[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 110 (Monday, June 9, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34383-34385]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-14400]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Public Meeting for the Louisiana Regional Restoration Planning 
Program/Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings for the Louisiana Regional 
Restoration Planning Program/Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement (DPEIS)

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[[Page 34384]]

SUMMARY: Pursuant to 15 CFR 990.23 & 990.56, notice is hereby given 
that two public meetings will be held to provide an opportunity for 
public comment and input on the ``Louisiana Regional Restoration 
Planning Program/Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, May 
2003.'' Notice of the availability of this DPEIS was published in the 
Federal Register on May 9, 2003 and the comment period ends on July 9, 
2003. This document was prepared by the state and Federal natural 
resource trustee agencies (National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA), Commerce; United States Department of the 
Interior; Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office; Louisiana 
Department of Environmental Quality; Louisiana Department of Natural 
Resources; and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries) to 
address natural resource damages in the State of Louisiana caused by 
discharges of oil, which are actionable under the Oil Pollution Act of 
1990 (OPA), 33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq. Pursuant to OPA, the above natural 
resource trustee agencies may claim damages from responsible parties to 
restore, rehabilitate, replace or acquire the equivalent of natural 
resources and services injured by oil spill incidents. The purpose of 
the Louisiana Regional Restoration Planning Program is to develop an 
institutional framework and procedures that will enable the trustees to 
select and implement projects that restore for losses of natural 
resources and services from unauthorized discharges of oil in a 
consistent and predictable manner. As part of the implementation of the 
Louisiana Regional Restoration Planning Program, nine Regional 
Restoration Plans will be developed. Each Regional Restoration Plan 
will identify existing, planned, or proposed projects that may provide 
appropriate restoration alternatives for natural resources injured by 
oil spill incidents and thereby enhance resolution of claims for 
natural resource damages caused by oil spill incidents in a more 
expeditious and cost-effective manner.

Dates/Location:
    Two public meetings to receive public comments on the ``Louisiana 
Regional Restoration Planning Program/Draft Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement, May 2003'' will be held on Monday, June 23, 2003. The 
daytime meeting is scheduled at 2 PM and the evening meeting is 
scheduled at 6:30 PM.
    Both meetings will be held at the following location: Conservation 
and Mineral Board Resources Hearing Room, 1st floor--LaBelle Room, 
Department of Natural Resources, LaSalle Office Building, 617 N. 3rd 
Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the ``Louisiana Regional Restoration 
Planning Program/Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, May 
2003'' should be sent to William Conner, Chief , NOAA/Damage Assessment 
Center, 1305 East-West Highway, SSMC 4, 10th floor, Silver 
Spring, MD, 20910, at (301) 713-3038 ext. 190 or 
[email protected]. Written comments on the program should be sent 
to NOAA to the person listed above or faxed to: (301) 713-4387. A copy 
of comments should also be sent to: NEPA Coordinator, NOAA/SP, Room 
6121, 14th and Constitution, NW., Washington DC 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, contact 
William Conner at (301) 713-3038 ext. 190, or at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Traditionally, Louisiana's economy has been 
based on the state's vast natural resources. Both renewable (hunting, 
fishing, forest products) and nonrenewable (cultural, oil, natural gas) 
resources are important, and the industries associated with each have 
coexisted for years. Although Louisiana's oil and gas industry tries to 
avoid adverse impacts on renewable natural resources, injuries do occur 
as a result of oil spill incidents. The cumulative impact of these 
incidents on fish, wildlife and the environment can be significant and 
adversely affect the industries and communities depending on natural 
resources for commerce and recreation.
    Federal and state natural resource trustees are developing the 
first statewide comprehensive Regional Restoration Planning Program to 
assist the natural resource trustees in carrying out their 
responsibilities to restore the natural resources that have been 
injured by oil spill incidents. The goal of this planning effort is to 
establish a statewide program that will: expedite and reduce the cost 
of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process; increase 
predictability by describing in detail the NRDA process; and increase 
restoration of lost natural resources and services by expediting 
resolution of claims.
    The state and federal trustees have identified: the Louisiana 
Regional Restoration Planning Program structure; the decision-making 
process; the criteria that will be used to select the restoration 
project(s) that restore the natural resources injured by an incident; 
and several innovative settlement approaches that can expedite the NRDA 
process. The state is divided into nine regions. For each region, a 
regional plan will be developed that identifies: resources which could 
potentially be injured by incidents; appropriate restoration types to 
restore those resources; and available restoration projects for each of 
the restoration types.
    The Louisiana Regional Restoration Planning Program will benefit 
the public, industry, and natural resource trustees by:
    [sbull] Providing greater opportunities to restore injuries to 
trust resources caused by oil spill incidents;
    [sbull] Potentially reducing the cost and time required for 
restoration planning and implementation;
    [sbull] Pooling individual case recoveries to provide for 
implementation of larger, more ecologically significant restoration 
projects;
    [sbull] Providing for more consistency and predictability through 
detailing the NRDA process, thereby reducing uncertainty to the public 
and industry;
    [sbull] Improving coordination between restoration activities under 
the NRDA mandates and other restoration efforts in the State;
    [sbull] Enhancing trustee capability to restore resources/services 
injured by oil incidents for which there is no viable RP;
    [sbull] Maximizing opportunities for partnering among RPs, 
trustees, and other public and private restoration efforts; and
    [sbull] Increasing opportunity for public participation in the NRDA 
process through pre-incident planning.
    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce; United States Department of the Interior (DOI); Louisiana Oil 
Spill Coordinator's Office (LOSCO); Louisiana Department of 
Environmental Quality (LDEQ); Louisiana Department of Natural Resources 
(LDNR); and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) are 
natural resource trustees designated pursuant to 33 U.S.C. 2706(c), 
Executive Order 12777, and the National Contingency Plan, 40 CFR 
300.600 and 300.605. Pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 30:2460, the State of 
Louisiana Oil Spill Contingency Plan (September 1995) describes the 
state trust resources to include the following: Vegetated wetlands, 
surface waters, ground waters, air, soil, wildlife, aquatic life, and 
the appropriate habitats on which they depend. DOI has been designated 
as trustee for the natural resources that it manages or controls. 
Examples of those resources are described in the National Contingency 
Plan, 40 CFR 300.600(b)(2) and (3), include the following and their

