Maritime Administration October 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

By Federal Register notice of September 14, 2007 (72 FR 52607- 52611) the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard) announced the intent to prepare an environmental impact statement/environmental impact report (EIS/EIR) for the Woodside Natural Gas, Inc. OceanWay Secure Energy Deepwater LNG Port license application located in the Federal waters of the Santa Monica Basin, approximately 27 miles southwest of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The EIS/EIR will be prepared with the City of Los Angeles (City) as a cooperating agency in the environmental review with the Coast Guard since the applicant has also filed an application for a lease/franchise of submerged City lands and an onshore pipeline franchise for the natural gas pipeline through the City. The EIS/EIR will meet the requirements of both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Publication of that notice began a 30-day scoping process and requested public participation to assist in the identification and determination of the environmental issues to be addressed in the EIS/ EIR with a deadline for submitting comments of October 12, 2007. In addition to receiving comments at the public scoping meeting on September 26, 2007, instructions were provided for submitting comments to the Department of Transportation (DOT) Docket Management System and to the new Federal Docket Management System (FDMS). On September 27, 2007 the DOT Docket Management System began migration to be replaced by the Federal Docket Management System to be effective October 1, 2007. Because of planned outages in the migration, the comment period was extended to October 15, 2007, as announced at the public meeting. Because of additional system migration outages; the need for familiarization time with the FDMS; and interest generated by the project, by this notice, MARAD; the Coast Guard; and the City of Los Angeles have extended the scoping comment period to October 31, 2007.

As authorized by Public Law 105-383 and Public Law 107-295, the Secretary of Transportation, as represented by the Maritime Administration (MARAD), is authorized to grant waivers of the U.S.- build requirement of the coastwise laws under certain circumstances. A request for such a waiver has been received by MARAD. The vessel, and a brief description of the proposed service, is listed below. The complete application is given in DOT docket MARAD-2007-0004 at https:// www.regulations.gov. Interested parties may comment on the effect this action may have on U.S. vessel builders or businesses in the U.S. that use U.S.-flag vessels. If MARAD determines, in accordance with Public Law 105-383 and MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR part 388 (68 FR 23084; April 30, 2003), that the issuance of the waiver will have an unduly adverse effect on a U.S.-vessel builder or a business that uses U.S.- flag vessels in that business, a waiver will not be granted. Comments should refer to the docket number of this notice and the vessel name in order for MARAD to properly consider the comments. Comments should also state the commenter's interest in the waiver application, and address the waiver criteria given in 388.4 of MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR part 388.

As authorized by Pub. L. 105-383 and Pub. L. 107-295, the Secretary of Transportation, as represented by the Maritime Administration (MARAD), is authorized to grant waivers of the U.S.- build requirement of the coastwise laws under certain circumstances. A request for such a waiver has been received by MARAD. The vessel, and a brief description of the proposed service, is listed below. The complete application is given in DOT docket MARAD-2007-29366 at https:// www.regulations.gov. Interested parties may comment on the effect this action may have on U.S. vessel builders or businesses in the U.S. that use U.S.-flag vessels. If MARAD determines, in accordance with Pub. L. 105-383 and MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR part 388 (68 FR 23084; April 30, 2003), that the issuance of the waiver will have an unduly adverse effect on a U.S.-vessel builder or a business that uses U.S.-flag vessels in that business, a waiver will not be granted. Comments should refer to the docket number of this notice and the vessel name in order for MARAD to properly consider the comments. Comments should also state the commenter's interest in the waiver application, and address the waiver criteria given in Sec. 388.4 of MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR part 388.