Deepwater Port Pre-Application Meeting Guidance, 68009 [2019-26789]
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 239 / Thursday, December 12, 2019 / Notices
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[FR Doc. 2019–26744 Filed 12–11–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–06–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
[Docket No. MARAD–2019–0147]
Deepwater Port Pre-Application
Meeting Guidance
Maritime Administration,
Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Maritime Administration
(MARAD) and the United States Coast
Guard (USCG) encourage parties
planning to submit an application for a
license to own, construct, and operate a
deepwater port under the Deepwater
Port Act of 1974 (DWPA) to meet with
MARAD and USCG staff at least six
months in advance of submitting an
application in order to provide an
overview of their proposed project, to
discuss the details of the federal and
state application and licensing process,
and to introduce key personnel. As the
application is developed, additional
status meetings/work sessions prior to
submittal are also encouraged to review
progress and to address questions. At
least two weeks prior to application
submittal, the applicant and the USCG
selected third party environmental
contractor should meet with MARAD
and USCG in a final pre-application
project kick-off meeting to ensure all
parties understand the project, review
process, and roles and responsibilities,
and are prepared for the application
distribution for completeness review
and scoping preparation. The contents
of this policy notice do not have the
force and effect of law and are not
meant to bind the public in any way.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:56 Dec 11, 2019
Jkt 250001
This document is intended only to
provide clarity to the public regarding
agency policy.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Yvette M. Fields, Director, Office of
Deepwater Port Licensing and Port
Conveyance, Maritime Administration,
Telephone: 202–366–0926, Email:
Yvette.Fields@dot.gov, Fax: 202–366–
6988.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
contents of this policy notice do not
have the force and effect of law and are
not meant to bind the public in any
way. This document is intended only to
provide clarity to the public regarding
agency policy. The purpose of preapplication meetings is to give potential
deepwater port license applicants an
opportunity to meet with MARAD and
USCG to discuss the details of their
proposed project prior to filing a license
application. During pre-application
meetings, applicants will have the
opportunity to present an overview of
their proposed projects, learn about the
application review process, and ask
questions about any aspect of the
approval process. Pre-application
meetings are voluntary. Participation in
pre-application meetings will not affect
the decision on whether a license
application is ultimately approved or
denied.
MARAD and USCG encourage
potential applicants to meet with the
agencies at least six months in advance
of submitting a deepwater port license
application. Pre-application meetings
are helpful in identifying potential
deficiencies in proposed applications,
enabling applicants to ultimately submit
complete applications and minimize
potential delays in processing. Multiple
pre-application meetings/work sessions
are encouraged leading up to the
application submittal to review progress
and address questions. MARAD and
USCG further recommend that
prospective applicants intending to use
the USCG’s third party environmental
contract mechanism complete the third
party environmental consultant contract
process in advance of a final preapplication kick-off meeting at least two
weeks prior to submittal of the
application, so that the selected third
party contractor may attend the preapplication meeting to become familiar
with the project. This final preapplication project kickoff meeting is to
ensure all parties understand their roles
and responsibilities and are ready to
initiate application distribution for
completeness review and then
subsequent full distribution for National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
scoping. At a minimum, the pre-
PO 00000
Frm 00099
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 9990
application project kickoff meeting
should include a review and discussion
of:
• The prospective applicant’s
proposed final project description,
including the offshore and onshore
components, pipeline connections, and
other related components of the
proposed project;
• The statutorily required Federal
application review process, NEPA
evaluation, and risk assessment process;
• The Federal, state and local agency
contacts, elected officials, NonGovernmental Organizations, and
affected public;
• The points of contact for
communications between the applicant,
MARAD, USCG, the third party
environmental consultant and other
relevant entities;
• The Federal Docket Management
System that will serve as a repository of
records for the proposed project
application, including Federal Register
notices, public comments,
environmental documents, and other
project related data and information;
• The prospective applicant’s plans
for application submittal and
distribution to agencies; and
• Preliminary scoping plans for
purposes of NEPA and other related
laws.
Additional information on the third
party environmental contractor process
is available at https://www.dco.uscg.mil/
Portals/9/DCO%20Documents/5p/5ps/
Operating%20and%20Environmental
%20Standards/OES-2/DWP/
Third%20Party%20Contracting
%20Handbook%20-%20Final_
February%202015.pdf?ver=2017-07-26102701-850. Additional information on
the licensing process, including project
milestones and timelines, is available at
https://www.maritime.dot.gov/ports/
deepwater-ports-and-licensing/
licensing-process. To schedule a preapplication meeting with MARAD and
USCG, please see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT, above.
