[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32008-32010]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14178]


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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket No. MARAD-2019-0093]


Deepwater Port License Application: Texas GulfLink LLC

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation.

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

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), in coordination with the Maritime 
Administration (MARAD), will prepare an environmental impact statement 
(EIS) as part of the environmental review of the Texas GulfLink LLC 
(Texas GulfLink) deepwater port license application. The application 
proposes the ownership, construction, operation and eventual 
decommissioning of an offshore oil export deepwater port that would be 
located in Federal waters approximately 28.3 nautical miles off the 
coast of Brazoria County, Texas in a water depth of approximately 104 
feet. The deepwater port would allow for the loading of Very Large 
Crude Carriers (VLCCs) and other sized crude oil cargo carriers via two 
single point mooring buoy systems.
    This Notice of Intent (NOI) requests public participation in the 
scoping process, provides information on how to participate and 
announces an informational open house and public meeting in Lake 
Jackson, Texas. Pursuant to the criteria provided in the Deepwater Port 
Act of 1974, as amended, (the Act), Texas is the designated Adjacent 
Coastal State for this application.

DATES: There will be one public scoping meeting held in connection with 
the Texas GulfLink deepwater port application. The meeting will be held 
in Lake Jackson, Texas on Wednesday, July 17, 2019, from 6:00 p.m. to 
8:00 p.m. The public meeting will be preceded by an informational open 
house from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
    The public meeting may end later than the stated time, depending on 
the number of persons wishing to speak. Additionally, materials 
submitted in response to this request for comments on the Texas 
GulfLink deepwater port license application must reach the Federal 
Docket Management Facility as detailed below by Wednesday, July 31, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: The open house and public meeting Lake Jackson, TX will take 
place in the Marriott Courtyard Lake Jackson, 159 State Highway 288, 
Lake Jackson, Texas 77566, phone: (979) 297-7300, web address: https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ljncy-courtyard-lake-jackson/. Free 
parking is available at the venue.
    The public docket for the Texas GulfLink deepwater port license 
application is maintained by the U.S. Department of Transportation, 
Docket Management Facility, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. The license 
application is available for viewing at the Regulations.gov website: 
http://www.regulations.gov under docket number MARAD-2019-0093.
    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. Patrick Clark, USCG or Yvette Fields, MARAD, 
as listed in the following FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document, which also 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. The Federal Docket 
Management Facility's telephone number is 202-366-9317 or 202-366-9826, 
the fax number is 202-493-2251.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Patrick Clark, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone: 202-372-1358, email: [email protected] or Ms. Yvette 
Fields, Maritime Administration, telephone: 202-366-0926, email: 
[email protected]. For questions regarding viewing the Docket, call 
Docket Operations, telephone: 202-366-9317 or 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Public Meeting and Open House

    We encourage you to attend the informational open house and public 
meeting to learn about, and comment on, the proposed deepwater port. 
You will have the opportunity to submit comments on the scope and 
significance of the issues related to the proposed deepwater port that 
should be addressed in the EIS.
    Speaker registrations will be available at the door. Speakers at 
the public scoping meeting will be recognized in the following order: 
Elected officials, public agencies, individuals or groups in the sign-
up order and then anyone else who wishes to speak.
    In order to allow everyone a chance to speak at a public meeting, 
we may limit speaker time, extend the meeting hours, or both. You must 
identify yourself, and any organization you represent, by name. Your 
remarks will be recorded and/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 should 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 website (see ADDRESSES).
    Our public meeting location is wheelchair-accessible and compliant 
with the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you plan to attend an open 
house or public meeting and need special assistance such as sign 
language interpretation, non-English language translator services or 
other reasonable accommodation, please notify the USCG or MARAD (see 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) at least 5 business days in advance of 
the public meeting. Include your contact information as well as 
information about your specific needs.

