Deepwater Port License Application: SPOT Terminal Services LLC, 23596-23598 [2020-08970]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 82 / Tuesday, April 28, 2020 / Notices
adequate for the needs of the waterborne
commerce of the United States, if such
insurance cannot be obtained on
reasonable terms and conditions from
companies authorized to do an
insurance business in a state of the
United States.
Respondents: Vessel owners or
charterers interested in participating in
MARAD’s war risk insurance program.
Affected Public: Business or other for
profit.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
20.
Estimated Number of Responses: 20.
Estimated Hours per Response: 12.8.
Annual Estimated Total Annual
Burden Hours: 256.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
(Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended; and
49 CFR 1.93.)
*
*
*
*
*
Dated: April 23, 2020.
By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020–09005 Filed 4–27–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–81–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
[Docket No. MARAD–2019–0011]
Deepwater Port License Application:
SPOT Terminal Services LLC
Maritime Administration, U.S.
Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of availability; notice of
public meeting; request for comments.
AGENCY:
The Maritime Administration
(MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard
(USCG) announce the availability of the
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS) for the SPOT Terminal Services
LLC (SPOT) deepwater port license
application for the export of oil from the
United States to nations abroad. A
Notice of Application that summarized
the SPOT deepwater port license
application was published in the
Federal Register on March 4, 2019 (84
FR 7413). A Notice of Intent to Prepare
an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) and Notice of Public Meetings was
published in the Federal Register on
March 7, 2019 (84 FR 8401). This Notice
of Availability incorporates the
aforementioned Federal Register
Notices by reference. The application
describes a project that would be
located approximately 27.2 to 30.8
nautical miles off the coast of Brazoria
County, Texas. Publication of this notice
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SUMMARY:
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begins 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 an
informational open house and public
meeting in Lake Jackson, Texas.
DATES: MARAD and USCG will hold
one public meeting in connection with
the SPOT DEIS. The public meeting will
be held in Lake Jackson, Texas, on
February 26, 2020, from 6:00 p.m. to
8:00 p.m. The public meeting will be
preceded by an open house from 4:00
p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The public meeting
may end later than the stated time,
depending on the number of persons
who wish to make a comment on the
record. Additionally, materials
submitted in response to this request for
comments on the DEIS must be
submitted to the www.regulations.gov
website or the Federal Docket
Management Facility as detailed in the
ADDRESSES section below by the close of
business on March 23, 2020.
ADDRESSES: The open house and public
meeting in Lake Jackson, Texas will be
held at the Courtyard Marriott Lake
Jackson, 159 State Highway 288, Lake
Jackson, Texas 77566, phone: (979) 297–
7300, web address: https://
www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ljncycourtyard-lakejackson/. Free parking is
available at the venue.
The SPOT deepwater port license
application, comments, supporting
information and the DEIS are available
for viewing at the Regulations.gov
website: https://www.regulations.gov
under docket number MARAD–2019–
0011. The Final EIS (FEIS), when
published, will be announced and
available at this site as well.
The public docket for the SPOT
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–2019–0011.
The Federal Docket Management
Facility’s telephone number is 202–366–
9317 or 202–366–9826, the fax number
is 202–493–2251.
We encourage you to submit
comments electronically through the
Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://
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 https://www.regulations.gov,
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please contact either Mr. William
Nabach, USCG, or Ms. Yvette M. Fields,
MARAD, as listed in the following FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document. This section provides
alternate instructions for submitting
written comments. 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.
William Nabach, Project Manager,
USCG, telephone: 202–372–1437, email:
William.A.Nabach2@uscg.mil; or Ms.
Yvette Fields, Director, Office of
Deepwater Ports and Port Conveyance,
MARAD, telephone: 202–366–0926,
email: Yvette.Fields@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Request for Comments
We request public comments or other
relevant information related to the DEIS
for the proposed SPOT deepwater port.
These comments will inform our
preparation of the FEIS. We encourage
attendance at the open house and public
meeting; however, you may submit
comments electronically, and it is
preferred that comments be submitted
electronically. 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 (https://
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.
