[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 6, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44007-44008]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15920]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE201


Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Restoration Planning To 
Provide and Enhance Recreational Use in Alabama, and To Conduct Scoping

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

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare a restoration plan (RP) and 
environmental impact statement (EIS), and to conduct scoping.

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SUMMARY: The Federal and state natural resource trustees for the 
Alabama Trustee Implementation Group for the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) 
oil spill (Alabama TIG) intend to prepare an EIS under the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to evaluate the environmental 
consequences of a range of restoration projects that the Alabama TIG 
will propose in an RP developed pursuant to the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) 
to compensate the public for lost recreational use opportunities in 
Alabama caused by the DWH oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Restoration 
planning to compensate the public for lost recreational opportunities 
in Alabama is expected to be phased. This initial restoration planning 
activity will occur during the 2016 planning year.
    This restoration planning activity is occurring, in part, in 
accordance with the February 16, 2016, decision in Gulf Restoration 
Network v. Jewell, Case 1:15-cv-00191-CB-C (S.D. Ala.), in which the 
court enjoined the use of $58.5 million in DWH early restoration funds 
pending additional analysis under NEPA and OPA. This restoration 
planning activity fulfills the Federal and state natural resources 
trustees' responsibilities under this court order while looking more 
broadly at the potential to provide restoration for lost recreational 
use within Alabama. Accordingly, this initial recreational use 
restoration planning activity may develop restoration projects to 
compensate for the full remaining allocated amount of Alabama's 
recreational use injury caused by the DWH oil spill (approximately 
$83.5 million), or for some portion thereof.
    This restoration planning activity is proceeding in accordance with 
the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Final Programmatic Damage Assessment 
and Restoration Plan (PDARP) and Final Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement (PEIS). Information on the Restoration Type: Provide 
and Enhance Recreational Opportunities, as well as the OPA criteria 
against which project ideas are being evaluated, can be found in the 
PDARP/PEIS (http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/2016/04/trustees-settle-with-bp-for-natural-resource-injuries-to-the-gulf-of-mexico/) 
and in the Overview of the PDARP/PEIS (http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/2016/04/trustees-settle-with-bp-for-natural-resource-injuries-to-the-gulf-of-mexico/).
    The Alabama TIG would like to hear your project ideas for 
addressing lost recreational use in Alabama and encourages you to 
submit restoration project ideas in response to this notice (see 
ADDRESSES for instructions). If you have submitted project ideas in the 
past, we will consider those projects along with additional ideas 
submitted at this time.
    The Trustees also seek public involvement in the scoping process 
and development of the recreational use RP/EIS. This notice explains 
the scoping process the Alabama TIG will use to gather input from the 
public. In addition to restoration project ideas, the Alabama TIG 
invites public comments regarding the scope, content, and any 
significant issues it should consider in the RP/EIS. Comments may be 
submitted at any time during the 30-day public scoping period via mail 
or the internet.

DATES: Public scoping comments and project ideas must be received by 
August 5, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submitting Project Ideas: You may submit project ideas for 
addressing lost recreational use in Alabama at the following addresses:
    Trustee Council Web site: http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration/give-us-your-ideas/suggest-a-restoration-project/
    Alabama Coastal Restoration Web site: http://www.alabamacoastalrestoration.org/ProjectSubmit.aspx
    Submitting Scoping Comments: You may submit scoping comments on the 
EIS by any of the following methods:
     Via the Web: http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.
     U.S. Mail: NOAA Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center; 
attn: Alabama Recreational Use Restoration Plan; 7344 Zeigler Blvd.; 
Mobile, AL 36608.
    All written scoping comments must be received by the close of the 
scoping period to be considered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
     NOAA--Dan Van Nostrand, [email protected].
     AL--Amy Hunter, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    On April 20, 2010, the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater 
Horizon, which was being used to drill a well for BP Exploration and 
Production Inc. (BP), in the Macondo prospect (Mississippi Canyon 252-
MC252), exploded, caught fire and subsequently sank in the Gulf of 
Mexico, resulting in an unprecedented volume of oil and other 
discharges from the rig and from the wellhead on the seabed. The DWH 
oil spill is the largest oil spill in U.S. history, discharging 
millions of barrels of oil over a period of 87 days. In addition, well 
over one million gallons of dispersants were applied to the waters of 
the spill area in an attempt to disperse the spilled oil. An 
undetermined amount of natural gas was also released to the environment 
as a result of the spill.
    The Deepwater Horizon state and Federal natural resource trustees 
(DWH Trustees) conducted the natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) 
for the DWH oil spill under the Oil Pollution Act 1990 (OPA; 33 U.S.C. 
2701 et seq.). Pursuant to OPA, Federal and state agencies act as 
trustees on behalf of the public to assess natural resource injuries 
and losses and to determine the actions required to compensate the 
public for those injuries and losses. OPA further instructs the 
designated trustees to develop and implement a plan for the 
restoration, rehabilitation, replacement, or acquisition of the 
equivalent of the injured natural resources under their trusteeship, 
including the loss of use and services from those resources from the 
time of injury until the time of

