b. The potential effects of pollutants, especially oil, on ecological habitats and the life stages of biota.

c. The potential effects on threatened or endangered species and on ecosystems.

2. The Effect on Oceanographic Currents and Wave Patterns:

a. The potential primary effects of construction and operation on,

i. surface, midwater and bottom currents, ii. waves,

iii. tides and tidal currents, especially in constricted coastal areas and estuaries, iv. ice;

b. The potential secondary impacts of changes to current and wave patterns on sand and sediment transport, turbidity, beach processes, salinity and sedimentation rates resulting from changes to current, wave and tide patterns; and, the resulting impacts on biological systems, on shorelines and beaches, and on their alternate uses.

3. The Effects on Alternate Uses of the Oceans and Navigable Waters:

xiii. power generation and transmission, xiv. others.

6. The Effect on Human Health and Welfare:

a. Health

i. the physiological effects of reduced or altered air and water quality or supply, of altered or increased noise levels or quality, of altered community density, etc., and the psychological effects of the above;

ii. the risk of human safety and life posed by a proposed project.

b. Welfare-the ultimate effects of dynamic economic and social change inflicted directly or induced upon the relevant communities, including but not limited to the projected changes in employment, population density, housing and public services, and tax base.

B. In this second part, the proposed project will be appraised for the effort made to prevent or minimize the probable adverse impacts on the environment. This appraisal is primarily concerned with the project as proposed and alternatives are relevant only insofar as they may represent a spectrum of possible actions against which the proposal will be judged. Areas of concern are: siting, design, construction, and operation; and, land use and coastal zone management. Specifically, the review will consider the degree of adherence to the following guidelines.

1. Siting-A proposed deepwater port should be sited in an optimum location in order to prevent or minimize possibly detrimental environmental effects. For example:

a. The deepwater port and all its components, including receiving terminals, inline transportation facilities and stations, ancillary and service facilities, and pipeline, should occupy the minimum space necessary for safe and efficient operation and should be located, as much as possible, in areas in which permanent alteration of wetlands is not necessary. Buffer zones should be provided to separate onshore facilities from incompatible adjacent land uses.

b. The deepwater port facility and its offshore components should be located in areas which have stable sea-bottom characteristics and, its onshore components should be located in areas in which a stable foundation can be developed and flood protection levees, if appropriate, can be constructed.

c. The deepwater port facility should be located in an area where existing offshore structures and activities will not interfere with its safe operation, and where the facility or navigation to and from that facility, will not interfere with the safe operation of existing offshore structures. Water depths and currents in and around the deepwater port and its approaches should pose no undue hazard to safe navigation. Extensive dredging or removal of natural obstacles such as reefs, should be avoided. The siting

procedure should select an area where projected weather, wave conditions, and seismic activity minimize the probability that damage will occur to the deepwater port, tankers, pipeline, and component shoreside facilities from storms, earthquakes, or other natural hazards.

d. Selection of sites should maximize the permitted use of existing work areas, facilities and access routes for construction and operations activities. Where temporary work areas, facilities, or access routes must be used, they should be to the fullest extent possible, designed and constructed in such a manner to permit restoration to the preconstruction environmental conditions or better.

e. The deepwater port facility, navigational fairway(s) and pipelines should be sited where the interactions of facilities' requirements and natural environment are optimized to prevent adverse impacts or to produce minimal, acceptably low adverse effects. Key factors in assessments should include (but not necessarily be limited to) projected winds, waves, current, spill size and frequency, cleanup capability, shoreline/estuarine/bay sensitivity; biological resources, damage potential and recovery rate; facility design; and project economics.

f. The deepwater port, pipeline, and attendant facilities should be located as far as practicable from the vicinity of critical habitats for biota, including but not limited to commercial and sports fisheries and threatened and endangered species.

g. Sites should reflect negligible displacement of existing or potentially important uses such as the following:

i. fisheries,

ii. recreation,

iii. mining,

iv. oil and gas production,

v. transportation.

