[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 137 (Friday, July 17, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42486-42488]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-17568]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy


Notice of Intent To Conduct Restoration Planning and To Prepare a 
Draft Damage Assessment Restoration Plan Environmental Assessment for 
the Omega 707 Air Tanker Crash of May 18, 2011 at Mugu Lagoon, Naval 
Base Ventura County Point Mugu, CA

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 1006 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 
(OPA), 33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq., and Section (102)(2)(c) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the regulations implemented by the 
Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the 
Department of the Navy (DoN), acting through Commander Navy Region 
Southwest (CNRSW), and in coordination with the

[[Page 42487]]

U.S. Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the 
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Office of Spill Prevention 
and Response (CDFW-OSPR), announces its intent to conduct restoration 
planning and to prepare a draft Damage Assessment Restoration Plan 
(DARP) Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Omega 707 Air Tanker Crash 
of May 18, 2011 at Mugu Lagoon, Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) Point 
Mugu, CA.
    On May 18, 2011, a Boeing K707 aerial refueling tanker, carrying 
approximately 10,000 gallons of jet fuel, operated by Omega Air Inc., 
crashed during take[hyphen]off on Runway 21 into Mugu Lagoon at the end 
of Point Mugu Taxiway Alpha at NBVC Point Mugu. Spill response crews 
protected most of the lagoon and were able to limit crash impacts to an 
area of approximately 79 acres of wetlands. The crash scattered debris 
and different portions of the plane, scoured tracks into the marsh, and 
left the remaining fuselage partially buried in mudflats. A Unified 
Command (UC) was instituted immediately following the incident that 
consisted of staff from NBVC Point Mugu, CDFW-OSPR, U.S. Coast Guard, 
USFWS, and aircraft owner Omega Air, Inc. The UC oversaw the emergency 
response and spill containment debris clean-up operations.
    The natural resources trustees (Trustees) under OPA are the CNRSW, 
USFWS and CDFW-OSPR and are acting in accordance with the natural 
resources authorities provided by the OPA, the Federal Water Pollution 
Control Act (FWPCA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and other applicable 
Federal laws and regulations including the National Oil and Hazardous 
Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) (40 CFR 300.600-300.615), 
the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) regulations applicable to 
OPA (15 CFR part 990), and the DoN Environmental Readiness Program 
Manual (OPNAVINST 5090.1D). USFWS and CDFW-OSPR are co-Trustees in this 
response, with CNRSW serving as lead Trustee. As owner and operator of 
the crashed plane from which the fire and release occurred, the 
Trustees identified Omega Air, Inc. as the Responsible Party (RP). The 
Trustees have coordinated with representatives of the RP on NRDA 
activities.
    The Trustees began the pre-assessment phase of the NRDA in 
accordance with 15 CFR 990.40, to determine if they had jurisdiction to 
pursue restoration under OPA, and, if so, whether it was appropriate to 
do so. During the pre-assessment phase, the Trustees collected and 
analyzed the following:
    1. Data reasonably expected to be necessary to make a determination 
of jurisdiction or a determination to conduct restoration planning;
    2. Ephemeral data; and/or
    3. Information needed to design or implement anticipated emergency 
restoration and/or assessment as part of the restoration planning 
phase.
    The NRDA regulations provide that the Trustees are to prepare a 
Notice of Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning (Notice) if they 
determine certain conditions have been met, and if they decide to 
quantify the injuries to natural resources and to develop a restoration 
plan. This Notice announces, pursuant to 15 CFR 990.44, that the 
Trustees, having collected and analyzed data, intend to proceed with 
restoration planning actions to address injuries to natural resources 
resulting from the crash. The purpose of this restoration planning 
effort is to further evaluate injuries to natural resources and 
services and to use that information to determine the need for, type 
of, and scale of compensatory restoration actions.
    Dates and Addresses: The Trustees invite and encourage Federal, 
State, and local agencies, American Indian tribes, and interested 
persons to provide written comments on this Notice and the proposed 
DARP EA to ensure that all relevant issues are considered. All written 
comments may be submitted through the point of contact listed below and 
must be received by August 17, 2015 to ensure they become part of the 
official record. Written comments or questions on this Notice and the 
scope of the proposed DARP EA and its process, requests for inclusion 
on the mailing list, and requests for copies of any documents 
associated with the DARP EA should be directed to: Navy Region 
Southwest, Attention: Ms. Deb McKay, Code N40, Pt Mugu Omega Air Tanker 
Crash Spill, 937 North Harbor Drive, Box 81, San Diego, CA 92132.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Navy Region Southwest, Attention: Ms. 
Deb McKay, Code N40, Pt Mugu Omega Air Tanker Crash Spill, 937 North 
Harbor Drive, Box 81, San Diego, CA 92132, Phone: 619-532-2284, or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Authorities. Pursuant to section 1006 of the OPA, Federal and State 
Trustees for natural resources are authorized to:
    1. Assess natural resource injuries resulting from a discharge of 
oil or the substantial threat of a discharge and response activities, 
and
    2. Develop and implement a plan for restoration of such injured 
resources. The Federal Trustees are designated pursuant to the NCP and 
Executive Order 12777 (Implementation of Section 311 of the FWPCA of 
October 18, 1972, as amended, and the OPA). State Trustees for 
California are designated pursuant to the NCP and the ``Governor's 
Designation of State Natural Resource Trustees under the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, the 
OPA, and California Health and Safety Code'' Sec.  25352(c), dated 
October 5, 2007.
    Determination of Jurisdiction. The Trustees have determined that 
impacts from the air tanker crash on May 18, 2011, and subsequent fire 
and oil spill into wetlands at NBVC Point Mugu require restoration 
planning pursuant to 15 CFR 990.44. After the crash event, the Trustees 
conducted impact minimization and clean up measures to protect the rest 
of Mugu Lagoon but injuries still occurred to the natural resources and 
services of the site. Therefore, a NRDA restoration planning effort is 
required to evaluate those injuries and to determine appropriate 
restoration actions.
    The Trustees have determined that they have jurisdiction to pursue 
restoration planning pursuant to the OPA in order to resolve liability 
for injuries to natural resources and services. Specifically, the 
Trustees have determined pursuant to 15 CFR 990.41:
    1. The crash of the aircraft resulted in a discharge of oil into 
and upon navigable waters of the U.S. and such occurrence constitutes 
an ``Incident'' within the meaning of 15 CFR 990.30;
    2. The Incident was not permitted pursuant to Federal, State, or 
local law; was not from a public vessel; and was not from an onshore 
facility subject to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authority Act (43 U.S.C. 
1651 et seq.); and
    3. Natural resources under the trusteeship of the Trustees have 
been injured as a result of the Incident.
    Using information gathered since the crash, during the response, 
and the NRDA initiation phase, the Trustees have determined that the 
crash injured natural resources under the trusteeship of the Trustees. 
The air tanker crash and subsequent fire, oil spill, and cleanup action 
is known to have impacted aquatic organisms, vegetation, birds, 
wildlife, geologic resources, and hydrology. The incident exposed these 
resources to oil, metals, and contaminants of potential concern. The 
response use of heavy equipment to remove debris and sandbags to 
contain the spill also caused injury to the