(Authority: 33 U.S.C. Chapter 29; 49 CFR
1.93(h).)
*
*
*
*
*
Dated: December 9, 2019.
By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2019–26789 Filed 12–11–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–81–P
E:\FR\FM\12DEN1.SGM
12DEN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 239 (Thursday, December 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 68009]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26789]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
[Docket No. MARAD-2019-0147]
Deepwater Port Pre-Application Meeting Guidance
AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the United States
Coast Guard (USCG) encourage parties planning to submit an application
for a license to own, construct, and operate a deepwater port under the
Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (DWPA) to meet with MARAD and USCG staff at
least six months in advance of submitting an application in order to
provide an overview of their proposed project, to discuss the details
of the federal and state application and licensing process, and to
introduce key personnel. As the application is developed, additional
status meetings/work sessions prior to submittal are also encouraged to
review progress and to address questions. At least two weeks prior to
application submittal, the applicant and the USCG selected third party
environmental contractor should meet with MARAD and USCG in a final
pre-application project kick-off meeting to ensure all parties
understand the project, review process, and roles and responsibilities,
and are prepared for the application distribution for completeness
review and scoping preparation. The contents of this policy notice do
not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the
public in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to
the public regarding agency policy.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Yvette M. Fields, Director, Office
of Deepwater Port Licensing and Port Conveyance, Maritime
Administration, Telephone: 202-366-0926, Email: [email protected],
Fax: 202-366-6988.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The contents of this policy notice do not
have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public
in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the
public regarding agency policy. The purpose of pre-application meetings
is to give potential deepwater port license applicants an opportunity
to meet with MARAD and USCG to discuss the details of their proposed
project prior to filing a license application. During pre-application
meetings, applicants will have the opportunity to present an overview
of their proposed projects, learn about the application review process,
and ask questions about any aspect of the approval process. Pre-
application meetings are voluntary. Participation in pre-application
meetings will not affect the decision on whether a license application
is ultimately approved or denied.
MARAD and USCG encourage potential applicants to meet with the
agencies at least six months in advance of submitting a deepwater port
license application. Pre-application meetings are helpful in
identifying potential deficiencies in proposed applications, enabling
applicants to ultimately submit complete applications and minimize
potential delays in processing. Multiple pre-application meetings/work
sessions are encouraged leading up to the application submittal to
review progress and address questions. MARAD and USCG further recommend
that prospective applicants intending to use the USCG's third party
environmental contract mechanism complete the third party environmental
consultant contract process in advance of a final pre-application kick-
off meeting at least two weeks prior to submittal of the application,
so that the selected third party contractor may attend the pre-
application meeting to become familiar with the project. This final
pre-application project kickoff meeting is to ensure all parties
understand their roles and responsibilities and are ready to initiate
application distribution for completeness review and then subsequent
full distribution for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) scoping.
At a minimum, the pre-application project kickoff meeting should
include a review and discussion of:
The prospective applicant's proposed final project
description, including the offshore and onshore components, pipeline
connections, and other related components of the proposed project;
The statutorily required Federal application review
process, NEPA evaluation, and risk assessment process;
The Federal, state and local agency contacts, elected
officials, Non-Governmental Organizations, and affected public;
The points of contact for communications between the
applicant, MARAD, USCG, the third party environmental consultant and
other relevant entities;
The Federal Docket Management System that will serve as a
repository of records for the proposed project application, including
Federal Register notices, public comments, environmental documents, and
other project related data and information;
The prospective applicant's plans for application
submittal and distribution to agencies; and
Preliminary scoping plans for purposes of NEPA and other
related laws.
Additional information on the third party environmental contractor
process is available at https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/DCO%20Documents/5p/5ps/Operating%20and%20Environmental%20Standards/OES-2/DWP/Third%20Party%20Contracting%20Handbook%20-%20Final_February%202015.pdf?ver=2017-07-26-102701-850. Additional
information on the licensing process, including project milestones and
timelines, is available at https://www.maritime.dot.gov/ports/deepwater-ports-and-licensing/licensing-process. To schedule a pre-
application meeting with MARAD and USCG, please see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT, above.
(Authority: 33 U.S.C. Chapter 29; 49 CFR 1.93(h).)
* * * * *
Dated: December 9, 2019.
By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2019-26789 Filed 12-11-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P