[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 6 (Friday, January 9, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 984-985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-293]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2008-1239]


Texas Offshore Port System Crude Oil Deepwater Port License 
Application

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of application.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration and the Coast Guard announce that 
they have received an application for the licensing of a crude oil 
deepwater port and that the application contains 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 a public 
hearing on this application within 240 days of the publication of this 
notice, and a decision on the application not later than 90 days after 
the final public hearing.

ADDRESSES: The public docket for USCG-2008-1239 is maintained by the: 
Department of Transportation, Docket Management Facility, West 
Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 
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: Ray Martin, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone: 202-372-1449, e-mail: [email protected] or Linden 
Houston, U.S. Maritime Administration, telephone: 202-366-4839, 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 December 8, 2008, the Coast Guard and the Maritime 
Administration received an application from Texas Offshore Port System 
for all Federal authorizations required for a license to own, 
construct, and operate a deepwater port authorized under the Deepwater 
Port Act of 1974, as amended, 33 U.S.C.

[[Page 985]]

1501 et seq. (the Act). On January 5, 2009, we determined that the 
application contains all information required by the Act to initiate 
processing.

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 the 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, Texas is the adjacent coastal 
state for this application. Other states can apply to the Maritime 
Administrator for adjacent coastal state status in accordance with 33 
U.S.C. 1508(a)(2).

Summary of the Application

    Texas Offshore Port System, a general partnership consisting of 
Oiltanking Freeport, L.P., TEPPCO O/S Port System, LLC and Enterprise 
Offshore Port System, LLC, proposes to own, construct, and operate a 
deepwater port (DWP), named Texas Offshore Port System (TOPS), in the 
Federal waters of the Outer Continental Shelf in Minerals Management 
Service (MMS) lease block Galveston Area A56 (GA 56), approximately 30 
statute miles southeast of Freeport, Texas, in a water depth of 
approximately 120 feet. The proposed DWP will serve as an offshore 
crude oil receiving terminal and transmission facility. An average of 
1,700,000 barrels of oil per day will be offloaded at the terminal and 
will be delivered via a new pipeline that will terminate at a crude oil 
storage terminal located in Texas City, Texas.
    Two Single Point Mooring (SPM) Buoys will be installed to offload 
crude oil from crude oil tankers. A third SPM may be added in the 
future. Dual 42-inch outside diameter (OD), 4,000-ft (1,219-m) long 
offloading pipelines will carry the crude oil to a new Metering and 
Pumping Platform. At the platform the crude oil will be increased in 
pressure to 1,950 pounds per square inch gauge discharge pressure to 
achieve a flow rate of up to 100,000 barrels per hour into the 
departing Offshore Pipeline. A Quarters and Control Platform will be 
connected by a bridge to the Metering and Pumping Platform. A new 8\5/
8\-inch OD fuel gas pipeline that will be approximately 36 miles long 
(58 km) will supply natural gas to the Metering and Pumping Platform. 
It will originate from an existing platform in MMS lease block Brazos 
Area BR 538 (BR 538).
    The new Offshore Pipeline will be a 42-inch OD pipeline and 
approximately 34.86 miles long. It will transport the crude oil to a 
new valve station located in Freeport, Texas. From the valve station a 
new 48-mile, 42-inch OD Onshore Pipeline will transfer the crude oil to 
a new crude oil storage terminal in Texas City, Texas. A new 
intermediate Onshore Pump Station will be located along the Onshore 
Pipeline to boost the pressure of the crude oil. The new crude oil 
storage terminal, the Texas City Crude Terminal, will consist of seven 
tanks, six with a storage capacity of 600,000 barrels and one with a 
storage capacity of 300,000 barrels.
    Pipelines and structures such as the moorings may require permits 
under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers 
and Harbors Act which are administered by the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers (USACE).
    TOPS will also require permits from the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) pursuant to the provisions of the Clean Air Act, as 
amended, and the Clean Water Act, as amended.
    The new pipeline will be included in the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) review as part of the deepwater port application 
process. EPA and the USACE, among others, are cooperating agencies and 
will assist in the NEPA process as described in 40 CFR 1501.6; may 
participate in scoping meetings; and will incorporate the environmental 
impact statement (EIS) into their permitting processes. Comments sent 
to EPA or USACE will also be incorporated into the DOT docket and EIS 
to ensure consistency with the NEPA Process.
    Should a license be issued, TOPS anticipates being able to offload 
and transport crude oil in November 2010. The deepwater port would be 
designed, constructed and operated in accordance with applicable codes 
and standards.

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)

    Dated: January 6, 2009.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
Leonard Sutter,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. E9-293 Filed 1-8-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P