Request for Comments

    We request public comment on this proposal. The comments may relate 
to, but are not limited to, the environmental impact of the proposed 
action. All comments will be accepted. The public meeting is not the 
only opportunity you have to comment on the Texas GulfLink deepwater 
port license application. In addition to, or in place of, attending a 
meeting, you may submit comments directly to the Federal Docket 
Management Facility during the public comment period (see Dates). We 
will consider all comments and material received during the 30-day 
scoping period.
    The license application, comments and associated documentation, as 
well as the draft and final EISs (when published), are available for 
viewing at the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) website: http://

[[Page 32009]]

www.regulations.gov under docket number MARAD-2019-0093.
    Public comment submissions should include:
     Docket number MARAD-2019-0093.
     Your name and address.
    Submit comments or material using only one of the following 
methods:
     Electronically (preferred for processing) to the Federal 
Docket Management System (FDMS) website: http://www.regulations.gov 
under docket number MARAD-2019-0093.
     By mail to the Federal Docket Management Facility (MARAD-
2019-0093), U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building, Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-
0001.
     By personal delivery to the room and address listed above 
between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.
     By fax to the Federal Docket Management Facility at 202-
493-2251.
    Faxed, mailed or hand delivered submissions must be unbound, no 
larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches and suitable for copying and electronic 
scanning. The format of electronic submissions should also be no larger 
than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches. If you mail your submission and want to know 
when it reaches the Federal Docket Management Facility, please include 
a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope.
    Regardless of the method used for submitting comments, all 
submissions will be posted, without change, to the FDMS website (http://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 Use Notice that is 
available on the FDMS website 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 Federal Docket Management Facility or electronically on the FDMS 
website.

Background

    Information about deepwater ports, the statutes, and regulations 
governing their licensing, including the application review process, 
and the receipt of the current application for the proposed Texas 
GulfLink deepwater port appears in the Texas GulfLink Notice of 
Application, Wednesday, June 26, 2019 edition of the Federal Register 
(84 FR 30298). The ``Summary of the Application'' from that publication 
is reprinted below for your convenience.
    Consideration of a deepwater port license application includes 
review of the proposed deepwater port's impact on the natural and human 
environment. For the proposed deepwater port, USCG and MARAD are the 
co-lead Federal agencies for determining the scope of this review, and 
in this case, it has been determined that review must include 
preparation of an EIS. This NOI is required by 40 CFR 1501.7. It 
briefly describes the proposed action, possible alternatives and our 
proposed scoping process. You can address any questions about the 
proposed action, the scoping process or the EIS to the USCG or MARAD 
project managers identified in this notice (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT).

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), (2) evaluation of proposed deepwater 
port and onshore site/pipeline route alternatives or (3) denying the 
application, which for purposes of environmental review is the ``no-
action'' alternative.

Scoping Process

    Public scoping is an early and open process for identifying and 
determining the scope of issues to be addressed in the EIS. Scoping 
begins with this notice, continues through the public comment period 
(see Dates), and ends when USCG and MARAD have completed the following 
actions:
     Invites the participation of Federal, state, and local 
agencies, any affected Indian tribe, the applicant, in this case Texas 
GulfLink, and other interested persons;
     Determines the actions, alternatives and impacts described 
in 40 CFR 1508.25;
     Identifies and eliminates from detailed study, those 
issues that are not significant or that have been covered elsewhere;
     Identifies other relevant permitting, environmental review 
and consultation requirements;
     Indicates the relationship between timing of the 
environmental review and other aspects of the application process; and
     At its discretion, exercises the options provided in 40 
CFR 1501.7(b).
    Once the scoping process is complete, USCG and MARAD will prepare a 
draft EIS. When complete, MARAD will publish a Federal Register notice 
announcing public availability of the Draft EIS. (If you want that 
notice to be sent to you, please contact the USCG or MARAD project 
manager identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). You will have 
an opportunity to review and comment on the Draft EIS. The USCG, MARAD 
and other appropriate cooperating agencies will consider the received 
comments and then prepare the Final EIS. As with the Draft EIS, we will 
announce the availability of the Final EIS and give you an opportunity 
for review and comment. The Act requires a final public hearing be held 
in the Adjacent Coastal State. Its purpose is to receive comments on 
matters related to whether or not a deepwater port license should be 
issued to the applicant by the Maritime Administrator. The final public 
hearing will be held in Lake Jackson, Texas after the Final EIS is made 
available for public review and comment.

