Air Permitting for Deepwater Port Act Projects in the South Central Region

Projects with air emission sources located offshore the state seaward boundaries of Louisiana and Texas are potentially subject to federal air quality requirements under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OSCLA) or the Deepwater Port Act of 1974.

The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Air Regulations, found at 40 CFR part 55, establishes the applicable air pollution control requirements, including provisions related to permitting, monitoring, reporting, fees, compliance, and enforcement, for facilities subject to the Clean Air Act (CAA) section 328. These regulations apply to Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) sources located in the Gulf of Mexico. For OCS sources west of 87.5° longitude (i.e., offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama) and locating beyond the state seaward boundary in the Gulf of Mexico, the OCS source is subject to Federal air quality requirements and will likely need an OCS permit issued by Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (DOI-BOEM) and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (DOI-BSEE).

The Deepwater Port Act of 1974 establishes a license process that is administered by the U.S. Coast Guard and delegated to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), which issues the actual deepwater port license. EPA Region 6 is involved in the licensing and environmental review process for Deepwater Port (DWP) projects located in the Federal waters offshore Texas and Louisiana. EPA Region 6 is also responsible for the issuance of air permits for projects offshore in Federal waters based on the CAA and the air regulations that would otherwise be applicable to the nearest adjacent coastal state, as long as the state or local requirements are applicable and not inconsistent with federal law and the Deepwater Port Act. Under the Deepwater Port Act, projects locating beyond 9 nautical miles from the Louisiana shoreline or 3 nautical miles from the Texas shoreline will need an EPA Region 6 issued CAA preconstruction and operating permit.

Permitting requirements vary on a project-by-project basis. For this reason, not all projects apply for the same permits or are subject to the same requirements. EPA strongly recommends that potential applicants contact or meet with EPA to determine what requirements apply and to discuss what should be included in an EPA permit application. Please contact the EPA Air Permits Section Supervisor at kaleri.cynthia@epa.gov for more information on the DWP permitting projects currently being processed by EPA Region 6.

Projects Currently active in EPA Region 6

SPOT Terminal Services LLC, SPOT Deepwater Port (DWP): The proposed crude oil export DWP will be located 35 miles off the coast of Brazoria County, Texas. CAA permits issued by EPA Region 6 on August 30, 2023, include both a Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) pre-construction permit and a title V (TV) operating Permit. See Docket EPA-R06-OAR-2019-0576 at www.regulations.gov for full details. Find additional modeling files for the project here: https://www.epa.gov/caa-permitting/spot-dwp-project-prevention-significant-deterioration-psd-permit

Texas GulfLink (TGL) DWP: Synthetic Minor New Source Review (NSR) permit application in-house being processed; the proposed crude oil export DWP will be located 28 miles offshore of Freeport, Texas.

Blue Marlin Offshore Port (BMOP) DWP: PSD and TV permit applications in-house and being processed; the proposed crude oil export DWP will be located 82 statute miles off the coast of Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

Bluewater Texas Terminals, LLC (BWTX) DWP: Synthetic Minor NSR permit application in-house being processed; the proposed crude oil export DWP will be located approximately 18 miles offshore of Port Aransas, Texas.

New Fortress Energy Louisiana FLNG LLC (NF FLNG) DWP: PSD and TV permit applications in house and being processed; the proposed Floating Liquified Natural Gas (FLNG) export DWP will be located approximately 16 nautical miles off the southeast coast of Grand Isle, Louisiana.

Additional Guidance References:

Air Permitting for Deepwater Port Act Projects in the South Central Region

Region 6 CAA Permitting Focus

National Supporting Resources

Air Permitting Policy & Guidance