[[Page 44008]]

restoration to baseline (the resource quality and conditions that would 
exist if the spill had not occurred) is complete.
    The DWH Trustees are:
     U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), as represented by 
the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau 
of Land Management;
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), on 
behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce;
     U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA);
     U.S. Department of Defense (DOD); \1\
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    \1\ Although a trustee under OPA by virtue of the proximity of 
its facilities to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, DOD is not a 
member of the Trustee Council and does not participate in DWH 
Trustee decision-making.
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     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA);
     State of Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration 
Authority, Oil Spill Coordinator's Office, Department of Environmental 
Quality, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and Department of 
Natural Resources;
     State of Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality;
     State of Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural 
Resources and Geological Survey of Alabama;
     State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection 
and Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; and
     For the State of Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife 
Department, Texas General Land Office, and Texas Commission on 
Environmental Quality.
    Upon completion of the NRDA, the DWH Trustees reached and finalized 
a settlement of their natural resource damage claims with BP in a 
Consent Decree approved by the United States District Court for the 
Eastern District of Louisiana. Pursuant to that Consent Decree, 
restoration projects in Alabama are now chosen and managed by the 
Alabama Trustee Implementation Group (TIG). The Alabama TIG is composed 
of the following Trustees:
     U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), as represented by 
the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau 
of Land Management;
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), on 
behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce;
     U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA);
     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA); and
     State of Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural 
Resources and Geological Survey of Alabama.
    The DWH Trustees received extensive comments and restoration 
project ideas during the scoping process in 2011 for the comprehensive 
Gulf Spill Restoration Plan and Programmatic EIS prepared by NOAA on 
behalf of the Trustees (76 FR 9327-9328). The DWH Trustees released 
this document, titled Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Final Programmatic 
Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan (PDARP) and Final Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) in February 2016. Future 
restoration projects, including those developed in this recreational 
use RP/EIS, will be developed in accordance with the PDARP/PEIS.
    The purpose of the scoping process is to identify the concerns of 
the affected public and Federal agencies, states, and Indian tribes, 
involve the public in the decision making process, facilitate efficient 
restoration planning and environmental review, define the issues and 
alternatives that will be examined in detail, and save time by ensuring 
that draft documents adequately address relevant issues. This scoping 
notice is also intended to elicit your restoration project ideas. The 
scoping process reduces paperwork and delay by ensuring that important 
issues are considered early in the decision making process. Following 
the scoping process, the Alabama TIG will prepare a draft RP/EIS, at 
which time the public will be encouraged to comment on the document. A 
public comment meeting or meetings will be held at that time to gather 
public input on the document.

Invitation To Comment

    The Alabama TIG seeks public involvement in the scoping process and 
development of the recreational use RP/EIS. The Alabama TIG invites 
public comment during the 30-day public comment period regarding (1) 
the scope, content, and any significant issues the Alabama TIG should 
consider in the RP/EIS, and (2) potential restoration project ideas. 
The Alabama TIG has published a Scoping Announcement which can be 
accessed at www.alabamacoastalrestoration.org.

Next Steps

    Following scoping, the Alabama TIG intends to release the draft RP/
EIS by late summer or early fall 2016. At that time, the Alabama TIG 
will invite public review and comment on the document.

Administrative Record

    The documents comprising the Administrative Record can be viewed 
electronically at the following location: https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord.

Authority

    The authority of this action is the National Environmental Policy 
Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 
2701 et seq.), and the implementing Natural Resource Damage Assessment 
regulations found at 15 CFR part 990.

    Dated: June 21, 2016.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-15920 Filed 7-5-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P