h. Siting should favor areas already allocated for similar use and the implications of density of such uses.

i. port facilities-existing tanker and barge traffic-existing ports which can be used for service vessels.

ii. pipelines-use of existing corridors. iii. secondary facilities-use of (or expansion of) existing storage, refinery, and other support facilities.

iv. construction facilities-use of existing equipment and personnel staging yards.

i. The deepwater port, pipelines and other offshore facilities should be sited so as to not permanently interfere with the natural littoral process or to alter significantly any tidal pass or other part of the physical environment important to natural currents and wave patterns.

j. Pipelines, or other deepwater port components or facilities requiring dredging, should not be located where sediments with high levels of heavy metals, biocides, oil, or

other pollutants or hazardous materials exist.

2. Design, Construction and OperationSelection of design and procedures for construction and operation of a deepwater port must reflect use of best available technology. For example:

a. All oil transfer, transportation, and storage facilities, systems and equipment should include appropriate safeguards and backup systems and/or be operated under procedures to minimize both the possibility of pollution incidents resulting from personnel and equipment failures, natural calamities and casualties, such as tanker collisions or groundings, and the adverse effects of those pollution incidents which occur. These facilities, systems, and equipment, should be designed to permit safe operation. including appropriate safety margins, under maximum operating loads and the most adverse operating conditions to which each may be subjected.

b. All facilities should be provided with a safe, environmentally sound method for the collection, storage, and disposal of solid and liquid wastes generated by such facilities. When prescribed by law or regulation, the deepwater port may be required to be fitted with additional facilities for the collection and treatment of ship-generated liquid and solid wastes, such as oily bilge and oily ballast water, tank cleaning residues, sludge wastes, and sewage and garbage.

c. The proposed project should be designed, constructed and operated so as not to interfere permanently with natural littoral processes or other significant aspects of currents and wave patterns. Additionally, harmful erosion or accretion, both onshore and offshore, should be prevented. Groundwater drawdown or saltwater intrusion should not be permitted. Moreover, mixing of salt, brackish, and fresh waters should be minimized. Designs should not include factors which will disrupt natural sheetflow, water flow, and drainage patterns or systems.

d. The proposed project should not interfere with biotic populations. Potential effects on breeding habitats or migration routes should receive particular attention.

e. The proposed project should be designed, constructed and operated so as to make maximum feasible use of already existing local facilities such as roads, pipelines, docking facilities and communications facilities.

f. Disposal of spoil and refuse material should be effected only at disposal sites specifically selected and approved by competent authorities. Whenever and wherever possible, the proposal should provide for resource recovery, reclamation of affected areas, or enhancing uses of spoil and waste.

g. Personnel trained in oil spill prevention should be present at critical points at the deepwater port (as identified in the accident analysis). Personnel should also be trained in oil spill control to mitigate the effects of any spill which may occur.

3. Land Use and Coastal Zone Management-A deepwater port should not conflict with existing or planned land use including management of the coastal region. A measure of whether or not conflict exists will be made by the following means:

a. The proposed project should adhere closely to approved master plans or other plans of competent local or State authorities in designated adjacent coastal States or in other States where significant effects are likely to occur. A minimum of special exceptions or zoning variances should be required. Non-conforming uses should not be prolonged where reasonable alternatives are available.

b. The proposed project should conform with approved or planned coastal zone management programs of the relevant adjacent coastal States.

c. The proposed use of floodplains should not entail loss of wetlands nor should such use pose an undue risk of exposure of that use to flood damage, increase the potential need for Federal expenditures for flood protection or flood disaster relief, decrease the unique public value of the floodplain as an = environmental resource, or provide an incentive for other uses of the floodplains having similar ultimate results.

(d) The use of or effect on wetlands should be considered in the following manner,

i. uses permanently altering or adversely affecting wetlands are to be avoided, or

ii. positive action must be taken to minimize adverse effects on wetlands.

