[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 215 (Thursday, November 5, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70707-70710]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24550]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket No. MARAD-2020-0127]


Deepwater Port License Application: Blue Marlin Offshore Port, 
LLC (BMOP)

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of intent; Notice of virtual public meeting; Request for 
comments.

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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 Blue Marlin Offshore 
Port, LLC (BMOP) 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 within and adjacent to the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in 
West Cameron Lease Blocks (WC) 509 and 508 and East Cameron (EC) Block 
263. Following the existing Stingray pipeline, the deepwater port will 
be approximately 99 statute miles off the coast of Cameron Parish, 
Louisiana, with an approximate water depth of 162 feet. The deepwater 
port would allow for the loading of Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) 
and other sized crude oil cargo carriers via a Catenary Anchor Leg 
Mooring (CALM). This Notice of Intent (NOI) requests public 
participation in the scoping process, provides information on how to 
participate, and announces an informational (virtual) open house and 
two public meetings for the communities of Cameron Parish, Louisiana 
and Jefferson and Orange County, Texas. Pursuant to the criteria 
provided in the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (the Act), Louisiana and 
Texas are

[[Page 70708]]

the designated Adjacent Coastal States for this application.

DATES: There will be two public scoping meetings virtually held in 
connection with the BMOP deepwater port application. The meetings will 
be held virtually for the communities of Cameron Parish, Louisiana, and 
Jefferson and Orange County, Texas, on December 2, 2020, and December 
3, 2020, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. central standard time (CST). The 
virtual public meetings will be preceded by an informational open house 
via the website at www.BlueMarlinNEPAProcess.com, which will be 
maintained throughout the NEPA process.
    The virtual public meetings 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 
BMOP deepwater port license application must reach the Federal Docket 
Management Facility as detailed below by December 3, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Virtual Public Meeting-to register to attend and/or be a 
speaker at one of the virtual scoping meetings, visit 
www.BlueMarlinNEPAProcess.com or call 833-201-3773. Attendees may 
attend online or via telephone. Details will be relayed to you upon 
registering for the virtual meeting(s). Registration to be a speaker 
will end at 4:00 p.m. CST on December 2, 2020. Attendees that did not 
register to speak will be given the opportunity to comment at the end 
of the virtual meeting(s) after all registered speakers have been given 
the opportunity to comment.
    The public docket for the BMOP 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-2020-0127.
    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. William Nabach, USCG, or Dr. Efrain Lopez, 
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. William Nabach, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone: 202-372-1437, email: [email protected], or Dr. 
Efrain Lopez, Maritime Administration, telephone: 202-366-9761, email: 
[email protected]. For questions regarding viewing the Docket, call 
Docket Operations, telephone: 202-366-9317 or 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Virtual Public Meeting and Virtual Open House

    We encourage you to visit the informational virtual open house 
website and attend one of the virtual public meetings to learn about, 
and comment on, the proposed BMOP deepwater port. You will have the 
opportunity to verbally submit comments during the virtual public 
meetings on the scope and significance of the issues related to the 
proposed deepwater port that should be addressed in the EIS.
    Speaker registration is available online at 
www.BlueMarlinNEPAProcess.com or by calling 833-201-3773. Speakers at 
the virtual public scoping meetings 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 any of the virtual 
public meetings, 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.
    Public docket materials will be made available to the public on the 
Federal Docket Management Facility website (www.regulations.gov).
    If you plan to attend one of the virtual public meetings 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 
7 business days in advance of the virtual 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 virtual public meetings are 
not the only opportunity you have to comment on the BMOP deepwater port 
license application. In addition to, or in place of, attending one of 
the virtual meetings, 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://www.regulations.gov under docket number MARAD-2020-0127.
    Public comment submissions should include:
     Docket number MARAD-2020-0127.
     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-2020-0127.
     By mail to the Federal Docket Management Facility (MARAD-
2020-0127), 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

[[Page 70709]]

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 to the docket makes it public. You may wish to read the 
Privacy and Use Notice that is available on the Federal Docket 
Management Facility 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 Federal 
Docket Management Facility 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 BMOP 
deepwater port appears in the BMOP Notice of Application, previously 
published in the Federal Register and available for review by going to 
www.regulations.gov and searching docket number ``MARAD-2020-0127.'' 
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 1501.9. 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 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 Tribe, the applicant, in this case BMOP, and 
other interested persons;
     Determines the actions, alternatives and impacts described 
in 40 CFR 1501.9;
     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 1500.4 and 40 CFR 1500.5
    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 to be 
held in the Adjacent Coastal State. Its purpose is to receive comments 
on matters related to whether or not an operating license should be 
issued. The final public hearing will be held after the Final EIS is 
made available for public review and comment.

