[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 136 (Friday, July 15, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46157-46159]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-16540]



[[Page 46157]]

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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket No. USCG-2015-0472]


Deepwater Port License Application: Delfin LNG LLC, Delfin LNG 
Deepwater Port

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation

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

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

SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD), in cooperation with the 
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(FERC), announces the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) for the Delfin LNG deepwater port license application 
for the exportation of natural gas. Delfin LNG, LLC (Delfin LNG), is 
the applicant.
    A Notice of Application that summarized the original Delfin LNG 
license application was published in the Federal Register on July 16, 
2015 (80 FR 42162). A Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) and Notice of Public Meetings was published in 
the Federal Register on July 29, 2015 (80 FR 45270). A Notice of 
Receipt of Amended Application was published in the Federal Register on 
December 24, 2015 (80 FR 80455). This Notice of Availability (NOA) 
incorporates the aforementioned Notices by reference.
    The proposed Delfin LNG deepwater port would be located in Federal 
waters within the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) approximately 37.4 to 
40.8 nautical miles off the coast of Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
    The proposed Delfin LNG deepwater port incorporates onshore 
components, which are subject to FERC jurisdiction. These facilities 
are described in the section of this Notice titled ``FERC 
Application.''
    Publication of this notice begins a 45-day comment period, requests 
public participation in the environmental impact review process, 
provides information on how to participate in the process and announces 
informational open houses and public meetings in Cameron, Louisiana and 
Beaumont, Texas.

DATES: The Maritime Administration will hold two public meetings in 
connection with the license application DEIS. The first public meeting 
will be held in Cameron, Louisiana, on August 9, 2016, from 6 p.m. to 8 
p.m. The second public meeting will be held in Beaumont, Texas, on 
August 10, 2016, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Each public meeting will be 
preceded by an open house from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The public 
meeting may end later than the stated time, depending on the number of 
persons who wish to make a comment on the record. Additionally, 
material you submit in response to the request for comments must reach 
www.regulations.gov by close of business August 29, 2016, or 45 days 
after the date of publication of this NOA in the Federal Register, 
whichever is later.

ADDRESSES: The open house and public meeting in Cameron, Louisiana will 
be held at the Johnson Bayou Community Center, 5556 Gulf Beach Highway, 
Cameron, LA, 70631; telephone: 337-569-2454. Free parking is available 
at the Community Center. The open house and public meeting in Beaumont, 
Texas will be held at the Holiday Inn Beaumont Plaza, 3950 Walden Road, 
Beaumont, Texas 77705; telephone: 409-842-5995. Free parking is 
available at the Holiday Inn Beaumont Plaza.
    The license application, comments, supporting information and the 
DEIS are available for viewing at the Regulations.gov Web site: http://www.regulations.gov under docket number USCG-2015-0472. The Final EIS 
(FEIS), when published, will be announced and available at this site as 
well.
    We encourage you to submit comments electronically through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. If you submit 
your comments electronically, it is not necessary to also submit a hard 
copy. If you cannot submit material using http://www.regulations.gov, 
please contact either Mr. Roddy Bachman, USCG or Ms. Yvette M. Fields, 
MARAD, as listed in the following FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section of this document. This section provides alternate instructions 
for submitting written comments. Additionally, if you go to the online 
docket and sign up for email alerts, you will be notified when comments 
are posted. Anonymous comments will be accepted. All comments received 
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov and will 
include any personal information you have provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Roddy Bachman, USCG, telephone: 
202-372-1451, email: [email protected]; or Ms. Yvette M. Fields, 
Director, Office of Deepwater Ports and Offshore Activities, MARAD, 
telephone: 202-366-0926, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Request for Comments

    We request public comments or other relevant information related to 
the DEIS for the proposed Delfin LNG deepwater port. These comments 
will inform our preparation of the FEIS. We encourage attendance at the 
open houses and public meetings; however, you may submit comments 
electronically. It is preferred that comments be submitted 
electronically. Regardless of the method you use to submitting comments 
or material, all submissions will be posted, without change, to the 
Federal Docket Operations Facility 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 
www.regulations.gov Web site, and the Department of Transportation 
(DOT) 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 DOT Docket Operations Facility or electronically at 
the www.reguations.gov Web site.

