[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 132 (Monday, July 13, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33509-33511]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-16502]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2006-28532]


Port Dolphin Energy LLC, Port Dolphin Energy 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 Port Dolphin Energy LLC, Port Dolphin Energy Liquefied 
Natural Gas Deepwater Port license application. The application 
describes a project that would be located approximately 28 miles off 
the western coast of Florida, and approximately 42 miles from Port 
Manatee, Manatee County, Florida. The Maritime Administration and Coast 
Guard request public 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 Palmetto, Florida on July 28, 
2009. The public hearing will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and will be 
preceded by an informational 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 
August 23, 2009.
    Federal and State agencies must also submit comments, recommended 
conditions for licensing, or letters of no objection by September 11, 
2009. Also by September 11, 2009, the Governor of Florida (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 October 26, 2009.

ADDRESSES: The public hearing in Palmetto will be held at the Manatee 
Convention Center, 1 Haben Blvd., Palmetto, Florida, 34221; telephone: 
(941) 722-3244.
    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-2006-28532. 
The FEIS is also available at the following public libraries:

Central Library--Bradenton, FL 34205
Braden River Library--Bradenton, FL 34203
South Manatee Branch--Bradenton, FL 34207
Palmetto Branch Library--Palmetto, FL 34221
Rocky Bluff Library--Ellenton, FL 34222

[[Page 33510]]

Island Branch Library--Holmes Beach, FL 34217

    Docket submissions for USCG-2006-28532 should be addressed to: 
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 Chris 
Hanan, U.S. Maritime Administration, telephone: 202-366-1900, 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-2006-28532.
     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 and Use Notice that is available on 
the FDMS Web site, and the Department of Transportation Privacy Act 
Notice that appeared in the Federal Register on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 
19477), 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 was published in the 
Federal Register in Volume 72 FR 34741, on June 25, 2007. The Notice of 
Intent to Prepare an EIS for the proposed action was published in the 
Federal Register in Volume 72 FR 38116, on July 12, 2007 and the Notice 
of Availability of the Draft EIS was published in Volume 73 FR 21012, 
on April 17, 2008. 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

    Port Dolphin Energy LLC, proposes to own, construct, and operate a 
deepwater port, named Port Dolphin, in the Federal waters of the Outer 
Continental Shelf in the St. Petersburg (PB) blocks: PB545 and PB589, 
approximately 28 miles off the west coast of Florida to the southwest 
of Tampa Bay, in a water depth of approximately 100 feet. Port Dolphin 
would consist of a permanently moored unloading buoy system with two 
submersible buoys separated by a distance of approximately three miles. 
Each unloading buoy would be permanently secured to eight mooring 
lines, consisting of wire rope, chain, and buoyancy elements, each 
attached to anchor points on the seabed. Anchor points would consist 
most likely of driven piles.
    The buoys would be designed to moor specialized type of LNG vessels 
called Shuttle and Regasification Vessels (SRVs) of 145,000 and 217,000 
cubic meter capacities. SRVs are equipped to vaporize cryogenic LNG 
cargo to natural gas through an onboard closed loop vaporization 
system, and meter gas for send-out by means of the unloading buoy to 
conventional subsea pipelines. The SRVs would moor to the unloading 
buoys which connect through the hull of the vessels to specially 
designed turrets that would enable the vessels to weathervane or rotate 
in response to prevailing wind, wave, and current directions. When the 
vessels are not present, the buoys would be submerged on a special 
landing pad on the seabed, 60-70 feet below the sea surface.
    Each unloading buoy would connect through a 16-inch flexible riser 
and a 36-inch flowline to a Y intersection and then a 36-inch pipeline 
approximately 42 miles in length that would connect onshore in Port 
Manatee, Manatee County, Florida. The pipeline would connect with the 
Gulfstream Natural Gas System, LLC and Tampa Electric Company (TECO).
    The 36-inch gas transmission line will make landfall on Port 
Manatee property. From there, the transmission pipeline will proceed in 
a generally easterly direction to the first interconnection point with 
the Gulfstream system at 4 miles. The Gulfstream/TECO Interconnection 
Station will occupy an approximately 3.4-acre site. Up to approximately 
70 percent of the natural gas is expected to be delivered to the 
Gulfstream pipeline and 30 percent to the TECO pipeline.
    Only shuttle and regasification vessels (SRVs) will call on Port 
Dolphin. Offloading should require between 4-8 days and when empty the 
SRV would disconnect from the buoy and leave the port. Port Dolphin 
would have an average throughput capacity of 800 MMscfd with a peak 
capacity of 1200 MMscfd. The two separate buoys would allow natural gas 
to be delivered in a continuous flow, without interruption, by having a 
brief overlap between arriving and departing SRVs.
    Port Dolphin Energy LLC is seeking Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (FERC) approval for the onshore pipelines concurrent with 
this deepwater port application. As required by FERC regulations, FERC 
will also maintain a docket for the FERC portion

[[Page 33511]]

of the project. The docket numbers are CP07-191-000 and CP07-192-000. 
The filing may also be viewed on the web at http://www.ferc.gov using 
the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three 
digits in the docket number field to access the document. For 
assistance, call (866) 208-3767 or TYY, (202) 502-8659.
    In addition, 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 Army Corps 
of Engineers (USACE).
    Port Dolphin 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.
    Construction of the deepwater port would be expected to take 
approximately 11 months 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.

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: July 2, 2009.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
Christine Gurland,
Acting Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. E9-16502 Filed 7-10-09; 8:45 am]
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