[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 93 (Friday, May 12, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30565-30566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-11512]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site, Point Comfort, TX: 
Notice of Availability and Request for Comments on a Revised Draft 
Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment for 
Recreational Fishing Service Losses

AGENCIES: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce; United States Department of the Interior (DOI); Texas Parks 
and Wildlife Department (TPWD); Texas General Land Office (TGLO); and 
Texas Natural Resources and Conservation Commission (TNRCC).

ACTION: Notice of availability of a Revised Draft Damage Assessment and 
Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for recreational fishing 
service losses associated with the Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay 
National Priorities List (NPL) Site, and of a 30-day period for public 
comment on the plan beginning May 12, 2000.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to 43 CFR Sections 11.32 and 11.81--.82, notice is 
hereby given that a document entitled, ``Revised Draft Damage 
Assessment and Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for the 
Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site Recreational Fishing Service Losses'' 
(Revised Draft DARP/EA) is available for public review and comment. 
This document describes revisions to the Draft Damage Assessment and 
Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (Draft DARP/EA), which 
was released for public review and comment on September 28, 1999. The 
Draft DARP/EA described the assessment of recreational fishing service 
losses attributable to hazardous substances released from the Alcoa 
Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site (`Lavaca Bay Site' or `Site') and the 
restoration actions preferred to compensate for those losses. As a 
result of the public comments received on the Draft DARP/EA, the 
restoration alternatives identified to compensate for such losses have 
been revised. The Revised Draft DARP/EA summarizes these public 
comments and identifies changes to the restoration plan that were 
determined to be necessary in light of the comments and other 
information received. The Revised Draft DARP/EA is being released to 
allow public comment on the revised restoration alternatives now 
proposed for inclusion in the Final DARP/EA for the recreational 
fishing service losses.

DATES: Comments on the Revised Draft DARP/EA must be submitted in 
writing on or before June 12, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the Revised Draft DARP/EA should be 
sent to Richard Seiler of TNRCC, MC142, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, TX 
78711-3087 or Tony Penn of NOAA, 1305 East West Highway, Station 10218, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910. Written comments on the plan should be sent 
either to Richard Seiler of TNRCC or Tony Penn of NOAA at the addresses 
listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay NPL Site 
is located in Point Comfort, Calhoun County, Texas and encompasses 
releases of hazardous substances from Alcoa's Point Comfort Operations 
facility. Between 1948 and the present, Alcoa constructed and operated 
several types of manufacturing processes at this facility, including 
aluminum smelting, carbon paste and briquette manufacturing, gas 
processing, chlor-alkali processing, and alumina refining. Past 
operations at the facility resulted in the release of hazardous 
substances into the environment, including the discharge of mercury-
containing wastewater into Lavaca Bay from 1966 to 1970 and releases of 
mercury into the bay through groundwater. In April 1988, the Texas 
Department of Health (TDH) issued a ``closure order'' prohibiting the 
taking of finfish and crabs for consumption from a specific area near 
the facility due to elevated mercury concentrations in these resources.
    The Alcoa Point Comfort/Lavaca Bay Site was added to the NPL, 
pursuant to Section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9601, effective on 
March 25, 1994 (59 FR 8724; February 23, 1994). The Site was listed 
primarily due to the presence of mercury in several species of fish and 
crab in Lavaca Bay, the fishing closure imposed by TDH, and the 
presence of mercury and other hazardous substances in bay sediments 
adjacent to the facility. Alcoa, the State of Texas and the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed an Administrative Order on 
Consent (AOC) under CERCLA in March 1994 providing for the conduct of a 
remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) for the Site.
    NOAA, DOI, TPWD, TGLO and TNRCC (collectively, the Trustees) are 
designated natural resource trustees under Section 107(f) of CERCLA, 
Section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution and Control Act (FWPCA), 33 
U.S.C. Section 1321, and other applicable federal or state laws, 
including Subpart G of the National Oil

[[Page 30566]]

and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR 
Sections 300.600--300.615. The Trustees are authorized to act on behalf 
of the public under these authorities to protect and restore natural 
resources and resource services injured or lost as a result of 
discharges or releases of hazardous substances.
    Paralleling the RI/FS process for the Site, the Trustees have 
undertaken an assessment of the natural resource injuries and service 
losses resulting from releases of hazardous substances attributable to 
the Site and of the restoration actions necessary to address those 
losses. This assessment process has been aided and supported by Alcoa's 
cooperation pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement between Alcoa and the 
Trustees, which was effective January 14, 1997. Both the Draft DARP/EA 
and the Revised Draft DARP/EA have been developed under the cooperative 
assessment framework outlined in the MOA.
    The Draft DARP/EA was released for public review on September 28, 
1999. That document described the assessment procedures used to define 
the recreational fishing service losses, including to scale restoration 
actions, and identified the restoration actions preferred to compensate 
for those service losses, based on the benefits of restoration to both 
pier/shore-mode and boat-mode anglers. None of the public comments 
received on the Draft DARP/EA raised any issue regarding the assessment 
methodology described therein or the restoration actions proposed to 
compensate for pier/shore-mode fishing losses. As such, these plan 
elements will be included in the Final DARP/EA. Significant public 
comments were received, however, relating to the restoration action 
proposed in the Draft DARP/EA to address the boat-mode fishing losses 
and, based upon these comments, the Trustees found it necessary to 
revise that portion of the plan. The Revised Draft DARP/EA summarizes 
the public comments received, identifies the revised, preferred 
restoration alternatives to address the remainder of the recreational 
fishing service losses, and explains the basis and rationale for that 
change. The Revised Draft DARP/EA is being released to allow for public 
review and comment on the preferred restoration alternatives now 
identified to restore or replace the remainder of the recreational 
fishing services needed to compensate the public for recreational 
fishing losses due to the closure.
    The Revised Draft DARP/EA does not address any other natural 
resource injuries or service losses that may be attributable to the 
Site. Other resource injuries or losses are being considered by the 
Trustees but will be addressed in one or more subsequent damage 
assessment and restoration plans.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact: 
Richard Seiler at (512) 239-2523, email: [email protected] or 
Tony Penn, at (301) 713-3038 x197, email: [email protected]

    Dated: May 3, 2000.
Captain Ted I. Lillestolen,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone 
Management.
[FR Doc. 00-11512 Filed 5-11-00; 8:45 am]
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