[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 129 (Friday, July 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55679-55681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14370]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket No. MARAD-2019-0093]


Deepwater Port License Application: Texas GulfLink LLC--Final 
Environmental Impact Statement

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

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard 
(USCG) announce the availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (FEIS) for the Texas GulfLink LLC (GulfLink) deepwater port 
license application for the export of oil from the United States to 
nations abroad. The GulfLink deepwater port license application 
describes a project that would be located approximately 26.2 nautical 
miles off the coast of Brazoria County, Texas. Publication of this 
notice announces a 45-day comment period ending on Monday, August 19, 
2024, requests public participation in the final environmental impact 
review process and provides information on how to participate in the 
final environmental impact review process.

DATES: MARAD and USCG will hold one Final Hearing in connection with 
the GulfLink Application. The time and location for the Final Hearing 
will be published in a future notice. Public comments on the FEIS must 
be submitted to www.regulations.gov or the Federal Docket Management 
Facility as detailed in the ADDRESSES section below by the close of 
business on Monday, August 19, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the FEIS must be submitted to the U.S. 
Department of Transportation's Docket Management Facility or online to 
www.regulations.gov under docket number MARAD-2019-0093. The address of 
the Docket Management Facility is as follows: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, MARAD-2019-0093, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West 
Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590. Instructions are listed 
in the Public Participation section of this Notice.

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 Ports 
and Port Conveyance, MARAD, telephone: 202-366-4839, email: 
[email protected].
    Please include ``MARAD-2019-0093, GulfLink Comment'' in the subject 
line of the message. For written comments and other material 
submissions, please follow the directions under the ``How do I submit 
comments?'' question in the Public Participation section of this 
notice.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Prior Federal Actions

    On May 30, 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 oil. The 
proposed deepwater port would be in Federal waters approximately 26.6 
nautical miles off the coast of Brazoria County, Texas. Texas was 
designated as the ACS for the GulfLink license application.
    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). A Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) and Notice of Public Scoping Meeting was 
published in the Federal Register on July 3, 2019 (84 FR 32008). A 
public scoping meeting in connection with the evaluation of the 
GulfLink license application was held in Lake Jackson, Texas on July 
17, 2019. The transcript of the scoping meeting is included on the 
public docket located at www.regulations.gov/document/MARAD-2019-0093-0047. A Federal Register Notice was published on August 14, 2019 (84 FR 
40476) to extend the public scoping comment period to August 30, 2019.
    MARAD and USCG held three virtual public comment meetings to 
receive comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). A 
Notice of Availability for the DEIS and Notice of Public Meeting was 
published in the Federal Register on November 27, 2020 (85 FR 76157). 
The first two virtual public comment meetings were held on December 16, 
2020, and December 17, 2020. The public comment period for these 
meetings began on November 27, 2020, and a Federal Register Notice was 
published on December 21, 2020 (85 FR 83142) to extend the comment 
period to January 22, 2021. Transcripts of these DEIS virtual public 
comment meetings are provided on the public docket at 
www.regulations.gov/document/MARAD-2019-0093-0318, www.regulations.gov/document/MARAD-2019-0093-0319, and www.regulations.gov/document/MARAD-2019-0093-2839. A Notice of Availability and Notice of Virtual Public 
Meeting was published in the Federal Register on September 24, 2021 (86 
FR 53144). The Federal agencies held a third virtual DEIS public 
comment meeting to receive comments on the DEIS. The DEIS public 
meeting was held virtually on October 14, 2021. The purpose of the 
October 14, 2021, virtual public meeting was to reopen the public 
comment period for the DEIS and to provide affected communities, 
including Limited English Proficient persons, further opportunities to 
review and comment on the document. The transcripts from the third DEIS 
public comment meeting are included on the public docket at 
www.regulations.gov/document/MARAD-2019-0093-2853.
    After the publication of the DEIS, GulfLink revised its deepwater 
license application in response to ongoing consultation with regulatory 
agencies and subsequently refined the design of the proposed deepwater 
port by adding a vapor control system into the design and operation of 
the proposed GulfLink deepwater port. A Notice of Availability; Notice 
of Virtual Public Meeting; Request for Comments for the Supplemental 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) and was published in the 
Federal Register on September 30, 2022 (87 FR 59487) in response to 
proposed changes to the GulfLink deepwater port. The public meeting was 
held virtually on October 18, 2022. The transcripts of the SDEIS public 
comment meetings are also included on the public docket at

[[Page 55680]]

www.regulations.gov/document/MARAD-2019-0093-3097 and 
www.regulations.gov/document/MARAD-2019-0093-3098.
    This Notice of Availability incorporates the aforementioned Federal 
Register notices by reference.

