[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 6, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 673-675]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-137]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning, S.S. Jacob Luckenbach, 
San Francisco, CA

AGENCIES: The National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and 
the Bureau of Land Management, of U.S. Department of the Interior; 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of 
Commerce; State of California Department of Fish and Game, Office of 
Spill Prevention and Response.

ACTION: Notice of intent to conduct restoration planning.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 1006 of the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), 33 
U.S.C. 2701 et seq., designated Federal and State trustees for natural 
resources are authorized to assess natural resource damages resulting 
from oil spills into navigable waters and develop and implement a plan 
for restoration. The Federal and State trustees for natural resources 
for this incident include the United States Department of the Interior 
(DOI), acting through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on 
behalf of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Park 
Service (NPS); the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), acting through 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and the 
California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), acting through its 
Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) (hereafter collectively 
referred to as ``the natural resource trustees'' or ``the trustees''). 
Section 990.44 of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (``NRDA'') 
Regulations under OPA, 15 CFR part 990, provides for the natural 
resource trustees to prepare a notice of intent to conduct restoration 
planning if certain requirements are met and they decide to proceed 
with a natural resource damage assessment.
    Pursuant to section 990.44 of the OPA-NRDA Regulations, the natural 
resource trustees announce their intent to proceed with restoration 
planning actions to address injuries to natural resources along the 
central California coastal area caused by the chronic discharge of oil 
from the incident. The purpose of this restoration planning effort is 
to further evaluate injuries to natural resources and services and use 
that information to determine the need for and type and scale of 
restoration actions.
    Since the incident, the trustees' have initiated a number of 
preassessment data collection activities. The data demonstrate that 
natural resource injuries to seabirds and wildlife, and other natural 
resources have occurred. The trustees have implemented or are 
developing studies to assess the extent of these injuries.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Haas, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 2800 Cottage Way, W-2605, Sacramento, California 95825. (916) 
414-9740.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 14, 1953, the S.S. Jacob Luckenbach, 
owned by the Luckenbach Steamship Company, sank as a result of a 
collision with the S.S. Hawaiian Pilot, owned by the Matson Navigation 
Company. The Luckenbach is a 468-foot freight ship that sank 
approximately 17 miles southwest of the Golden Gate Bridge. The vessel 
now rests in 175 feet of water in the Gulf of the Farallones National 
Marine Sanctuary.
    On November 23, 2001, oiled seabirds and tarballs began washing 
ashore primarily along the San Mateo County coastline. The U.S. Coast 
Guard and California Department of Fish and Game

[[Page 674]]

responded to the incident by implementing beach surveys to recover 
oiled birds and activating the oiled wildlife care network. 
Concurrently, chemical analyses of oiled feathers were conducted and 
compared to known oil samples in an attempt to identify the source of 
the oil. Samples of oil from feathers collected from November 25, 2001, 
through January 4, 2002, matched historical samples taken from similar 
mystery incidents in 1992-93, 1997-98 (also referred to as the Point 
Reyes tarball incident), 1999, and February 2001. Those samples were, 
in turn, matched to oil samples from the S.S. Jacob Luckenbach.
    The U.S. Coast Guard's Marine Safety Office San Francisco Bay, the 
California Department of Fish and Game Office of Spill Prevention and 
Response (OSPR) and Titan Maritime, Inc. have completed oil removal 
operations from the Luckenbach. Several representatives from the 
trustee agencies formed a task force to advise the responders 
concerning the resources that were at risk from the proposed salvage 
operations.
    The Federal trustees for this incident are the United States 
Department of the Interior (DOI), including the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM), the National Park Service (NPS), and the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service (FWS); the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), 
acting through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA). The Federal trustees are designated pursuant to the National 
Contingency Plan (40 CFR 300.600 and 300.605). The State trustee for 
this incident is the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) 
acting through its Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) under 
California's Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response 
Act, Government Code sections 8670.1 et seq.
    The U.S. Coast Guard National Pollution Funds Center (NPFC) 
approved a funding request submitted by the trustees to initiate 
natural resource damage assessment activities for the incident. The 
trustees' initiation activities focused on the elements necessary to 
make a determination to conduct restoration planning and establish an 
administrative record. In addition, ephemeral data collection was 
implemented to evaluate the completeness of beach survey forms and 
monitor post-breeding movements of the Santa Cruz Mountains population 
of the endangered marbled murrelet, a seabird that breeds in old growth 
forests along the Pacific coast. Because the trustees are still 
analyzing the results of these studies, the information is not yet 
available. However, the trustees have sufficient information to make a 
determination to conduct restoration planning.
    Administrative Record: The trustees have opened an administrative 
record (record) in compliance with 15 CFR 990.45. The record will 
include documents relied upon by the trustees during the assessment 
performed in conjunction with the incident.
    The record is located at California's Department of Fish & Games 
Office of Spill Prevention and Response, 1700 K Street, Suite 250, 
Sacramento, CA 95814. Arrangements may be made to review the record by 
contacting Dr. Steve Hampton at California's Department of Fish & Games 
Office of Spill Prevention and Response, 1700 K Street, Suite 250, 
Sacramento, CA 95814 or by calling him at 916-323-4724.
    A copy of the record is also 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.