Public Meeting and Open House
You are invited to learn about the
proposed SPOT deepwater port at the
subject informational open house and
public meeting. You are also encouraged
to provide comments on the proposed
action and the environmental impact
analysis contained in the DEIS for the
proposed SPOT deepwater port.
Speakers may register upon arrival and
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
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 82 / Tuesday, April 28, 2020 / Notices
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. Please do not bring signs or
banners inside the meeting venue. The
presiding officer will use his/her
discretion to conduct the meeting in an
orderly manner.
Public meeting locations are
wheelchair accessible; however,
attendees who require special assistance
such as sign language interpretation or
other reasonable accommodation, please
notify the USCG (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT) at least five (5)
business days in advance. Please
include contact information as well as
information about specific needs.
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
Background
On January 31, 2019, MARAD and
USCG received a license application
from SPOT 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 located in
Federal waters approximately 27.2 to
30.8 nautical miles off the coast of
Brazoria County, Texas. Texas was
designated as the Adjacent Coastal State
(ACS) for the SPOT license application.
The Federal agencies involved held a
public scoping meeting in connection
with the SPOT license application. The
public scoping meeting was held in
Lake Jackson, Texas on March 20, 2019.
Transcripts of the scoping meetings are
included on the public docket located at
www.regulations.gov under docket
number MARAD–2019–0011–0019.
MARAD and USCG issued a
regulatory ‘‘stop-clock’’ letter to SPOT
on May 31, 2019, which remained in
effect until October 23, 2019, when
MARAD and USCG determined the
agencies received sufficient information
to continue the Federal review process.
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–2019–0011.
Summary of the License Application
SPOT 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
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flow rates of up to 85,000 barrels per
hour (bph). The SPOT deepwater port
would allow for up to two (2) 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 2
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 SPOT deepwater port offshore
and marine components would consist
of the following:
• One (1) fixed offshore platform with
eight (8) piles in Galveston Area Outer
Continental Shelf lease block 463,
approximately 27.2 to 30.8 nautical
miles off the coast of Brazoria County,
Texas in a water depth of approximately
115 feet. The fixed offshore platform
would be comprised of four (4) decks
including: A sump deck with shut-down
valves and open drain sump; a cellar
deck with pig launchers and receivers,
generators, and three (3) vapor
combustion units; a main deck with a
lease automatic custody transfer (LACT)
unit, oil displacement prover loop,
living quarters, electrical and
instrument building, and other ancillary
equipment; and a laydown deck with a
crane laydown area.
• Two (2) single point mooring buoys
(SPMs), each having: Two (2) 24-inch
inside diameter crude oil underbuoy
hoses interconnecting with the crude oil
pipeline end manifold (PLEM); two (2)
24-inch inside diameter floating crude
oil hoses connecting the moored VLCC
or other crude oil carrier for loading to
the SPM buoy; one (1) 24-inch inside
diameter vapor recovery underbuoy
hose interconnecting with the vapor
recovery PLEM; and one (1) 24-inch
inside diameter floating vapor recovery
hose to connect to the moored VLCC or
other crude oil carrier for loading. The
floating hoses would be approximately
800 feet in length and rated for 300 psig
(21-bar). Each floating hose would
contain an additional 200 feet of 16-inch
‘‘tail hose’’ that is designed to be lifted
and robust enough for hanging over the
edge railing of the VLCC or other crude
oil vessels. The underbuoy hoses would
be approximately 160 feet in length and
rated for 300 psig (21-bar).
• Four (4) PLEMs would provide the
interconnection between the pipelines
and the SPM buoys. Each SPM buoy
would have two (2) PLEMs—one (1)
PLEM for crude oil and one (1) PLEM
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23597
for vapor recovery. Each crude oil
loading PLEM would be supplied with
crude oil by two (2) 30-inch outside
diameter pipelines, each approximately
0.66 nautical miles in length. Each
vapor recovery PLEM would route
recovered vapor from the VLCC or other
crude oil carrier through the PLEM to
the three (3) vapor combustion units
located on the platform topside via two
(2) 16-inch outside diameter vapor
recovery pipelines, each approximately
0.66 nautical miles in length.
