[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 54 (Monday, March 22, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13644-13645]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-6125]


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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 Amended 
Application Public Hearing and Final Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT.

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

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SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration, in cooperation with the U.S. 
Coast Guard, announces the availability of the Final Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) for the TORP Terminal LP, 
Bienville Offshore Energy Terminal (BOET) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) 
Deepwater Port amended license application. The amended application 
describes an LNG deepwater port 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 Maritime Administration and U.S. Coast 
Guard will hold a public meeting, and request public comments on 
matters relevant to the approval or denial of the amended license 
application. Publication of this notice begins a 30-day comment period 
and provides information on how to participate in the process.

DATES: The public meeting will be held in Mobile, Alabama on March 31, 
2010, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and will be preceded by an open house from 
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The public meeting 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 must reach the Docket 
Management Facility by April 30, 2010.

ADDRESSES: The open house and public meeting will be held at the Mobile 
Convention Center, One South Water Street, Mobile, Alabama 36602; 
telephone: 251-208-2100.
    The Draft and Final Supplemental EIS, the amended application, 
comments and associated documentation are available for viewing at the 
Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Web site: http://www.regulations.gov under docket number USCG-2006-24644.
    Docket submissions for USCG-2006-24644 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 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: Mr. Patrick Marchman, Maritime 
Administration, telephone: 202-366-8805, e-mail: 
[email protected]; or LT Hannah Kawamoto, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone: 202-372-1437, 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 Meeting and Open House

    We invite you to learn about the proposed deepwater port at an 
informational open house, and to comment at a public meeting on the 
proposed action and the evaluation contained in the FSEIS, and on 
matters relevant to the approval or denial of the license application. 
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. Before 
speaking, 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 
Federal Docket Management Facility (see Request for Comments).
    Our public meeting location is wheelchair-accessible. If you plan 
to attend the open house or public meeting and need special assistance 
such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodation, 
please notify the Maritime Administration (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT) at least three (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 
FSEIS and on matters relevant to the approval or denial of the license 
application. The public meeting is not the only opportunity you have to 
comment. In addition to or in place of attending this 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.
    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[frac12] by 11 inches, and suitable for 
copying and electronic scanning. If you mail your submission and want 
to know when it reaches the Facility, please 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

[[Page 13645]]

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). You may view docket submissions 
at the Department of Transportation Docket Management Facility or 
electronically on the FDMS Web site (see ADDRESSES).

Background

    The Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental EIS for the proposed 
action was published in the Federal Register at 74 FR 39136, August 5, 
2009 and the Draft Supplemental EIS was published in the Federal 
Register at 74 FR 60310, November 20, 2009. The Draft and Final 
Supplemental EIS, application materials and associated comments are 
available on the docket at http://www.regulations.gov under docket 
number USCG-2006-24644. 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 the ``Summary of 
the Application'' below. The alternatives to approving and licensing 
the proposed port are: (1) Approving and licensing with conditions 
(including conditions designed to mitigate environmental impact), or 
(2) denying the application, which for purposes of environmental review 
is the ``no-action'' alternative. These alternatives are more fully 
discussed in the FSEIS. The Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast 
Guard are the lead Federal agencies for the preparation of the 
Supplemental EIS. You may address any questions about the proposed 
action or the FSEIS to the Maritime Administration project manager or 
the U.S. Coast Guard project manager, both are identified in FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Summary of the Application

    TORP Terminal LP proposes to own, construct, and operate a 
deepwater port, the Bienville Offshore Energy Terminal (BOET), in the 
Federal waters of the Outer Continental Shelf on Main Pass block MP 
258, located approximately 63 miles south of Mobile Point, Alabama, in 
a water depth of approximately 425 feet. The proposed BOET deepwater 
port would be capable of mooring a single LNG carrier (LNGC) of up to 
approximately 265,000 cubic meters (m3) (8.8 million cubic feet [ft3]) 
in capacity.
    The LNGC would be off-loaded using a HiLoad LNG off-loading and 
regasification unit (HiLoad), which is proprietary technology 
consisting of a remotely operated floating LNG transfer and 
regasification unit that connects to the hull of the LNGC. The HiLoad 
unit would regasify the LNG and deliver the gas via flexible gas pipes 
to the floating regasification unit (FRU) located approximately 300 
meters (984 ft) from the HiLoad unit. Ambient air vaporizers (AAVs) 
with methanol as an intermediate fluid (IF) would be located aboard the 
FRU and would provide the heat required to regasify the LNG as part of 
a closed-loop vaporization system design.
    At the FRU, the gas would be metered and sent out via interconnect 
pipelines to four existing offshore pipelines (Dauphin Natural Gas 
Pipeline, Williams Natural Gas Pipeline, Destin Natural Gas Pipeline, 
and Viosca Knoll Gathering System [VKGS] Gas Pipeline) that connect to 
the onshore natural gas transmission pipeline system. Natural gas would 
be delivered to customers through existing facilities. BOET would have 
an average throughput capacity of 1.2 billion standard cubic feet of 
gas per day (Bscfd) (33.9 million cubic meters of gas per day [m3/
day]).
    BOET's major components would include a turret mooring system 
(TMS), a FRU, a HiLoad unit, two mooring lines that connect the HiLoad 
to the FRU, two high pressure (HP) flexible gas pipes, two floating IF 
hoses, two umbilicals, and 22.7 mi (36. km) of new subsea pipelines.
    No new onshore pipelines or LNG storage facilities are proposed as 
part of the construction and operation of BOET. A shore-based facility 
will be used to facilitate movement of personnel, equipment, supplies, 
and disposable materials between the terminal and shore.
    BOET will require permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency pursuant to the provisions of the Clean Air Act, as amended, and 
the Clean Water Act, as amended.
    Should a license be issued, construction of the deepwater port 
would be expected to take thirty (30) months, with startup of 
commercial operations anticipated for 2014. 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.

    Dated: March 15, 2010.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
Christine Gurland,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-6125 Filed 3-19-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P