Trustees' Determinations of Jurisdiction

    The trustees have made the following determinations pursuant to 15 
CFR 990.41 and 990.42.
    1. Beginning on or about November 23, 2001, oiled sea birds began 
washing ashore primarily along the San Mateo County coastline. This 
occurrence resulted from the discharge of oil from the sunken vessel, 
the S.S. Jacob Luckenbach. This discharge was an incident as defined at 
15 CFR 990.30. In addition, oil samples from the Luckenbach match oil 
samples collected during oil spill events in the San Francisco Bay area 
in 1992-93, 1997-98 (sometimes referred to as the Point Reyes tarball 
incident) and two smaller events in 1999 and 2001, and for which a 
source had not previously been identified.
    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 affected marine habitats, 
wildlife, and human uses in the area. Consequently, natural resources 
under the trusteeship of the trustees have been injured as a result of 
the incident.
    4. As a result of the foregoing determinations, the trustees have 
jurisdiction to pursue restoration under the Federal Oil Pollution Act 
(OPA), 33 U.S.C. 2701-2761, and California's Lempert-Keene-Seastrand 
Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act, Government Code sections 8670.1 
et seq.

Trustees' Determination To Conduct Restoration Activities

    For reasons discussed below, the trustees have made the 
determinations required by 15 CFR 990.42(a) and are proceeding with 
restoration planning to develop restoration alternatives that will 
restore, rehabilitate, or acquire the equivalent of natural resources 
injured and/or natural resource services lost as a result of this 
incident.
    1. Injuries have resulted from this incident. Data collected and 
analyzed pursuant to 15 CFR 990.43 demonstrate that injuries to natural 
resources are likely to have resulted from the incident, including, but 
not limited to sea birds and wildlife.
    2. Response actions have not adequately addressed the injuries 
resulting from the incident. Although response actions were initiated 
promptly and conducted appropriately, the nature of discharge and the 
sensitivity of the environment precluded prevention of injuries to some 
natural resources.
    3. Feasible primary and/or compensatory restoration actions exist 
to address the potential injuries. The trustees will be considering 
restoration projects that are feasible to implement. The trustees will 
be considering restoration projects that are feasible to implement, 
focusing on projects that benefit seabirds.
    Based on the above findings, the trustees hereby determine that 
they have jurisdiction to pursue restoration pursuant to the Oil 
Pollution Act, 33 U.S.C. 2702 and 2706 and California's Lempert-Keene-
Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act, Government Code 
sections 8670.1 et seq.
    The public will be given an opportunity for public review and 
comment on documents contained in the administrative record and on the 
draft RP/EA when it has been prepared. The trustees intend to prepare, 
and seek public comment on, a comprehensive draft RP/EA which addresses 
the natural resource injuries resulting from this incident, from the 
Point Reyes tarball incident, and from the other mystery spills 
described above. The trustees will notify the public when the draft RP/
EA is released.


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    Dated: October 30, 2003.
Abigal Miller,
Deputy Associate Director, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science.
[FR Doc. 04-137 Filed 1-5-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P