[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 194 (Monday, October 7, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53469-53470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21802]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[FWS-R4-ES-2019-N126]; [FVHC98220410150-XXX-FF04H00000]


Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 2019 Final Supplemental Restoration 
Plan and Finding of No Significant Impact; Mississippi Trustee 
Implementation Group

AGENCY: Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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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 Final Supplemental Restoration Plan: Grand 
Bay Land Acquisition and Habitat Management (SRP) and Finding of No 
Significant Impact (FONSI). The SRP approves an additional $10,000,000 
in funds for additional land acquisition and habitat management within 
the Grand Bay Land Acquisition and Habitat Management project (Grand 
Bay Project) area. 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). Additional land acquisition and habitat 
management for the Grand Bay Project will continue the process of 
conserving and restoring wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats 
injured 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 
SRP and FONSI.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the SRP and FONSI from 
either of the following websites:

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

    Alternatively, you may request a CD of the SRP 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

    Notice of availability of the draft SRP was published in the 
Federal Register on July 2, 2019 (84 FR 31618). The MS TIG provided the 
public 30 days to review and comment on the draft SRP. Comments 
submitted during that time were reviewed and addressed by the MS TIG 
before finalizing the SRP. Details are provided in the final SRP. 
Additional restoration planning for the Mississippi Restoration Area 
will continue.

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 offshore 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, 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.

[[Page 53470]]

    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

    In the final SRP and FONSI, the MS TIG selected an additional $10 
million in funding to support further acquisition and/or habitat 
management and project success monitoring within the project area of 
the Grand Bay Project originally selected in the 2016-2017 RP/EA. In 
that document, the MS TIG evaluated and selected several restoration 
projects from a reasonable range of alternatives. Projects selected for 
implementation included 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 area, 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.
    In accordance with NEPA, as part of the final SRP, the Trustees 
issued a FONSI. The FONSI is available in Appendix A of the final SRP.

Administrative Record

    The documents comprising the Administrative Record for the SRP can 
be viewed electronically at https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord.

Authority

    The authority for 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 Interior.
[FR Doc. 2019-21802 Filed 10-4-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P