[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 241 (Tuesday, December 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74808-74810]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-29369]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket Number USCG-2013-0363]


Deepwater Port License Application: Liberty Natural Gas LLC, Port 
Ambrose Deepwater Port

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of availability; notice of public meeting; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard 
(USCG) announce the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) for the Liberty Natural Gas LLC, Port Ambrose 
Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port License Application for the 
importation of natural gas.
    Please note that this application is only for the construction and 
operation of a deepwater port that could only be used as a natural gas 
import facility. The considerable technical, operational, and 
environmental differences between import and export operations for 
natural gas deepwater ports is such that any licensed deepwater port 
facility that proposed to convert from import to export operations 
would be required to submit a new license application (including 
application fee) and conform to all licensing requirements and 
regulations in effect at such time of application. In addition to 
payment of the application fee, licensing requirements include, but are 
not limited to, completion of an extensive environmental impact 
assessment and financial resources review which would include public 
participation.
    The Port Ambrose application describes an offshore natural gas 
deepwater port facility that would be located 16.1 nautical miles 
southeast of Jones Beach, New York, 24.9 nautical miles east of Long 
Branch, New Jersey, and 27.1 nautical miles from the entrance to New 
York Harbor in a water depth of approximately 103 feet. The DEIS 
complies with the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended (33 U.S.C. 
1501 et seq.) (DWPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
(Section 102[2][c]), as implemented by Council on Environmental Quality 
regulations (40 CFR 1500 to 1508).
    Publication of this notice begins a 60 day comment period, requests 
public participation in the process, provides information on how to 
participate in the process, and announces informational open houses and 
public meetings in New York and New Jersey. Pursuant to the criteria 
provided in the DWPA, both New Jersey and New York are the Adjacent 
Coastal States for this application.

DATES: There will be two public meetings held in connection with the 
application DEIS. The first public meeting will be held in Jamaica, New 
York on Wednesday, January 7, 2015 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The second 
public meeting will be held in Eatontown, New Jersey on Thursday, 
January 8, 2015 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Both public meetings will be 
preceded by an open house from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The public 
meeting may end later than the stated time, depending on the number of 
persons wishing to speak. Additionally, materials submitted in response 
to the request for comments must reach the Docket Management Facility 
as detailed below, by close of business Tuesday, February 10, 2015 or 
60 days after this NOA is published in the Federal Register whichever 
is later.

ADDRESSES: The open house and public meeting in Jamaica, New York will 
be held at the Hilton New York JFK Airport, 144-02 135th Avenue, 
Jamaica, New York 11436; phone 718-659-0200 or www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/new-york/hilton-new-york-jfk-airport-NYCJFHF/index.html. Parking 
is available at the hotel. Attendees may submit their parking stubs at 
the meeting registration desk for validation. The open house and public 
meeting in Eatontown, New Jersey will be held at the Sheraton Eatontown 
Hotel, 6 Industrial Way East, Eatontown, NJ 07724, phone 732-542-6500 
or www.sheratoneatontown.com with free parking on site.
    The license application, comments, supporting information, and the 
DEIS are available for viewing at the Federal Docket Management System 
(FDMS) Web site: http://www.regulations.gov under docket number USCG-
2013-0363. The Final Environmental Impact Statement, when published, 
will be announced and available at this site as well.
    Docket submissions for USCG-2013-0363 should be addressed to: 
Department of Transportation, Docket Management Facility, West 
Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    The Federal Docket Management Facility accepts hand-delivered 
submissions and makes docket contents available for public inspection 
and copying at this address between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays. The Facility telephone number is 202-
366-9329, the fax number is 202-493-2251, and the Web site for 
electronic submissions or for electronic access to docket contents is 
http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Roddy Bachman, U.S. Coast Guard, 
telephone: 202-372-1451, email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#33615c57574a1d701d7152505b5e525d73464050541d5e5a5f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3c6e53585845127f127e5d5f54515d527c494f5f5b12515550">[email protected]</span></a>, or Ms. Yvette 
M. Fields, Maritime Administration, telephone: 202-366-0926, email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c79eb1a2b3b3a2e981aea2aba3b487a3a8b3e9a0a8b1"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="633a15061717064d250a060f071023070c174d040c15">[email protected]</span></a>. For questions regarding the Docket, call Ms. 
Barbara Hairston, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-
366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Meeting and Open House

