Compass Port LLC Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port License Application; Draft Environmental Impact Statement, 7288-7290 [05-2804]

Agencies

• Coast Guard
• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
• Maritime Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 28 (Friday, February 11, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7288-7290]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-2804]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[USCG-2004-17659]


Compass Port LLC Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port License 
Application; Draft Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS; and Maritime Administration, DOT.

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

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration announce 
the availability of the draft environmental impact statement for this 
license application. The application describes a project that would be 
located in the Outer Continental Shelf and Mississippi Sound areas of 
the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 11 miles south of Dauphin Island, AL, 
in lease block Mobile 910. The draft environmental impact statement is 
a Coast Guard document with several agencies, including the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission acting 
as cooperating agencies in the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 process, as described by 40 CFR 1501.6. The Coast Guard is the 
lead federal agency in the preparation of the draft environmental 
impact statement for the liquefied natural gas terminal, construction 
of the gravity-based structures, and the associated offshore and 
onshore pipelines. The joint document will satisfy the requirements of 
the Deepwater Port Act. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will assist in 
the preparation of the draft environmental impact statements for 
permits pursuant to section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 
(33 U.S.C. 403) and section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 
1344). The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will assist in the 
preparation of the draft environmental impact statement for the onshore 
pipeline. Even though an affiliate of Compass Port LLC must separately 
apply for and receive an authorization for the onshore pipeline, and 
from the Army Corps of Engineers for the appropriate section 10 and 404 
permits, this draft environmental impact statement will assess the 
environmental impacts of both the onshore and offshore portions of the 
project. The lead agencies (Coast Guard and Maritime Administration), 
as well as the cooperating agencies (Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), request public comments 
on the draft environmental impact statement.

DATES: Public meetings and informational open houses will be held. The 
informational open houses are on the following dates in the following 
cities:
     February 28, 2005, 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., Portland, TX.
     March 1, 2005, 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Cambodian language 
interpreter available), Bayou La Batre, AL.
     March 1, 2005, 6:30 to 8 p.m. (Laotian language 
interpreter available), Bayou La Batre, AL.
     March 2, 2005, 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Vietnamese language 
interpreter available), Bayou La Batre, AL.
     March 3, 2005: 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., Dauphin Island, AL.
     March 4, 2005: 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m, Pascagoula, MS.
    The public meetings will be held on the following dates in the 
following cities:
     February 28, 2005, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Portland, TX.
     March 2, 2005, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (Vietnamese, 
Laotian, and Cambodian language interpreters available), Bayou La 
Batre, AL.
     March 3, 2005, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Dauphin Island, AL.
     March 4, 2005, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Pascagoula, MS.
    The public meetings 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 Department of 
Transportation's Docket Management Facility on or before March 27, 
2005.

ADDRESSES: Comments: You may submit comments identified by Coast Guard 
docket number USCG-2004-17659 to the Docket Management Facility at the 
U.S. Department of Transportation:
    (1) Electronically through the Web Site for the Docket Management 
System at https://dms.dot.gov.
    (2) By mail to the Docket Management Facility, (USCG-2004-17659), 
U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (3) By fax to the Docket Management Facility at 202-493-2251.
    (4) By delivery to room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    The DOT 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 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 https://dms.dot.gov.
    Meetings: The public meeting and informational open house in 
Portland, TX, will be held at: Portland Community Center, 2000 Billy G. 
Webb Dr., Portland, TX 78374, phone: 361-777-3301.
    The public meetings and informational open houses in Bayou La 
Batre, AL, will be held at: Bayou La Batre Community Center, 12745 
Padgett Switch Rd., Bayou La Batre, AL 36509, phone: 251-824-7918.
    The public meeting and informational open house in Dauphin Island, 
AL, will be held at: Dauphin Island Chamber of Commerce, 402 La Vente 
St., Dauphin Island, AL 36528, phone: 251-861-5524.
    The public meeting and informational open house in Pascagoula, MS, 
will be held at: Jackson County Fairgrounds Fair Hall, 2902 Shortcut 
Rd., Pascagoula, MS 39567, phone: 228-762-6043.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on the project, 
contact Kenneth Smith, U.S. Coast Guard, telephone: 202-267-0578, 
email: KNSmith@comdt.uscg.mil. If you have questions on the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 process, contact Joan Lang, U.S. Coast 
Guard, telephone: 202-267-2498, e-mail: Jlang@comdt.uscg.mil. If you 
have questions on viewing the docket, call Andrea M. Jenkins, Program 
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone: 202-366-0271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We request public comments or other relevant information on the 
draft environmental impact statement (DEIS). The public meeting is not 
the only opportunity you have to comment on

