[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 200 (Thursday, October 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62242-62244]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24609]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
[Docket Number MARAD-2014-0132]
Deepwater Ports License Application Process for Offshore Export
Facilities
AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of proposed policy.
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SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) is seeking public comment
on the agency's proposed policy to accept, evaluate and process license
applications for the construction and operation of offshore deepwater
port facilities for the export of oil and natural gas from the United
States to foreign markets abroad, and to use the existing Deepwater
Port License regulations, cited at 33 CFR Parts 148, 149 and 150 for
such purposes.
DATES: Written public comments regarding this notice of proposed policy
[[Page 62243]]
should be submitted on or before December 15, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket Number
MARAD-2014-0132 by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Search MARAD-2014-0132 and follow the instructions for submitting
comments.
Email: [email protected]. Include MARAD-2014-0132
in the subject line of the message.
Fax: (202) 493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Room W12-
140, Washington, DC 20590. If you would like to confirm that your
comments reached the facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed
postcard or envelope.
Hand Delivery/Courier: Docket Management Facility, U.S.
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West
Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590. The Docket Management
Facility is open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
on Federal holidays.
Note: If you fax, mail or hand deliver your input, we recommend
that you include your name and a mailing address, an email address,
or a telephone number in the body of your document so that you can
be contacted if there are questions regarding your submission. If
you submit your inputs by mail or hand delivery, submit them in an
unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for
copying and electronic filing.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and docket number. All comments received will be posted without change
to the docket at www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information provided. For detailed instructions on submitting comments
and additional information on the rulemaking process, see the section
entitled Public Participation.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Yvette M. Fields, Director, Office
of Deepwater Ports and Offshore Activities, Maritime Administration,
telephone: 202-366-0926, email: [email protected]. If you have
questions on viewing the Docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program Manager,
Docket Operations, telephone: 202-493-0402.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 20, 2012, the Coast Guard and
Maritime Transportation Act of 2012 (Title III, Sec. 312) amended
Section 3(9)(A) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C.
1502(9)(A)) to insert the words ``or from'' before the words ``any
State'' in the definition of Deepwater Port. This amendment grants
MARAD, as delegated by the Secretary of Transportation, the authority
to license the construction and operation of Deepwater Ports for the
export of oil and natural gas from domestic sources within the United
States.\1\ This amendment will be implemented in accordance with
existing legislative and regulatory requirements pertaining to the
Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended (the Act). The Coast Guard and
Maritime Transportation Act of 2012 provided no other amendments to the
Act.
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\1\ With regard to exports from a State that are intended for
non-United States markets, the Department of Energy is responsible
for approving applications to export natural gas to Free Trade
Agreement and Non-Free Trade Agreement nations. As a general
proposition, the export of oil from the United States is restricted
(see e.g., the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 or the
Export Administration Act of 1979).
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The amended Act defines a Deepwater Port, in part, as ``any fixed
or floating manmade structure other than a vessel, or any group of such
structures, that are located beyond State seaward boundaries and that
are used or intended for use as a port or terminal for the
transportation, storage, or further handling of oil or natural gas for
transportation to or from any State . . . .''
The Act grants the Maritime Administrator authority to license
Deepwater Ports (by delegation from the Secretary of Transportation,
published on August 17, 2012 [77 FR 49964]). Deepwater Port license
applications are jointly processed by MARAD and the U.S. Coast Guard
(Coast Guard) under delegations from, and between, the Secretary of
Transportation and the Secretary of Homeland Security. In general, the
Coast Guard is the lead agency for compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act and is responsible for matters related to
navigation safety, engineering and safety standards, and facility
inspections. MARAD is responsible for determining citizenship and
financial capability of the potential licensees, and for preparing the
project Record of Decision and issuing or denying the license. The
various other responsibilities under the Act, including the duty of
consultation, are shared by the Coast Guard and MARAD. Statutory and
regulatory requirements for Deepwater Port licensing appear in 33
U.S.C. 1501 et seq. and in 33 CFR Parts 148, 149 and 150.