Public Meeting and Open House

    You are invited to learn about the proposed Delfin LNG deepwater 
port at either of the informational open houses and to comment on the 
proposed action and the environmental impact analysis contained in the 
DEIS. Speakers may register upon arrival and will be recognized in the 
following order: Elected officials, public agency representatives, then 
individuals or groups in the order in which they registered. In order 
to accommodate all speakers, speaker time may be limited, meeting hours 
may be extended, or both. Speakers' transcribed remarks will be 
included in the public docket. You may also submit written material for 
inclusion in the public docket. Written material must include the 
author's name. We ask attendees to respect the meeting procedures in 
order to ensure a constructive information-gathering session. Please do 
not bring signs or banners inside the meeting venue. The presiding 
officer will use his/her discretion to conduct the meeting in an 
orderly manner.
    Public meeting locations are wheelchair accessible; however, 
attendees who require special assistance such as sign language 
interpretation or other reasonable accommodation, please notify the 
USCG (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) at least five (5) business 
days in advance. Please

[[Page 46158]]

include contact information as well as information about specific 
needs.

Background

    On May 8, 2015, as supplemented on June 19, 2015, MARAD and USCG 
received a license application from Delfin LNG for all Federal 
authorizations required for a license to own, construct and operate a 
deepwater port for the export of natural gas. The proposed deepwater 
port would be located in Federal waters approximately 37.4 to 40.8 
nautical miles off the coast of Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Louisiana 
and Texas were designated as Adjacent Coastal States (ACS) for the 
Delfin LNG license application.
    The Federal agencies involved held two public scoping meetings in 
connection with the original Delfin LNG license application. The first 
public scoping meeting was held in Lake Charles, Louisiana on August 
18, 2015; the second public scoping meeting was held in Beaumont, Texas 
on August 19, 2015. Transcripts of the scoping meetings are included in 
the public docket. After the public scoping meetings concluded, Delfin 
LNG advised MARAD, the USCG and FERC of its intent to amend the 
original license application.
    In anticipation of the amended license application, MARAD and USCG 
issued a regulatory ``stop-clock'' letter to Delfin LNG on September 
18, 2015. That letter commenced a regulatory ``stop-clock,'' effective 
September 18, 2015, which remained in effect until MARAD and USCG 
received the amended license application and determined it contained 
sufficient information to continue the Federal review process. On 
November 19, 2015, Delfin LNG submitted its amended license application 
to MARAD and USCG.
    Working in coordination with participating Federal and State 
agencies, MARAD commenced processing the amended license application 
and completed the DEIS. The purpose of the DEIS is to analyze 
reasonable alternatives to, and the direct, indirect and cumulative 
environmental impacts of, the proposed action. The DEIS is currently 
available for public review at the Federal docket Web site: 
www.regulations.gov under docket number USCG-2015-0472.