[[Page 42488]]

natural resources and services of the site. As a result of this 
incident, injuries to the site's natural resources and their services 
were observed and documented. Therefore, the Trustees have jurisdiction 
to pursue restoration under the OPA.
    Determination to Conduct Restoration Planning. The NRDA regulations 
under OPA, provide that the Trustees are to prepare a Notice if they 
determine certain conditions have been met, and if they decide to 
quantify the injuries to natural resources and to develop a restoration 
plan. Accordingly, the Trustees have determined, pursuant to 15 CFR 
990.42(a), that:
    1. As stated above, injuries have resulted from the incident on May 
18, 2011.
    2. Response actions did not address all injuries resulting from the 
incident to the extent that restoration would not be necessary. 
Although response actions were initiated soon after the spill, the 
nature of the incident (fire, oil spill, and physical disturbance) and 
the sensitivity of the environment precluded the complete prevention of 
injuries to natural resources. Injured natural resources may return to 
baseline, but interim losses of services provided by these natural 
resources have occurred, and will continue until resources return to 
baseline health/condition.
    3. Feasible primary and compensatory restoration actions exist to 
address injuries and lost human uses resulting from the incident. In 
preparation for restoration planning, the Trustees have begun to 
compile a list of restoration projects that could potentially be 
implemented to compensate for interim losses resulting from the 
incident. All potential restoration sites would be located within the 
bounds of NBVC Point Mugu and would involve construction projects to 
enhance the services of existing wetlands.
    The Trustees have the tools and procedures to evaluate the injuries 
and define the appropriate type and scale of restoration for the 
injured natural resources. Among the available procedures are computer 
modeled injury assessments; field and laboratory study of geology and 
sediment, plants, wildlife, water quality, hydrologic resources; as 
well as additional literature searches. Appropriate procedures such as 
these will be used to determine the extent of injury to natural 
resources and their services, and Habitat Equivalency Analysis will be 
used to determine the appropriate compensation for those injuries.
    During the restoration planning phase, the Trustees will evaluate 
potential projects, determine the scale of restoration actions needed 
to make the environment and the public whole, and release a draft 
Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan for public review and comment.
    Administrative Record. The Trustees have opened an Administrative 
Record (Record) in compliance with 15 CFR 990.45. The Record will 
include documents considered by the Trustees during the preassessment, 
assessment, and restoration planning phases of the NRDA performed in 
connection with the crash. The Record will be augmented with additional 
information over the course of the NRDA process. The Record is 
available in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, by 
contacting: Navy Region Southwest, Attention: Ms. Deb McKay, Code N40, 
Pt Mugu Omega Air Tanker Crash Spill, 937 North Harbor Drive, Box 81, 
San Diego, CA 92132, Phone: 619-532-2284, or [email protected].

    Dated: July 10, 2015.
N.A. Hagerty-Ford,
Commander, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy, Federal Register 
Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-17568 Filed 7-16-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3810-FF-P