[[Page 7289]]

the DEIS. In addition to or in place of attending the meetings, you can 
submit material to the DOT Docket Management Facility during the public 
comment period (see DATES). All comments received will be posted, 
without change, to https://dms.dot.gov and will include any personal 
information you have provided. We have an agreement with the Department 
of Transportation (DOT) to use the Docket Management Facility. Please 
see DOT's ``Privacy Act'' paragraph below.
    Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include your 
name and address, identify the docket number for this rulemaking (USCG-
2004-17659), indicate the specific section of this document to which 
each comment applies, and give the reason for each comment. You may 
submit your comments and material by electronic means, mail, fax, or 
delivery to the DOT Docket Management Facility at the address under 
ADDRESSES; but please submit your comments and material by only one 
means. If you submit them by mail or delivery, submit them in an 
unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for 
copying and electronic filing. If you submit them by mail and would 
like to know that they reached the Facility, please enclose a stamped, 
self-addressed postcard or envelope. The Coast Guard will consider all 
comments submitted during the public comment period, and then will 
prepare the final environmental impact statement (EIS). We will 
announce the availability of the final EIS and once again give you an 
opportunity for review and comment. If you would like to be notified 
when the final EIS is available, please contact either Coast Guard 
representative identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Viewing comments and documents: To view comments, as well as 
documents mentioned in this preamble as being available in the docket, 
go to https://dms.dot.gov at any time and conduct a simple search using 
the docket number. You may also visit the DOT Docket Management 
Facility in room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 
Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    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.). You may review the 
Department of Transportation's Privacy Act Statement in the Federal 
Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may visit 
https://dms.dot.gov.

Public Meeting and Open House

    We invite you to learn about the proposed deepwater port at the 
informational open house, and to comment at the public meeting on the 
proposed action and the evaluation contained in the DEIS.
    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.
    Because of significant numbers of persons speaking Vietnamese, 
Laotian, and Cambodian languages in the area around Bayou La Batre, AL, 
we are providing interpreters as noted in the DATES section. 
Interpreters at the public meeting in Bayou La Batre, AL, will 
translate public statements made in those languages for entry in the 
public docket in English. If you plan to attend either an open house or 
a public meeting, and need other special assistance such as sign 
language interpretation or other reasonable accommodation, please 
notify the Coast Guard (see FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) at least three 
business days prior to the date of the meeting. Include your contact 
information as well as information about your specific needs.
    To submit comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(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
     Mail your comments to FERC so that they will be received 
in Washington, DC on or before March 27.
    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 
https://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 commentor 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 DEIS. You 
must file your request to intervene as specified above. You do not need 
intervenor status to have your comments considered.
    The DEIS 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; phone: 202-502-8371. A limited number of 
copies are available from the Public Reference Room identified above. 
In addition, copies of the DEIS have been mailed to federal, state and 
local agencies, public interest groups, individuals who have requested 
the DEIS, 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 (https://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 https://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.
    Mobile District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is issuing a 
public notice announcing the NOA and DEIS. Comments on this DEIS 
relating to matters within Corps jurisdiction should be submitted to 
the Coast Guard through the docket management system described in this 
notice with a copy furnished to the Corps at U.S. Army

[[Page 7290]]

Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, Attn: Regulatory Branch, P.O. Box 
2288, Mobile, AL 36628.

Proposed Action

    On June 25, 2004, the Coast Guard and MARAD published a notice of 
intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the 
proposed Compass Port deepwater port in the Federal Register (69 FR 
35657). 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 DEIS.

Summary of the Application

    The application plan calls for the proposed deepwater port to be 
located in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and Mississippi Sound 
areas of the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 11 miles off Dauphin Island, 
AL, in lease block Mobile 910. Compass Port would serve as a liquefied 
natural gas (LNG) receiving, storage, and regasification facility, 
located in approximately 70 feet of water depth. It will incorporate 
docking facilities, unloading facilities, two LNG storage tanks, 
regasification facilities, an offshore pipeline, and support 
facilities.
    Compass Port 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, AL.
    The deepwater port facility would consist of two concrete gravity-
based structures (GBS) that would contain the LNG storage tanks, LNG 
carrier berthing provisions, LNG unloading arms, low and high pressure 
pumps, vaporizers, metering, utility systems, general facilities and 
accommodations. The terminal would be able to receive LNG carriers up 
to 255,000 cubic meters cargo capacity. Liquefied natural gas carrier 
arrival frequency would be planned to match specified terminal gas 
delivery rates. Liquefied natural gas 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 deepwater port would be designed to handle a nominal capacity 
of 7.5 million metric tons per annum of LNG. This is equivalent to an 
average delivery of approximately 1.02 billion cubic feet per day 
(bcfd) of pipeline quality gas.
    In the Notice of Application, the applicant had identified five 
locations as possible fabrication sites for the concrete gravity-based 
structures which would be used to contain the LNG storage tanks.
    As a result of additional information during the development of 
this DEIS, three locations have been eliminated from further study. The 
two proposed locations for the fabrication sites are:
     Big Bend Site, Freeport, TX; and
     Kiewit Construction Site, Ingleside, TX.

    Dated: February 8, 2005.
Howard L. Hime,
Acting Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security, and 
Environmental Protection, U.S. Coast Guard.

H. Keith Lesnick,
Senior Transportation Specialist, Deepwater Ports Program Manager, U.S. 
Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 05-2804 Filed 2-9-05; 1:55 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P