[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 202 (Friday, October 18, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55976-55978]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-22778]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[FWS-R4-ES-2019-N140; FVHC98220410150-XXX-FF04H00000]


Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Draft Phase 2 Restoration Plan 1.2 
and Environmental Assessment: Barataria Basin Ridge and Marsh Creation 
Project Spanish Pass Increment and Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Project 
Increment One; Louisiana 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 of 1969 (NEPA), the Final 
Programmatic Damage Assessment Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS), and the Consent 
Decree, the Federal and State natural resource trustee agencies for the 
Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group (LA TIG) have prepared a 
Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group Draft Restoration Plan/
Environmental Assessment #1.2: Barataria Basin Ridge and Marsh Creation 
Project Spanish Pass Increment and Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Project 
Increment One (Phase 2 RP/EA #1.2), proposing construction activities 
for the restoration of wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats 
injured in the Louisiana Restoration Area as a result of the Deepwater 
Horizon (DWH) oil spill. The two projects are components of larger 
marsh restoration strategies, and were approved for engineering and 
design (E&D) in a 2017 restoration plan entitled Louisiana Trustee 
Implementation Group Final Restoration Plan #1: Restoration of 
Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats; Habitat Projects on 
Federally Managed Lands; and Birds (Phase 1 RP #1). The Phase 2 RP/EA 
#1.2 analyzes design alternatives for the two projects, and proposes a 
preferred design alternative for construction of each. We invite 
comments on the draft Phase 2 RP/EA #1.2.

DATES: 
    Submitting Comments: We will consider public comments on the draft 
Phase 2 RP/EA #1.2 received on or before November 18, 2019.
    Public Webinar: The LA TIG will host a public webinar on October 
28, 2019, at 4:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. The public may register 
for the webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4633351197181038605. After registering, participants will receive a 
confirmation email with instructions for joining the webinar. The 
presentation material will be posted on the web shortly after the 
webinar is concluded at https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/louisiana.

ADDRESSES: 
    Obtaining Documents: You may download the draft Phase 2 RP/EA #1.2 
from either of the following websites:

 https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon
 https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/louisiana

    Alternatively, you may request a CD of the draft Phase 2 RP/EA #1.2 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). A hard copy of the Phase 2 RP/EA 
#1.2 is also available for review during the public comment period at 
repositories located across the region. Locations are listed in the 
following table.

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                 Library                            Address                      City                   Zip
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St. Tammany Parish Library..............  310 W 21st Avenue.........  Covington.................           70433
Terrebonne Parish Library...............  151 Library Drive.........  Houma.....................           70360
New Orleans Public Library, Louisiana     219 Loyola Avenue.........  New Orleans...............           70112
 Division.
East Baton Rouge Parish Library.........  7711 Goodwood Boulevard...  Baton Rouge...............           70806
Jefferson Parish Library, East Bank       4747 W Napoleon Avenue....  Metairie..................           70001
 Regional Library.
Jefferson Parish Library, West Bank       2751 Manhattan Boulevard..  Harvey....................           70058
 Regional Library.
Plaquemines Parish Library..............  8442 Highway 23...........  Belle Chasse..............           70037
St. Bernard Parish Library..............  1125 E St. Bernard Highway  Chalmette.................           70043
St. Martin Parish Library...............  201 Porter Street.........  St. Martinville...........           70582
Alex P. Allain Library..................  206 Iberia Street.........  Franklin..................           70538
Vermilion Parish Library................  405 E St. Victor Street...  Abbeville.................           70510
Martha Sowell Utley Memorial Library....  314 St. Mary Street.......  Thibodaux.................           70301
South Lafourche Public Library..........  16241 E Main Street.......  Cut Off...................           70345