    You are invited to learn about the proposed Port Ambrose Deepwater 
Port at either of the above informational open houses, and to comment 
on the proposed action and the environmental impact analysis contained 
in the DEIS at either of the above public meetings or directly to the 
docket.
    Speakers may register upon arrival and will be recognized in the 
following order: Elected officials, public agencies, 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

[[Page 74809]]

extended, or both. Speakers' transcribed remarks will be included in 
the public docket. Written material may also be submitted for inclusion 
in the public docket. Written material must include the author's name 
and address. We ask attendees to respect the meeting procedures in 
order 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 hearing 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 5 business days in 
advance. Include contact information as well as information about 
specific needs.

Request for Comments

    We request public comments or other relevant information on the 
DEIS for the proposed deepwater port. These comments will assist us in 
the preparation of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The 
public meeting is not the only opportunity you have to comment. In 
addition to, or in place of, attending a meeting, you may submit 
comments to the Docket Management Facility during the public comment 
period (see DATES). We will consider all reasonable comments and 
material received during the comment period.
    Submissions should include:
    <bullet> Docket number USCG-2013-0363.
    <bullet> Your name and address.
    Submit comments or material using only one of the following 
methods:
    <bullet> Electronic submission to the Federal Docket Management 
Facility, http://www.regulations.gov.
    <bullet> Fax, mail, or hand delivery to the Docket Management 
Facility (see ADDRESSES). Faxed or hand delivered submissions must be 
unbound, no larger than 8\1/2\ 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 FDMS Web site 
(http://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 FDMS Web site, and the Department of Transportation 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 
Department of Transportation Docket Management Facility or 
electronically on the FDMS Web site (see ADDRESSES).

Background

    Information about deepwater ports, the Deepwater Port Act, other 
applicable statutes, regulations governing deepwater port licensing, 
including the application review process, and the receipt of the 
current application for the proposed Port Ambrose liquefied natural gas 
deepwater port was published in the Federal Register on June 14, 2013, 
78 FR 36014. The ``Summary of the Application'' from that publication 
is reprinted below for your convenience.
    The Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS for the proposed action was 
published in the Federal Register at 78 FR 37878, June 24, 2013. The 
DEIS, application materials and associated comments and supporting 
information are available on the docket.
    Scoping meetings were conducted in Long Beach, New York and Edison, 
New Jersey on July 9 and 10, 2013. Transcripts were posted on the 
docket (document numbers 0976 and 0977) on August 28, 2013. An extended 
60 day scoping comment period ended August 22, 2013.
    The statutory timeline, as required by the DWPA, requires final 
public hearings be conducted no later than 240 days after notice of the 
application. This timeline was suspended by MARAD and USCG on October 
21, 2013, day 129 of the 240 day timeline. This suspension was 
necessary to acquire and analyze additional information needed to 
develop an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will satisfy 
public and agency requirements and to meet other responsibilities, 
including the independent risk assessment, within the statutory 
timeframe required by the DWPA. Effective this day, with the publishing 
of this notice, the suspension of the statutory timeline is removed. 
The period of suspension has not been counted in determining the date 
prescribed by the time limit set forth in the DWPA. Upon completion of 
the FEIS, and following completion of the final public hearings, the 
Governors of the adjacent coastal states of New York and New Jersey 
will have 45 days to approve the application; approve the application 
with conditions; or deny the proposed deepwater port. MARAD then has 90 
days from the close of the hearings to issue a Record of Decision.
    Though the scoping comment period ended on August 22, 2013, 
additional information has been added to the docket as it was 
identified, researched and analyzed.

Proposed Action and Alternatives

    The proposed action requiring environmental review is the Federal 
licensing of the proposed deepwater port described in the ``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. These alternatives are more fully discussed in the DEIS. 
While USCG, in coordination with MARAD, is the lead Federal agency for 
the preparation of the EIS, MARAD is the Federal licensing agency. You 
can address any questions about the proposed action or the DEIS to USCG 
or MARAD project managers identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

