[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 183 (Friday, September 24, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53144-53147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20284]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket No. MARAD-2019-0093]


Deepwater Port License Application: Texas GulfLink LLC

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

ACTION: Notice of availability, Notice of virtual public meeting, 
Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard

[[Page 53145]]

(USCG) announce the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) for the Texas GulfLink LLC (GulfLink) deepwater port 
license application for the export of crude oil from the United States 
to nations abroad and the re-opening of the public comment period for 
the DEIS. The DEIS is being reissued to ensure the meaningful 
engagement of identified Spanish-speaking Limited English Proficient 
(LEP) persons in the environmental impact review process. Additionally, 
MARAD and USCG announce a virtual public meeting and virtual open house 
for the DEIS.

DATES: To ensure comments on the DEIS will be considered, materials 
submitted in response to this request for comments must be submitted to 
the www.regulations.gov website or the Federal Docket Management 
Facility as detailed in the ADDRESSES section below no later than 45 
days after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes its 
notice of availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for 
GulfLink Deepwater Port License Application MARAD-2019-0093 in the 
Federal Register.
    MARAD and USCG will hold one virtual public meeting in connection 
with the reissuance of the GulfLink DEIS. The public meeting will be 
held virtually on October 14, 2021, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central 
Time. The virtual public meeting may end later than the stated time, 
depending on the number of persons who wish to make a comment on the 
record.
    Anyone that is interested in attending the virtual public meeting 
or speaking during the virtual public meeting must register. 
Registration information is provided in the Public Meeting and Open 
House and Registration sections of this Notice.

ADDRESSES: The virtual public meeting will be held remotely due to the 
nationwide impacts of the existing public health emergency under 
Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act in response to Coronavirus 
Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Further, the President's declaration of a 
national emergency due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and state and local 
actions in response to COVID-19, have impacted the public's ability to 
assemble and provide feedback on the GulfLink deepwater port license 
application through in-person public meetings.
    The GulfLink 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-2019-0093. The Final EIS (FEIS), when published, will be 
announced and available at this site as well.
    The public docket for the 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. Comments on the DEIS 
may be submitted to this address and must include the docket number for 
this project, which is MARAD-2019-0093. The Federal Docket Management 
Facility's telephone number is 202-366-9317 or 202-366-9826, the fax 
number is 202-493-2251. Comments are due to the Federal Docket 
Management Facility by 45 days after EPA publishes the notice of 
availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the 
GulfLink Deepwater Port License Application MARAD-2019-0093 in the 
Federal Register.
    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. Patrick W. Clark, USCG, 
or Dr. Linden Houston, MARAD, as listed in the following FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document below. 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. Patrick W. Clark, Project Manager, 
USCG, telephone: 202-372-1358, email: [email protected]; or Dr. 
Linden Houston, Transportation Specialist, Office of Deepwater Port 
Licensing and Port Conveyance, MARAD, telephone: 202-366-4839, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A Notice of Application that summarized the 
GulfLink deepwater port license application was published in the 
Federal Register on June 26, 2019 (84 FR 30298-30300). A Notice of 
Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Notice of 
Public Meetings was published in the Federal Register on July 3, 2019 
(84 FR 32008-32010). A Notice of Availability; Notice of Virtual Public 
Meetings; Request for Comments for the GulfLink deepwater port license 
application was published in the Federal Register on November 27, 2020 
(85 FR 76157-76159). This Notice of Availability incorporates the 
aforementioned Federal Register Notices by reference. The application 
describes a project that would include pipelines and a crude oil 
storage terminal located onshore in Brazoria County, Texas, and an 
offshore pipeline leading to a deepwater port located approximately 
26.6 nautical miles off the coast of Brazoria County, Texas.
    Publication of this notice announces 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 the informational 
open house and public meeting that will take place virtually.
    This Federal Register Notice is being published to reissue the DEIS 
that was published in the Federal Register on November 27, 2020 (85 FR 
76157-76158). Spanish language translation and interpretation services 
will be available during the virtual informational open house and 
public meeting, but it is requested that you advise MARAD and the USCG 
accordingly when registering to participate as noted in the 
Registration section of this Notice.

