Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 202 / Thursday, October 20, 2005 / Notices 61151 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Maritime Administration 

[USCG–2005–22611] 

Neptune LNG, L.L.C., Liquefied Natural 

Gas Deepwater Port License 

Application; Preparation of 

Environmental Impact Statement 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS; Maritime 

Administration, DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of intent; notice of public 

meeting; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard and the 

Maritime Administration (MARAD) 

announce that the Coast Guard intends 

to prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) as part of the 

environmental review of this license 

application. The application describes a 

project that would be located in the 

Federal waters of the Outer Continental 

Shelf in Blocks NK 19–04 6525 and NK 

19–04 6575, approximately 22 miles 

northeast of Boston, Massachusetts, and 

approximately 7 miles south-southeast 

of Gloucester, Massachusetts. 

Publication of this notice begins a 

scoping process that will help identify 

and determine the scope of 

environmental issues to be addressed in 

the EIS. This notice requests public 

participation in the scoping process and 

provides information on how to 

participate. 

DATES: A public meeting will be held in 

Boston, MA on November 2, 2005. 

There will also be a public meeting in 

Gloucester, MA on November 3, 2005. 

Both meetings will be from 6 p.m. to 8 

p.m. and will be preceded by an 

informational open house from 4:30 

p.m. to 6 p.m. The public meetings may 

end later than the stated time, 

depending on the number of persons 

wishing to speak. 

A portion of the public meeting will 

be conducted by the Massachusetts 

Executive Office of Environmental 

Affairs in compliance with the 

Massachusetts Environmental Policy 

Act. That meeting will be noticed 

separately in the Massachusetts Journal. 

Material submitted in response to the 

request for comments for the scoping 

process must reach the Docket 

Management Facility by November 18, 

2005. 

ADDRESSES: The public meeting in 

Boston will be held at: Faneuil Hall in 

Boston, MA–1 Faneuil Hall Square, 2nd 

floor meeting hall, Phone: (617) 635–

3105. The public meeting in Gloucester 

will be at: Gloucester High School, 

Auditorium, 32 L.O. Johnson Rd, 

Gloucester, MA, Phone: (978) 281–9870. 

Address docket submissions for 

USCG–2005–22611 to: Docket 

Management Facility, U.S. Department 

of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street 

SW., Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

The Docket Management Facility 

accepts hand-delivered submissions, 

and makes docket contents available for 

public inspection and copying at this 

address, in room PL–401, between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. The 

Facility’s telephone is 202–366–9329, 

its fax is 202–493–2251, and its Web site 

for electronic submissions or for 

electronic access to docket contents is 

http://dms.dot.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Roddy Bachman, U.S. Coast Guard, 

telephone: 202–267–1752, e-mail: 

rbachman@comdt.uscg.mil. If you have 

questions on viewing the docket, call 

Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, 

Docket Operations, telephone: 202–493–

0402. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Public Meeting and Open House 

We invite you to learn about the 

proposed deepwater port at an 

informational open house, and to 

comment at a public meeting on 

environmental issues related to the 

proposed deepwater port. Your 

comments will help us identify and 

refine the scope of the environmental 

issues to be addressed in the EIS. 

In order to allow everyone a chance 

to speak at the public meeting, we may 

limit speaker time, or extend the 

meeting hours, or both. You must 

identify yourself, and any organization 

you represent, by name. Your remarks 

will be recorded or transcribed for 

inclusion in the public docket. 

You may submit written material at 

the public meeting, either in place of or 

in addition to speaking. Written 

material must include your name and 

address, and will be included in the 

public docket. 

Public docket materials will be made 

available to the public on the Docket 

Management Facility’s Docket 

Management System (DMS). See 

‘‘Request for Comments’’ for 

information about DMS and your rights 

under the Privacy Act. 

All our public meeting locations are 

wheelchair-accessible. If you plan to 

attend the open house or public 

meeting, and need special assistance 

such as sign language interpretation or 

other reasonable accommodation, please 

notify the Coast Guard (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT) at least 3 

business days in advance. Include your 

contact information as well as 

information about your specific needs. 

