Notice2025-12406
Deepwater Port License Application: ST LNG Deepwater Port Development Project
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 7, 2025
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentMaritime Administration
Abstract
The Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) announce they have received an application from ST LNG, LLC (ST LNG or Applicant) for the licensing of a deepwater port and that the application for the ST LNG Deepwater Port Development Project contains information sufficient to commence processing. This notice summarizes the Applicant's plans and the procedures that will be considered during the application review process.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 127 (Monday, July 7, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 127 (Monday, July 7, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29930-29932]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-12406]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
[Docket Number MARAD-2025-0096]
Deepwater Port License Application: ST LNG Deepwater Port
Development Project
AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of application.
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SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard
(USCG) announce they have received an application from ST LNG, LLC (ST
LNG or Applicant) for the licensing of a deepwater port and that the
application for the ST LNG Deepwater Port Development Project contains
information sufficient to commence processing. This notice summarizes
the Applicant's plans and the procedures that will be considered during
the application review process.
DATES: The Deepwater Port Act of 1974, as amended, (the Act) requires
at least one public hearing on this application to be held in the
designated Adjacent Coastal State (ACS) not later than 240 days after
publication of this notice and a decision on the application not later
than 90 days after the final public hearing.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket Number
MARAD-2025-0096 by any one of the following methods:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. Search the docket number and follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
<bullet> Mail or Hand Delivery: The Docket Management Facility is
located at the U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, West Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590. Documents
may be delivered between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except on federal holidays.
Note: If you mail or hand-deliver your comments, we recommend that
you include your name and a mailing address, an email address, and/or a
telephone number in a cover page so that we can contact you if we have
questions regarding your submission.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and specific docket number. All comments received will be posted
without change to the docket at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, including any
personal information provided.
Privacy Act: Anyone can 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.). For information on
DOT's compliance with the Privacy Act, please visit <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/privacy">https://www.transportation.gov/privacy</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Brian Barton, Maritime
Administration, telephone 202-366-0302, email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7e3c0c171f10503c1f0c0a11103e1a110a50191108"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e7a5958e8689c9a58695938889a7838893c9808891">[email protected]</span></a>, or
Mr. Patrick Clark, U.S. Coast Guard, telephone 202-372-1427, email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d383b2a7a1bab0b8fd84fd90bfb2a1b893a6a0b0b4fdbebabf"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="23734257514a40480d740d604f42514863565040440d4e4a4f">[email protected]</span></a>. For questions regarding viewing the Docket,
call Docket Operations, telephone: 202-366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Receipt of Application
On June 9, 2025, MARAD and USCG received an application from the
Applicant for all Federal authorizations required for a license to own,
construct, and operate a deepwater port for the export of liquefied
natural gas (LNG) as authorized by the Act, and implemented
[[Page 29931]]
under 33 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 148, 149, and 150.
After a coordinated completeness review by MARAD, USCG, and cooperating
Federal agencies, the application is deemed complete and contains
information sufficient to initiate processing.
Background
The Act defines a deepwater port 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 used or intended for
use as a port or terminal for the transportation, storage, and further
handling of oil or natural gas for transportation to, or from, any
State. A deepwater port includes all components and equipment,
including pipelines, pumping or compressor stations, service platforms,
buoys, mooring lines, and similar facilities that are proposed as part
of a deepwater port to the extent they are located seaward of the high-
water mark.
The Secretary of Transportation delegated to the Maritime
Administrator authorities related to licensing deepwater ports (49 CFR
1.93(h)). Statutory and regulatory requirements for processing
applications and licensing appear in 33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq. and 33 CFR
part 148. Each application is considered on its merits.
In accordance with 33 U.S.C. 1504(f), MARAD and USCG, working in
cooperation with other involved Federal agencies and departments, shall
comply with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Bureau of Safety and Environmental
Enforcement (BSEE), and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA), among others, participate in the processing of
deepwater port applications and assist in the NEPA process. Each agency
may participate in scoping and/or other public meeting(s) and may
incorporate the MARAD/USCG environmental impact review for purposes of
their jurisdictional permitting processes, to the extent applicable.
Substantive comments related to this deepwater port application
addressed to the EPA, USACE, or other Federal agencies should note the
Federal docket number, MARAD-2025-0096. Each comment will be
incorporated into the Department of Transportation (DOT) docket and
considered as the environmental impact analysis is developed to ensure
consistency with the NEPA process. All connected actions, permits,
approvals, and authorizations will be considered during the processing
of the ST LNG deepwater port license application.
MARAD, in issuing this Notice of Application pursuant to 33 U.S.C.
