Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 6 / Friday, January 9, 2009 / Notices 985 

1According to DCRR, United States Steel 

Corporation (USS), a noncarrier, owns all of the 

issued and outstanding stock of Transtar, Inc. 

(Transtar), which is a noncarrier holding company. 

Transtar owns all of the issued and outstanding 

stock of seven common carrier railroads, including 

DCRR, a Class III rail carrier. Conrail is the owner 

and operator of certain railroad tracks that connect 

with both Tecumseh Yard and track owned by CN. 

1501 et seq. (the Act). On January 5, 

2009, we determined that the 

application contains all information 

required by the Act to initiate 

processing. 

Background 

According to the Act, a deepwater 

port is a fixed or floating manmade 

structure other than a vessel, or a group 

of structures, located beyond State 

seaward boundaries and used or 

intended for use as a port or terminal for 

the transportation, storage, and further 

handling of oil or natural gas for 

transportation to any State. 

A deepwater port must be licensed by 

the Maritime Administrator (by 

delegated authority of the Secretary of 

Transportation, published on June 18, 

2003 (68 FR 36496)). Statutory and 

regulatory requirements for licensing 

appear in 33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq. and in 

33 CFR Part 148. Under delegations 

from and agreements between the 

Secretary of Transportation and the 

Secretary of Homeland Security, 

applications are processed by the Coast 

Guard and the Maritime Administration. 

Each application is considered on its 

merits. 

The Act requires adherence to a strict 

timeline for processing an application. 

Once we determine that an application 

contains the required information, we 

must hold public hearings on the 

application within 240 days, and the 

Maritime Administrator must render a 

decision on the application within 330 

days. We will publish additional 

Federal Register notices to inform you 

of these public hearings and other 

procedural milestones, including the 

environmental review. The Maritime 

Administrator’s decision, and other key 

documents, will be filed in the public 

docket. 

At least one public hearing must take 

place in each adjacent coastal state. For 

purposes of the Act, Texas is the 

adjacent coastal state for this 

application. Other states can apply to 

the Maritime Administrator for adjacent 

coastal state status in accordance with 

33 U.S.C. 1508(a)(2). 

Summary of the Application 

Texas Offshore Port System, a general 

partnership consisting of Oiltanking 

Freeport, L.P., TEPPCO O/S Port 

System, LLC and Enterprise Offshore 

Port System, LLC, proposes to own, 

construct, and operate a deepwater port 

(DWP), named Texas Offshore Port 

System (TOPS), in the Federal waters of 

the Outer Continental Shelf in Minerals 

Management Service (MMS) lease block 

Galveston Area A56 (GA 56), 

approximately 30 statute miles 

southeast of Freeport, Texas, in a water 

depth of approximately 120 feet. The 

proposed DWP will serve as an offshore 

crude oil receiving terminal and 

transmission facility. An average of 

1,700,000 barrels of oil per day will be 

offloaded at the terminal and will be 

delivered via a new pipeline that will 

terminate at a crude oil storage terminal 

located in Texas City, Texas. 

Two Single Point Mooring (SPM) 

Buoys will be installed to offload crude 

oil from crude oil tankers. A third SPM 

may be added in the future. Dual 42- 

inch outside diameter (OD), 4,000-ft 

(1,219-m) long offloading pipelines will 

carry the crude oil to a new Metering 

and Pumping Platform. At the platform 

the crude oil will be increased in 

pressure to 1,950 pounds per square 

inch gauge discharge pressure to 

achieve a flow rate of up to 100,000 

barrels per hour into the departing 

Offshore Pipeline. A Quarters and 

Control Platform will be connected by a 

bridge to the Metering and Pumping 

Platform. A new 85⁄8-inch OD fuel gas 

pipeline that will be approximately 36 

miles long (58 km) will supply natural 

gas to the Metering and Pumping 

Platform. It will originate from an 

existing platform in MMS lease block 

Brazos Area BR 538 (BR 538). 

