[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