Request for Comments

    We request public comments or other relevant information related to 
the DEIS for the proposed GulfLink deepwater port. These comments will 
inform our preparation of the FEIS. We encourage participation in the 
virtual public meeting; however, you may submit comments 
electronically, and it is preferred that comments be submitted 
electronically to the Federal Docket Management Facility website 
(http://www.regulations.gov). If you are unable to submit electronic 
comments, please contact either Mr. Patrick Clark, USCG, or Dr. Linden 
Houston, MARAD as listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section. 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.

[[Page 53146]]

Virtual Public Meeting and Open House

    You are invited to learn about the proposed GulfLink deepwater port 
at the virtual informational open house and to comment on the proposed 
action and the environmental impact analysis contained in the DEIS 
during the virtual public meeting.
    The virtual informational open house website (http://TexasGulfLinkDWP_EIS.consultation.ai) will be available throughout the 
public comment period for the Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(FEIS), which will end 45 days after the FEIS Notice of Availability 
for the Gulflink Deepwater Port License Application is published in the 
Federal Register.
    The website includes information about the project, including the 
DEIS, presented in a virtual open house format. The project docket, 
located online at www.regulations.gov (docket number MARAD-2019-0093) 
will be available for viewing during the DEIS public comment period as 
well as after the end of the DEIS public comment period.
    The public meeting will be a virtual event hosted on the Zoom 
platform. The virtual public meeting will be recorded and transcribed 
for placement in the public docket for the GulfLink project. The Zoom 
program can be accessed online by visiting the Zoom website at 
www.zoom.us. Meeting details, such as the virtual room number and 
access code, will be provided after registration. See the Registration 
section of this Notice for details.

Registration

    Interested parties must register to speak during the virtual public 
meeting as well as to attend the meeting. You may register at http://TexasGulfLinkDWP_EIS.consultation.ai or obtain help registering by 
contacting AECOM toll free at 833-588-1191.
    Public meetings are intended to be accessible to all participants. 
Individuals who require special assistance such as sign language 
services, Spanish language interpreters or other reasonable 
accommodation, please indicate your special assistance need when 
registering either at http://TexasGulfLinkDWP_EIS.consultation.ai or 
toll free at 833-588-1191. Requests for special assistance must be made 
at least five business days in advance of the virtual public meeting. 
It is requested that you advise AECOM of any language needs (such as 
interpretation) when registering. Please include contact information as 
well as information about your specific needs. Those requiring special 
assistance such as sign language services, Spanish language 
interpreters, or other reasonable accommodations will need to attend 
the virtual meeting via a computer, tablet, telephone, or smart phone 
for these services to be accessible. Instructions for accessing the 
meeting will be sent to all registrants via email or will be provided 
by AECOM by registrants calling the toll-free number.

Meeting Procedure

    Registered speakers 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 to ensure a 
constructive information-gathering session. The presiding officer will 
use his/her discretion to conduct the meeting in an orderly manner.

Background

    On January 31, 2019, MARAD and USCG received a license application 
from GulfLink for all Federal authorizations required for a license to 
construct, own, and operate a deepwater port for the export of crude 
oil. The proposed deepwater port would be located in Federal waters 
approximately 26.6 nautical miles off the coast of Brazoria County, 
Texas. Texas was designated as the Adjacent Coastal State (ACS) for the 
GulfLink license application.
    The Federal agencies involved held a public scoping meeting in 
connection with the GulfLink license application. The public scoping 
meeting was held in Lake Jackson, Texas on March 20, 2019. The 
transcript of the scoping meeting is included in the public docket 
located at www.regulations.gov under docket number MARAD-2019-0093.
    MARAD and USCG issued a regulatory ``stop-clock'' letter to 
GulfLink for its application on May 31, 2019, which remained in effect 
until October 23, 2019, when MARAD, in consultation with the USCG, 
determined the agencies received sufficient information to continue the 
Federal review process. A second ``stop clock letter'' was issued to 
GulfLink on September 15, 2020 for additional information requests and 
remained in effect until November 30, 2020.
    On December 16, 2020 and December 17, 2020, MARAD and USCG held 
virtual DEIS public meetings for the GulfLink deepwater port license 
application. During the December 16, 2020 public meeting, the public 
requested Spanish language assistance. MARAD and the USCG provided 
limited Spanish language translation at the December 17, 2020 meeting.
    After thorough review and consultation with the USCG, MARAD found 
that the affected environmental justice communities and Limited English 
Proficient persons had not been provided sufficient and adequate 
opportunity to fully participate in the complete scope of the 
application and environmental review process for the GulfLink Deepwater 
Port License application. Therefore, MARAD and USCG are re-opening the 
public comment period for the DEIS for an additional 45 days and 
hosting this virtual public meeting to provide affected communities, 
including Limited English Proficient persons, further opportunity to 
review and comment on the DEIS. This Federal Register Notice reissues 
the DEIS that was published in the Federal Register on November 27, 
2020 (85 FR 76157-76158).
    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-2019-0093.