The new Offshore Pipeline will be a 

42-inch OD pipeline and approximately 

34.86 miles long. It will transport the 

crude oil to a new valve station located 

in Freeport, Texas. From the valve 

station a new 48-mile, 42-inch OD 

Onshore Pipeline will transfer the crude 

oil to a new crude oil storage terminal 

in Texas City, Texas. A new 

intermediate Onshore Pump Station will 

be located along the Onshore Pipeline to 

boost the pressure of the crude oil. The 

new crude oil storage terminal, the 

Texas City Crude Terminal, will consist 

of seven tanks, six with a storage 

capacity of 600,000 barrels and one with 

a storage capacity of 300,000 barrels. 

Pipelines and structures such as the 

moorings may require permits under 

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and 

Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act 

which are administered by the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). 

TOPS will also require permits from 

the Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) pursuant to the provisions of the 

Clean Air Act, as amended, and the 

Clean Water Act, as amended. 

The new pipeline will be included in 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) review as part of the deepwater 

port application process. EPA and the 

USACE, among others, are cooperating 

agencies and will assist in the NEPA 

process as described in 40 CFR 1501.6; 

may participate in scoping meetings; 

and will incorporate the environmental 

impact statement (EIS) into their 

permitting processes. Comments sent to 

EPA or USACE will also be incorporated 

into the DOT docket and EIS to ensure 

consistency with the NEPA Process. 

Should a license be issued, TOPS 

anticipates being able to offload and 

transport crude oil in November 2010. 

The deepwater port would be designed, 

constructed and operated in accordance 

with applicable codes and standards. 

Privacy Act 

The electronic form of all comments 

received into the Federal Docket 

Management System can be searched by 

the name of the individual submitting 

the comment (or signing the comment, 

if submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). The DOT 

Privacy Act Statement can be viewed in 

the Federal Register published on April 

11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70, pages 

19477–78) or you may visit http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

(Authority 49 CFR 1.66) 

Dated: January 6, 2009. 

By Order of the Maritime Administrator. 

Leonard Sutter, 

Secretary, Maritime Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–293 Filed 1–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–81–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 35180] 

Delray Connecting Railroad 

Company—Trackage Rights 

Exemption—Consolidated Rail 

Corporation 

Pursuant to a written trackage rights 

agreement, Consolidated Rail 

Corporation (Conrail) has agreed to 

grant local trackage rights to Delray 

Connecting Railroad Company (DCRR) 

from Tecumseh Yard Lead to No. 1 and 

No. 2 Hill Tracks and Marion Track 1 

(a/k/a the Marsh Industrial Track), 

Marion Track 2, and Marion Track 3 to 

their connections with Canadian 

National Railway Company’s (CN) line 

to Zug Island.1 The entire line of 

railroad is located in the State of 

Michigan. 

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986 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 6 / Friday, January 9, 2009 / Notices 

DCRR states that the trackage rights 

agreement has been consummated but 

that, after it was consummated, USS 

management was advised by counsel 

that a grant of trackage rights would 

require Board approval. Thus, this 

notice of exemption is filed on a nunc 

pro tunc basis. Under 49 CFR 1180.4(g), 

in order to qualify for an exemption 

under 49 CFR 1180.2(d), a railroad must 

file a verified notice of the transaction 

with the Board at least 30 days in 

advance of consummation. In this case, 

the verified notice was filed on 

December 24, 2008. Therefore, the 

earliest this transaction could be 

consummated is January 23, 2009, the 

effective date of the exemption (30 days 

after the exemption was filed). The 

purpose of the trackage rights is to 

permit DCRR to move trains consisting 

of empty ‘‘bottle cars’’ between 

Tecumseh Yard and CN’s line to USS’s 

facility on Zug Island, which will 

enhance operational efficiencies. 

As a condition to this exemption, any 

employees affected by the acquisition of 

the trackage rights will be protected by 

the conditions imposed in Norfolk and 

Western Ry. Co.—Trackage Rights—BN, 

354 I.C.C. 605 (1978), as modified in 

Mendocino Coast Ry., Inc.—Lease and 

Operate, 360 I.C.C. 653 (1980). 

