[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 197 (Friday, October 10, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 61236-61238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24283]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

31 CFR Part 34

RIN 1505-AC49


Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund

AGENCY: Office of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary, Treasury.

ACTION: Interim final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury is issuing regulations 
concerning the amounts available to eligible Louisiana parishes from 
the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund, a fund established by the 
Resources and Ecosystem Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and 
Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act). 
These regulations amend an interim final rule for the RESTORE Act 
published on August 15, 2014.

DATES: Effective October 14, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please send questions by email to 
[email protected] or contact Janet Vail, 202-622-6873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The RESTORE Act makes funds available for the restoration and 
protection of the Gulf Coast region through a new trust fund in the 
Treasury of the United States, known as the Gulf Coast Restoration 
Trust Fund. The trust fund will contain 80 percent of the 
administrative and civil penalties paid after July 6, 2012, under the 
Federal Water Pollution Control Act in connection with the Deepwater 
Horizon oil spill. One component of the Act, the Direct Component, sets 
aside 35 percent of the penalties paid into the trust fund for grants 
to the State of Alabama, the State of Mississippi, the State of Texas, 
the State of Louisiana and 20 Louisiana parishes, and 23 Florida 
counties. The Direct Component provides an equal amount to each of the 
five Gulf Coast States, and allocates 30 percent of Louisiana's share 
to the 20 eligible parishes.
    On September 6, 2013, Treasury proposed a rule to implement the 
Direct Component and four other components in the RESTORE Act. Among 
its provisions, the proposed rule identified the 20 Louisiana parishes 
eligible to receive funds under the Direct Component, but not the share 
of each parish. Treasury requested public comments on the data and 
methodology for calculating these shares, and received comments from 
the State of Louisiana and one Louisiana parish.
    On July 31, 2014, Treasury proposed a rule identifying the share of 
each Louisiana parish under the Direct Component, based on a formula in 
the RESTORE Act and data from the United States Census Bureau and the 
United States Coast Guard. 79 FR 44325. Treasury considered the 
comments submitted previously, and opened a new public comment period 
for 30 days. Treasury received two substantive comments.
    After considering public comments, Treasury now issues the 
regulations as an interim final rule. The rule for Louisiana parishes 
amends the RESTORE Act rule published on August 15, 2014 (79 FR 48039), 
which covers

[[Page 61237]]

other aspects of the Direct Component and the Act. Both rules take 
effect on October 14, 2014. Treasury will publish a final, 
comprehensive rule for the RESTORE Act in the near future.

II. Public Comment and Summary of the Interim Final Rule

    In the July 2014 proposed rule, Treasury proposed an allocation for 
each eligible Louisiana parish using a statutory formula that has three 
elements: (a) 40 percent based on the weighted average of miles of 
parish shoreline oiled, (b) 40 percent based on the weighted average of 
the population of the parish, and (c) 20 percent based on the weighted 
average of the land mass of the parish. 33 U.S.C. 1321(t)(1)(D)(i). One 
commenter recommended that Treasury give greater weight to miles of 
oiled shoreline (60 percent) and less weight to population (30 percent) 
and land mass (10 percent). The commenter asserted that its formula 
would be more fair to those parishes that were most impacted by the 
spill.
    The formula in the proposed rule comes directly from the RESTORE 
Act. Treasury does not have discretion to change the formula in order 
to favor parishes with more oiled shoreline.
    For the three elements in the formula, Treasury's proposed rule 
used government data to determine the share of each parish. For the 
first element, Treasury used data from the United States Coast Guard 
showing the number of miles of parish shoreline oiled between 2010, the 
initial year of response to the Deepwater Horizon spill, and July 6, 
2012, the date of enactment for the RESTORE Act. According to the Coast 
Guard, the data were gathered using the Shoreline Clean-up Assessment 
Technique (SCAT), a systematic method for surveying an affected 
shoreline after an oil spill.\1\ The second element is the weighted 
average of the parish population. Treasury used 2012 population 
estimates for each parish published by the United States Census 
Bureau.\2\ The third element is the weighted average of the parish land 
mass. Treasury used data from 2010, the most recent available from the 
United States Census Bureau.\3\
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    \1\ SCAT data are appropriate for determining the share of each 
Louisiana parish under the relevant standards of the Direct 
Component in the Act. Treasury takes no position on the data that 
may be appropriate for other uses in connection with ongoing 
litigation or natural resource damage assessments.
    \2\ These estimates are available at http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/PEP/2013/PEPANNCHG.ST05/0400000US22.
    \3\ The data are available at http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22000.html.
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    The Act does not specify the year Treasury should use for oiled 
shoreline or population. The proposed rule used oiled shoreline data 
collected between 2010 and 2012, and population data for 2012, thereby 
fixing the share of each parish in the year of enactment. Treasury 
received two comments on this data. One Louisiana parish recommended 
that Treasury use population data from 2010, because this data is 
closer in time to the Deepwater Horizon incident. Another parish 
preferred 2013 population estimates, because these estimates are closer 
in time to publication of the regulation. Neither commenter addressed 
Treasury's oiled shoreline data.
    Treasury's proposed rule used 2012 data for both population and 
oiled shoreline, believing this to be a reasonable choice that furthers 
Congress's purposes. While 2010 data would be closer in time to the oil 
spill, there is no indication that Congress gave this fact any 
importance. There is also no indication that Congress intended to base 
each parish's share on population changes and oiling occurring after 
enactment. Treasury believes that it is reasonable to use 2012 data for 
population and oiling, because that data best represents conditions in 
Louisiana when Congress passed the Act. It is notable that Congress 
expected procedures for implementing the Act would be completed shortly 
after enactment, including procedures concerning each parish's share. 
RESTORE Act, Public Law 112-141 sec. 1602(e), 126 Stat. 588. The Act 
refers to ``parish shoreline oiled'' in the past tense. 33 U.S.C. 
1321(t)(1)(D)(i)(II)(aa). Using data from later years would produce 
results that Congress could not have foreseen in 2012. Because 
population in 2013 went up for some parishes and down for others, using 
2013 data would increase some parish shares and decrease others with 
little correlation to the miles of oiled shoreline. Accordingly, 
Treasury interprets the Act as referring to shoreline oiled before July 
6, 2012, and to parish populations in 2012.
    Using the data described above and the statutory factors, Treasury 
determined each parish's share with the following formula: Parish 
allocation = (40% * (parish miles oiled/sum of all oiled shoreline for 
eligible parishes)) + (40% * (parish population/sum of all population 
for eligible parishes)) + (20% * parish land mass/sum of all land mass 
for eligible parishes). A detailed description of the data Treasury 
used to determine each parish's share is available in the docket for 
the interim final rule at http://www.regulations.gov, and at http://www.treasury.gov/services/restore-act/Pages/default.aspx. The resulting 
shares, which are unchanged from the proposed rule, are listed in the 
interim final rule.

