[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 6, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 672-673]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-136]


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DEPARMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent To Conduct Restoration Planning, Regarding Point 
Reyes Tarball Incident, Marin County, California, Pursuant to 15 CFR 
990.44

    Incident: Oiling of birds and shoreline at and near Point Reyes 
National Seashore, November 16, 1997--February 20, 1998.
    Agencies: The natural resources trustees (Trustees) for this 
Incident are the United States Department of the Interior (DOI), acting 
through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the National Park 
Service (NPS); the U.S. Department of Commerce, acting through the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and the State 
of California, acting through the California Department of Fish and 
Game's (CDFG) Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR). DOI, 
NOAA, and the State of California are natural resource trustees 
pursuant to the National Contingency Plan, 40 CFR 330.600 and 300.605 
and Executive Order 12777. The CDFG is the trustee for fish, wildlife, 
and their habitat pursuant to California Fish and Game Code Sections 
711.7 and 1802 and a delegation from the Governor. The NPS is acting as 
the Federal Lead Administrative Trustee (FLAT).

Summary of Facts and Authority

    Between November 16, 1997 and February 20, 1998 oil, in the form of 
many large tarballs, and approximately 2,900 oiled seabirds washed on 
to the beaches of Pt. Reyes National Seashore and other beaches to the 
north and south (the ``Incident''). State and federal agencies 
responded to this oil spill but a source of the oil was not identified 
at the time. Analyses of the oil suggested that it came from more than 
one vessel or other source.
    After the Incident, the Trustees initiated a number of 
preassessment data collection activities. The data has been assembled 
and analyzed in a report titled, ``Impacts to Natural Resources from 
the Point Reyes Tarball Incident, 1997-1998: Final Report of NRD 
Initiation'', which discusses information concerning injuries to 
seabirds and to other natural resources.
    Pursuant to section 1006 of the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), 33 U.S.C. 
2701 et seq., federal and state trustees for natural resources are 
authorized to assess natural resource damages resulting from oil spills 
into navigable waters and to develop and implement a plan for 
restoration of such injured resources. The Natural Resource Damage 
Assessment Regulations under OPA, 15 CFR part 990 (the ``NRDA 
regulations''), provide that trustees are to prepare a Notice of Intent 
to Conduct Restoration Planning if they determine certain conditions 
have been met and if they decide to quantify the injuries to natural 
resources and to develop a plan to restore them.
    This Notice is to announce, pursuant to Sec.  990.44 of the NRDA 
regulations, that the Trustees, having collected and analyzed data, 
intend to proceed with restoration planning actions to address injuries 
to natural resources resulting from the Incident. The purpose of this 
restoration planning effort is to further evaluate injuries to natural 
resources and services and to use that information to determine the 
need for and type and scale of restoration actions.

Related Events

    On November 23, 2001, oiled seabirds and tarballs began washing 
ashore primarily along the San Mateo County coastline. Chemical 
analyses of oiled bird feathers were conducted and compared to known 
oil samples in an attempt to identify the source of the oil. Analyses 
of oil from the feathers collected between November 25, 2001 and 
January 4, 2002 matched many of the historical samples taken from 
oiling events in the general San Francisco Bay area which had occurred 
in 1992-93, 1997-98 (this Incident), 1999, and February 2001, and for 
which a source had not previously been determined (often referred to as 
``mystery spills'').
    Subsequent to the 2001-02 oiling event, oil samples were obtained 
from a sunken vessel, the S.S. Jacob Luckenbach, which had been resting 
in 175 feet of water off the San Mateo coast since its sinking in 1954. 
These Luckenbach oil samples matched many of the oil samples from the 
Incident and

[[Page 673]]

from the other mystery spills. These other mystery spills impacted 
similar species in the same area as the Incident. Consequently, the 
Trustees now consider all of these incidents to be related. While the 
injury assessment of these spills has been separate, the Trustees plan 
to prepare a single draft Restoration Plan to address the natural 
resource injuries from all of them.

Trustees' Determinations of Jurisdiction and to Conduct Restoration 
Planning

    The Trustees have made the following determinations pursuant to 15 
CFR 990.41 and 990.42.
    1. Beginning on or about November 16, 1997, at Point Reyes National 
Seashore, Marin County, California, petroleum tarballs began washing 
ashore near Drakes Beach, Limantour Beach, Bolinas, and other beaches. 
These occurrences constituted an ``Incident'' within the meaning of 15 
CFR 990.30. The Incident is also a spill or discharge as defined at 
California Government Code 8670.49
    2. The Incident was not permitted under a permit issued under 
federal, state, or local law: was not from a public vessel; and was not 
from an offshore facility subject to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline 
Authority Act, 43 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.
    3. Oil discharged during the Incident adversely affected marine 
habitats and seabirds. Consequently, natural resources under the 
trusteeship of the Trustees have been injured as a result of the 
Incident.
    4. Response actions did not adequately address the injuries 
resulting from the Incident.
    5. Feasible primary and/or compensatory restoration actions exist 
to address the resource injuries. The Trustees will be considering 
restoration projects that are feasible to implement, focusing on 
projects that benefit seabirds.
    6. As a result of the foregoing determinations, the Trustees have 
concluded that there is jurisdiction to pursue restoration under the 
Federal Oil Pollution Act (OPA), 33 U.S.C. 2702 and 2706, and under 
California's Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response 
Act, Government Code Sections 8670.1 et seq.

Administrative Record

    The Trustees have opened an Administrative Record (Record) in 
compliance with 15 CFR 990.45. The Record includes documents relied 
upon by the Trustees during the assessment performed in conjunction 
with the incident.
    A copy of the Record is located at the Gulf of the Farallones 
National Marine Sanctuary, Ft. Mason, Building 201, San Francisco, CA 
94123. Arrangements may be made to review it by contacting Jan Roletto 
at that address or by calling her at 415-561-6622.
    A copy of the Record is also located at California's Department of 
Fish & Game's Office of Spill Prevention and Response, 1700 K Street, 
Suite 250, Sacramento, CA 95814. Arrangements may be made to review it 
by contacting Dr. Steve Hampton at that address or by calling him at 
916-323-4724.

Public Involvement

    Pursuant to 15 CFR 990.14(d), the Trustees seek public involvement 
in restoration planning for this Incident through public review of, and 
comment on, documents contained in the Administrative Record, as well 
as on a draft Restoration Plan (``RP''), when it has been prepared. The 
Trustees presently intend to prepare, and seek public comment on, a 
comprehensive draft RP which addresses the natural resource injuries 
resulting from this Incident, from the Luckenbach discharges, and from 
the other mystery spills described above.

    Dated: October 2, 2003.
Michael A. Soukup,
Associate Director, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science.
[FR Doc. 04-136 Filed 1-5-04; 8:45 am]
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