[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 120 (Thursday, June 21, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 37432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-15184]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R3-ES-2012-N101; FXHC113003000005B-123-FF03E00000]


Final Springfield Plateau Regional Restoration Plan and 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public and other agencies of the 
availability of the Final Springfield Plateau Regional Restoration Plan 
(Plan) and Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant 
Impact (FONSI). The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), acting 
through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the State of 
Missouri, acting through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources 
(MDNR), formally selected Alternative D of the Plan through signing of 
the FONSI. Alternative D provides for natural resource--based 
restoration using a tiered project selection process evaluating the 
feasibility of primary restoration, compensatory restoration, and 
acquisition of equivalent resources. Interested members of the public 
are invited to review the Plan.

ADDRESSES: The Plan can be viewed online at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/nrda/motristate/ or http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/hwp/sfund/nrda.htm.
    Alternatively, copies of the Plan can be requested from John Weber, 
Restoration Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 101 Park 
DeVille Dr., Suite A, Columbia, MO 65203, or Tim Rielly, Assessment and 
Restoration Manager, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, P.O. Box 
176, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176.
    You may also submit requests for copies of the Plan by sending 
electronic mail (email) to: [email protected] or 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Weber, (573) 234-2132 (x177), or 
Tim Rielly, (573) 526-3353.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The FWS and the MDNR (Trustees) are trustees for natural resources 
considered in this restoration plan, pursuant to subpart G of the 
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (40 
CFR 300.600 and 300.610) and Executive Order 12580. The Memorandum of 
Understanding Between the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and 
U.S. Department of the Interior establishes a Trustee Council charged 
with developing and implementing a restoration plan for ecological 
restoration in the Springfield Plateau of southwest Missouri.
    The Trustees followed the NRDAR regulations found at 43 CFR part 11 
for the development of the Plan. The objective of the NRDAR process is 
to compensate the public for losses to natural resources that have been 
injured by releases of hazardous substances into the environment. The 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
(CERCLA, more commonly known as the Federal ``Superfund'' law) (42 
U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 
(commonly known as the Clean Water Act (CWA)) (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) 
authorize States, federally recognized tribes, and certain Federal 
agencies that have authority for natural resources ``belonging to, 
managed by, controlled by or appertaining to [the public]'' to act as 
``trustees'' on behalf of the public, to restore, rehabilitate, 
replace, and/or acquire natural resources equivalent to those injured 
by releases of hazardous substances.
    The Trustees have worked together to determine appropriate 
restoration activities to address natural resource injuries caused by 
the release of hazardous substances into the Springfield Plateau 
environment. The results of this administrative process are contained 
in a series of planning and decision documents that have been published 
for public review under CERCLA. On January 11, 2012, the FWS published 
in the Federal Register a notice of availability commencing a 45-day 
public comment period on the Draft Springfield Plateau Regional 
Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (77 FR 1717). The public 
comment period ended on February 27, 2012. Comments received during the 
public comment period were incorporated into our final document.

Current Notice of Availability

    This current notice of availability informs the public that the 
Trustees have formally selected Alternative D of The Plan through the 
signing of a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The FONSI 
indicates that restoring, replacing and/or acquiring the equivalent of 
injured resources in the Springfield Plateau as described under 
Alternative D in the Final Springfield Plateau Regional Restoration 
Plan (Plan) and Environmental Assessment is not a major Federal action 
which would significantly affect the quality of the human environment 
within the meaning of Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969.

Authority

    This notice is provided pursuant to Natural Resource Damage 
Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) regulations (43 CFR 11.81(d)(4)) and 
NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

    Dated: May 29, 2012.
Thomas O Melius,
Regional Director, Midwest Region, Bloomington, Minnesota.
[FR Doc. 2012-15184 Filed 6-20-12; 8:45 am]
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