[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 2, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31618-31619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14074]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
[FWS-R4-ES-2019-N069; FVHC98220410150-XXX-FF04H00000]
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 2019 Draft Supplemental Restoration
Plan; Mississippi 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 (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 Consent Decree, the Federal and State natural
resource trustee agencies for the Mississippi Trustee Implementation
Group (Mississippi TIG) have prepared a Mississippi Trustee
Implementation Group 2019 Draft Supplemental Restoration Plan: Grand
Bay Land Acquisition and Habitat Management (SRP) to evaluate funding
additional land acquisition from willing sellers and habitat management
within the Grand Bay Land Acquisition and Habitat Management project
(Grand Bay Project) footprint. The Mississippi TIG originally evaluated
and selected the Grand Bay Project as part of the Mississippi Trustee
Implementation Group 2016-2017 Restoration Plan/Environmental
Assessment (2016-2017 RP/EA). The SRP provides for an additional
$10,000,000 for the Grand Bay Project. The Grand Bay Project would
continue the process of conserving and restoring wetlands, coastal, and
nearshore habitats injured as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill, which occurred on or about April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of
Mexico. We invite comments on the draft SRP.
DATES: Submitting Comments: You must submit comments on the draft SRP
on or before August 1, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the draft SRP from any
of the following websites:
http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.
https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord.
Alternatively, you may request a CD of the SRP (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
Submitting Comments: You may submit comments on the draft SRP by
one of the following methods:
Via the Web: http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/mississippi.
Via U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box
29649, Atlanta, GA 30345. In order to be considered, mailed comments
must be postmarked on or before the comment deadline given in DATES.
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
In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Final PDARP/PEIS, Record
of Decision, and Consent Decree, the Federal and State natural resource
trustee agencies for the Mississippi TIG have prepared a SRP to
evaluate funding additional land acquisition from willing sellers and
habitat management within the Grand Bay Land Acquisition and Habitat
Management project (Grand Bay Project) footprint. The Mississippi TIG
originally evaluated and selected the Grand Bay Project as part of the
2016-2017 RP/EA. The SRP provides for an additional $10,000,000 for the
Grand Bay Project. The Grand Bay Project would continue the process of
conserving and restoring wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats
injured as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which occurred
on or about April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Mississippi TIG evaluated and selected several restoration
projects from a reasonable range of alternatives described in the 2016-
2017 RP/EA. Projects selected for implementation include the Grand Bay
Project. As described in Section 3.4 of the 2016-2017 RP/EA, the
Mississippi TIG allocated $6 million to initiate the acquisition and to
commence management in nearshore coastal and wetland habitats within
the Grand Bay Project boundary, which includes the acquisition
boundaries of the Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge), the
Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), and the Grand Bay
Savanna Coastal Preserve (Preserve). The final 2016-2017 RP/EA can be
found at https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/2017/07/mississippi-trustee-implementation-group-releases-first-restoration-plan.
Background
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 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
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,
[[Page 31619]]
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and Department of Natural
Resources;
State of Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ);
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.
On April 4, 2016, the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Louisiana entered a Consent Decree resolving civil claims
by the DWH oil spill trustees against BP Exploration and Production
Inc. (BP) arising from the DWH oil spill: United States v. BPXP et al.,
Civ. No. 10-4536, centralized in MDL 2179, In re: Oil Spill by the Oil
Rig ``Deepwater Horizon'' in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010
(E.D. La.) (http://www.justice.gov/enrd/deepwater-horizon). Pursuant to
that Consent Decree, restoration projects in Mississippi are now
selected and implemented by the Mississippi TIG. The Mississippi TIG is
composed of one State and four Federal Trustees: MDEQ, DOI, NOAA, USDA,
and EPA.
Overview of the Mississippi TIG SRP
The SRP 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.
The MS TIG proposes to allocate an additional $10 million in
funding in this Draft SRP to support further acquisition and/or habitat
management and project success monitoring within the boundary of the
Grand Bay Project originally selected in the 2016-2017 RP/EA.
The proposal 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. Details are
provided in the SRP. Additional restoration planning for the
Mississippi Restoration Area will continue.
Next Steps
After the public comment period ends, the Trustees will consider
and address the comments received before issuing a final SRP.
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 SRP 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.) 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,
Department of the Interior, Director of Gulf of Mexico Restoration.
[FR Doc. 2019-14074 Filed 7-1-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P