[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 55 (Thursday, March 21, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10528-10530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05379]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[FWS-R4-ES-2019-N026; FVHC98220410150-XXX-FF04H00000]


Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Final Restoration Plan 1 and 
Environmental Assessment: Birds and Sturgeon, and Finding of No 
Significant Impact; Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group

AGENCY: Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Deepwater Horizon Oil 
Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and 
Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS), 
Record of Decision, and the Consent Decree, the Federal natural 
resource

[[Page 10529]]

trustee agencies for the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group (Open 
Ocean TIG) have prepared a Final Restoration Plan 1 and Environmental 
Assessment (Final RP1/EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). 
The Final RP1/EA describes the restoration project alternatives for the 
Birds and Sturgeon restoration types considered by the Open Ocean TIG 
to continue the process of restoring natural resources and services 
injured or lost as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The 
purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the availability of 
the Final RP1/EA and FONSI.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Final RP1/EA and 
FONSI from either of the following websites:

 http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov
 http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord

Alternatively, you may request a CD of the Final RP1/EA and FONSI (see 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

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 off shore oil 
spill in U.S. history, discharging millions of barrels of oil over a 
period of 87 days. In addition, well over 1 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 
(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 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 the 
Open Ocean Restoration Area are now selected and implemented by the 
Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group (TIG). The Open Ocean TIG is 
composed of the following Federal 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); and
     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Background

    On March 31, 2017, the Open Ocean TIG posted a public notice at 
http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov requesting new or revised 
natural resource restoration project ideas by May 15, 2017, for the 
Open Ocean Restoration Area for the 2017-2020 planning years. The 
notice stated that the Open Ocean TIG was seeking project ideas for the 
following Restoration Types: (1) Birds, (2) Sturgeon, (3) Sea Turtles, 
(4) Marine Mammals, (5) Fish and Water Column Invertebrates, and (6) 
Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities.
    On February 7, 2018, the Open Ocean TIG announced that it had 
initiated drafting of its first and second post-settlement draft 
restoration plans; and that the first plan would include restoration 
projects for Birds and Sturgeon, while the second plan would include 
restoration projects for Sea Turtles, Marine Mammals, Fish and Water 
Column Invertebrates, and Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities.
    The project submissions received through this process, along with 
projects previously submitted during prior restoration planning 
processes, resulted in the alternatives evaluated in the Draft RP1/EA.
    Notice of availability of the Draft RP1/EA was published in the 
Federal Register on October 9, 2018 (83 FR 50681). The Draft RP1/EA 
provided the Open Ocean TIG's analysis of alternatives that would meet 
the Trustees' goal to replenish and protect living coastal and marine 
resources under OPA and NEPA, and identified the alternatives that were 
proposed as preferred for implementation. The Open Ocean TIG provided 
the public with 30 days to review and comment on the Draft RP1/EA. The 
Open Ocean TIG also held two public webinars in October 2018 to 
facilitate public understanding of the document. The Open Ocean TIG 
considered the public comments received, which informed the Open Ocean 
TIG's analysis of alternatives in the Final RP1/EA. A summary of the 
public comments received and the Open Ocean TIG's responses to those 
comments are addressed in Chapter 6 of the Final RP1/EA.

Overview of the OO TIG Final RP1/EA

    The Final RP1/EA 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 the Final PDARP/PEIS.
    In the Final RP1/EA and FONSI, the Open Ocean TIG selected the 
following

[[Page 10530]]

three restoration projects from the Birds and Sturgeon restoration 
types:

 Restoration of Common Loons in Minnesota, USA,
 Restoration of Black Terns in North and South Dakota, and
 Characterizing Gulf Sturgeon Spawning Habitat, Habitat Use and 
Origins of Juvenile Sturgeon in the Pearl and Pascagoula River Systems.

    The Open Ocean TIG also analyzed three additional alternatives, as 
well as a no action alternative. In accordance with NEPA, as part of 
the Final RP1/EA, the Trustees issued a FONSI. The FONSI is available 
in Appendix E of the Final RP1/EA.
    The Open Ocean TIG determined that the restoration projects 
selected for funding will continue the process of restoring the natural 
resources injured or lost as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil 
spill. The total estimated cost for the three selected restoration 
projects is $16,000,000. Additional restoration planning for the Open 
Ocean Restoration Area will continue.

Administrative Record

    The documents comprising the Administrative Record for the Final 
RP1/EA can be viewed electronically at http://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.), and 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,
Director of Gulf of Mexico Restoration, Department of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 2019-05379 Filed 3-20-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-15-P