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Calcasieu Parish Public Library Central   301 W Claude Street.......  Lake Charles..............           70605
 Branch.
Iberia Parish Library...................  445 E Main Street.........  New Iberia................           70560
Mark Shirley, LSU AgCenter..............  1105 West Port Street.....  Abbeville.................           70510
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    Submitting Comments: You may submit comments on the draft Phase 2 
RP/EA #1.2 by one of the following methods:
     Via the Web: https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/louisiana.
     Via U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 
29649, Atlanta, GA 30345. To be considered, mailed comments must be 
postmarked on or before the comment deadline given in DATES.
     During the public webinar: Written comments may be 
provided by the public during the webinar. Webinar information is 
provided in DATES.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanciann Regalado, via email at 
[email protected], via telephone at 678-296-805, 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 DWH 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 DWH 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 to 
baseline (the resource quality and conditions that would exist if the 
spill had not occurred). This includes the loss of use and services 
provided by those resources from the time of injury until the 
completion of restoration.
    The DWH 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 United States District Court for the Eastern 
District of Louisiana entered a Consent Decree resolving civil claims 
by the Trustees against 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 the Consent Decree, restoration 
projects in the Louisiana Restoration Area are chosen and managed by 
the LA TIG. The LA TIG is composed of the following Trustees: State of 
Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, Oil Spill 
Coordinator's Office, Departments of Environmental Quality, Wildlife 
and Fisheries, and Natural Resources; DOI; NOAA; EPA; and USDA.

Background

    The Final PDARP/PEIS provides for TIGs to propose phasing 
restoration projects across multiple restoration plans. A TIG may 
propose conceptual projects to fund for an information-gathering 
planning phase, such as E&D, in a restoration plan (phase 1). This 
would allow the TIG to develop information needed to fully consider a 
subsequent implementation phase of that project in a later restoration 
plan (phase 2). In the final Phase 1 RP #1, the LA TIG selected six 
conceptual projects for E&D, using funds from the wetlands, coastal, 
and nearshore habitats restoration type, as provided for in the DWH 
Consent Decree. Two of those projects selected to undergo E&D are the 
Barataria Basin Ridge and Marsh Creation Project Spanish Pass Increment 
(Spanish Pass project) and the Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Project 
Increment One (Lake Borgne project). The design alternatives developed 
during E&D are currently at a stage where proposed construction 
activities may be analyzed under OPA and NEPA. Therefore, in the draft 
Phase 2 RP/EA #1.2, the Louisiana TIG is proposing to finalize and 
implement their preferred design alternatives to construct the Spanish 
Pass and Lake Borgne projects.

Overview of the LA TIG Draft Phase 2 RP/EA #1.2

    The draft Phase 2 RP/EA #1.2 is being released in accordance with 
OPA NRDA regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 
15 CFR part 990, NEPA and its implementing regulations found at 40 CFR 
parts 1500-508, the Final PDARP/PEIS, and the Consent Decree. The Phase 
2 RP/EA #1.2 provides OPA and NEPA analyses for a reasonable range of 
design alternatives for the Spanish Pass and Lake Borgne projects, and 
identifies the LA TIG's preferred design alternatives.
    The proposed Spanish Pass project is a component of an overall 
large-scale restoration strategy for the Barataria Basin that would 
reestablish, through multiple increments, ridge and intertidal marsh 
habitats degraded due to sea level rise, land subsidence, diminished 
sediment supply, and storm events. The total cost for the proposed

[[Page 55978]]

Spanish Pass project is approximately $99,396,000.
    The proposed Lake Borgne project is a component of an overall 
large-scale restoration strategy for the southwestern shoreline of Lake 
Borgne that would reestablish, through multiple increments, the bay rim 
and intertidal marsh habitat. The estimated total cost for this 
proposed increment is $108,814,700.

Next Steps

    As described above in DATES, the Trustees will host a public 
webinar to facilitate the public review and comment process. After the 
public comment period ends, the Trustees will consider and address the 
comments received before issuing a final Phase 2 RP/EA #1.2.

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 the Phase 2 
RP/EA #1.2 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.), 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.) and its 
implementing regulations found at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508.

Mary Josie Blanchard,
Director of Gulf of Mexico Restoration, Department of Interior.
[FR Doc. 2019-22778 Filed 10-17-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P