[Federal Register: December 27, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 249)]
[Notices]
[Page 79234-79235]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27de02-178]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Coast Guard
Maritime Administration
[USCG-2002-14134]
Port Pelican LLC Deepwater Port License Application
AGENCY: Coast Guard and Maritime Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of application.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) give
notice, as required by the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended, that
they have received an application for the licensing of a deepwater
port, and that the application appears to contain the required
information. The notice summarizes the applicant's plans and the
procedures we will follow in considering the application.
DATES: Any public hearing held in connection with this application must
be held not later than August 25, 2003. The application will be
approved or denied within 90 days after the last public hearing held on
the application.
ADDRESSES: The mailing address for the clerk in this proceeding is:
Commandant (G-M), U.S. Coast Guard, 2100 Second Street SW., Washington
DC 20593-0001. Public docket USCG-2002-14134 is maintained by the
Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-
401, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. The Docket
Management Facility office maintains a Web site, http://dms.dot.gov,
and can be reached by telephone at 202-366-9329 or fax at 202-493-2251.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice
call Robert Nelson, U.S. Coast Guard, (202) 267-0496,
rnelson@comdt.uscg.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Receipt of application; determination. On
November 25, 2002, the Coast Guard and MARAD received an application
from Port Pelican LLC, Suite 2700, 1111 Bagby, Houston, Texas 77002 for
all Federal authorizations required for a license to own, construct and
operate a deepwater port off the coast of Louisiana. On December 16,
2002, we determined that the application appears to contain all
required information. The application and related documentation
supplied by the applicant (except for certain protected information
specified in 33 U.S.C. 1513) may be viewed in the public docket (see
ADDRESSES).
Background. According to the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended
(the Act, 33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.), a deepwater port is a fixed or
floating manmade structure other than a vessel, or a group of
structures, located beyond the territorial sea and off the coast of the
U.S., used or intended for use as a port or terminal for the
transportation, storage, and further handling of oil for transportation
to any State. The Act was most recently amended by the Maritime
Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA, Public Law 107-295), which
extends the deepwater port definition to include natural gas facilities
.
The Deepwater ports must be licensed, and the Act provides that a
license applicant submit detailed plans for its facility to the
Secretary of Transportation, along with its application. The Secretary
has delegated the processing of deepwater port applications to the
Coast Guard and MARAD. The Act allows 21 days following receipt of the
application to determine if it contains all required information. If it
does, we must publish a notice of application in the Federal Register
and summarize the plans. This notice is intended to meet those
requirements of the Act and to provide general information about the
procedure that will be followed in considering the application.
Application procedure. We consider the application on its merits.
Under the Act, we have 240 days from the date this notice is published
to hold at least one public hearing, which is your opportunity to
submit written or oral comment on the application. We will publish a
separate Federal Register notice to notify you of any hearing we decide
to hold. At least one hearing must be held in each adjacent coastal
state. Pursuant to 33 U.S.C. 1508, we designate Louisiana as an
adjacent coastal state. Other states may apply for adjacent coastal
state status in accordance with 33 U.S.C. 1508(a)(2). After the last
public hearing, Federal agencies have 45 days in which to comment to us
on the application, and approval or denial of the application must
follow within 90 days after the last public hearing. Details of the
application process are described in 33 U.S.C. 1504 and in 33 CFR part
148.
The present application involves a proposed liquefied natural gas
(LNG) facility. As such, MTSA excepts the application from the
restrictions of 33 U.S.C. 1504(d) (1)-(3) and 33 U.S.C. 1504(i) (1)-
(3). While this permits submission and consideration of competing
applications for the same ``application area'', there may still be
practical restrictions from a navigation safety standpoint with regard
to the proximity of multiple deepwater ports.
We will review the application under the current deepwater port
regulations published in 33 CFR part 148. On May 30, 2002 (67 FR 37920)
the Coast Guard published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
indicating its intent to revise those regulations. Public comments have
been received in response to the NPRM and we will consider those
comments prior to adopting revised regulations. In addition, MTSA
mandates that we revise existing deepwater port regulations as soon as
practicable to implement extension of deepwater port regulations to
natural gas. It also allows for the issuance of an interim final rule
without public notice and comment. Thus, the current regulations may be
amended before we have fully processed the application. In that event,
the amended regulations will govern further processing of the
application as soon as they take effect.
Summary of the application. The application plan calls for
construction of the Port Pelican Deepwater Port and associated
anchorage in an area situated in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 36
miles south southwest of Fresh Water City, Louisiana, in Vermilion
Block 140 with a safety zone extending into part of Vermilion Block
139.
The Port Pelican Project (the Project) will deliver natural gas to
the United States Gulf Coast using existing gas supply and gathering
systems in the Gulf of Mexico and southern Louisiana. Gas will then be
delivered to shippers using the national pipeline grid through
interconnections with major interstate and intrastate pipelines.
The Project consists of the Port Pelican Terminal (the Terminal),
an LNG receiving, storage and regasification facility and the Pelican
Interconnector Pipeline (PIPL) to transport the gas to the existing
offshore gas gathering system.
The Project will consist of two concrete gravity based structure
(GBS) units fixed to the seabed, which will include integral LNG
storage tanks,
[[Page 79235]]
support deck mounted LNG receiving and vaporization equipment and
utilities, berthing accommodations for LNG carriers, facilities for
delivery of natural gas to a pipeline transportation system, and
personnel accommodations.
The Terminal will be able to receive the largest LNG carriers in
service or on order in 2002. LNG carrier arrival frequency will be
planned to match specified terminal gas delivery rates. All marine
systems, communication, navigation aids and equipment necessary to
conduct safe LNG carrier operations and receiving of product during
specified atmospheric and sea states will be provided at the port.
The regasification process consists of lifting the LNG from storage
tanks, pumping the cold liquid to pipeline pressure, vaporization
across heat exchanging equipment and delivery through custody transfer
metering to the gas pipeline network. No gas conditioning is required
for the Terminal since the incoming LNG will be pipeline quality.
A 42-inch diameter offshore Pelican Interconnector Pipeline, 37
nautical miles in length, will be constructed as part of the Pelican
Project. The PIPL will transport gas from the Terminal to a point near
the Tiger Shoal Platform ``A'' where it will connect to the Henry-
Floodway Gas Gathering System (HFGGS). The HFGGS will deliver the gas
to the onshore U.S. gas pipeline network.
The Terminal will be constructed in two phases. Phase I includes
the installation of two GBS units with internal storage tanks and
facilities for LNG offloading, and vaporization capability to deliver a
peal 1.0 billion standard cubic feet per day (SCFD) of natural gas to
the pipeline system. Additional vaporization equipment and associated
support equipment and facilities will be installed during Phase II to
increase the facility vaporization and send out rate to 2.0 billion
SCFD peak.
Dated: December 20, 2002.
Paul J. Pluta,
Rerad Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Marine
Safety, Security and Environmental Protection.
Raymond R. Barberesi,
Director, Office of Ports and Domestic Shipping, U.S. Maritime
Administration.
[FR Doc. 02-32831 Filed 12-24-02; 11:04 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-15-P