[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 194 (Monday, October 7, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53467-53469]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21804]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[FWS-R4-ES-2019-N127; FVHC98220410150-XXX-FF04H00000]


Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Florida Trustee Implementation Group 
Phase V.3 Florida Coastal Access Project: Final Restoration Plan and 
Supplemental Environmental Assessment

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 of 1969 (NEPA), the Deepwater Horizon 
Oil Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and 
Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS), 
and the resulting Consent Decree, the Federal and State natural 
resource trustee agencies for the Florida Trustee Implementation Group 
(Florida TIG) have approved the Final Phase V.3 Restoration Plan and 
Supplemental Environmental Assessment (Final Phase V.3 RP/SEA) and 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The Final

[[Page 53468]]

Phase V.3 RP/SEA supplements two previous documents, the 2016 Final 
Phase V Early Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (Final 
Phase V ERP/EA) and the 2018 Final Phase V.2 Restoration Plan and 
Supplemental Environmental Assessment (Final Phase V.2 RP/SEA). In the 
Final Phase V.3 RP/SEA, the FL TIG selects for funding the third phase 
of the Florida Coastal Access Project, which is intended 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 Phase 
V.3 RP/SEA and FONSI.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Final Phase V.3 
RP/SEA at any of the following sites:

 http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon
 http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov
 http://dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/default.htm
    Alternatively, you may request a CD of the Final Phase V.3 RP/SEA 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanciann Regalado, at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction

    The Florida Coastal Access Project was selected for funding and 
implementation in Phase V of Deepwater Horizon early restoration. In 
the 2011 Framework Agreement for Early Restoration Addressing Injuries 
Resulting from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (Framework Agreement), 
BP agreed to provide to the Trustees up to $1 billion toward early 
restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico to address injuries to 
natural resources caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The 
Framework Agreement represented a preliminary step toward the 
restoration of injured natural resources and was intended to expedite 
the start of restoration in the Gulf in advance of the completion of 
the injury assessment process. In the five phases of the early 
restoration process, the Trustees selected, and BP Exploration and 
Production, Inc. (BP) agreed to fund, a total of 65 early restoration 
projects expected to cost a total of approximately $877 million. The 
Trustees selected these projects after public notice, public meetings, 
and consideration of public comments.
    The Consent Decree, as discussed in the ``Background'' section 
below, terminated and replaced the Framework Agreement and provided 
that the Trustees shall use remaining early restoration funds as 
specified in the early restoration plans and in accordance with the 
Consent Decree. The Trustees have determined that decisions concerning 
any unexpended early restoration funds are to be made by the 
appropriate TIG, in this case the Florida TIG.
    A notice of availability of the Draft Phase V.3 Restoration Plan 
and Supplemental Environmental Assessment was published in the Federal 
Register on June 21, 2019 (84 FR 29231). The public was provided with a 
period to review and comment on the Draft Restoration Plan, from June 
21, 2019, through July 22, 2019, and a public meeting was held on July 
18, 2019, in Navarre, Florida. The Florida TIG considered the public 
comments received, which informed the TIG's analyses and selection of 
the preferred restoration alternative, the Navarre Beach Marine Park 
Addition project, in the Final Phase V.3 RP/SEA. A summary of the 
public comments received, and the Florida TIG's responses to those 
comments, are addressed in Chapter 5 of the Final Phase V.3 RP/SEA. The 
FONSI is included as Appendix C of the Final Phase V.3 RP/SEA.

Background

    On April 20, 2010, the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater 
Horizon, which was being used to drill a well for 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 OPA. Pursuant to OPA 
(OPA; 33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), 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.
    On April 4, 2016, the Trustees reached and finalized a settlement 
of their natural resource damage claims with BP in a Consent Decree 
approved by the United States District Court for the Eastern District 
of Louisiana. Pursuant to that Consent Decree, restoration projects in 
the Florida Restoration Area are now chosen and managed by the Florida 
TIG. The Florida TIG is composed of the following six Trustees: State 
of Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Fish and Wildlife 
Conservation Commission; DOI; NOAA; EPA; and USDA.

Overview of the Final Phase V.3 RP/SEA

    The Final Phase V.3 RP/SEA/FONSI 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, the Final PDARP/
PEIS, and the Final Phase V ERP/EA.
    The Florida TIG has selected to fund the third phase of the Florida 
Coastal Access Project in the Final Phase V.3 RP/SEA to address lost 
recreational

[[Page 53469]]

opportunities caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Florida 
Restoration Area. In the Final Phase V.3 RP/SEA, the Florida TIG 
selected one alternative for funding, the Navarre Beach Marine Park 
Addition, which involves the acquisition of an approximately 4.75-acre 
coastal inholding parcel in Santa Rosa County within the existing 
Navarre Beach Marine Park property. The Florida Coastal Access Project 
was allocated approximately $45.4 million in early restoration funds, 
and the cost of the Navarre Beach Marine Park Addition is approximately 
$2 million from remaining funds not utilized in the first and second 
phases of the project. Details on the third phase of the project are 
provided in the Final Phase V.3 RP/SEA. Additional restoration planning 
for the Florida Restoration Area will continue.

Administrative Record

    The documents comprising the Administrative Record for the Final 
Phase V.3 RP/SEA can be viewed electronically at http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/administrativerecord.

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. 2019-21804 Filed 10-4-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P