MarAD Extends Comment Period for SPOT Terminal Services LLC

The Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced the extension of the period for the public to comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed SPOT Terminal Services, LLC deepwater port facility. The comment period was initially scheduled to end on March 23, 2020, but is now extended 30-days from the publication date of this Federal Register notice published on Friday, May 1, 2020.

Due to the nationwide impacts of COVID-19 and the associated social distancing protocols, MARAD and the U.S. Coast Guard determined that the impact of these protocols have affected the public’s ability to assemble and provide feedback on the SPOT DEIS. The new extended date of Sunday, May 31, 2020, is thirty days after the date of the Federal Register notice published here at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/05/01/2020-09302/deepwater-port-license-application-spot-terminal-services-llc-correction-and-comment-period advising the public of the extension.

MarAD encourages those interested to submit comments electronically online through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov under docket number MARAD-2019-0011.  Alternatively, comments may be submitted by postal mail to the following address: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Management Facility, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590.  In person submissions are not currently being accepted due to the social distancing protocols in place.  It is requested that those that comment include the docket number for this project (MARAD-2019-0011) with all submissions.

All submissions to the docket will be posted without change to www.regulations.gov and will include any personal information you provide.  Therefore, submitting this information to the docket makes it public.  You may wish to read the Privacy Act notice regarding the Federal Docket Management System in the March 24, 2005 issue of the Federal Register (70 FR 15086).

If approved, the SPOT Terminal Services LLC deepwater port facility would be located approximately 27.2 to 30.8 nautical miles off the coast of Brazoria County, Texas for the purpose of exporting domestically produced crude oil.  The SPOT deepwater port would include the loading of various grades of crude oil at flow rates of up to 85,000 barrels per hour and will connect with existing pipelines in Brazoria County, Texas.