[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 61 (Friday, March 30, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15150-15151]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5130]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


M/V Selendang Ayu Natural Resource Damage Assessment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to conduct restoration planning.

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SUMMARY: On December 8, 2004, the shipping vessel M/V Selendang Ayu ran 
aground and broke apart between Skan Bay and Spray Cape on Unalaska 
Island, in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. The vessel was carrying 
approximately 446,280 gallons of Intermediate Fuel Oil 380 (IFO) and 
21,058 gallons of Marine Diesel Oil (MDO). Although a portion of the 
oils were eventually removed from the vessel, 339,538 gallons of the 
IFO 380 and 14,680 gallons of marine diesel were discharged into the 
environment over time. This Notice of Intent to Conduct Restoration 
Planning (Notice), issued pursuant to 15 CFR 990.44, pertains to the 
discharge of oil from the M/V Selendang Ayu described above (the 
Incident). The Unified Command for the Incident undertook response 
activities to clean up the discharged oil.
    Under section 1006(b) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), 33 
U.S.C. 2706(b), the President has designated the Secretary of the U.S. 
Department of the Interior (DOI), represented by the Regional Director 
of the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), Alaska Region, and the Secretary 
of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), represented by the National 
Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, as Federal trustees of natural 
resources for this Incident. The Governor of the State of Alaska has 
designated the Commissioners of the Alaska Departments of Fish & Game, 
Environmental Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Alaska 
Attorney General as State trustees of natural resources. The Federal 
and State trustees for the Incident will be referred to herein 
collectively as the Trustees.
    The Trustees have determined that they have jurisdiction to enter 
into the restoration planning phase of a Natural Resource Damage 
Assessment under OPA and its implementing regulations and that it is 
appropriate to do so. The purpose of this phase is to prepare a plan 
for the restoration, rehabilitation, replacement or acquisition of the 
equivalent of the natural resources and services injured, destroyed or 
lost as a result of the Incident.

ADDRESSES: Alaska Regional Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1011 
E. Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK 99503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenifer Kohout, (907) 786-3687 
(phone); [email protected] (e-mail).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: One of the goals of OPA is to make the 
environment and the public whole for injuries to natural resources and 
services resulting from an incident involving a discharge or 
substantial threat of a discharge of oil from a vessel into or upon 
navigable waters or adjoining shorelines. This goal is achieved through 
the return of the injured natural resources and services to baseline 
and the compensation for interim losses of such natural resources and 
services from the date of the incident until recovery.
    To facilitate achievement of this goal, the Trustees are 
responsible for assessing the damages to natural resources under their 
trusteeship that have resulted from the Incident, developing a plan for 
the restoration of these resources, and pursuing from the parties 
responsible for the Incident (Responsible Parties) funding for the 
implementation of this plan or the implementation of the plan by the 
Responsible Parties themselves. The Trustees are proceeding in 
accordance with the regulations for Natural Resource Damage Assessments 
at 15 CFR Part 990.
    The Responsible Parties include, but are not necessarily limited 
to, Ayu Navigation Sdn, Bhd, and IMC Shipping Pte, Ltd, which were the 
owner and the operator, respectively, of the M/V Selendang Ayu at the 
time of the Incident. The guarantor of financial responsibility for the 
liability of these Responsible Parties is Sveriges[Aring]ngfartygs 
Assurans F[ouml]rening (The Swedish Club).
    The Trustees have performed preassessment activities in connection 
with the Incident, including data collection and preliminary analysis. 
These activities included conducting shore and skiff-based surveys to 
collect information about potential impacts to birds, marine mammals, 
fish, intertidal and subtidal biota, and associated habitats; aerial 
coastal and pelagic surveys and counts to determine species at risk 
from the Incident; surveys of subtidal habitats; surveys of anadromous 
fish streams; and collecting and cataloging marine bird carcasses found 
on beaches following the Incident. To date, the Responsible Parties 
have cooperated with the Trustees in the performance and/or funding of 
certain response, cleanup and data collection activities.

