[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 133 (Friday, July 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41585-41586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14746]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-10010-48-OW]


Notice of Availability of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 
Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group Final Supplemental Restoration 
Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Cypremort Point State Park 
Improvements Project Modification and Finding of No Significant Impact

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) and the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal and State natural 
resource trustee agencies for the Louisiana Trustee Implementation 
Group (Louisiana TIG) have prepared the Final Supplemental Restoration 
Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Cypremort Point State Park 
Improvements Project Modification (Final Supplemental RP/EA). The Final 
Supplemental RP/EA describes and, in conjunction with the associated 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), selects the modified 
Cypremort Point State Park Improvements (Cypremort Improvements) 
project considered by the Louisiana TIG to compensate for recreational 
use services lost as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Final Supplemental 
RP/EA and FONSI at any of the following sites:

 http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov
 http://www.la-dwh.com
    Alternatively, you may request a CD of the Final Supplemental RP/EA 
and FONSI (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). You may also view the 
document at any of the public facilities listed at http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov; check with each facility for their 
hours of operation.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
 Louisiana--Joann Hicks, 225-342-5477
 EPA--Douglas Jacobson, 214-665-6692

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Louisiana TIG evaluated project 
alternatives under criteria set forth in the OPA natural resource 
damage assessment (NRDA) regulations and evaluated the environmental 
consequences of the alternatives in accordance with the NEPA. The 
selected project is consistent with the restoration alternatives 
selected in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Final Programmatic Damage 
Assessment and Restoration Plan/Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement (PDARP/PEIS). The Federal Trustees of the Louisiana TIG have 
determined that the implementation of the Final Supplemental RP/EA is 
not a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the 
human environment within the context of the NEPA. They have concluded a 
FONSI is appropriate, and, therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement 
will not be prepared. This notice informs the public of the approval 
and availability of the Final Supplemental RP/EA and FONSI.

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 the release of 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. The Trustees conducted the 
natural resource damage assessment for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill 
under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.). Under the 
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 oil spill Trustees are:
     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);
     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);
     State of Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration 
Authority (CPRA), Oil Spill Coordinator's Office (LOSCO), Department of 
Environmental Quality (LDEQ), Department of Wildlife and Fisheries 
(LDWF), and Department of Natural Resources (LDNR);
     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 Parks and Wildlife Department, General Land 
Office, and 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 Louisiana Restoration Area are chosen and managed by the Louisiana 
TIG. The Louisiana TIG is composed of the following Trustees: CPRA, 
LOSCO, LDEQ, LDWF, LDNR, EPA, DOI, NOAA, and USDA.

Background

    The original scope of the Cypremort Improvements project was 
evaluated in the Louisiana TIG Final Restoration Plan and Environmental 
Assessment #4: Nutrient Reduction (Nonpoint Source) and Recreational 
Use (RP/EA #4), which was published in the Federal Register at 83 FR 
34571 on July 20, 2018. As proposed in the RP/EA #4, the project would 
entail a variety of park enhancements including beach restoration, 
marsh boardwalk and trail construction, road and jetty repairs, and 
replacement of the breakwater system that helps protect the park's 
recreational beach. Following completion of the RP/EA #4, the Louisiana 
Office of State Parks was successful in securing other

[[Page 41586]]

non-NRDA funding to construct the breakwater system that was originally 
proposed as a component of the Cypremort Improvements project. The 
Louisiana TIG prepared a Draft Supplemental Restoration Plan and 
Environmental Assessment for the Cypremort Point State Park 
Improvements Project Modification (Draft Supplemental RP/EA) to inform 
the public about potential modifications to the Cypremort Improvements 
project and to seek public comment. A Notice of Availability of the 
Draft Supplemental RP/EA was published in the Federal Register at 85 FR 
21852 on April 20, 2020. The Louisiana TIG hosted a public webinar on 
April 28, 2020, and the public comment period for the Draft 
Supplemental RP/EA closed on May 20, 2020. The Louisiana TIG considered 
the public comments received on the Draft Supplemental RP/EA, which 
informed the Louisiana TIG's analyses and selection of the modified 
Cypremort Improvements project in the Final Supplemental RP/EA. A 
summary of the public comments received and the Trustees' responses to 
those comments are included in Section 6 of the Final Supplemental RP/
EA.

Overview of the Final Supplemental RP/EA

    The Final Supplemental RP/EA evaluates modifications to the 
Cypremort Improvements project and considers three action alternatives, 
consistent with the purpose and need of the original project. 
Alternative A includes the components of the original Cypremort 
Improvements project that were approved for funding but are not 
currently completed: Improvements to an existing rock jetty, beach 
reclamation, construction of a marsh boardwalk and trail, and road and 
parking lot repairs. Alternative B includes the same components as in 
Alternative A as well as additional improvements at Cypremort Point 
State Park: A recreational vehicle campground with approximately 30 new 
paved pull-through campsites with sewer, water, and electrical tie-ins, 
two mobile bathhouses with sewer, water, and electrical tie-ins, and a 
boat dock/fishing pier. Alternative C includes the same components as 
Alternative B but eliminates the mobile bathhouses. In the Final 
Supplemental RP/EA, the Louisiana TIG selects project Alternative B: 
Expanded Restoration and Recreation Improvements with Mobile 
Bathhouses. The estimated total cost of the selected project, as 
modified, is $4.48 million. In the Final Supplemental RP/EA, the 
Louisiana TIG presents to the public its plan to continue the process 
of restoring recreational use services lost in the Louisiana 
Restoration Area as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. 
Additional restoration planning for the Louisiana Restoration Area will 
continue.

Administrative Record

    The documents comprising the Administrative Record for the Final 
Supplemental RP/EA and FONSI 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 NRDA regulations found at 15 CFR 
part 990, and the NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

Benita Best-Wong,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2020-14746 Filed 7-9-20; 8:45 am]
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