Summary of the License Application

    Delfin LNG is proposing to construct, own, operate and eventually 
decommission a deepwater port in the Gulf of Mexico to liquefy 
domestically-sourced natural gas for export. Exports are proposed to 
both Free Trade Agreement nations and non-Free Trade Agreement nations, 
in accordance with Department of Energy export license approvals.
    The proposed Delfin LNG deepwater port has both onshore and 
offshore components. As previously described, the proposed Delfin LNG 
deepwater port would be located in Federal waters within the OCS West 
Cameron Area, West Addition Protraction Area (Gulf of Mexico) 
approximately 37.4 to 40.8 nautical miles off the coast of Cameron 
Parish, Louisiana, in water depths ranging from approximately 64 to 72 
feet (19.5 to 21.9 meters). The Delfin LNG deepwater port would consist 
of four semi-permanently moored Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Vessels 
(FLNGVs) located as follows: #1 (29[deg]8'13.1'' N./93[deg]2'2.2'' W.), 
#2 (29[deg]6'13.6'' N./ 93[deg] 32'42.4'' W.), #3 (29[deg]6'40.7'' N./
93[deg]30'10.1'' W.) and #4 (29[deg]4'40.9'' N./93[deg]30'51.8'' W.) 
located in West Cameron (WC) lease blocks 319, 327, 328 and 334, 
respectively. The Delfin LNG deepwater port would reuse and repurpose 
two existing offshore natural gas pipelines; the former U-T Operating 
System (UTOS) pipeline and the High Island Operating System (HIOS) 
pipeline. Four new 30-inch diameter pipeline laterals, each 
approximately 6,400 feet in length, connecting the HIOS pipeline to 
each of the FLNGVs, would be constructed. In addition, a 700-foot 42-
inch diameter new pipeline would be constructed to bypass a platform at 
WC lease block 167 (WC 167) and connect the UTOS and HIOS pipelines. 
Feed gas would be supplied through the new pipeline laterals to each of 
the FLNGVs where it would be super-cooled to produce LNG. The LNG would 
be stored onboard the FLNGVs and transferred via ship-to-ship transfer 
to properly certified LNG tankers. Each of the FLNGVs would be semi-
permanently moored to four new weathervaning tower yoke mooring systems 
(TYMS).
    The onshore components in Cameron Parish, Louisiana are described 
specifically in an application submitted to FERC. The onshore 
components of the Delfin LNG deepwater port will consist of 
constructing and operating a new natural gas compressor station, gas 
supply header and a metering station at an existing gas facility. The 
proposal would require: (1) Reactivation of approximately 1.1 miles of 
existing 42-inch pipeline, formerly owned by UTOS, which runs from 
Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company Station No. 44 (Transco Station 
44) to the mean highwater mark along the Cameron Parish Coast; (2) 
installation of 120,000 horsepower of new compression; (3) construction 
of 0.25 miles of 42-inch pipeline to connect the former UTOS line to 
the new meter station; and (4) construction of 0.6 miles of twin 30-
inch pipelines between Transco Station 44 and the new compressor 
station.
    Onshore pipeline quality natural gas from the interstate grid would 
be sent to the existing, but currently idle, 42-inch UTOS pipeline. The 
gas transported through the UTOS pipeline would then bypass the 
existing manifold platform located at WC 167 via a newly installed 
pipeline segment, 700 feet in length, connecting to the existing 42-
inch HIOS pipeline.
    The bypass of the WC 167 platform would be trenched so that the top 
of the pipe is a minimum of 3 feet below the seafloor. From the bypass, 
the feed gas would then be transported further offshore using the HIOS 
pipeline portion leased by Delfin LNG between WC 167 and High Island 
A264. The existing UTOS and HIOS pipelines transect OCS Lease Blocks WC 
314, 318, 319, 327, and 335, and would transport feed gas from onshore 
to offshore (one-directional flow). Delfin LNG proposes to install four 
new lateral pipelines along the HIOS pipeline, starting approximately 
16.0 nautical miles south of the WC 167 platform. Each subsea lateral 
pipeline would be 30 inches in diameter and approximately 6,400 feet in 
length, extending from the HIOS pipeline to the Delfin LNG deepwater 
port. The maximum allowable operating pressure of the pipeline system 
(UTOS, bypass, HIOS and laterals) would be 1,250 pounds per square inch 
gauge (psig).
    The FLNGVs would receive pipeline quality natural gas via the 
laterals and TYMS where it would be cooled sufficiently to completely 
condense the gas and produce LNG. The produced LNG would be stored in 
International Maritime Organization (IMO) type B, prismatic, 
independent LNG storage tanks aboard each of the FLNGVs. Each vessel 
would have a total LNG storage capacity of 210,000 cubic meters (m\3\).
    An offloading mooring system would be provided on each FLNGV to 
moor an LNG tanker side-by-side for cargo transfer of LNG through 
loading arms or cryogenic hoses using ship-to-ship transfer procedures. 
LNG tankers would be moored with pilot and tug assist. The FLNGVs would 
be equipped with fenders and quick-release hooks to facilitate mooring 
and unmooring operations. The offloading system would be capable of 
accommodating standard LNG tankers with nominal cargo capacities up to 
170,000 m\3\. Delfin LNG estimates that the typical LNG cargo transfer 
operation would be

[[Page 46159]]

carried out within 24 hours, including LNG tanker berthing, cargo 
transfer and sail-away. Approximately 31 LNG tankers are expected to 
visit each of the four FLNGVs per year for a total of up to 124 cargo 
transfer operations per year. Each LNG tanker would be assisted by up 
to three tugs during approach and mooring and up to two tugs while 
departing the Delfin LNG deepwater port.
    The FLNGVs would be self-propelled vessels and have the ability to 
disconnect from the TYMS and set sail to avoid hurricanes or to 
facilitate required inspections, maintenance and repairs.
    In the nominal design case, based on an estimated availability of 
92 percent and allowance for consumption of feed gas during the 
liquefaction process, each of the four FLNGVs would produce 
approximately 146 billion standard cubic feet per year (Bscf/y) of gas 
(approximately 3.0 million metric tonnes per annum [MMtpa]) for export 
in the form of LNG. Together, the four FLNGVs are designed to have the 
capability to export 585 Bscf/y of gas (approximately 12.0 MMtpa).
    As detailed engineering and equipment specification advances during 
the design process and operating efficiencies are gained post-
commissioning, the liquefaction process could perform better than this 
nominal design case. It is anticipated that LNG output could improve to 
as much as 657.5 Bscf/y in the optimized design case (approximately 
13.2 MMtpa) which is the amount Delfin LNG is requesting authorization 
to export.
    The proposed Delfin LNG deepwater port would take a modular 
implementation approach to allow for early market entry and accommodate 
market shifts. Offshore construction activities are proposed to begin 
at the end of first quarter of 2018 and would be completed in four 
stages, with each stage corresponding to the commissioning and 
operation of an FLNGV. The anticipated commissioning of FLNGV 1 is the 
third quarter of 2019 with start-up of commercial operation of FLNGV 1 
by the end of 2019. It is anticipated that FLNGVs 2 through 4 would be 
commissioned 12 months apart. Following this schedule and barring 
unforeseen events, the Delfin deepwater port would be completed and all 
four FLNGVs would be fully operational by the summer of 2022.
    Should a license be issued, the Delfin LNG deepwater port would be 
designed, fabricated, constructed, commissioned, maintained, inspected 
and operated in accordance with applicable codes and standards and with 
USCG oversight as regulated under Title 33, Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR), subchapter NN-Deepwater Ports (33 CFR 148, 149 and 150). This 
includes applicable waterways management and regulated navigations 
areas, maritime safety and security requirements, risk assessment and 
compliance with domestic and international laws and regulations for 
vessels that may call at the port.

