[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 46 (Friday, March 8, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8508-8510]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04198]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Discharge of Oil From the Plains All American Pipeline Line 901 
Into the Pacific Ocean Near Santa Barbara County, California, May 19, 
2015

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of intent to conduct restoration planning.

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

SUMMARY: On May 19, 2015, Line 901, a 24-inch diameter underground oil 
pipeline owned by Plains All-American Pipeline Company (``Plains'') 
ruptured, releasing what has been estimated to be at least 2,940 
barrels of crude oil. Much of the heavy crude oil flowed into the 
Pacific Ocean near Refugio Beach State Park in Santa Barbara County, 
California. The oil spread southward and eastward impacting adjoining 
shorelines in Santa Barbara county and downcoast.
    The discharge affected natural resources in the general area. All 
of the foregoing is referred to as the ``Incident.''
    Pursuant to section 1006 of the Oil Pollution Act (``OPA''), 33 
U.S.C. 2701, et seq., 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 National Contingency Plan, 40 CFR Section 300.600 and Executive 
Order 12777. State trustees for California are designated pursuant to 
the National Contingency Plan, 40 CFR Section 300.605 and the 
Governor's Designation of State Natural Resource Trustees under the 
Comprehensive

[[Page 8509]]

Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, the Oil 
Pollution Act of 1990, and California Health and Safety Code section 
25352(c), dated October 5, 2007. The natural resources trustees 
(``Trustees'') under OPA for this Incident are the United States 
Department of Commerce, acting through the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (``NOAA''); the United States Department of 
the Interior (``DOI''), acting through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service (``FWS''); the California Department of Fish and Wildlife 
(``CDFW''); and the California Department of Parks and Recreation 
(``CDPR''). The California State Lands Commission (``CSLC'') is 
participating as a Trustee for the Incident pursuant to its 
jurisdiction under California state law over all state sovereign lands, 
including un-granted tidelands and submerged lands. The Regents of the 
University of California (``UC'') is participating as a Trustee for the 
Incident pursuant to its jurisdiction under California state law over 
lands within the Natural Land and Water Reserves System.
    Plains is the Responsible Party (``RP'') for this Incident. The 
Trustees have coordinated with representatives of the RP on Natural 
Resource Damage Assessment (``NRDA'') activities.
    The Trustees began the Preassessment 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 Preassessment 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 (i.e., environmental data 
collected in the immediate aftermath of the spill), and/or (3) 
information needed to design or implement anticipated emergency 
restoration and/or assessment activities as part of the Restoration 
Planning Phase.
    The NRDA Regulations under OPA, 15 CFR part 990 (``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 is to announce, 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 Incident. 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 restoration actions.
    Opportunity to comment: Pursuant to 15 CFR 990.14(d), the Trustees 
seek public involvement in restoration planning for this Incident 
through public review of, and comment on, documents contained in the 
Record. The Trustees also intend to seek public comment on a draft 
Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan.
    Comments should be sent to the following email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Determination of Jurisdiction

    The Trustees have made the following findings pursuant to 15 CFR 
990.41:
    1. The rupture of Line 901 on May 19, 2015, resulted in a discharge 
of oil into and upon navigable waters of the United States, including 
the Pacific Ocean, as well as adjoining shorelines. Such occurrence 
constitutes an ``Incident'' within the meaning of 15 CFR 930.30.
    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.
    3. Natural resources under the trusteeship of the Trustees have 
been injured as a result of the Incident. The crude oil discharged from 
Line 901 is harmful to certain aquatic organisms, birds, wildlife, and 
vegetation that were exposed to the oil. Accordingly, the discharged 
oil and the response activities to address the discharge have had an 
adverse effect on the natural resources of the Pacific Ocean and its 
adjoining shorelines and impaired the services which those resources 
provide. Documents in the Administrative Record contain more 
information regarding the specific studies, observations, etc., by 
which the Trustees reached this determination.
    As a result of the foregoing determinations, the Trustees have 
jurisdiction to pursue restoration under the OPA.

Determination To Conduct Restoration Planning

    The Trustees have determined, pursuant to 15 CFR 990.42(a), that:
    1. Observations and data collected pursuant to 15 CFR 990.43 
(including dead and live oiled birds and marine mammals; dead and live 
fish and invertebrates exposed to oil; information regarding beaches, 
seagrass beds, rocky intertidal habitats, subtidal habitats and other 
habitats affected by oil or response activities) demonstrate that 
injuries to natural resources have resulted from the Incident. 
Immediately following the Incident, the Trustees, in cooperation with 
the RPs identified several categories of impacted and potentially 
impacted resources, including birds, marine mammals, fish, and 
shoreline and subtidal habitats, as well as effects to human use/
recreation resulting from impacts on these natural resources. The 
Trustees then began conducting activities, in cooperation with the RPs, 
to evaluate injuries and potential injuries within these categories. 
More information on these resource categories is available in the 
Administrative Record, including information gathered during the 
preassessment.
    2. Spill 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 and location of the discharge prevented recovery of 
all of the oil and precluded prevention of injuries to some natural 
resources. In addition, certain response efforts, such as the removal 
of wrack from beaches, caused additional injuries to natural resources. 
It is anticipated that injured natural resources will eventually return 
to baseline levels (the condition they would have been in had it not 
been for the Incident), but interim losses have occurred or have likely 
occurred and will continue until a return to baseline is achieved. In 
addition, there were lost and diminished human uses of the resources 
resulting from the impacts to the natural resources and from spill 
response actions.
    3. Feasible primary and compensatory restoration actions exist to 
address injuries and lost human uses resulting from the Incident. To 
conduct restoration planning, the Trustees have compiled a list of 
restoration projects that could potentially be implemented to 
compensate for interim losses resulting from the incident. The Trustees 
have also sought suggestions from the public on potential restoration 
projects to compensate for the services and functions provided by 
natural resources. In addition, assessment procedures such as Habitat 
Equivalency Analysis and Resource Equivalency Analysis are available to 
scale the appropriate amount of compensatory restoration required to 
offset ecological service losses resulting from this Incident. To 
quantify lost human uses resulting from the Incident, the Trustees, in 
cooperation with the RP, have gathered data regarding visitor use

[[Page 8510]]

of impacted sites and associated activities. To value those lost uses 
the Trustees are using a value to cost approach, employing a Travel 
Cost Model, along with Benefits Transfer, for certain human use losses. 
The Trustees will work cooperatively with local governmental agencies 
and non-governmental organizations to identify a suite of potential 
restoration projects according to the relative magnitude of the spill. 
It is the goal of the Trustees to select projects spanning the 
geographic area of the spill and to address the various types of 
activities that were impacted by the spill.
    During restoration planning, the Trustees 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.
    Based upon information in the Administrative Record and the 
foregoing determinations, the Trustees intend to proceed with 
restoration planning for this Incident.

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 Incident. The Record will be augmented with additional information 
over the course of the NRDA process.
    The Administrative Record may be viewed at the following website: 
https://www.diver.orr.noaa.gov/web/guest/diver-admin-record?diverWorkspaceSiteId=6104.

    Dated: March 1, 2019.
Paul M. Scholz,
Chief Financial Officer/Chief Administrative Officer, National Ocean 
Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2019-04198 Filed 3-7-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-JE-P