III. Procedural Requirements

A. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) 
generally requires agencies to prepare a regulatory flexibility 
analysis of any rule subject to notice and comment rulemaking 
requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act or any other 
statute, unless the agency certifies that the rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
Treasury previously certified that the interim final rule for the 
entire Act, published on August 15, 2014, will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. While that 
rule describes procedures concerning the allocation and expenditure of 
amounts from the trust fund, most of these requirements come from the 
Act itself or other Federal law, including the total allocation due to 
Louisiana parishes under the Direct Component.
    Treasury certifies that the interim final rule for Louisiana 
parishes will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of 
small entities. This rule affects only 20 Louisiana parishes, of which 
six meet the definition of a small entity under the RFA. Even if a 
substantial number of small entities was affected, any economic impact 
of this interim final rule would be minimal. The interim final rule is 
limited to allocating funds to eligible Louisiana parishes according to 
a statutory formula, and does not impose any new obligations on these 
parishes.

B. Regulatory Planning and Review (Executive Orders 12866 and 13563)

    The interim final rule for the RESTORE Act, published on August 15, 
2014, is a significant regulatory action as defined in Executive Order 
12866, as supplemented by Executive Order 13563. The notification for 
that rule includes a Regulatory Impact Assessment, which covers any 
economic impact incident to the interim final rule for Louisiana 
parishes. The interim final rule for Louisiana parishes has been 
designated a significant regulatory action, although not economically 
significant, and has been reviewed by the Office of Management and 
Budget.

[[Page 61238]]

C. Administrative Procedure Act

    The Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.) (APA) 
provides that agency rules should become effective 30 days after 
publication in the Federal Register. See 5 U.S.C. 553(d). The APA, 
however, allows agencies to dispense with a delayed effective date when 
the agency finds that good cause exists. 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). In this 
case, Treasury finds that good cause exists to effectuate this rule on 
October 14, 2014. As discussed earlier in the preamble, this rule for 
Louisiana parishes amends the RESTORE Act interim rule that was 
published on August 15, 2014 (79 FR 48039). The August 15, 2014 interim 
rule covers other aspects of the Direct Component and the Act and takes 
effect on October 14, 2014. It would be contrary to the public interest 
to make the RESTORE Act funds available to some recipients ahead of 
others. So that all entities eligible to receive Direct Component funds 
are treated equally, Treasury believes good cause exists to make this 
parishes rule effective on the same date as the August 15, 2014 interim 
rule.

List of Subjects in 31 CFR Part 34

    Coastal zone, Fisheries, Grant programs, Grants administration, 
Intergovernmental relations, Marine resources, Natural resources, Oil 
pollution, Research, Science and technology, Trusts, Wildlife.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Department of the 
Treasury amends 31 CFR subtitle A, part 34, to read as follows:

PART 34--RESOURCES AND ECOSYSTEMS SUSTAINABILITY, TOURIST 
OPPORTUNITIES, AND REVIVED ECONOMIES OF THE GULF COAST STATES

0
1. The authority citation for part 34 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 31 U.S.C. 301; 31 U.S.C. 321; 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.


0
2. In Sec.  34.302, revise the section heading and add a second 
sentence in paragraph (e) to read as follows:


Sec.  34.302  Allocation of funds--Direct Component.

* * * * *
    (e) * * * The share of each coastal zone parish is as follows: 
Ascension, 2.42612%; Assumption, 0.93028%; Calcasieu, 5.07063%; 
Cameron, 2.10096%; Iberia, 2.55018%; Jefferson, 11.95309%; Lafourche, 
7.86746%; Livingston, 3.32725%; Orleans, 7.12875%; Plaquemines, 
17.99998%; St. Bernard, 9.66743%; St. Charles, 1.35717%; St. James, 
0.75600%; St. John the Baptist, 1.11915%; St. Martin, 2.06890%; St. 
Mary, 1.80223%; St. Tammany, 5.53058%; Terrebonne, 9.91281%; 
Tangipahoa, 3.40337%; and Vermilion, 3.02766%.
* * * * *

David A. Lebryk,
Fiscal Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-24283 Filed 10-9-14; 8:45 am]
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