Determination of Jurisdiction

    Under 15 CFR 990.41, the Federal and State natural resource 
trustees have determined that they have jurisdiction to pursue 
restoration under OPA and its implementing regulations, finding:
    a. The discharge of oil beginning on or about December 8, 2004 from 
the M/V Selendang Ayu into the Bering Sea, off the coast of Spray Cape 
on Unalaska Island, was an ``Incident'' as defined at 15 CFR 990.30.
    (1) The M/V Selendang Ayu, a ``Vessel'' as defined at 33 U.S.C. 
2701(37), discharged the entire quantity of oil involved in this 
Incident.
    (2) The M/V Selendang Ayu discharged oil into or upon navigable 
waters of the United States and adjoining shorelines, including federal 
and state waters adjacent to Unalaska Island, Alaska, the shoreline of 
Unalaska Island, and anadromous streams.
    b. The Trustees have also determined that:
    (1) This Incident was not permitted under Federal, State or local 
law;
    (2) The M/V Selendang Ayu is not a ``public vessel'' as defined at 
33 U.S.C. 2701(2), as the vessel was not owned or bareboat chartered 
and operated by the United States or a State or political subdivision 
thereof, or by a foreign nation; and
    (3) The discharge of oil did not occur from an onshore facility 
subject to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authority Act, 43 U.S.C. 1651, et 
seq.
    c. Based upon information gathered during the response, cleanup and 
preassessment phases, the Trustees have determined that, due to the 
amount and type of oil discharged, the known toxicity of the oil, the 
location of the discharge and the living and non-living natural 
resources and services in the

[[Page 15151]]

area at the time of the discharge (including but not limited to 
resident and anadromous fish, shellfish, riparian and upland 
vegetation, invertebrates, birds marine mammals and other wildlife, 
stream sediments and soils, water, and public and/or cultural uses), 
natural resources and natural resource services under Federal and State 
trusteeship have been or may have been injured as a result of the 
Incident.

Determination to Conduct Restoration Planning

    Under 15 CFR 990.42, the Federal and State natural resource 
trustees have determined to conduct restoration planning under OPA and 
its implementing regulations, finding:
    a. Based on data collected and analyzed under 15 CFR 990.43, 
injuries to natural resources and services have resulted or are likely 
to result from the Incident, including, but not necessarily limited to, 
injuries to waterfowl, seabirds, intertidal biota, marine mammals, 
terrestrial vegetation, subtidal resources, fish and shellfish and 
associated cultural uses.
    b. Response actions have not adequately addressed the injuries 
resulting from the Incident. Response efforts included, but were not 
limited to, attempting to boom sensitive fish streams; removing oil 
from the wreck; removing dead bird and sea otter carcasses; capturing, 
cleaning and rehabilitating live oiled birds; temporarily closing 
fisheries; sampling marine waters that might affect ongoing fisheries; 
recovering stranded oil on shorelines; performing manual and mechanical 
cleanup operations; and testing fish and invertebrates used for 
commercial and subsistence purposes. While these actions may have 
reduced the number and magnitude of future injuries, they did not 
adequately address the mortality and possible sublethal effects to 
natural resources and services injured from the Incident. Further, 
cleanup activities likely caused additional injuries to certain natural 
resources, including, but not necessarily limited to, terrestrial 
vegetation and intertidal biota.
    c. Feasible primary and/or compensatory restoration actions exist 
to address injuries from the Incident. Feasible restoration actions 
relevant to the injuries may include, but are not limited to:
    (1) Waste oil recovery at Dutch Harbor/Unalaska to restore sea 
ducks, marine mammals, intertidal and subtidal biota, fish and 
shellfish and human uses of those resources;
    (2) Removal of introduced terrestrial invasive species, such as 
rats or fox, that prey on or compete with marine birds on certain 
islands of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge to restore 
marine birds and their habitat;
    (3) Debris removal on Unalaska Island or elsewhere in the Aleutians 
to restore habitat for intertidal biota and marine mammals;
    (4) Habitat protection in the nesting areas of waterfowl injured by 
the spill;
    (5) Salmon restoration in Unalaska (sockeye) or Summers Bay (coho) 
lakes; and
    (6) Education and outreach on Unalaska Island related to 
subsistence and cultural resources.
    Data supporting these determinations are contained in the 
Administrative Record established for this case (see below).
    Based upon the foregoing determinations, the Trustees have 
determined to conduct restoration planning for the Incident.

Opportunity To Comment

    Under 15 CFR 990.14(d), the Trustees will seek public involvement 
in restoration planning for this Incident through, at minimum, public 
review of and comment on the Draft Restoration Plan. When the Draft 
Restoration Plan is prepared, the public will be notified of the 
opportunity to comment. Questions regarding this Notice may be directed 
to: Jenifer Kohout, (907) 786-3687 (phone); [email protected] (e-
mail).

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 natural resource damage assessment 
performed in connection with this Incident. The Record is on file at 
the FWS Alaska Regional Office (see ADDRESSES). To review the Record, 
contact Jenifer Kohout (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). In 
addition, the index and other key elements of the Record will be posted 
at http://www.r7.fws.gov/fisheries/contaminants/spill/sa_record.htm on 
the FWS Alaska Region Web site.

Thomas O. Melius,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. E7-5130 Filed 3-29-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P