[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 2, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11426-11427]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-4540]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA222


Gulf Spill Restoration Planning; Public Scoping Meetings for the 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Deepwater Horizon 
Oil Spill

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; public scoping meetings.

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SUMMARY: In a February 17, 2011, Federal Register notice, the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine 
Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced in a notice of intent that it, on 
behalf of the Trustee Council, will begin restoration scoping and 
preparation of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for 
the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill that began on April 20, 2010, 
Mississippi Canyon Block 252 (``the Oil Spill''). The notice announced 
NOAA's intent to hold public scoping meetings in eleven (11) locations 
in the five Gulf of Mexico States and in Washington, DC, but it did not 
include meeting details. The meeting details for these locations are 
available now.
    The purpose of the Gulf Spill Restoration Planning PEIS is to 
identify restoration types and establish a programmatic framework and 
procedures that will enable the Trustees to expedite the selection and 
implementation of restoration projects to compensate the public and the 
environment for loss of natural resources and services from the Oil 
Spill.

DATES: All public scoping meetings will begin at 7:30 p.m. (local time) 
and doors will open at 6:30 p.m., except in Grand Isle, Houma, and 
Morgan City, Louisiana, which will start at 6:30 p.m. and open doors at 
5:30 p.m. For scoping meetings dates and locations see Scoping Meetings 
under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.

ADDRESSES: Written scoping comments on suggested restoration types 
should be sent to: NOAA Restoration Center, Attn: DWH PEIS Comments, 
263 13th Avenue South, Suite 166, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. Electronic 
comments are strongly encouraged, and can be submitted to http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov. All written comments must be 
received by the close of the scoping process to be considered. Scoping 
will close 90 days after the February 17, 2011 NOI, on Tuesday, May 18, 
2011. A public announcement will be provided in a future Federal 
Register document to remind the public at the end of the scoping 
period.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

NOAA--Brian Hostetter at 888.547.0174 or by e-mail at 
[email protected];
DOI--Robin Renn by e-mail at [email protected];
AL-- Will Gunter by e-mail at [email protected];
FL--Lee Edminston or Gil McRae by e-mail at 
[email protected] or [email protected];
LA--Karolien Debusschere by e-mail at [email protected];
MS--Richard Harrell by e-mail at [email protected];
TX--Don Pitts by e-mail at [email protected].

    To be added to the Oil Spill PEIS mailing list, please visit: 
www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.

[[Page 11427]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scoping Meetings

    The meetings have been scheduled for:
    1. Wednesday, March 16, 2011: Escambia County Central Office 
Complex, 3363 West Park Place, Pensacola, FL. This is across the street 
from the Escambia County Health Department at 1295 West Fairfield Drive 
in Pensacola, FL.
    2. Thursday, March 17, 2011: Bay County Government Center, County 
Commissioner Chambers, 840 W. 11th Street, Panama City, FL.
    3. Monday, March 21, 2011: The Donald Snyder Community Center, Main 
Floor, 2520 Pass Rd., Biloxi, MS.
    4. Tuesday, March 22, 2011: Belle Chasse Public Library, 8442 
Highway 23, Belle Chasse, LA.
    5. Wednesday, March 23, 2011: Five Rivers--Alabama's Delta Resource 
Center, 30945 Five Rivers Blvd., Spanish Fort, AL.
    6. Thursday, March 24, 2011: Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center, 346 
Civic Center Blvd., Houma, LA.
    7. Monday, March 28, 2011: The Grand Isle Community Center, 3811 
Highway 1, Grand Isle, LA.
    8. Tuesday, March 29, 2011: Holiday Inn, 520 Roderick St., Morgan 
City, LA.
    9. Wednesday, March 30, 2011: Port Arthur Civic Center, 3401 
Cultural Center Drive, Port Arthur, TX.
    10. Thursday, March 31, 2011: Texas A & M at Galveston Ocean and 
Coastal Studies Building, Seawolf Parkway, Bldg. 3029, Galveston, TX.
    11. Monday, April 4, 2011: U.S. Department of Commerce, Herbert 
Hoover Bldg. Auditorium, 1401 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC.
    National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce is the 
lead agency for the preparation of the PEIS on behalf of United States 
Department of the Interior (on behalf of the Fish and Wildlife Service, 
the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau 
of Indian Affairs) (``DOI''); the Louisiana Coastal Protection and 
Restoration Authority, the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office, 
the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the Louisiana 
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Louisiana Department of 
Natural Resources, for the State of Louisiana; the Mississippi 
Department of Environmental Quality, for the State of Mississippi; the 
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the 
Geological Survey of Alabama, for the State of Alabama; the Florida 
Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and 
Wildlife Conservation Commission for the State of Florida; and the 
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas General Land Office, and the 
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, for the State of Texas. The 
notice of intent to begin restoration scoping and prepare a 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement published at 76 FR 9327, 
February 17, 2011.
    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq., and the Council on Environmental Quality regulations implementing 
NEPA under 40 CFR Chapter V applies to restoration actions by Federal 
trustees. The Federal and state Trustees will be developing a PEIS to 
help guide restoration actions associated with the Natural Resource 
Damage Assessment (NRDA) for the Oil Spill. The PEIS will assess the 
environmental, social, and economic attributes of the affected 
environment and the potential consequences of alternative actions to 
restore, rehabilitate, replace, or acquire the equivalent of natural 
resources and services potentially injured by the spill. A PEIS may 
generally be prepared to evaluate actions that encompass a large 
geographic scale. Tiered analyses considering particular restoration 
actions may be required in the future as specific plans for 
implementing particular alternatives are established.
    The purpose of the scoping process is to identify the concerns of 
the affected public and for the Federal agencies, states, and Indian 
tribes to involve the public early in the decision making process, 
facilitate an efficient PEIS preparation process, define the issues and 
alternatives that will be examined in detail, and save time by ensuring 
that draft documents adequately address relevant issues. The scoping 
process reduces paperwork and delay by ensuring that important issues 
are addressed early. Following the scoping process, the Trustees will 
prepare a draft PEIS, at which time the public will be encouraged to 
comment on the document. Similar to the scoping process, public comment 
meetings will be held at that time to gather oral and written public 
input on the draft PEIS.
    In compliance with 15 CFR 990.45, the Trustees will prepare an 
Administrative Record (AR). The AR will include documents that the 
Trustees relied on during the development of the PEIS. After 
preparation, the Record will be on file at the NOAA Restoration Center 
in Silver Spring, MD, and duplicate copies will be maintained at the 
following Web site: http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/. The specific web page 
will be provided in the next public notice.
    The draft PEIS document is intended to be released for public 
comment by Fall/Winter, 2011. Specific dates and times for future 
events will be publicized when scheduled.

    Dated: February 23, 2011.
Patricia A. Montanio,
Director, Office of Habitat Conservation, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-4540 Filed 3-1-11; 8:45 am]
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