[[Page 34385]]

supporting ecosystems: Migratory birds, anadromous fish, endangered 
species and marine mammals, federally owned minerals, certain federally 
managed water resources, and natural resources located on, over, or 
under land administered by DOI. NOAA's trust resources include, but are 
not limited to: Commercial and recreational fish species, anadromous 
and catadromous fish species, marshes and other coastal habitats, 
marine mammals, and endangered and threatened marine species.
    Pursuant to 15 CFR 990.56, the natural resource trustees are 
authorized to develop regional restoration plans as part of OPA's 
mandate for the trustees to restore, rehabilitate, replace, or acquire 
the equivalent of natural resources and services injured by oil spill 
incidents and to compensate for interim losses of such resources and 
services.
    In compliance with 15 CFR 990.45, the trustees have opened an 
Administrative Record (Record). The Record is maintained in the NOAA 
Damage Assessment Center, SSMC 4, 1305 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910-3281, and duplicate copies of the Record 
will be maintained in Baton Rouge at the Louisiana Oil Spill 
Coordinator's Office, Suite 405, 150 Third Street, Baton Rouge, LA, 
70801.
    The Record includes documents that the trustees relied upon during 
the development of the Louisiana Regional Restoration Planning Program 
and the DPEIS. Pursuant to 15 CFR 990.23 & 990.56, the trustees sought 
public involvement in developing the Louisiana Regional Restoration 
Planning Program and Regional Restoration Plans through public review 
and comment of the documents contained in the Record as well as through 
publication of a ``Public Review Document of the Louisiana Regional 
Restoration Planning Program''. Further opportunity for public review 
will become available when the Louisiana Regional Restoration Planning 
Program/Final Environmental Impact Statement is prepared. The Record 
and the above documents are also available at the following Web site: 
http://www.darp.noaa.gov/.

    Dated: June 3, 2003.
Jamison S. Hawkins,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone 
Management.
[FR Doc. 03-14400 Filed 6-6-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-JE-P