Summary of the Application

    Liberty Natural Gas, LLC is proposing to construct, own, and 
operate a liquefied natural gas (LNG) deepwater port import facility, 
known as Port Ambrose, located in the New York Bight. The Port Ambrose 
facility will be located at a different proposed location and include a 
different design than the previous deepwater port license application 
submitted by Liberty Natural Gas, LLC in 2010. Port Ambrose would 
consist of two Submerged Turret Loading Buoys (STL Buoys) in Federal 
waters 16.1 nautical miles southeast of Jones Beach, New York, 24.9 
nautical miles east of Long Branch, New Jersey, and 27.1 nautical miles 
from the entrance to New York Harbor, in a water depth of approximately 
103 feet.
    LNG would be delivered from purpose-built LNG regasification 
vessels (LNGRVs), vaporized on site and delivered through the STL 
Buoys, flexible riser/umbilical, subsea manifold and lateral pipelines 
to a buried 18.8 nautical mile subsea mainline connecting to the 
existing Transco Lower New York Bay Lateral in New York State waters 
2.2 nautical miles south of Long Beach, New York and 13.1 nautical 
miles east of Sandy Hook, New Jersey. The buoys would be lowered to 
rest on a landing pad when not in use and would also include a suction 
anchor mooring array.
    STL Buoy 1 is located at Latitude: 40[deg]19'24.61'' N and 
Longitude: 73[deg]25'45.33'' W. STL Buoy 2 is located at Latitude: 
40[deg]20'09.26'' N and

[[Page 74810]]

Longitude 73[deg]23'51.92'' W. The Port components would fall in the 
following U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lease blocks:
    Buoy 1 (6708, 6709, 6758); Buoy 2 (6709); Lateral 1 (6708); Lateral 
2 (6708, 6709); ``Y'' Assembly (6708); Mainline Pipeline (6708, 6658, 
6657, 6607, 6606, 6556, 6555, 6554, 6504 and 6503).
    The 145,000 cubic meter LNGRVs would have onboard closed-loop 
vaporization and metering and odorant capability. Each vessel would 
have three vaporization units capable of maximum send-out of 750 
million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) (maximum pipeline system 
flow rate is 660 MMscfd with two buoys) with annual average expected to 
be 400 MMscfd. The LNGRVs have been designed to utilize a ballast water 
cooling system that will entirely re-circulate onboard the vessel 
during Port operations, eliminating vessel discharges associated with 
regasification while at the Port. Deliveries through Port Ambrose would 
be focused during peak demand winter and summer months, and it is 
anticipated that approximately 45 deliveries will occur each year.
    As proposed, the LNGRVs would access the port inbound from the 
Hudson Canyon to Ambrose Traffic Lane and depart via the Ambrose to 
Nantucket Traffic Lane. MARAD and USCG are aware that Port Ambrose 
falls within the proposed area of interest for the Long Island--New 
York City Offshore Wind Collaborative wind energy project. This project 
will be acknowledged and considered in the cumulative impacts analysis 
section of the DEIS based on currently available information. If 
approved, the majority of the port and pipeline construction and 
installation would occur in 2017, with commissioning estimated to be in 
December 2017.
    In addition, pipelines and structures such as the STL buoy 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). Port Ambrose 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 is included in the NEPA review as part of the 
deepwater port application process. The 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 the public meetings; and 
will incorporate the EIS into their permitting processes. Comments sent 
to the EPA or USACE will also be incorporated into the DOT docket and 
EIS to ensure consistency with the NEPA Process.
    There have been some proposed project changes since the original 
application was submitted, which are set forth in materials on the 
docket and in the DEIS. (1) The original Application proposed a plowed 
mainline pipeline burial depth of 3 feet. Now the pipeline is proposed 
to be plow-buried to 4 feet with the portion that is within the Ambrose 
Anchorage Area buried 7 feet using jetting. (2) The originally proposed 
impact driven mooring pile anchors are now proposed to be suction 
anchors. (3) The original port construction and commissioning was 
proposed to occur in 2015. That has been amended to occur in 2017 
(assuming a license is issued).
    Should a license be issued, the deepwater port would be designed, 
fabricated, constructed, commissioned, maintained, inspected, and 
operated in accordance with applicable codes and standards and with 
USCG oversight as regulated under Title 33, Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR), subchapter NN-Deepwater Ports, parts 148, 149, and 150. This 
also includes applicable waterways management and regulated navigation 
areas, maritime safety and security requirements, risk assessment, and 
compliance with domestic and international laws and regulations for 
vessels that may call on the port.

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 1.93)

* * * * *

    Dated: December 10, 2014.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
Christine S. Gurland,
Acting Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-29369 Filed 12-15-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P


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