Request for Comments 

We request public comments or other 

relevant information on environmental 

issues related to the proposed 

deepwater port. The public meeting is 

not the only opportunity you have to 

comment. In addition to or in place of 

attending a meeting, you can submit 

comments to the Docket Management 

Facility during the public comment 

period (see DATES). We will consider all 

comments and material received during 

the comment period. 

Submissions should include: 

• Docket number USCG–2005–22611. 

• Your name and address. 

• Your reasons for making each 

comment or for bringing information to 

our attention. 

Submit comments or material using 

only one of the following methods: 

• Electronic submission to DMS, 

http://dms.dot.gov. 

• Fax, mail, or hand delivery to the 

Docket Management Facility (see 

ADDRESSES). Faxed or hand delivered 

submissions must be unbound, no larger 

than 81⁄2 by 11 inches, and suitable for 

copying and electronic scanning. If you 

mail your submission and want to know 

when it reaches the Facility, include a 

stamped, self-addressed postcard or 

envelope. 

Regardless of the method used for 

submitting comments or material, all 

submissions will be posted, without 

change, to the DMS Web site (http:// 

dms.dot.gov), and will include any 

personal information you provide. 

Therefore, submitting this information 

makes it public. You may wish to read 

the Privacy Act notice that is available 

on the DMS Web site, or the Department 

of Transportation Privacy Act Statement 

that appeared in the Federal Register on 

April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477). 

You may view docket submissions at 

the Docket Management Facility (see 

ADDRESSES), or electronically on the 

DMS Web site. 

Background 

Information about deepwater ports, 

the statutes, and regulations governing 

their licensing, and the receipt of the 

current application for a liquefied 

natural gas (LNG) deepwater port 

appears at 70 FR 58729, October 7, 

2005. The ‘‘Summary of the 

Application’’ from that publication is 

reprinted below for your convenience. 

61152 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 202 / Thursday, October 20, 2005 / Notices 

Consideration of a deepwater port 

license application includes review of 

the proposed deepwater port’s natural 

and human environmental impacts. The 

Coast Guard is the lead agency for 

determining the scope of this review, 

and in this case the Coast Guard has 

determined that review must include 

preparation of an EIS. This notice of 

intent is required by 40 CFR 1508.22, 

and briefly describes the proposed 

action and possible alternatives and our 

proposed scoping process. You can 

address any questions about the 

proposed action, the scoping process, or 

the EIS to the Coast Guard project 

manager identified in FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. 

Proposed Action and Alternatives 

The proposed action requiring 

environmental review is the Federal 

licensing of the proposed deepwater 

port described in ‘‘Summary of the 

Application’’ below. The alternatives to 

licensing the proposed port are: (1) 

Licensing with conditions (including 

conditions designed to mitigate 

environmental impact), and (2) denying 

the application, which for purposes of 

environmental review is the ‘‘no-action’’

alternative. 

Scoping Process 

Public scoping is an early and open 

process for identifying and determining 

the scope of issues to be addressed in 

the EIS. Scoping begins with this notice, 

continues through the public comment 

period (see DATES), and ends when the 

Coast Guard has completed the 

following actions: 

• Invites the participation of Federal, 

State, and local agencies, any affected 

Indian tribe, the applicant, and other 

interested persons; 

• Determines the actions, alternatives, 

and impacts described in 40 CFR 

1508.25; 

• Identifies and eliminates from 

detailed study those issues that are not 

significant or that have been covered 

elsewhere; 

• Allocates responsibility for 

preparing EIS components; 

• Indicates any related environmental 

assessments or environmental impact 

statements that are not part of the EIS; 

• Identifies other relevant 

environmental review and consultation 

requirements; 

• Indicates the relationship between 

timing of the environmental review and 

other aspects of the application process; 

and 

• At its discretion, exercises the 

options provided in 40 CFR 1501.7(b). 