The Coast Guard has previously developed comprehensive regulatory
guidance for Deepwater Port license applications and remains the
Federal agency responsible for the promulgation of rules relating to
the Deepwater Port license application process. Regulations detailing
the requirements of the Deepwater Port license application process;
design, construction and equipment; and port operations can be found in
33 CFR Parts 148, 149 and 150. These regulations pertain to the
application review process, planning, environmental review, design,
construction and operation of deepwater port facilities without
specific regard to whether the facility imports or exports oil and/or
natural gas products. With the addition of oil and natural gas
exportation under the amendment to the Act, MARAD does not foresee any
reason to alter the Deepwater Port licensing application process. As
such, this notice is provided to inform the public that MARAD, with the
concurrence of the Coast Guard's Deepwater Ports Standards Division,
intends to use the existing Deepwater Port regulations for the review,
evaluation and processing of any Deepwater Port license application
involving the export of oil or natural gas from domestic sources within
the United States as provided for in 33 CFR Part 148, 149 and 150.
Any proposed Deepwater Port involving the export of oil or natural
gas from domestic sources within the United States will require the
submission of an export-specific comprehensive license application
conforming to all established and applicable Deepwater Port licensing
requirements and regulations. The considerable technical, operational
and environmental differences between import and export operations for
oil or natural gas projects are such that any licensed Deepwater Port
facility, or any proponent of a deepwater port that has an application
in process, that proposes to convert from import to export operations
will 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. For licensed
deepwater ports, an application to convert from import operations to
export operations will require, at a minimum: (1) Approval from the
Department of Energy or other approval authority to export oil or
natural gas to free trade and/or non-free trade agreement countries;
(2) a new or supplemental environmental impact analysis (Environmental
Impact
[[Page 62244]]
Statement or Environmental Assessment--Finding of No Significant
Impact) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act that assesses
the significance of the environmental impact of the proposed change in
operations; and (3) a revised operations manual that fully describes
the proposed change in port operations. Only after all required
application processes are completed, and after consideration of the
nine factors specified in the Act (33 U.S.C. 1503(c)), may the Maritime
Administrator approve (or disapprove) an application to export oil or
natural gas through a deepwater port. In the event the Maritime
Administrator approves the application to convert to export operations,
the applicant's existing license shall be surrendered and the Maritime
Administrator will issue a new license with conditions appropriate to
all intended activities, including, if applicable, authority to engage
in bidirectional oil or natural gas import and export operations. In
all other cases, the Maritime Administrator will issue a new license
with conditions appropriate to the applied for activity.
This proposed policy will take effect upon the date of the final
Federal Register Notice of Policy and will remain in effect until such
time that additional or other related regulations are promulgated. As
previously stated, all statutory provisions of the Deepwater Port Act
of 1974, as amended, shall apply to the final authorization and
licensure of export oil and natural gas Deepwater Ports.
Public Participation
Your comments must be written and provided in English. To ensure
that your comments are correctly filed in the Docket, please include
the docket number in your comments. MARAD encourages you to provide
concise comments. However, you may attach necessary additional
documents to your comments. There is no limit on the length of the
attachments. Please submit your comments, including the attachments,
following the instructions provided under the above heading entitled
ADDRESSES.
If you wish to submit any information under a claim of
confidentiality, you should submit three copies of your complete
submission, including the information you claim to be confidential
business information, to the Department of Transportation, Maritime
Administration, Office of Legislation and Regulations, MAR-225, W24-
220, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. When you send
comments containing information claimed to be confidential information,
you should include a cover letter setting forth with specificity the
basis for any such claim.
MARAD will consider all comments received before the close of
business on the comment closing date indicated above under DATES. To
the extent possible, MARAD will also consider comments received after
that date. If a comment is received too late for MARAD to consider in
developing a final policy (assuming one is issued), MARAD will consider
that comment as an informal suggestion for future policy action.
For access to the docket to read background documents, including
those referenced in this document, or to submit or read comments
received, go to the Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Room W12-
140, Washington, DC 20590. The Docket Management Facility is open 9:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays.
To review documents, read comments or to submit comments, the docket is
also available online at http://www.regulations.gov., keyword search
MARAD-2014-0132.
Please note that even after the comment period has closed, MARAD
will continue to file relevant information in the Docket as it becomes
available. Further, some people may submit late comments. Accordingly,
MARAD recommends that you periodically check the Docket for new
material.
Privacy Act
Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review the DOT
Privacy Act system of records notice for the Federal Docket Management
System (FDMS) in the Federal Register published on January 17, 2008,
(73 FR 3316) at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-785.pdf.
Authority: 49 CFR 1.93.
Dated: October 10, 2014.
By Order of the Maritime Administrator
Thomas M. Hudson,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-24609 Filed 10-15-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P