7 April 2006
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[Federal Register: April 7, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 67)]
[Notices]
[Page 17950-17952]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07ap06-132]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
[USCG-2004-17659]
Compass Port LLC Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port License;
Final Environmental Impact Statement and Final Public Hearings
AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of availability; notice of public hearing; request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) announces the availability
of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Compass Port
natural gas deepwater port license application. MARAD, the Coast Guard,
FERC and USACE request public comments on the FEIS. The USCG and MARAD
will hold public hearings, and request public comments, on matters
relevant to the approval or denial of the license application. The
application describes a project that would be located in the Mobile
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and Mississippi Sound areas of the U.S.
Gulf of Mexico, in lease block Mobile 910, approximately 11 miles south
of Dauphin Island, Alabama.
DATES: The public hearing on Dauphin Island, Alabama will be held on
April 26, 2006, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and will be preceded by an
informational open house from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The public hearing in
Pascagoula, Mississippi will be held on April 27, 2006, from 5 p.m. to
7 p.m., and will be preceded by an informational open house from 3 p.m.
to 4:30 p.m.
The public hearings may end later than the stated time, depending
on the number of persons wishing to speak. Material submitted in
response to the request for comments must reach the Docket Management
Facility on or before May 22, 2006, ending the 45 day public comment
period. Federal and State agencies may submit comments on the
application, recommended conditions for licensing, or letters of no
objection by June 11, 2006 (45 days after the final public hearings).
Also by June 11, 2006, the Governors of the adjacent coastal states of
Alabama and Mississippi may approve, disapprove, or notify MARAD of
inconsistencies with State programs relating to environmental
protection, land and water use, and coastal zone management for which
MARAD may condition the license to make consistent. MARAD must issue a
record of decision (ROD) to approve, approve with conditions, or deny
the DWP license application by July 26, 2006 (90 days after the public
hearings).
ADDRESSES: The public hearing and informational open house in Dauphin
Island, Alabama will be held at: Dauphin Island Chamber of Commerce,
402 La Vente Street, Dauphin Island, Alabama 36528, phone: 251-861-
5524.
The public hearing and informational open house in Pascagoula,
Mississippi will be held at: Pascagoula High School Library, 1716
Tucker Avenue, Pascagoula, Mississippi 39567, phone: 228-938-6451.
A copy of the FEIS, license application, and associated
documentation is available for viewing at the DOT's docket management
Web site: http://dms.dot.gov under docket number 17659. Copies are also
available for review at Pascagoula Public Library, Pascagoula, MS,
phone: 228-769-3060; Spring Hill College Library, Mobile, AL, phone:
251-380-3870; Mose Hudson Tapia Public Library, Bayou La Batre, AL,
phone: 334-824-4213; Bell/Whittington Public Library, Portland, TX,
phone: 361-777-0921; and Corpus Christi Public Library, Corpus Christi,
TX, phone: 361-758-5276.
Address docket submissions for USCG-2004-17659 to: Docket
Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
The Docket Management Facility accepts hand-delivered submissions,
and makes docket contents available for public inspection and copying,
at this address, in room PL-401, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
through
[[Page 17951]]
Friday, except Federal holidays. The Facility's telephone is 202-366-
9329, its fax is 202-493-2251, and its Web site for electronic
submissions or for electronic access to docket contents is http://dms.dot.gov.
The docket number is USCG-2004-17659.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Raymond Martin, U.S. Coast Guard,
telephone: 202-267-1683, email: RMartin@comdt.uscg.mil. If you have
questions on viewing the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program Manager,
Docket Operations, telephone: 202-493-0402.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Hearing and Open House
We invite you to learn about the proposed deepwater port at the
informational open house, and to comment at the public hearing on the
proposed action and the evaluation contained in the FEIS and on matters
relevant to the approval or denial of the license application.
Speaker registration will be available at the door. In order to
allow everyone a chance to speak, we may limit speaker time, or extend
the meeting hours, or both. You must identify yourself, and any
organization you represent, by name. Your remarks will be recorded 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 must 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 Docket
Management Facility's Docket Management System (DMS). See ``Request for
Comments'' for information about DMS and your rights under the Privacy
Act.
If you plan to attend either the open house or the public meeting,
and need special assistance such as sign language interpretation or
other reasonable accommodation, please notify the Coast Guard (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) at least 3 business days in advance.
Include your contact information as well as information about your
specific needs.
Request for Comments
We request public comments or other relevant information on the
FEIS or the approval or denial of the license application. The public
meeting is not the only opportunity you have to comment. In addition
to, or in place of, attending the meeting, you can submit material to
the Docket Management Facility during the public comment period (see
DATES). MARAD and the Coast Guard will consider all comments submitted
during the public comment period.
Submissions should include:
Docket number USCG-2004-17659.
Your name and address.
Your reasons for making each comment or for bringing
information to our attention.
Submit comments or material using only one of the following
methods:
Electronic submission to DMS, http://dms.dot.gov.
Fax, mail, or hand delivery to the Docket Management
Facility (see ADDRESSES). Faxed or hand delivered submissions must be
unbound, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, and suitable for copying
and electronic scanning. If you mail your submission and want to know
when it reaches the Facility, include a stamped, self-addressed
postcard or envelope.
Regardless of the method used for submitting comments or material,
all submissions will be posted, without change, to the DMS website
(http://dms.dot.gov), and will include any personal information you
provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public. You
may wish to read the Privacy Act notice that is available on the DMS
Web site, or the Department of Transportation Privacy Act Statement
that appeared in the Federal Register on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477).
