[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 165 (Monday, August 27, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49041-49042]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-16875]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2007-28535]


Atlantic Sea Island Group LLC, Safe Harbor Energy Liquefied 
Natural Gas Deepwater Port License Application

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of application.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration announce that 
they have received an application for the licensing of a natural gas 
deepwater port, and that the application appears to contain the 
required information. This notice summarizes the applicant's plans and 
the procedures that will be followed in considering the application.

DATES: The Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended, requires any public 
hearing on this application to be held not later than 240 days after 
this notice, and requires a decision on the application to be made not 
later than 90 days after the final public hearing.

ADDRESSES: The public docket for USCG-2007-28535 is maintained by the: 
Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New 
Jersey Ave., SE., West Building Ground Floor W12-140, Washington, DC 
20590-0001.
    Docket contents are available for public inspection and copying, at 
this address, in room W12-140, 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 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] or Andrew 
Tibbetts, U.S. Maritime Administration, telephone: 202-366-5473, 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

    On May 8, 2007, the Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration 
received an application from Atlantic Sea Island Group LLC (ASIG), 
Chrysler Building, 405 Lexington Avenue, 26th Floor, New York, NY 
10174; for all Federal authorizations required for a license to own, 
construct, and operate a deepwater port governed by the Deepwater Port 
Act of 1974, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq. (the Act). On August 
15, 2007, we determined that the application appears to contain all 
information required by the Act.

Background

    According to the Act, a deepwater port is a fixed or floating 
manmade structure other than a vessel, or a group of structures, 
located beyond State seaward boundaries and used or intended for use as 
a port or terminal for the transportation, storage, and further 
handling of oil or natural gas for transportation to any State.
    A deepwater port must be licensed by the Maritime Administrator (by 
delegated authority of the Secretary of Transportation, published on 
June 18, 2003 (68 FR 36496)). Statutory and regulatory requirements for 
licensing appear in 33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq. and in 33 CFR part 148. 
Under delegations from and agreements between the Secretary of 
Transportation and the Secretary of Homeland Security, applications are 
processed by the Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration. Each 
application is considered on its merits.
    The Act requires adherence to a strict timeline for processing an 
application. Once we determine that an application contains the 
required information, we must hold public hearings on the application 
within 240 days, and the Maritime Administrator must render a decision 
on the application within 330 days. We will publish additional Federal 
Register notices to inform you of these public hearings and other 
procedural milestones, including environmental review. The Maritime 
Administrator's decision, and other key documents, will be filed in the 
public docket.
    At least one public hearing must take place in each adjacent 
coastal State. For purposes of the Act, New York is the adjacent 
coastal State for this application. Other States can apply for adjacent 
coastal State status in accordance with 33 U.S.C. 1508(a)(2).

Summary of the Application

    Atlantic Sea Island Group LLC (ASIG), proposes to own, construct, 
and operate a deepwater port, named Safe Harbor Energy, in the Federal 
waters of the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf in the area known as the 
New York Bight region in MMS lease area NK18-12 block 6655. The 
proposed location is approximately 13.5 miles south of the City of Long 
Beach on Long Island and 23 miles southeast of New York Harbor 
entrance, in an area between the Ambrose-to-Nantucket and Hudson

[[Page 49042]]

Canyon-to-Ambrose shipping lanes, located at approximately 40[deg]23' N 
and 73[deg]36' E, in water depth of between 60 and 70 feet.
    The deepwater port, Safe Harbor Energy, consists of three 
components: An island to be constructed of natural sand, gravel, and 
rock materials surrounded by armored breakwaters, consisting of 
prefabricated caissons, armor units, and rock; an LNG receiving, 
storage, and regasification facility; and a subsea pipeline that would 
transport the natural gas to an offshore connection with the 
Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Corporation's pipeline system. The 
pipeline would consist of two parallel 36-inch-diameter pipe segments 
extending 12.8 miles from the island. Safe Harbor Energy will include 
berthing and offloading space for two conventional LNG vessels with 
capacity of 70,000 m\3\ to 270,000 m\3\. Additionally, it would 
accommodate support vessels including docking/firefighting tugs and 
crew support launches. The storage portion would include four (4) 
180,000 m\3\ full-containment storage tanks. The regasification 
equipment would be an ambient air heat exchange type. Safe Harbor 
Energy would have an average throughput capacity of approximately 1.15 
billion standard cubic feet per day (bscfd).
    A shore based facility will be used to facilitate movement of 
personnel, equipment, supplies, and disposable materials between the 
port and shore.
    Construction of the deepwater port would be expected to take 
approximately five (5) years; with startup of commercial operations 
following construction, 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: August 17, 2007.
Daron T. Threet,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-16875 Filed 8-24-07; 8:45 am]
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