• Two (2) co-located 36-inch outside
diameter, 40.8-nautical mile long crude
oil pipelines would be constructed from
the shoreline crossing in Brazoria
County, Texas, to the SPOT deepwater
port for crude oil delivery. These
pipelines, in conjunction with 12.2
statute miles of new-build onshore
pipelines (described below), would
connect the onshore crude oil storage
facility and pumping station (Oyster
Creek Terminal) to the offshore SPOT
deepwater port. The crude oil would be
metered at the offshore platform.
Pipelines would be bi-directional for the
purposes of maintenance, pigging,
changing crude oil grades, or evacuating
the pipeline with water.
The SPOT deepwater port onshore
storage and supply components would
consist of the following:
• New equipment and piping at the
existing Enterprise Crude Houston
(ECHO) Terminal to provide
interconnectivity with the crude oil
supply network for the SPOT Project.
This would include the installation of
four (4) booster pumps, one (1)
measurement skid, and four (4) crude
oil pumps.
• An interconnection between the
existing Rancho II pipeline and the
proposed ECHO to Oyster Creek
pipeline consisting of a physical
connection as well as ultrasonic
measurement capability for pipeline
volumetric balancing purposes.
• The proposed Oyster Creek
Terminal located in Brazoria County,
Texas, on approximately 140 acres of
land consisting of seven (7)
aboveground storage tanks, each with a
total storage capacity of 685,000 barrels
(600,000 barrels working storage
capacity), for a total onshore storage
capacity of approximately 4.8 million
barrels (4.2 million barrels working
storage) of crude oil. The Oyster Creek
Terminal also would include: Six (6)
electric-driven mainline crude oil
pumps; four (4) electric-driven booster
crude oil pumps (two (2) per pipeline),
working in parallel to move crude oil
from the storage tanks through the
measurement skids; two (2) crude oil
pipeline pig launchers/receivers; one (1)
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 82 / Tuesday, April 28, 2020 / Notices
crude oil pipeline pig receiver; two (2)
measurement skids for measuring
incoming crude oil—one (1) skid
located at the incoming pipeline from
the existing Enterprise Crude Houston
(ECHO) Terminal, and one (1) skid
installed and reserved for a future
pipeline connection; two (2)
measurement skids for measuring
departing crude oil; three (3) vapor
combustion units—two (2) permanent
and one (1) portable; and ancillary
facilities to include electrical substation,
office, and warehouse buildings.
• Three onshore crude oil pipelines
would be constructed onshore to
support the SPOT deepwater port.
These would include: One (1) 50.1
statute mile long 36-inch crude oil
pipeline from the existing ECHO
Terminal to the Oyster Creek Terminal.
This pipeline would be located in Harris
County and Brazoria County, Texas; two
(2) 12.2 statute mile long, co-located 36inch crude oil export pipelines from the
Oyster Creek Terminal to the shore
crossing where these would join the
above described subsea pipelines
supplying the SPOT deepwater port.
These pipelines would be located in
Brazoria County, Texas.
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)).
Dated: April 23, 2020.
By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020–08970 Filed 4–27–20; 8:45 am]
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BILLING CODE 4910–81–P
VerDate Sep<11>2014
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration
[U.S. DOT Docket No. NHTSA–2020–0006]
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Notice and Request for
Comment; Government 5-Star Safety
Ratings Label Consumer Research
National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA), U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice and request for public
comment on proposed collection of
information.
AGENCY:
The National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) invites
public comments about our intention to
request approval from the Office of
Management and Budget on a new
collection of information. Before a
Federal agency can collect certain
information from the public, it must
receive approval from OMB. Under
procedures established by the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
before seeking OMB approval, Federal
agencies must solicit public comment
on proposed collections of information,
including extensions and reinstatements
of previously approved collections. This
document describes one collection of
information for consumer information
purposes for which NHTSA intends to
seek OMB approval.