Summary of the Application

    Texas GulfLink is proposing to construct, own, and operate a 
deepwater port terminal in the Gulf of Mexico to export domestically 
produced crude oil. Use of the DWP would include the loading of various 
grades of crude oil at flow rates of up to 85,000 barrels per hour 
(bph). At full operating capacity, fifteen Very Large Crude Carrier 
(VLCC) vessels (or equivalent volumes) would be loaded per month from 
the proposed deepwater port for a total of 1 million barrels per day. 
VLCCs can carry cargos of approximately 2 million barrels of oil. 
Loading of one VLCC vessel is expected to take 33 hours.
    The overall project would consist of offshore components as well as 
onshore components. The GulfLink deepwater port offshore and marine 
components would consist of the following:
     Texas GulfLink Offshore Metering Platform and Control 
Platform: Two (2) fixed offshore platforms with piles in Outer 
Continental Shelf Galveston Area Lease Block 423, approximately 28.3 
nautical miles off the coast of Freeport, Texas in a water depth of 
approximately 104 feet. The fixed offshore platform would be comprised 
of a metering platform and a control platform. The Control Platform 
will contain personnel living quarters, a helideck and a vessel traffic 
controller control room, utilizing a state-of-the-art radar system to 
monitor the port on a 24-hour basis. The Metering Platform will 
contain: Generators, pig receivers, lease automatic custody transfer 
(LACT) unit, oil displacement prover loop, sampling pot, radar tower, 
electrical and instrumentation building, portal cranes,

[[Page 32010]]

and a crane. Each platform will have three levels with the upper level 
at a 109-foot elevation, the midlevel at 84 feet, and the lower level 
at 69 feet.
     One (1) 42-inch outside diameter, 28.3-nautical-mile 
(32.57 statute mile) long crude oil pipeline would be constructed from 
the shoreline crossing in Brazoria County, Texas, to the GulfLink 
deepwater port for crude oil delivery. This pipeline would connect the 
onshore Jones Creek Terminal described below to the offshore Texas 
GulfLink deepwater port.
     The platform is connected to VLCC tankers for loading by 
two (2) separate 42-inch diameter departing pipelines. Each pipeline 
will depart the offshore platform, carrying the oil to a Pipeline End 
Manifold (PLEM) in approximately 104 feet water depth located 1.25 
nautical miles (1.43 statute miles) from the offshore platform. Each 
PLEM is then connected through two (2) 24-inch hoses to a Single Point 
Mooring (SPM) Buoy. Two 24-inch floating loading hoses will connect the 
SPM Buoy to the VLCC or other crude oil carrier. SPM Buoy 1 is in Outer 
Continental Shelf Galveston Area Lease Block 423 and SPM Buoy is in 
Outer Continental Shelf Galveston Area Lease Block A36.
    The Texas GulfLink deepwater port onshore storage and supply 
components would consist of the following:
     Texas GulfLink Onshore Storage Terminal: The proposed 
Jones Creek Terminal would be located in Brazoria County, Texas, on 
approximately 200 acres of land consisting of eight (8) above ground 
storage tanks, each with a working storage capacity of 685,000 barrels, 
for a total onshore storage capacity of approximately 6 million 
barrels. The facility can accommodate five (5) additional tanks, 
bringing the total to thirteen (13) tanks or 9.8 million barrels of 
shell capacity with 8.6 million barrels of working capacity, should 
commercial drivers dictate.
     The Jones Creek Terminal also would include: Six (6) 
electric-driven mainline crude oil pumps; three (3) electric driven 
booster crude oil pumps; one (1) crude oil pipeline pig launcher; one 
(1) crude oil pipeline pig receiver; two (2) measurement skids for 
measuring incoming crude oil--one (1) skid located at the incoming 
pipeline from the Bryan Mound facility, and one (1) skid installed for 
the outgoing crude oil barrels leaving the tank storage to be loaded on 
the VLCC; and ancillary facilities to include an operations control 
center, electrical substation, offices, and warehouse building.
     Two (2) onshore crude oil pipelines would be constructed 
onshore to support the Texas GulfLink deepwater port and include the 
following items:
    [cir] One (1) proposed incoming 9.45 statute mile 36-inch outside 
diameter pipeline originating at the Department of Energy (DOE) 
facility in Bryan Mound with connectivity to the Houston market.
    [cir] One (1) proposed outgoing 12.45 statute mile 42-inch outside 
diameter connection from the Jones Creek Terminal to the shore crossing 
where this becomes the subsea pipeline supplying the offshore deepwater 
port.

Privacy Act

    The electronic form of all comments received into the FDMS 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 Department of Transportation Privacy 
Act Statement can be viewed in the Federal Register published on April 
11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70, pages 19477-78) or by visiting http://www.regulations.gov.

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

    Dated: June 27, 2019.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2019-14178 Filed 7-2-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-81-P