1504(c), must designate as an ACS any coastal state which (A) would be
directly connected by pipeline to a deepwater port as proposed in an
application, or (B) would be located within 15 nautical miles of any
such proposed deepwater port (33 U.S.C. 1508(a)(1)). Pursuant to the
criteria provided in the Act, Texas is the designated ACS for this
application. Any other State with an interest relating to the deepwater
port proposed in an application will have the opportunity to make its
views known to, and will be given full consideration by, MARAD
regarding the location, construction, and operation of the deepwater
port.
The Act directs that at least one public hearing take place in each
ACS, which in this case is Texas. Additional public meetings may be
conducted to solicit comments on the environmental analysis to include
public scoping meetings or meetings to discuss the Draft Environmental
Impact Statement prepared in accordance with NEPA.
MARAD, in coordination with USCG, will publish additional Federal
Register notices with information regarding these public meeting(s) and
hearing(s) and other procedural milestones, including the NEPA
environmental impact review. The Maritime Administrator's decision, and
other key documents, will be filed in the public docket for the
application at docket number MARAD-2025-0096.
The Act imposes a strict timeline for processing an application.
When MARAD and USCG determine that an application is complete (i.e.,
contains information sufficient to commence processing), the Act
directs that all public hearings on the application be concluded within
240 days from the date the Notice of Application is published.
Within 45 days after the final hearing, the Governor of the ACS,
which in this case is the Governor of Texas, may notify MARAD of their
approval, approval with conditions, or disapproval of the application.
If such approval, approval with conditions, or disapproval is not
provided to the Maritime Administrator by that time, approval shall be
conclusively presumed. MARAD may not issue a license without the
explicit or presumptive approval of the Governor of the ACS. During
this 45-day period, the Governor may also notify MARAD of
inconsistencies between the application and State programs relating to
environmental protection, land and water use, and coastal zone
management. In this case, MARAD may condition the license to make it
consistent with such state programs (33 U.S.C. 1508(b)(1)(D)). MARAD
will not consider written approvals or disapprovals of the application
from the Governor of the ACS until commencement of the 45-day period
after the final public hearing is completed. The Maritime Administrator
must render a decision on the application within 90 days after the
final hearing.
Should a favorable record of decision be rendered, and a license be
issued, MARAD may include specific conditions related to design,
construction, operations, environmental permitting, monitoring and
mitigation, and financial responsibilities. If a license is issued,
USCG, in coordination with other agencies as appropriate, would review
and approve the deepwater port's engineering, design, and construction;
operations/security procedures; 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. The deepwater port
would be designed, constructed, and operated in accordance with
applicable codes and standards.
In addition, the installation of pipelines and other structures 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 USACE.
Permits from the EPA may also be required pursuant to the
provisions of the Clean Air Act, as amended, and the Clean Water Act,
as amended.
Summary of the Application
The application proposes the ownership, construction, operation,
and eventual decommissioning of the ST LNG deepwater port terminal to
be located approximately 10.4 nautical miles (19.2 kilometers) offshore
Matagorda, Texas. When fully realized, the project would involve four
2.1 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) liquefaction systems installed in
the Brazos Outer Continental Shelf Lease Block 476 (BA-476), in
approximately 65 to 72 feet of water. The proposed ST LNG deepwater
port would export LNG up to 8.4 MTPA.
[[Page 29932]]
The proposed ST LNG deepwater port would consist of fixed and
floating components. These components would include a 5.5-mile, 30-inch
pipeline lateral with a connection hub, four feeder lines to the
connection hub, four gas treatment platforms, four liquefaction
platforms, four accommodation and utility platforms, four LNG transfer
platforms, thirty-six mooring dolphins, four converted LNG carriers,
and three tugs.
The LNG would be loaded onto standard LNG carriers with cargo
capacities between 125,000 and 180,000 cubic meters (m \3\) (average
expected size is 146,000 m \3\) for the export of LNG, including to
Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and non-FTA nations.
The project would be completed in four phases. Phase 1 construction
would include three large platforms (a gas treatment platform, an LNG
liquefaction platform, and an accommodations and utility platform), one
LNG transfer platform, nine mooring dolphins, one floating storage unit
(FSU), and interconnected lateral pipelines. Each phase would produce
2.1 MTPA of LNG.
The feed gas supply to the project would originate from the Tres
Palacios Natural Gas Storage and Trading Hub and the Williams Markham
Gas Processing Plant in Texas through the existing Transco 30-inch
pipeline. The gas would be transported to the project via a new 5.5-
mile, 30-inch lateral pipeline to an interconnection hub at the
deepwater port. From the hub, four feeder lines would transport the gas
to each phase of the deepwater port.
For more information, please contact either Mr. Brian Barton,
MARAD, or Mr. Patrick Clark, USCG, as listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
(Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1501, et seq.; 49 CFR 1.93(h).)
By Order of the Maritime Administration.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2025-12406 Filed 7-3-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P
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