DATES: Written comments should be
submitted on or before June 29, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by the docket number
[NHTSA–2020–0006] in the heading of
this document, by any of the following
methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments
on the electronic docket site by clicking
on ‘‘Help’’ or ‘‘FAQ.’’
• Mail or Hand Delivery: 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE, West Building
Ground Floor, Room W12–140, between
9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
• Fax: 202–493–2251.
Regardless of how you submit
comments, you should mention the
docket number of this document.
You may call the Docket Management
Facility at 202–366–9826.
Instructions: For detailed instructions
on submitting comments and additional
information on the information
collection process, see the Public
Participation heading of the
Supplementary Information section of
this document. Note that all comments
SUMMARY:
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received will be posted without change
to https://www.regulations.gov, including
any personal information provided.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to 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 DOT’s complete Privacy Act
Statement in the Federal Register
published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR
19477–78) or you may visit https://
www.transportation.gov/privacy.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read comments received, go to https://
www.regulations.gov, or the street
address listed above. Follow the online
instructions for accessing the dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mike Joyce, Marketing Specialist, Office
of Communications and Consumer
Information (NCO–0200), National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, W52–238,
Washington, DC 20590. Mike Joyce’s
phone number is 202–366–5600 and his
email address is Mike.Joyce@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
before an agency submits a proposed
collection of information to OMB for
approval, it must first publish a
document in the Federal Register
providing a 60-day comment period and
otherwise consult with members of the
public and affected agencies concerning
each proposed collection of information.
The OMB has promulgated regulations
describing what must be included in
such a document. Under OMB’s
regulation (at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)), an
agency must ask for public comment on
the following:
(i) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(ii) the accuracy of the agency’s
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and
assumptions used;
(iii) how to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected;
(iv) how to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including the use
of appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses.
In compliance with these
requirements, NHTSA asks for public
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 82 (Tuesday, April 28, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23596-23598]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08970]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
[Docket No. MARAD-2019-0011]
Deepwater Port License Application: SPOT Terminal Services LLC
AGENCY: Maritime Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of availability; notice of public meeting; request for
comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard
(USCG) announce the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS) for the SPOT Terminal Services LLC (SPOT) deepwater
port license application for the export of oil from the United States
to nations abroad. A Notice of Application that summarized the SPOT
deepwater port license application was published in the Federal
Register on March 4, 2019 (84 FR 7413). A Notice of Intent to Prepare
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Notice of Public Meetings
was published in the Federal Register on March 7, 2019 (84 FR 8401).
This Notice of Availability incorporates the aforementioned Federal
Register Notices by reference. The application describes a project that
would be located approximately 27.2 to 30.8 nautical miles off the
coast of Brazoria County, Texas. Publication of this notice begins 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 an
informational open house and public meeting in Lake Jackson, Texas.
DATES: MARAD and USCG will hold one public meeting in connection with
the SPOT DEIS. The public meeting will be held in Lake Jackson, Texas,
on February 26, 2020, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The public meeting
will be preceded by an open house from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The
public meeting may end later than the stated time, depending on the
number of persons who wish to make a comment on the record.
Additionally, materials submitted in response to this request for
comments on the DEIS must be submitted to the www.regulations.gov
website or the Federal Docket Management Facility as detailed in the
ADDRESSES section below by the close of business on March 23, 2020.
ADDRESSES: The open house and public meeting in Lake Jackson, Texas
will be held at the Courtyard Marriott Lake Jackson, 159 State Highway
288, Lake Jackson, Texas 77566, phone: (979) 297-7300, web address:
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ljncy-courtyard-lakejackson/.
Free parking is available at the venue.
The SPOT deepwater port license application, comments, supporting
information and the DEIS are available for viewing at the
Regulations.gov website: https://www.regulations.gov under docket number
MARAD-2019-0011. The Final EIS (FEIS), when published, will be
announced and available at this site as well.
