilings, and approximately 25 miles of new subsea 
pipeline.
    BOET will have an average throughput capacity of 1.2 billion 
standard cubic feet per day (Bscfd) of natural gas. No new onshore 
pipelines or LNG storage facilities are proposed with this action. A 
shore based facility will be used to 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 2010, should a license 
be issued. The deepwater port, if licensed, 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

    The electronic form of all comments received into the DOT docket 
can be searched 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: June 29, 2007.
Daron T. Threet,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-13030 Filed 7-5-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P