[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 244 (Thursday, December 20, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65360-65361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-27530]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[FWS-R4-ES-2018-N153; FVHC98220410150-XXX-FF04H00000]


Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Draft Restoration Plan #1.1 and 
Environmental Assessment; Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group

AGENCY: Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, the National 
Environmental Policy Act, the Final Programmatic Damage Assessment 
Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 
(Final PDARP/PEIS), and the Consent Decree, the Federal and State 
natural resource trustee agencies for the Louisiana Trustee 
Implementation Group (Louisiana TIG) have prepared Draft Restoration 
Plan and Environmental Assessment #1.1: Restoration of Queen Bess 
Island (Draft RP/EA #1.1), describing and proposing construction 
activities for the restoration of Queen Bess Island. The Queen Bess 
Island Restoration Project was approved for engineering and design in a 
2016 restoration plan entitled Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group 
Draft Restoration Plan #1: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and 
Nearshore Habitats; Habitat Projects on Federally Managed Lands; and 
Birds (RP 1). The Queen Bess Island Restoration Project would continue 
the process of restoring birds injured as a result of the Deepwater 
Horizon oil spill, which occurred on or about April 20, 2010, in the 
Gulf of Mexico.

DATES: 
    Submitting Comments: We will consider public comments received on 
or before January 22, 2019.
    Public Meeting: The Trustees will host a public meeting on January 
3, 2019, in association with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries 
Commission meeting at the Wildlife and Fisheries Headquarters Building, 
2000 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70808. The exact meeting time will be 
posted on the Trustees' website (see ADDRESSES).

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: You may download the Draft RP/EA #1.1 from any 
of the following websites:

 http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov;
 https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord; or
 http://www.la-dwh.com.

    Alternatively, you may request a CD of the Draft RP/EA #1.1 (see 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
    Submitting Comments: You may submit comments on the Draft RP/EA 
#1.1 by one of the following methods:
     Via the Web: http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/louisiana.
     Via U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 
49567, Atlanta, GA 30345. In order to be considered, mailed comments 
must be postmarked on or before the comment deadline given in DATES.
     In Person: Verbal comments may be provided at the public 
meeting on January 3, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanciann Regalado, via email at 
[email protected], via telephone at 678-296-6805, or via the 
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

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), experienced a significant explosion, fire, and subsequent 
sinking 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 Deepwater Horizon 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 
into the environment as a result of the spill.
    The Trustees conducted the natural resource damage assessment 
(NRDA) for the Deepwater Horizon 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. The 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 restoration to baseline (the resource 
quality and conditions that would exist if the spill had not occurred) 
is complete.
    The Deepwater Horizon 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. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);
     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
     State of Texas: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 
Texas General Land Office, and Texas Commission on Environmental 
Quality.

    The Trustees reached and finalized a settlement of their natural 
resource damage claims with BP in an April 4, 2016, Consent Decree 
approved by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of 
Louisiana. Pursuant to that Consent Decree, restoration projects in 
Louisiana are now selected and implemented by the Louisiana Trustee 
Implementation Group (TIG). The Louisiana 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;

[[Page 65361]]

     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 (EPA);
     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.

Background

    The Final Programmatic Damage Assessment Restoration Plan and Final 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS) provides 
for TIGs to propose phasing restoration projects across multiple 
restoration plans. A TIG may propose funding a planning phase (e.g., 
initial engineering, design, and compliance) in one plan for a 
conceptual project. This would allow the TIG to develop information 
needed to fully consider a subsequent implementation phase of that 
project in a future restoration plan. In 2016, the LA TIG included the 
Queen Bess Island Restoration Project as a preferred alternative to 
fund engineering and design (E&D) in RP #1. After approval, the Queen 
Bess Island Restoration Project began E&D. It is currently at a stage 
of E&D where National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analyses can be 
conducted on the design alternatives. Therefore, the Louisiana TIG is 
proposing in RP/EA #1.1 the implementation phase for the Queen Bess 
Island Restoration Project.

Overview of the Louisiana TIG Draft RP/EA #1.1

    The Draft RP/EA #1.1 is being released in accordance with OPA, NRDA 
regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 15 CFR 
part 990, NEPA, the Consent Decree, and Final PDARP/PEIS.
    In the Draft RP/EA #1.1, the Louisiana TIG proposes a preferred 
design alternative for the Queen Bess Island Restoration Project, which 
was approved for E&D in a 2016 Louisiana TIG final restoration plan, 
under the bird restoration type. After screening six design 
alternatives, the Louisiana TIG analyzed in detail in the Draft RP/EA 
#1.1 one other design alternative and a no action alternative.
    The proposed design alternative is intended to continue the process 
of using Deepwater Horizon restoration funding to restore natural 
resources injured or lost as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil 
spill. The total estimated cost for construction of the proposed Queen 
Bess Island Restoration Project is $16,710,000. Details are provided in 
the Draft RP/EA #1.1. Additional restoration planning for the Louisiana 
Restoration Area will continue.

Next Steps

    As described above, the Trustees will hold a public meeting to 
facilitate the public review and comment process. After the public 
comment period ends, the Trustees will consider and address the 
comments received before issuing a Final RP/EA #1.1.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

Administrative Record

    The documents comprising the Administrative Record for this Draft 
RP/EA #1.1 can be viewed electronically at https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord.

Authority

    The authority of this action is the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 
U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), its implementing Natural Resource Damage 
Assessment regulations found at 15 CFR part 990, and the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

Mary Josie Blanchard,
Department of the Interior, Director of Gulf of Mexico Restoration.
[FR Doc. 2018-27530 Filed 12-19-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P