Summary of the License Application

    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 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 GulfLink deepwater port would allow for up to two 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. The maximum frequency of 
loading VLCCs or other crude oil carriers would be 1.1 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 GulfLink deepwater port offshore and marine components would 
consist of the following:

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     An Offshore Platform: One fixed offshore platform with 
piles in Outer Continental Shelf Galveston Area Lease Block GA-423, 
approximately 26.6 nautical miles off the coast of Brazoria County, 
Texas in a water depth of approximately 104 feet. The fixed offshore 
platform would have four decks comprising of personal living space, 
pipeline metering, a surge system, a pig receiving station, generators, 
lease automatic custody transfer unit, oil displacement prover loop, 
sample system, radar tower, electrical and instrumentation building, 
portal cranes, a hydraulic crane, an Operations/Traffic Room, and 
helicopter deck.
     One 42-inch outside diameter, 28.1-nautical-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 proposed onshore Gulflink 
Jones Creek Terminal described below to the offshore GulfLink deepwater 
port.
     The fixed offshore platform is connected to VLCC tankers 
for loading by two separate 42-inch diameter departing pipelines. Each 
pipeline will depart the fixed offshore platform, carrying the crude 
oil to a Pipeline End Manifold (PLEM) in approximately 104 feet water 
depth located 1.25 nautical miles from the fixed offshore platform. 
Each PLEM is then connected through two 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 GA-423 and SPM Buoy 2 is 
in Outer Continental Shelf Galveston Area Lease Block GA-A36.
    The GulfLink deepwater port onshore storage and supply components 
would consist of the following:
     An Onshore Storage Terminal: The proposed Gulflink Jones 
Creek Terminal would be located in Brazoria County, Texas, on 
approximately 262 acres of land, consisting of eight above ground 
storage tanks, each with a working storage capacity of 708,168 barrels, 
for a total onshore storage capacity of approximately 6 million 
barrels. The facility can accommodate four additional tanks, bringing 
the total to twelve tanks or 8.0 million barrels of shell capacity.
     The Gulflink Jones Creek Terminal also would include: Six 
electric-driven mainline crude oil pumps; three electric driven booster 
crude oil pumps; one crude oil pipeline pig launcher; one crude oil 
pipeline pig receiver; two measurement skids for measuring incoming 
crude oil--one skid located on the Department of Energy's Bryan Mound 
facility, and one 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 onshore crude oil pipelines would be constructed 
onshore to support the GulfLink deepwater port and include the 
following items:
    [cir] One proposed incoming 9.7 statute mile 36-inch outside 
diameter pipeline connected to a leased 40-inch ExxonMobil pipeline 
originating at the Department of Energy's Bryan Mound facility with 
connectivity to the Houston market.
    [cir] One proposed outgoing 12.7 statute mile 42-inch outside 
diameter connection from the Gulflink Jones Creek Terminal to the shore 
crossing where this becomes the pipeline supplying the proposed 
offshore GulfLink deepwater port.
    Additional information regarding the proposed Texas GulfLink 
Deepwater Port License Application can be found in the public docket 
located at www.regulations.gov under docket number MARAD-2019-0093.

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)).


    By Order of the Acting Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-20284 Filed 9-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P