The public docket for the SPOT 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-2019-0011. The Federal Docket Management
Facility's telephone number is 202-366-9317 or 202-366-9826, the fax
number is 202-493-2251.
We encourage you to submit comments electronically through the
Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://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 https://www.regulations.gov, please contact either Mr. William Nabach, USCG, or
Ms. Yvette M. Fields, MARAD, as listed in the following FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. This section provides
alternate instructions for submitting written comments. 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. William Nabach, Project Manager,
USCG, telephone: 202-372-1437, email: [email protected]; or
Ms. Yvette Fields, Director, Office of Deepwater Ports and Port
Conveyance, MARAD, telephone: 202-366-0926, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Request for Comments
We request public comments or other relevant information related to
the DEIS for the proposed SPOT deepwater port. These comments will
inform our preparation of the FEIS. We encourage attendance at the open
house and public meeting; however, you may submit comments
electronically, and it is preferred that comments be submitted
electronically. 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 (https://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.
Public Meeting and Open House
You are invited to learn about the proposed SPOT deepwater port at
the subject informational open house and public meeting. You are also
encouraged to provide comments on the proposed action and the
environmental impact analysis contained in the DEIS for the proposed
SPOT deepwater port. Speakers may register upon arrival and 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
[[Page 23597]]
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. Please do not bring signs or banners
inside the meeting venue. The presiding officer will use his/her
discretion to conduct the meeting in an orderly manner.
Public meeting locations are wheelchair accessible; however,
attendees who require special assistance such as sign language
interpretation or other reasonable accommodation, please notify the
USCG (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) at least five (5) business
days in advance. Please include contact information as well as
information about specific needs.
Background
On January 31, 2019, MARAD and USCG received a license application
from SPOT 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 located in Federal waters
approximately 27.2 to 30.8 nautical miles off the coast of Brazoria
County, Texas. Texas was designated as the Adjacent Coastal State (ACS)
for the SPOT license application.
The Federal agencies involved held a public scoping meeting in
connection with the SPOT license application. The public scoping
meeting was held in Lake Jackson, Texas on March 20, 2019. Transcripts
of the scoping meetings are included on the public docket located at
www.regulations.gov under docket number MARAD-2019-0011-0019.
MARAD and USCG issued a regulatory ``stop-clock'' letter to SPOT on
May 31, 2019, which remained in effect until October 23, 2019, when
MARAD and USCG determined the agencies received sufficient information
to continue the Federal review process.
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-2019-0011.
Summary of the License Application
SPOT 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 SPOT deepwater port would allow for up to two (2) 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 2 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 SPOT deepwater port offshore and marine components would
consist of the following:
One (1) fixed offshore platform with eight (8) piles in
Galveston Area Outer Continental Shelf lease block 463, approximately
27.2 to 30.8 nautical miles off the coast of Brazoria County, Texas in
a water depth of approximately 115 feet. The fixed offshore platform
would be comprised of four (4) decks including: A sump deck with shut-
down valves and open drain sump; a cellar deck with pig launchers and
receivers, generators, and three (3) vapor combustion units; a main
deck with a lease automatic custody transfer (LACT) unit, oil
displacement prover loop, living quarters, electrical and instrument
building, and other ancillary equipment; and a laydown deck with a
crane laydown area.
Two (2) single point mooring buoys (SPMs), each having:
Two (2) 24-inch inside diameter crude oil underbuoy hoses
interconnecting with the crude oil pipeline end manifold (PLEM); two
(2) 24-inch inside diameter floating crude oil hoses connecting the
moored VLCC or other crude oil carrier for loading to the SPM buoy; one
(1) 24-inch inside diameter vapor recovery underbuoy hose
interconnecting with the vapor recovery PLEM; and one (1) 24-inch
inside diameter floating vapor recovery hose to connect to the moored
VLCC or other crude oil carrier for loading. The floating hoses would
be approximately 800 feet in length and rated for 300 psig (21-bar).
