[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 82 (Tuesday, April 28, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23596-23598]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08970]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket No. MARAD-2019-0011]


Deepwater Port License Application: SPOT Terminal Services LLC

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.

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

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SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard 
(USCG) announce the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) for the SPOT Terminal Services LLC (SPOT) deepwater 
port license application for the export of oil from the United States 
to nations abroad. A Notice of Application that summarized the SPOT 
deepwater port license application was published in the Federal 
Register on March 4, 2019 (84 FR 7413). A Notice of Intent to Prepare 
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Notice of Public Meetings 
was published in the Federal Register on March 7, 2019 (84 FR 8401). 
This Notice of Availability incorporates the aforementioned Federal 
Register Notices by reference. The application describes a project that 
would be located approximately 27.2 to 30.8 nautical miles off the 
coast of Brazoria County, Texas. 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 environmental impact review process and announces an 
informational open house and public meeting in Lake Jackson, Texas.

DATES: MARAD and USCG will hold one public meeting in connection with 
the SPOT DEIS. The public meeting will be held in Lake Jackson, Texas, 
on February 26, 2020, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The public meeting 
will be preceded by an 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 who wish to make a comment on the record. 
Additionally, materials submitted in response to this request for 
comments on the DEIS must be submitted to the www.regulations.gov 
website or the Federal Docket Management Facility as detailed in the 
ADDRESSES section below by the close of business on March 23, 2020.

ADDRESSES: The open house and public meeting in Lake Jackson, Texas 
will be held at the Courtyard Marriott Lake Jackson, 159 State Highway 
288, Lake Jackson, Texas 77566, phone: (979) 297-7300, web address: 
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ljncy-courtyard-lakejackson/. 
Free parking is available at the venue.
    The SPOT deepwater port license application, comments, supporting 
information and the DEIS are available for viewing at the 
Regulations.gov website: http://www.regulations.gov under docket number 
MARAD-2019-0011. The Final EIS (FEIS), when published, will be 
announced and available at this site as well.
    The public docket for the SPOT 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. Comments on the DEIS may be 
submitted to this address and must include the docket number for this 
project, which is MARAD-2019-0011. The Federal Docket Management 
Facility's telephone number is 202-366-9317 or 202-366-9826, the fax 
number is 202-493-2251.
    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 by mail. If you cannot submit material using http://www.regulations.gov, please contact either Mr. William Nabach, 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. William Nabach, Project Manager, 
USCG, telephone: 202-372-1437, email: [email protected]; or 
Ms. Yvette Fields, Director, Office of Deepwater Ports and Port 
Conveyance, 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 SPOT deepwater port. These comments will 
inform our preparation of the FEIS. We encourage attendance at the open 
house and public meeting; however, you may submit comments 
electronically, and it is preferred that comments be submitted 
electronically. Regardless of the method you use to submit comments or 
material, all submissions will be posted, without change, to the 
Federal Docket Management Facility website (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 website, 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 Management Facility or electronically at the 
www.regulations.gov website.

Public Meeting and Open House

    You are invited to learn about the proposed SPOT deepwater port at 
the subject informational open house and public meeting. You are also 
encouraged to provide comments on the proposed action and the 
environmental impact analysis contained in the DEIS for the proposed 
SPOT deepwater port. 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

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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 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 include contact information as well as 
information about specific needs.

Background

    On January 31, 2019, MARAD and USCG received a license application 
from SPOT for all Federal authorizations required for a license to 
construct, own, and operate a deepwater port for the export of oil. The 
proposed deepwater port would be located in Federal waters 
approximately 27.2 to 30.8 nautical miles off the coast of Brazoria 
County, Texas. Texas was designated as the Adjacent Coastal State (ACS) 
for the SPOT license application.
    The Federal agencies involved held a public scoping meeting in 
connection with the SPOT license application. The public scoping 
meeting was held in Lake Jackson, Texas on March 20, 2019. Transcripts 
of the scoping meetings are included on the public docket located at 
www.regulations.gov under docket number MARAD-2019-0011-0019.
    MARAD and USCG issued a regulatory ``stop-clock'' letter to SPOT on 
May 31, 2019, which remained in effect until October 23, 2019, when 
MARAD and USCG determined the agencies received sufficient information 
to continue the Federal review process.
    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 website: www.regulations.gov under docket number 
MARAD-2019-0011.