You may view docket submissions at the Docket Management Facility
(see ADDRESSES), or electronically on the DMS Web site.
To submit comments to the FERC docket (CP04-114-000 and CP04-115-
000), send an original and two copies of your comments to: Secretary,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., NE., Room 1A,
Washington, DC 20426.
Label one copy of the comments for the attention of Gas
Branch 2, PJ11.2
Reference Docket No. CP04-114-000 and CP04-115-000; and
Mail your comments so that they will be received in
Washington, DC on or before May 22, 2006.
Please note that FERC is continuing to experience delays in mail
deliveries from the U.S. Postal Service. As a result, we will include
all comments that we receive within a reasonable time frame in our
environmental analysis of this project. However, the FERC strongly
encourages electronic filing of any comments or interventions or
protests to this proceeding. See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the
instructions on the FERC's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov under the
``e-Filing'' link and the link to the User's Guide. Before you can file
comments, you will need to create a free account which can be created
online.
Comments will be considered by the FERC but will not serve to make
the commenter a party to the proceeding. Any person seeking to become a
party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene pursuant to
Rule 214 of the FERC's Rules of Practice and Procedures (18 CFR
385.214).
Anyone may intervene in this proceeding based on this FEIS. You
must file your request to intervene as specified above. You do not need
intervener status to have your comments considered.
The FEIS has been placed in the public files of the FERC and is
available for distribution and public inspection at: Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, Public Reference Room, 888 First Street, NE.,
Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426; 202-502-8371. A limited number of copies
are available from the Public Reference Room identified above. In
addition, copies of the FEIS have been mailed to federal, state and
local agencies; public interest groups; individuals who have requested
the FEIS; newspapers; and parties to this proceeding.
Additional information about the project is available from the
FERC's Office of External Affairs, at 1-866-208-FERC or on the FERC
Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. Click
on the eLibrary link, click on ``General Search'' and enter the docket
number excluding the last three digits in the Docket Number field. Be
sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For assistance,
please contact FERC Online Support at FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or
toll free at 1-866-208-3676, or for TTY, contact (202)502-8659. The
eLibrary link also provides access to the texts of formal documents
issued by the FERC, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings.
In addition, the FERC now offers a free service called
eSubscription which allows you to keep track of all formal issuances
and submittals in specific dockets. This can reduce the amount of time
you spend researching proceedings by automatically providing you with
notification of these filings, document summaries and direct links to
the documents. Go to http://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is also a cooperating
agency in the NEPA process for this project. If you would like to
submit comments to the USACE on proposed actions in Alabama, mail them
to: Mr. Chuck Sumner, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
[[Page 17952]]
Regulatory Branch, CESAM-OP-SP, P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-0001.
If you would like to submit comments to the USACE on proposed
actions in Texas, mail them to: Mr. Reagan Richter, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, 5151 Flynn Parkway Ste. 306, Corpus Christi, TX 78411-4318.
Mail your comments so that they will be received, on or before May 22,
2006.
Supplementary Information/Background
Proposed Action
We published information about deepwater ports, the statutes and
regulations governing their licensing, the receipt of the current
application, and a notice of intent to prepare an EIS for the Proposed
Compass Port Deepwater Port at 69 FR 35657, June 25, 2004 and we have
announced the availability of the draft EIS at 70 FR 7288, February 11,
2005. The proposed action requiring environmental review is the Federal
licensing of the Proposed Deepwater Port described in ``Summary of the
Application'' below, which is reprinted from previous Federal Register
notices in this docket.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
The alternatives to licensing are: (1) Licensing with conditions
(including conditions designed to mitigate environmental impact), and
(2) denying the application, which for purposes of environmental review
is the ``no-action'' alternative. These alternatives are more fully
discussed in the FEIS.
Summary of the Application
The application plan calls for the Proposed Deepwater Port to be
located in the Mobile Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and Mississippi
Sound areas of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, approximately 11 miles off
Dauphin Island, Alabama in lease block Mobile 910. Compass Port would
serve as an LNG receiving, storage, and regasification facility,
located in approximately 70 feet of water depth, and would incorporate
docking facilities, unloading facilities, two LNG storage tanks, an
offshore pipeline and support facilities.
The Proposed Deepwater Port would be able to receive LNG carriers
up to 255,000 cubic meters cargo capacity. LNG carrier arrival
frequency would be planned to match specified terminal gas delivery
rates. LNG would be stored in two integral full-containment tanks, each
with a capacity of 150,000 cubic meters, and a combined capacity of
300,000 cubic meters of LNG.
The regasification process would consist of lifting the LNG from
the storage tanks, pumping the LNG to pipeline pressure, vaporizing
across heat exchanging equipment, and sending out through the pipeline
to custody transfer metering for ultimate delivery to downstream
interstate pipeline capacity. No gas conditioning is required since the
incoming LNG will meet the gas quality specifications of the downstream
pipelines. The Proposed Deepwater Port would be designed for an average
delivery of approximately 1.0 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of
pipeline quality gas.
Compass Port LLC also proposes the installation of approximately
26.8 miles of 36-inch diameter natural gas transmission pipeline on the
OCS. In addition, approximately 4.9 miles of 36-inch diameter pipeline
would be installed onshore to connect the proposed deepwater port and
offshore pipeline with existing gas distribution pipelines near Coden,
Alabama.
The applicant has proposed the Kiewit Offshore Services site in
Ingleside, TX for the fabrication of the concrete GBS's which would be
used to contain the LNG storage tanks.
Dated: April 4, 2006.
Joel C. Richard,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. E6-5106 Filed 4-6-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P