Once the scoping process is complete, 

the Coast Guard will prepare a draft EIS, 

and we will publish a Federal Register 

notice announcing its public 

availability. (If you want that notice to 

be sent to you, please contact the Coast 

Guard project manager identified in FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.) You 

will have an opportunity to review and 

comment on the draft EIS. The Coast 

Guard will consider those comments 

and then prepare the final EIS. As with 

the draft EIS, we will announce the 

availability of the final EIS and once 

again give you an opportunity for 

review and comment. 

Summary of the Application 

Neptune LNG, L.L.C. proposes to 

construct, own and operate a deepwater 

port, named Neptune, in the Federal 

waters of the Outer Continental Shelf on 

blocks NK 19–04 6525 and NK 19–04 

6575, approximately 22 miles northeast 

of Boston, Massachusetts, and 

approximately 7 miles south-southeast 

of Gloucester, Massachusetts, in a water 

depth of approximately 250 feet. The 

Neptune deepwater port would be 

capable of mooring up to two 

approximately 140,000 cubic meter 

capacity LNG carriers by means of a 

submerged unloading buoy system. 

The LNG carriers, or shuttle 

regasification vessels (SRVs), would be 

equipped to store, transport and 

vaporize LNG, and to odorize and meter 

natural gas which would then be sent 

out by conventional subsea pipelines. 

Each SRV would have insulated storage 

tanks located within its hull. Each tank 

would be equipped with an in-tank 

pump to circulate and transfer LNG to 

the vaporization facilities located on the 

deck of the SRV. The proposed 

vaporization system would be closedloop water-glycol, re-circulating heat 

exchangers heated by steam from boiloff gas/vaporized LNG-fired boilers. 

The major fixed components of the 

proposed deepwater port would be an 

unloading buoy system, eight mooring 

lines consisting of wire rope and chain 

connecting to anchor points on the 

seabed, eight suction pile anchor points, 

approximately 2.5 miles of natural gas 

flow line with flexible pipe risers and 

risers manifolds, and approximately 11 

miles of 24-inch natural gas 

transmission line with a hot tap and 

transition manifold to connect to the 

existing Algonquin HublineSM. 

Neptune would have an average 

throughput capacity of 400 million 

standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) 

and a peak capacity of approximately 

750 MMscfd. Natural gas would be sent 

out by means of two flexible risers and 

a subsea flowline leading to a 24-inch 

gas transmission line. These risers and 

flow line would connect the deepwater 

port to the existing 30-inch Algonquin 

HublineSM. No onshore components or 

storage facilities are associated with the 

proposed deepwater port application. 

Construction of the deepwater port 

components would be expected to take 

36 months, with a startup of commercial 

operations in late 2009. The deepwater 

port would be designed, constructed 

and operated in accordance with 

applicable codes and standards and 

would have an expected operating life 

of approximately 20 years. 

In addition, pipelines within the 

three-mile limit require an Army Corps 

of Engineers (USACE) permit under 

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and 

Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors 

Act. Structures such as the moorings 

and lateral pipelines beyond the threemile limit require a Section 10 permit. 

As required by their regulations, the 

USACE will maintain a permit file. The 

USACE New England District phone 

number is 978–318–8338 and their Web 

site is http://www.nae.usace.army.mil. 

The new pipeline will be included in 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) review as part of the deepwater 

port application process. The USACE, as 

a cooperating agency, will assist in the 

NEPA process as described in 40 CFR 

1501.6; will be participating in the 

scoping meetings; and will conduct 

joint public meetings with the Coast 

Guard and MARAD when the draft EIS 

is released for public comment. 

Comments sent to the USACE will also 

be incorporated into the DOT docket 

and EIS to ensure consistency with the 

NEPA Process. 

Dated: October 13, 2005. 

Howard L. Hime, 

Acting Director of Standards, Marine Safety, 

Security, and Environmental Protection, U.S. 

Coast Guard. 

H. Keith Lesnick, 

Senior Transportation Specialist, Deepwater 

Ports Program Manager, U.S. Maritime 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 05–21007 Filed 10–19–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

[USCG–2005–22702] 

National Boating Safety Advisory 

Council 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of meetings. 

SUMMARY: The National Boating Safety 

Advisory Council (NBSAC) and its 

subcommittees on boats and associated