ANNEX A

1. The following environmental criteria are expressly referred to in the Deepwater Port Act of 1974:

a. Compliance with the Clean Air Act (4(c)(6)).

b. Compliance with the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (4(c)(6)).

c. Compliance with the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act (4(c)(6)).

d. Effect on the marine environment (6(a)(1)).

e. Effect on oceanographic currents and wave patterns (6(a)(2)).

f. Effect on alternate uses of the oceans and navigable water, such as scientific study, fishing, and exploitation of other living and nonliving resources (6(a)(3)).

g. The potential dangers to a deepwater port from waves, wind, weather and geological conditions, and the steps which can be taken to protect against or minimize such dangers (6(a)(4)).

h. Effects of land-based developments related to deepwater port development (6(a)(5)).

i. Effect on human health and welfare (6(a)(6)).

j. Consistency with adjacent coastal States' programs relating to environmental protection, land and water use, and coastal zone management (9(b)).

k. Development of an approved coastal zone management program pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 in the area to be directly and primarily impacted by deepwater port land and water development in the coastal zone of that State directly connected by pipeline to the proposed deepwater port (9(c)).

1. Pursuant to section 102(c)(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act, prepare a single, detailed environmental impact statement for each application area (5(f)).

[CGD 75-002, 40 FR 52553, Nov. 10, 1975; 40 FR 58143, Dec. 15, 1975]

PART 149-DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, AND EQUIPMENT

80-110 0-81--45

§ 149.203 Enginering drawings and specifications.

(a) The licensee of a deepwater port must submit to the Commandant (GW) three copies of each construction drawing and specification necessary to show compliance with the requirements of the Act and the regulations in this subchapter, a list of all drawings, and each revision to a construction drawing and specification of each: (1) Fixed marine component; and (2) Floating marine component. (b) Each construction drawing and specification, and each revision required to be submitted by paragraph (a) of this section must bear the seal, or a facsimile imprint of the seal of the registered professional engineer responsible for the accuracy and adequacy thereof.

(c) The Coast Guard reviews and evaluates construction drawings and specifications to ensure compliance with the Act and Subchapter NN. The licensee of a deepwater port may not begin construction, or installation of prefabricated components, until the applicable drawings and specifications

are approved by the Commandant (GW). The Coast Guard makes periodic inspections at the construction site and at component construction sites to ensure compliance with approved drawings and specifications. As used in this paragraph, the term "approved" means that each drawing or specification meets the requirements of the Act and the regulations in this subchapter.

(d) When construction or installation of each component is complete, the licensee of a deepwater port must submit two complete sets of record drawings and specifications on 105 mm negatives to the Commandant (G-W). Each negative must be:

(1) Placed in a separate envelope, and

(2) Identified and indexed.

§ 149.205 Design standards.

(a) Each fixed marine and floating component of a deepwater port, except hoses, mooring lines, and aids to navigation buoys, must be designed to withstand at least the combined wind, wave, and current forces of the most severe storm that can be expected to occur in any period of 100 years at the port.

NOTE: "Recommended Procedure for Developing Deepwater Ports Design Criteria" describes a method to prepare the wind, wave, and current criteria for use in determining the forces of the storm described by this paragraph. This guide may be obtained from the Commandant (G-W).

(b) Each platform must be designed in accordance with the American Petroleum Institute "Recommended Practice for Planning, Designing, and Constructing Fixed Offshore Platforms" (API RP 2A), and the codes and standards in API RP 2A, to the extent that the recommended practice, codes, and standards are consistent with this subchapter.

(c) Each electrical installation on a platform must be designed, to the extent practicable, in accordance with 46 CFR 110-113.

(d) Each boiler and pressure vessel on a platform must be designed in accordance with Sections I, IV, and VIII of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers "ASME Boiler and Pressure