CURRENT STATUS:  The Corps is working with the EIS contractor to complete studies necessary for the integrated Regulatory and 408 Draft Environmental Impact Statement.  The delay in receiving the information from PCCA, which was requested in April 2020, and subsequent required sequential modeling has delayed the overall project schedule 12 months.

PRIMARY ISSUE(S):  The project’s purpose is to safely navigate fully laden VLCCs from Harbor Island to the Gulf of Mexico and reduce lightering requirements.  Based on two navigation studies and ship simulations submitted by the applicant, the proposed project does not meet the stated purpose of safely navigating full laden VLCCs except in limited sea conditions.  The previous studies were performed without properly calibrated and validated current velocities, utilized the wrong channel geometry, and employed undersized or lower horsepower tugs that prevented an accurate representation of controlling and handling vessel transit, maneuvering, and berthing.  Currently, the type of escort tug that has the necessary performance characteristics required to safely maneuver the proposed vessel does not exist in the world's tug fleet and the level of uncertainty regarding vessel/current interaction is significant.

BACKGROUND/CONTEXT:  This project was determined to be a covered project under Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41) and added to the Permitting Dashboard as of June 2019. PCCA proposes to deepen the Corpus Christi Ship Channel (CCSC), a federal project, to -81 feet MLLW to Harbor Island and extend the terminus an additional 29,000 feet into the Gulf of Mexico.  The dredging will generate 48 MCY of material requiring placement.  PCCA has requested use of the ocean dredged material disposal site (ODMDS) as well as several private and federal placement areas which may result in impacts to the federal project as well as special aquatic sites, such as wetlands and seagrass beds.