[Federal Register: June 10, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 111)] [Notices] [Page 31288-31289] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10jn99-114] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Minerals Management Service Prepation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading Systems on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Minerals Management Service (MMS) will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) systems on the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The MMS has awarded a contract to Ecology and Environment, Inc. (E&E) to prepare the EIS to examine the use of FPSO systems in the deepwater areas (water depths greater than 200 meters or 656 feet) in the Central and Western Planning Areas of the GOM OCS. The contract was awarded in April 1999; it is anticipated that completion of the EIS will take 18 months. Based upon the analysis in the EIS, the MMS will decide whether FPSO systems will be an acceptable option for consideration for use on the GOM OCS; the decision will not constitute approval for the use of any particular FPSO at any specific site. Individual plans proposing use of an FPSO will be subject to MMS's established project-specific and site-specific evaluation and decision process. 1. Authority. Pursuant to the regulations implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the MMS is announcing its intent to prepare an EIS on FPSO systems on the GOM OCS. This NOI also serves to announce the scoping process for this DEIS. Throughout the scoping process, Federal and State agencies, local governments, and other interested parties will have the opportunity to aid the MMS in determining the scope of the DEIS, significant issues that should be addressed, and alternatives to be considered. 2. Proposed Action. FPSO's may be used as production facilities to develop marginally economic or remote oil fields in the deepwater areas of the GOM OCS. This DEIS will consider scenarios that represent the potential range of FPSO activities that could occur if the proposed action were implemented. The ``base case'' of the proposed action to be evaluated is a permanently moored, double-hulled, shipshaped FPSO with up to 1 million barrels of crude oil storage capability. The seafloor well equipment and on-board production equipment will be the same types as those used with other deepwater production facilities. Produced oil will be offloaded to nondynamically positioned, 500,000-barrel-capacity shuttle tankers for transport to ports in Texas or Louisiana or to the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP). Associated or produced gas will be transferred to shore via a gas pipeline. The range of the proposed action will include technical variations such as the use of disconnectable moorings, single [[Page 31289]] hull or single bottom design variations, non-shipshaped FPSO systems, increased crude oil storage up to 2.3 million barrels, dynamically positioned shuttle tankers, reinjection of natural gas for later recovery, and gas-to-liquids conversion. 3. Alternatives. One of the alternatives to be considered in the DEIS is the exclusion of FPSO systems from the ``lightering prohibited area'' established by the U.S. Coast Guard at 33 CFR part 156 subpart C. Other alternatives may be identified during the scoping process. 4. Scoping. Scoping is an open and early process for determining the scope of the DEIS and for identifying significant issues related to a proposed action. Scoping also provides an opportunity for interested parties to help identify alternatives to the proposed action. For this DEIS, public scoping meetings will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on June 21, 1999, at the Natural Resources Center--Room 1003, Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, Texas; on June 22, 1999, at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, 9100 Gulf Freeway, Houston, Texas; on June 23, 1999, at the Beaumont Hilton in Beaumont, Texas; on June 24, 1999, at the Players Island Hotel in Lake Charles, Louisiana; and on June 28, 1999, at the Radisson Inn Airport in Kenner (New Orleans), Louisiana. Additional information on the scoping meetings will be distributed to interested parties. Details on the times and locations for the public scoping meetings will also be advertised in local media and are available on the MMS website at http://www.mms.gov or through the MMS Public Information Office at 1-800-200-GULF or GulfPublicInfo@mms.gov. 5. Comments on the NOI. In addition to participation at the scoping meetings, Federal and State agencies, local governments, and other interested parties are invited to send their written comments on the scope of the DEIS, significant issues to be addressed, and alternatives that should be considered in the DEIS to the contact person at the address listed below. Comments should be enclosed in an envelope labeled ``Comments on the NOI to Prepare a DEIS on FPSO's'' and should be submitted no later than 45 days after publication of this NOI in the Federal Register. 6. Decisions. The MMS will make several decisions based on the analysis in the EIS; (a) whether FPSO systems will be permitted in the Central and Western Planning Areas of the GOM OCS; (b) the range of acceptable FPSO operations; and (c) the potential exclusion of FPSO systems in certain geographic areas of the Central and Western Planning Areas of the GOM OCS; or (d) a decision for no action. The no action alternative will mean that FPSO systems will not be permitted in the Central and Western Planning Areas of the GOM OCS. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Questions concerning the NEPA process and the DEIS should be directed to Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, Attention: Ms. Deborah Cranswick (MS 5410), 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394, telephone (504) 736- 2744. Dated: June 4, 1999. Chris C. Oynes, Regional Director, Gulf of Mexico, OCS Region. [FR Doc. 99-14704 Filed 6-9-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310-MR-M