Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez Monday closed the decision record on AES Sparrow Point’s consistency appeal under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), according to a notice published in the Federal Register.

Gutierrez has 60 days from the notice to decide whether or not to override Maryland’s objection to the federal consistency certification for AES Corp.’s Sparrows Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal proposed for Baltimore County, MD. The Maryland Department of the Environment last July denied the Arlington, VA-based developer’s request for a finding that the project is consistent with the state’s coastal management program (see Daily GPI, July 18, 2007). AES in September 2007 appealed to the Commerce Department to override that decision (see Daily GPI, Sept. 13, 2007).

Gutierrez can extend the 60-day deadline by 15 days by publishing a subsequent notice in the Federal Register. He can override Maryland’s objection if he determines that the Sparrows Point LNG project is consistent with the objectives of the CZMA or it is in the interest of national security.

The Sparrows Point project, if constructed, would have about 1.5 Bcf/d of regasification capacity with a potential for expansion to 2.25 Bcf/d. Regasified LNG would be delivered to regional markets via the Mid-Atlantic Express pipeline, an 87-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline that would extend from the terminal to connections with interstate pipelines at Eagle, PA.

The project, including three LNG storage tanks, would be located on 80 acres within the existing Sparrows Point Industrial Complex in Baltimore County. The site was previously owned by Bethlehem Steel and housed a steel manufacturing and shipbuilding facility.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in February said it could act on the application for the controversial LNG terminal project by the end of the year (see Daily GPI, Feb. 8). The AES application has been pending at the Commission since January 2007.

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