Document ID: USCG-2016-0913-0001
Agency: uscg
Document Type: Notice
Title: Waterway Suitability Assessment for Construction of Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities; Brownsville, TX
Posted Date: 2016-10-13T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 198 (Thursday, October 13, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70694-70695]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-24752]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2016-0913]

Waterway Suitability Assessment for Construction of Liquefied 
Natural Gas Facilities; Brownsville, TX

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard, at Sector Corpus Christi, announces receipt 
of a Letter of Intent (LOI) and Waterways Suitability Assessment (WSA) 
for three Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility construction projects in 
Brownsville, Texas. The LOI and WSA for Annova LNG Common 
Infrastructure, LLC (Annova LNG) and Texas LNG Brownsville LLC (Texas 
LNG) were submitted by Rodino, Inc. The LOI and WSA for Rio Grande LNG, 
LLC was submitted by AcuTech Group, Inc. The Coast Guard is notifying 
the public of this action to solicit public comments on the proposed 
construction of these LNG facilities, as defined by 33 CFR 127.005.

DATES: Comments must be submitted to the online docket via http://www.regulations.gov, or reach the Docket Management Facility, on or 
before December 12, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2016-0913 using the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. See the ``Public Participation and Request for 
Comments'' portion of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for further 
instructions on submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about this document: 
call or email MST2 Rebekah Wagner, Sector Corpus Christi Waterways 
Management Division, Coast Guard; telephone 361-888-3162, 
Rebekah.S.Wagner@uscg.mil.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Public Participation and Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments (or related materials) on this 
notice for the waterway suitability assessments for the construction of 
these LNG facilities. We will consider all submissions and may adjust 
our final action based on your comments. If you submit a comment, 
please include the docket number for this notice, indicate the specific 
section of this document to which each comment applies, and provide a 
reason for each suggestion or recommendation. More information 
regarding these projects can be found on the following Web sites: 
http://annovalng.com/project; http://www.txlng.com/theproject/project-overview.html; http://www.riograndelng.com/project/.
    We encourage you to submit comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. If your material cannot be 
submitted using http://www.regulations.gov, contact the person in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate 
instructions. Documents mentioned in this notice and all public 
comments, are in our online docket at http://www.regulations.gov and 
can be viewed by following that Web site's instructions. Additionally, 
if you go to the online docket and sign up for email alerts, you will 
be notified when comments are posted or a final rule is published.
    We accept anonymous comments. All comments received will be posted 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any 
personal information you have provided. For more about privacy and the 
docket, you may review a Privacy Act notice regarding the Federal 
Docket Management System in the March 24, 2005, issue of the Federal 
Register (70 FR 15086).

Discussion

    Under 33 CFR 127.007, an owner or operator intending to build a new 
facility handling LNG or Liquefied Hazardous Gas (LHG), or an owner or 
operator planning new construction to expand or modify marine terminal 
operations in an existing facility handling LNG or LHG, where the 
construction, expansion, or modification would result in an increase in 
the size and/or frequency of LNG or LHG marine traffic on the waterway 
associated with a proposed facility or modification to an existing 
facility, must submit an LOI to the Captain of the Port (COTP) of the 
zone in which the facility is or will be located. Annova LNG submitted 
an LOI and WSA on February 23, 2015; Texas LNG submitted an LOI and WSA 
on February 16, 2016; Rio Grande LNG, LLC submitted an LOI and WSA on 
March 18, 2015.
    For these projects, a Waterway Suitability Assessment Notice and 
Request for Comments was previously published in the Federal Register 
at http://www.regulations.gov under docket number USCG 2016-0626. The 
comment period ran from August 23, 2016 to September 22, 2016. Twelve 
comments were received during the comment period. However, based on 
additional interest in the projects, we have decided to reopen the 
comment period for an additional 60 days to allow for more comments to 
be submitted.
    Under 33 CFR 127.009, after receiving an LOI, the COTP issues a 
Letter of Recommendation (LOR) as to the suitability of the waterway 
for LNG or LHG marine traffic to the appropriate jurisdictional 
authorities. The LOR is based on a series of factors outlined in 33 CFR 
127.009 that relate to the physical nature of the affected waterway and 
issues of safety and security associated with LNG or LHG marine traffic 
on the affected waterway.
    The purpose of this notice is to solicit public comments on the 
proposed construction project as submitted by Rodino, Inc. on behalf of 
Annova LNG and Texas LNG and as submitted by AcuTech Group, Inc. on 
behalf of Rio Grande LNG, LLC. Input from the public may be useful to 
the COTP with respect to developing the LOR. The Coast Guard requests 
comments to help assess the suitability of the associated waterway for 
increased LNG marine traffic as it relates to navigation, safety, and 
security.
    On January 24, 2011, the Coast Guard published Navigation and 
Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) 01-2011, ``Guidance Related to 
Waterfront Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Facilities.'' NVIC 01-2011 
provides guidance for owners and operators seeking approval to 
construct and operate LNG facilities. The Coast Guard will refer to 
NVIC 01-2011 for process information and guidance in evaluating the 
project included in the LOIs and WSAs submitted by Rodino, Inc. and 
AcuTech Group, Inc. A copy of NVIC 01-2011 is available for viewing in 
the public docket for this notice and also on the Coast Guard's Web 
site at http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/nvic/2010s.asp.
    This notice is issued under authority of 33 U.S.C. 1223-1225, 
Department of Homeland Security Delegation Number 0170.1(70), 33 CFR 
127.009, and 33 CFR 103.205.

[[Page 70695]]

    Dated: October 7, 2016.
R.A. Hahn,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the Port Corpus Christi, TX.
[FR Doc. 2016-24752 Filed 10-12-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 9110-04-P