Summary of the License Application

    SPOT 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 deepwater port would include the loading of various 
grades of crude oil at flow rates of up to 85,000 barrels per hour 
(bph). The SPOT deepwater port would allow for up to two (2) Very Large 
Crude Carriers (VLCCs) or other crude oil carriers to moor at single 
point mooring (SPM) buoys and connect with the deepwater port via 
floating connecting crude oil hoses and a floating vapor recovery hose. 
The maximum frequency of loading VLCCs or other crude oil carriers 
would be 2 million barrels per day, 365 days per year.
    The overall project would consist of offshore and marine components 
as well as onshore components as described below.
    The SPOT deepwater port offshore and marine components would 
consist of the following:
     One (1) fixed offshore platform with eight (8) piles in 
Galveston Area Outer Continental Shelf lease block 463, approximately 
27.2 to 30.8 nautical miles off the coast of Brazoria County, Texas in 
a water depth of approximately 115 feet. The fixed offshore platform 
would be comprised of four (4) decks including: A sump deck with shut-
down valves and open drain sump; a cellar deck with pig launchers and 
receivers, generators, and three (3) vapor combustion units; a main 
deck with a lease automatic custody transfer (LACT) unit, oil 
displacement prover loop, living quarters, electrical and instrument 
building, and other ancillary equipment; and a laydown deck with a 
crane laydown area.
     Two (2) single point mooring buoys (SPMs), each having: 
Two (2) 24-inch inside diameter crude oil underbuoy hoses 
interconnecting with the crude oil pipeline end manifold (PLEM); two 
(2) 24-inch inside diameter floating crude oil hoses connecting the 
moored VLCC or other crude oil carrier for loading to the SPM buoy; one 
(1) 24-inch inside diameter vapor recovery underbuoy hose 
interconnecting with the vapor recovery PLEM; and one (1) 24-inch 
inside diameter floating vapor recovery hose to connect to the moored 
VLCC or other crude oil carrier for loading. The floating hoses would 
be approximately 800 feet in length and rated for 300 psig (21-bar). 
Each floating hose would contain an additional 200 feet of 16-inch 
``tail hose'' that is designed to be lifted and robust enough for 
hanging over the edge railing of the VLCC or other crude oil vessels. 
The underbuoy hoses would be approximately 160 feet in length and rated 
for 300 psig (21-bar).
     Four (4) PLEMs would provide the interconnection between 
the pipelines and the SPM buoys. Each SPM buoy would have two (2) 
PLEMs--one (1) PLEM for crude oil and one (1) PLEM for vapor recovery. 
Each crude oil loading PLEM would be supplied with crude oil by two (2) 
30-inch outside diameter pipelines, each approximately 0.66 nautical 
miles in length. Each vapor recovery PLEM would route recovered vapor 
from the VLCC or other crude oil carrier through the PLEM to the three 
(3) vapor combustion units located on the platform topside via two (2) 
16-inch outside diameter vapor recovery pipelines, each approximately 
0.66 nautical miles in length.
     Two (2) co-located 36-inch outside diameter, 40.8-nautical 
mile long crude oil pipelines would be constructed from the shoreline 
crossing in Brazoria County, Texas, to the SPOT deepwater port for 
crude oil delivery. These pipelines, in conjunction with 12.2 statute 
miles of new-build onshore pipelines (described below), would connect 
the onshore crude oil storage facility and pumping station (Oyster 
Creek Terminal) to the offshore SPOT deepwater port. The crude oil 
would be metered at the offshore platform. Pipelines would be bi-
directional for the purposes of maintenance, pigging, changing crude 
oil grades, or evacuating the pipeline with water.
    The SPOT deepwater port onshore storage and supply components would 
consist of the following:
     New equipment and piping at the existing Enterprise Crude 
Houston (ECHO) Terminal to provide interconnectivity with the crude oil 
supply network for the SPOT Project. This would include the 
installation of four (4) booster pumps, one (1) measurement skid, and 
four (4) crude oil pumps.
     An interconnection between the existing Rancho II pipeline 
and the proposed ECHO to Oyster Creek pipeline consisting of a physical 
connection as well as ultrasonic measurement capability for pipeline 
volumetric balancing purposes.
     The proposed Oyster Creek Terminal located in Brazoria 
County, Texas, on approximately 140 acres of land consisting of seven 
(7) aboveground storage tanks, each with a total storage capacity of 
685,000 barrels (600,000 barrels working storage capacity), for a total 
onshore storage capacity of approximately 4.8 million barrels (4.2 
million barrels working storage) of crude oil. The Oyster Creek 
Terminal also would include: Six (6) electric-driven mainline crude oil 
pumps; four (4) electric-driven booster crude oil pumps (two (2) per 
pipeline), working in parallel to move crude oil from the storage tanks 
through the measurement skids; two (2) crude oil pipeline pig 
launchers/receivers; one (1)

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crude oil pipeline pig receiver; two (2) measurement skids for 
measuring incoming crude oil--one (1) skid located at the incoming 
pipeline from the existing Enterprise Crude Houston (ECHO) Terminal, 
and one (1) skid installed and reserved for a future pipeline 
connection; two (2) measurement skids for measuring departing crude 
oil; three (3) vapor combustion units--two (2) permanent and one (1) 
portable; and ancillary facilities to include electrical substation, 
office, and warehouse buildings.
     Three onshore crude oil pipelines would be constructed 
onshore to support the SPOT deepwater port. These would include: One 
(1) 50.1 statute mile long 36-inch crude oil pipeline from the existing 
ECHO Terminal to the Oyster Creek Terminal. This pipeline would be 
located in Harris County and Brazoria County, Texas; two (2) 12.2 
statute mile long, co-located 36- inch crude oil export pipelines from 
the Oyster Creek Terminal to the shore crossing where these would join 
the above described subsea pipelines supplying the SPOT deepwater port. 
These pipelines would be located in Brazoria County, Texas.

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 website. 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: April 23, 2020.

By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020-08970 Filed 4-27-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-81-P