[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 154 (Friday, August 8, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46358-46360]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-18100]


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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; Final Application 
Public Hearing and Final Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability; notice of public hearing; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) 
announce the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(FEIS) 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 Maritime Administration 
request public

[[Page 46359]]

comments on the FEIS and application. Publication of this notice begins 
a 45 day comment period and provides information on how to participate 
in the process.

DATES: A public hearing will be held in Mobile, Alabama on August 26, 
2008. The public hearing 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 hearing 
may end later than the stated time, depending on the number of persons 
wishing to speak.
    Material submitted in response to the request for comments on the 
FEIS and application must reach the Docket Management Facility by 
September 22, 2008 ending the 45 day comment period.
    Federal and State agencies must also submit comments, recommended 
conditions for licensing, or letters of no objection by October 10, 
2008 (45 days after the final public hearing). Also by October 10, 
2008, the Governor of Alabama (the adjacent coastal state) may approve, 
disapprove, or notify the Maritime Administration of inconsistencies 
with State programs relating to environmental protection, land and 
water use, and coastal zone management for which the Maritime 
Administration may condition the license to make consistent.
    The Maritime Administration must issue a record of decision (ROD) 
to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the DWP license 
application by November 24, 2008 (90 days after the public hearing).

ADDRESSES: The public hearing in Mobile will be held at the Mobile 
Convention Center, One South Water Street, Room 203, Mobile, Alabama 
36602; telephone: 251-208-2100.
    The FEIS, the application, comments and associated documentation 
are available for viewing at the Federal Docket Management System Web 
site: http://www.regulations.gov under docket number USCG-2006-24644. 
The FEIS is also available at public libraries in Mobile (Ben May Main 
Library and Spring Hill College 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).
    Docket submissions for USCG-2006-24644 should be addressed to:
    Department of Transportation, Docket Management Facility, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    The Federal 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://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: LT Hannah Kim, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone: 202-372-1438, 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:

Request for Comments

    We request public comments or other information on the FEIS and 
application. The public hearing is not the only opportunity you have to 
comment. In addition to or in place of attending a hearing, you can 
submit comments to the Docket Management Facility during the public 
comment period (see DATES ). The Coast Guard and the Maritime 
Administration will consider all comments and material received during 
the comment period.
    Submissions should include:
     Docket number USCG-2006-24644.
     Your name and address.
    Submit comments or material using only one of the following 
methods:
     Electronic submission to FDMS, http://www.regulations.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 FDMS Web site 
(http://www.regulations.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 
FDMS 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 Federal Docket Management 
Facility (see ADDRESSES), electronically on the FDMS Web site, or later 
in this notice (see PRIVACY ACT).

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 in Volume 71 
FR 26605, Friday, May 5, 2006. The Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS 
for the proposed action was published in the Federal Register in Volume 
71 FR 31258, Thursday, June 1, 2006 and the Notice of Availability of 
the Draft EIS was published in Volume 72 FR 37074, Friday, July 6, 
2007. The FEIS, 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 FEIS. The Coast 
Guard and the Maritime Administration are the lead Federal agencies for 
the preparation of the EIS. You can address any questions about the 
proposed action or the FEIS 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 (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 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

[[Page 46360]]

interconnecting pipelines to four existing pipelines (Dauphin Island 
Gathering System Feedline, Transco Feedline, Destin Feedline, and 
Viosca Knoll Gathering System Feedline).
    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 2011, 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 Federal 
Docket Management System 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.). The DOT Privacy Act 
Statement can be viewed in the Federal Register published on April 11, 
2000 (Volume 65, Number 70, pages 19477-78) or you may visit http://www.regulations.gov.

    (Authority 49 CFR 1.66)

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.

    Dated: August 1, 2008.
Leonard Sutter,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. E8-18100 Filed 8-7-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P