Each floating hose would contain an additional 200 feet of 16-inch
``tail hose'' that is designed to be lifted and robust enough for
hanging over the edge railing of the VLCC or other crude oil vessels.
The underbuoy hoses would be approximately 160 feet in length and rated
for 300 psig (21-bar).
Four (4) PLEMs would provide the interconnection between
the pipelines and the SPM buoys. Each SPM buoy would have two (2)
PLEMs--one (1) PLEM for crude oil and one (1) PLEM for vapor recovery.
Each crude oil loading PLEM would be supplied with crude oil by two (2)
30-inch outside diameter pipelines, each approximately 0.66 nautical
miles in length. Each vapor recovery PLEM would route recovered vapor
from the VLCC or other crude oil carrier through the PLEM to the three
(3) vapor combustion units located on the platform topside via two (2)
16-inch outside diameter vapor recovery pipelines, each approximately
0.66 nautical miles in length.
Two (2) co-located 36-inch outside diameter, 40.8-nautical
mile long crude oil pipelines would be constructed from the shoreline
crossing in Brazoria County, Texas, to the SPOT deepwater port for
crude oil delivery. These pipelines, in conjunction with 12.2 statute
miles of new-build onshore pipelines (described below), would connect
the onshore crude oil storage facility and pumping station (Oyster
Creek Terminal) to the offshore SPOT deepwater port. The crude oil
would be metered at the offshore platform. Pipelines would be bi-
directional for the purposes of maintenance, pigging, changing crude
oil grades, or evacuating the pipeline with water.
The SPOT deepwater port onshore storage and supply components would
consist of the following:
New equipment and piping at the existing Enterprise Crude
Houston (ECHO) Terminal to provide interconnectivity with the crude oil
supply network for the SPOT Project. This would include the
installation of four (4) booster pumps, one (1) measurement skid, and
four (4) crude oil pumps.
An interconnection between the existing Rancho II pipeline
and the proposed ECHO to Oyster Creek pipeline consisting of a physical
connection as well as ultrasonic measurement capability for pipeline
volumetric balancing purposes.
The proposed Oyster Creek Terminal located in Brazoria
County, Texas, on approximately 140 acres of land consisting of seven
(7) aboveground storage tanks, each with a total storage capacity of
685,000 barrels (600,000 barrels working storage capacity), for a total
onshore storage capacity of approximately 4.8 million barrels (4.2
million barrels working storage) of crude oil. The Oyster Creek
Terminal also would include: Six (6) electric-driven mainline crude oil
pumps; four (4) electric-driven booster crude oil pumps (two (2) per
pipeline), working in parallel to move crude oil from the storage tanks
through the measurement skids; two (2) crude oil pipeline pig
launchers/receivers; one (1)
[[Page 23598]]
crude oil pipeline pig receiver; two (2) measurement skids for
measuring incoming crude oil--one (1) skid located at the incoming
pipeline from the existing Enterprise Crude Houston (ECHO) Terminal,
and one (1) skid installed and reserved for a future pipeline
connection; two (2) measurement skids for measuring departing crude
oil; three (3) vapor combustion units--two (2) permanent and one (1)
portable; and ancillary facilities to include electrical substation,
office, and warehouse buildings.
Three onshore crude oil pipelines would be constructed
onshore to support the SPOT deepwater port. These would include: One
(1) 50.1 statute mile long 36-inch crude oil pipeline from the existing
ECHO Terminal to the Oyster Creek Terminal. This pipeline would be
located in Harris County and Brazoria County, Texas; two (2) 12.2
statute mile long, co-located 36- inch crude oil export pipelines from
the Oyster Creek Terminal to the shore crossing where these would join
the above described subsea pipelines supplying the SPOT deepwater port.
These pipelines would be located in Brazoria County, Texas.
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)).
Dated: April 23, 2020.
By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020-08970 Filed 4-27-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P