Summary of the Application

    BMOP 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 80,000 barrels per hour 
(bph). The BMOP deepwater port would allow for up to one (1) Very Large 
Crude Carriers (VLCCs) or other crude oil carriers to moor at the 
catenary anchor leg mooring (CALM) and connect with the deepwater port 
via floating connecting crude oil hoses. The maximum frequency of 
loading VLCCs or other crude oil carriers would be approximately 2 
million barrels per day (1,920,000), 365 days per year.
    The overall project would consist of offshore and marine components 
as well as onshore components as described below.
    The BMOP deepwater port offshore and marine components would 
consist of the following:
     Two (2) new CALM Buoys installed, one in WC 508 (CALM Buoy 
No. 1) and the other in EC 263(CALM Buoy No. 2). The CALM Buoys will be 
anchored to the seafloor via an engineered mooring system capable of 
accommodating mooring forces exerted by a VLCC or other large seafaring 
vessels during loading operations. Two 24-inch diameter floating hoses 
will be connected to each CALM Buoy. The hoses will be approximately 
1,500 feet long and used for loading operations.
     Two new PLEMs installed and anchored on the seafloor. Two 
24-inch undersea flexible hoses will be connected to each PLEM and 
associated CALM Buoy.
     Two Crude Oil Loading Pipelines, approximately 4,710 feet 
long to PLEM/CALM Buoy No. 1 and 6,085 feet long to PLEM/CALM Buoy No. 
2, installed from the WC 509 Platform Complex to the PLEM and CALM 
locations, one for each PLEM and CALM Buoy. The pipelines will be 
installed with the top of pipe at least three feet below the natural 
seafloor.
     New MLV on WC 148 Platform;
     Two new 36-inch risers connected to the Crude Oil Loading 
Pipelines on WC 509B Platform;
     New control room on WC 509B Platform;
     Three new pig barrels, one on the WC 509A Platform and two 
on WC 509B Platform;
     Meter station for crude oil on the WC 509B Platform;
     New living quarters (LQ) and heliport on the WC 509C 
Platform;
     Surge valves and tank on the WC 509B Platform; and
     New ancillary equipment for the 509 Platform (e.g., power 
generators, instrument/utility air system, fuel tanks, ac units, 
freshwater makers, firewater system, seawater and freshwater system, 
sewage treatment unit, fuel gas system, diesel system, closed drain 
system, open drain system, hydraulic power unit, hypochlorite system, 
cranes, communications tower and system,

[[Page 70710]]

radar) to support operation of the offshore facilities.
    The BMOP deepwater port onshore storage and supply components would 
consist of the following:
     Safety Zone--The Applicant is requesting that the USCG 
Captain of the Port establish a Safety Zone around the entire DWP 
operations area. The Safety Zone will only be open to entry for VLCCs 
or other crude oil carriers prepared for connection for loading of 
crude oil, and the necessary service vessels supporting that process.
     Anchorage area--Existing USCG-designated anchorage areas 
will be utilized for VLCCs (or other crude carriers) awaiting mooring 
at a CALM Buoy or if they must disconnect from the CALM Buoys for 
safety reasons.
     Support vessel mooring area--A designated Service Vessel 
Mooring Area will be established in proximity to the offshore WC 509 
facilities.
     Temporary pre-fabrication yards--Component fabrication 
will occur at multiple existing fabrication facilities within the GOM 
coastal region.
     Support facilities--Facilities within the GOM coastal 
region providing support for offshore operations and maintenance 
activities (e.g., helicopters, supply vessels, work boats, equipment 
suppliers, and maintenance workers).
    For more information on the BMOP deepwater port project, you can 
visit the Regulations.gov website: http://www.regulations.gov under 
docket number MARAD-2020-0127

Privacy Act

    The electronic form of all comments received into the Federal 
Docket Management Facility 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).


    Dated: November 2, 2020.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.

[FR Doc. 2020-24550 Filed 11-4-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P