This notice is filed under 49 CFR 

1180.2(d)(7). If it contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the 

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) 

may be filed at any time. The filing of 

a petition to revoke will not 

automatically stay the effectiveness of 

the exemption. Stay petitions must be 

filed by January 16, 2009 (at least 7 days 

before the exemption becomes 

effective). 

Pursuant to the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2008, Public Law 

110–161, section 193, 121 Stat. 1844 

(2007), nothing in this decision 

authorizes the following activities at any 

solid waste rail transfer facility: 

Collecting, storing, or transferring solid 

waste outside of its original shipping 

container; or separating or processing 

solid waste (including baling, crushing, 

compacting, and shredding). The term 

‘‘solid waste’’ is defined in section 1004 

of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, 42 

U.S.C. 6903. 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to STB Finance 

Docket No. 35180, must be filed with 

the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423– 

0001. In addition, a copy of each 

pleading must be served on John A. 

Vuono, Esq., Vuono & Gray, LLC, 310 

Grant Street, Suite 2310 Grant Building, 

Pittsburgh, PA 15219; and Robert N. 

Gentile, Esq., Assistant General 

Counsel-Commercial, Intellectual 

Property & Special Litigation, United 

States Steel Corporation, 600 Grant 

Street 18th Floor, Room 1880, 

Pittsburgh, PA 15219. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at http:// 

www.stb.dot.gov. 

Decided: January 2, 2009. 

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Jeffrey Herzig, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. E9–47 Filed 1–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Internal Revenue Service 

Open Meeting of the Area 1 Taxpayer 

Advocacy Panel (Including the States 

of New York, Connecticut, 

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New 

Hampshire, Vermont and Maine) 

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 

Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Area 

1 Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be 

conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy 

Panel is soliciting public comments, 

ideas and suggestions on improving 

customer service at the Internal Revenue 

Service. 

DATES: The meeting will be held 

Tuesday, February 17, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Audrey Y. Jenkins at 1–888–912–1227 

or 718–488–2085. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is 

hereby given pursuant to section 

10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (1988) 

that an open meeting of the Area 1 

Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be held 

Tuesday, February 17, 2009, at 10 a.m. 

Eastern Time. For more information 

please contact Audrey Y. Jenkins at 1– 

888–912–1227 or 718–488–2085. If you 

would like to have the TAP consider a 

written statement, please write Audrey 

Y. Jenkins, TAP Office, 10 MetroTech 

Center, 625 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 

11201, or you can post comments to the 

Web site: http://www.improveirs.org. 

The agenda will include various IRS 

issues. 

Dated: December 22, 2008. 

Roy L. Block, 

Acting Director, Taxpayer Advocacy Panel. 

[FR Doc. E9–146 Filed 1–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Internal Revenue Service 

Open Meeting of the Area 2 Taxpayer 

Advocacy Panel (Including the States 

of Delaware, North Carolina, South 

Carolina, New Jersey, Maryland, 

Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia 

and the District of Columbia) 

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 

Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Area 

2 Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be 

conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy 

Panel is soliciting public comments, 

ideas, and suggestions on improving 

customer service at the Internal Revenue 

Service. 

DATES: The meeting will be held 

Wednesday, February 18, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Donna Powers at 1–888–912–1227, or 

954–423–7977. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is 

hereby given pursuant to section 

10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (1988) 

that an open meeting of the Area 2 

Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be held 

Wednesday, February 18, 2009, at 2:30 

p.m. Eastern Time. For more 

information please contact Donna 

Powers. Ms. Powers may be reached at 

1–888–912–1227 or 954–423–7977, or 

you can write to Donna Powers, TAP 

Office, 1000 South Pine Island Road, 

Suite 340, Plantation, FL 33324, or post 

comments to the Web site: http:// 

www.improveirs.org. 

The agenda will include the 

following: Various IRS issues. 

Dated: December 22, 2008. 

Roy L. Block, 

Acting Director, Taxpayer Advocacy Panel. 

[FR Doc. E9–145 Filed 1–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Internal Revenue Service 

Open Meeting of the Area 3 Taxpayer 

Advocacy Panel (Including the States 

of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, 

Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and 

the Territory of Puerto Rico) 

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 

Treasury. 

ACTION: Correction to notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Area 

3 Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be 

conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy 

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