FERC Application

    On May 8, 2015, Delfin LNG filed its original application with FERC 
requesting authorizations pursuant to the Natural Gas Act and 18 CFR 
part 157 for the onshore components of the proposed deepwater port 
terminal including authorization to use the existing pipeline 
infrastructure, which includes leasing a segment of pipeline from HIOS 
extending from the terminus of the UTOS pipeline offshore. On May 20, 
2015, FERC issued its Notice of Application for the onshore components 
of Delfin LNG's deepwater port project in Docket No. CP15-490-000. This 
Notice was published in the Federal Register on May 27, 2015 (80 FR 
30226). Delfin LNG stated in its application that High Island Offshore 
System, LLC would submit a separate application with FERC seeking 
authorization to abandon by lease its facilities to Delfin LNG. FERC, 
however, advised Delfin LNG that it would not begin processing Delfin 
LNG's application until such time that MARAD and USCG deemed Delfin 
LNG's deepwater port license application complete and High Island 
Offshore System, LLC submitted an abandonment application with FERC. On 
June 29, 2015, MARAD and USCG accepted the documentation and deemed the 
original Delfin license application complete.
    On November 19, 2015, High Island Offshore System, LLC filed an 
application (FERC Docket No. CP16-20-000) to abandon certain offshore 
facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, including its 66-mile-long mainline, 
an offshore platform and related facilities (``HIOS Repurposed 
Facilities''). Accordingly, on November 19, 2015, Delfin LNG filed an 
amended application in FERC Docket No. CP15-490-001 to use the HIOS 
Repurposed Facilities and to revise the onshore component of its 
deepwater port project. On December 1, 2015, FERC issued a Notice of 
Application for Delfin LNG's amendment, which was published in the 
Federal Register on December 7, 2015 (80 FR 76003).
    The amended FERC application specifically discusses the onshore 
facility and adjustments to the onshore operations that would involve 
reactivating approximately 1.1 miles of the existing UTOS pipeline; the 
addition of four new onshore compressors totaling 120,000 horsepower of 
new compression; activation of associated metering and regulation 
facilities; the installation of new supply header pipelines (which 
would consist of 0.25 miles of new 42-inch-diameter pipeline to connect 
the former UTOS line to the new meter station); and 0.6 miles of new 
twin 30-inch-diameter pipelines between Transco Station 44 and the new 
compressor station site.
    Additional information regarding the details of Delfin LNG's 
original and amended application to FERC is on file and open to public 
inspection. Project filings may be viewed on the web at www.ferc.gov 
using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket number excluding the last 
three digits (i.e., CP15-490) in the docket number field to access 
project information. For assistance, please contact FERC at 
[email protected] or call toll-free, (886) 208-3676 or TYY, 
(202) 502-8659.

Privacy Act

    Regardless of the method used for submitting comments or materials, 
all submissions will be posted, without change, to www.regulations.gov 
and will include any personal information you provide. Therefore, 
submitting this information to the docket makes it public. You may wish 
to read the Privacy and Security Notice, as well as the User Notice, 
that is available on the www.regulations.gov Web site. The Privacy Act 
notice regarding the Federal Docket Management System is available in 
the March 24, 2005, issue of the Federal Register (70 FR 15086).

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq., 49 CFR 1.93(h).

    Dated: July 7, 2016.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2016-16540 Filed 7-14-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-81-P