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 and a floating vapor recovery 
hose. The maximum frequency of loading VLCCs or other crude oil 
carriers would be one 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:
    An Offshore Platform: One fixed offshore platform with piles in 
Outer Continental Shelf Galveston Area Lease Block GA-423, 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 comprised 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 Jones Creek Terminal 
described below to the offshore platform.
    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 of 
water depth located 1.25 nautical miles from the fixed offshore 
platform. Each PLEM is then connected to a Single Point Mooring (SPM) 
Buoy through two 24-inch cargo hoses. Two 24-inch floating cargo hoses 
will connect each SPM Buoy to the VLCC (or other crude oil carrier 
type). SPM Buoy 1 is positioned in Outer Continental Shelf Galveston 
Area Lease Block GA-423 and SPM Buoy 2 is positioned in Outer 
Continental Shelf Galveston Area Lease Block GA-A36.
    Use of a dynamically positioned third-party Offshore Support 
Vessel, equipped with a vapor processing system to control the release 
of vapor emissions during the cargo loading operations of the proposed 
GulfLink deepwater port.
    Onshore storage and supply components for the GulfLink deepwater 
port would consist of the following:
    An Onshore Storage Terminal: The proposed Jones Creek Terminal 
would be in Brazoria County, Texas, on approximately 319 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 5,655,344 million barrels. The facility can 
accommodate four additional tanks, bringing the total to twelve tanks 
or 8,498,016 million barrels of storage capacity.
    The 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 to support the 
GulfLink deepwater port and include the following:
    One proposed incoming 9.1-statute mile long, 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.
    One proposed outgoing 12.1-statute mile long, 42-inch outside 
diameter pipeline connecting the Jones Creek Terminal to the shore 
crossing, where the offshore portion of this pipeline begins and 
supplies the proposed offshore GulfLink deepwater port.
    As previously stated, the purpose of this notice is to announce the 
availability of the FEIS and the public comment period. Comments can be 
submitted through the Federal docket website: www.regulations.gov under 
docket number MARAD-2019-0093.

Purpose of the Final Environmental Impact Statement

    The purpose of the FEIS is to analyze the direct, indirect, and 
cumulative environmental impacts of the proposed action, and to 
identify and analyze environmental impacts of a reasonable range of 
alternatives. The FEIS is currently available for public review and 
comment at the Federal docket website: www.regulations.gov under docket 
number MARAD-2019-0093.

Request for Comments

    You are encouraged to provide comments on the proposed action and 
the environmental impact analysis contained in the FEIS for the 
proposed GulfLink deepwater port. These comments will inform MARAD's 
Record of Decision for the GulfLink deepwater license application. We 
encourage you to review the information on the project's docket located 
online at www.regulations.gov under docket number MARAD-2019-0093. It 
is preferred that comments be submitted electronically.
    Please see the information in the ``Public Participation'' section 
below on how to properly submit comments. All comments submitted to the 
docket via www.regulations.gov or delivered to the Federal Docket 
Management Facility will be posted, without change, to the Federal 
Docket Management Facility website (www.regulations.gov) and will 
include any personal information you provide. Therefore, submitting 
such information makes it public. You may wish to read the Privacy and 
Use Notice 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 Participation

How do I prepare comments?

    To ensure that your comments are correctly filed in the Docket, 
please include the docket number (MARAD-2019-0093) shown at the 
beginning of this document in your comments. If you are submitting 
comments electronically as a .pdf (Adobe Acrobat) File, MARAD

[[Page 55681]]

and USCG ask that the documents be submitted using the Optical 
Character Recognition (OCR) process, thus allowing the agencies to 
search and copy certain portions of your submissions.
    Please note that pursuant to the Data Quality Act, for substantive 
data to be relied upon and used by the agency, it must meet the 
information quality standards set forth in the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) and Department of Transportation (DOT) Data Quality Act 
guidelines. Accordingly, we encourage you to consult the guidelines in 
preparing your comments. OMB's guidelines may be accessed at 
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/reproducible.html. DOT's guidelines may 
be accessed at www.bts.gov/programs/statistical_policy_and_research/data_quality_guidelines.

How do I submit comments?

    You may submit comments for the GulfLink deepwater license 
application (identified by DOT Docket Number MARAD-2019-0093) by any 
one of the following methods:
    Mail or Hand Delivery: The Docket Management Facility is in the 
West Building, Ground Floor of the U.S. Department of Transportation. 
The Docket Management Facility location address is U.S. Department of 
Transportation, MARAD-2019-0093, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West 
Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590. Due to flexible work 
schedules in response to COVID-19, call 202-493-0402 to determine 
facility hours prior to hand delivery.
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov. Search 
``MARAD-2019-0093'' and follow the instructions for submitting 
comments.

    Note: If you mail or hand-deliver your comments, we recommend 
that you include your name and a mailing address, an email address, 
and/or a telephone number on a cover page so that we can contact you 
if we have questions regarding your submission. All submissions 
received must include the agency name and specific docket number to 
ensure your comment is filed in the appropriate docket. All comments 
received will be posted without change to the docket at 
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.

What will happen if I submit comments in any other manner?

    Comments that are not submitted directly to the Docket Management 
Facility using the methods specified and outlined within this Federal 
Register notice may not be considered.

How long do I have to submit comments?

    We are providing a comment period for the public to submit 
comments, which begins with the publication of this Federal Register 
Notice and ends on Monday, August 19, 2024.

How can I be sure that my comments were received?

    If you wish for Docket Management to notify you upon its receipt of 
your comments, enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the 
envelope containing your comments. Upon receiving your comments, Docket 
Management will return the postcard by mail.

Will the agency consider late comments?

    No. MARAD and USCG will consider all substantive comments that 
Docket Management receives before the close of business on the comment 
closing date indicated above under DATES.

How can I read the comments submitted by other people?

    You may read the comments received by Docket Management at the 
address given above under ADDRESSES. The hours of the Docket Management 
Unit are indicated above in the same location. You may also see the 
comments on the internet. To read the comments on the internet, go to 
www.regulations.gov. Search using ``MARAD-2019-0093'' and follow the 
online instructions.

Privacy Act

    Anyone can search the electronic form of all comments received into 
any of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment 
(or signing the comment if submitted on behalf of an association, 
business, labor union, etc.). For information on DOT's compliance with 
the Privacy Act, visit www.transportation.gov/privacy.

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

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-14370 Filed 7-3-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P