[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 150 (Tuesday, August 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47190-47191]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16976]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XV184]


Notice of Availability of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 
Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group Final Restoration Plan/
Environmental Assessment #5: Living Coastal and Marine Resources--
Marine Mammals and Oysters

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Deepwater Horizon Federal natural resource trustee 
agencies for the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group (Louisiana TIG) 
have prepared a Final Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment (RP/EA 
#5): Living Coastal and Marine Resources--Marine Mammals and Oysters. 
The Final RP/EA #5 describes, and, in conjunction with the associated 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), selects the preferred 
restoration projects considered by the Louisiana TIG to restore natural 
resources and ecological services injured or lost as a result of the 
Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Federal Trustees of the Louisiana TIG 
have determined that the implementation of the Final RP/EA #5 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.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Final RP/EA #5 at: 
http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/louisiana. 
Alternatively, you may request a CD of the Final RP/EA #5 (see FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT below). Also, you may view the document at 
any of the public facilities listed in Appendix A of the Final RP/EA 
#5.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration--Mel Landry, NOAA Restoration Center, 225-425-0583, 
[email protected].

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 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 one 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 Deepwater Horizon Federal and State natural resource trustees 
(Trustees) conducted the natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) for 
the Deepwater Horizon oil spill under OPA (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. 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 (CPRA), Oil Spill Coordinator's Office (LOSCO), Department of 
Environmental Quality (LDEQ), Department of Wildlife

[[Page 47191]]

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: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas 
General Land Office, and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
    The Trustees reached and finalized a settlement of their natural 
resource damage claims with BP in an April 4, 2016, 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 selected and implemented by the 
Louisiana TIG which is composed of the following Trustees: CPRA, LOSCO, 
LDEQ, LDWF, and LDNR NOAA, DOI, EPA, and USDA.

Background

    Notice of Availability of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Louisiana 
Trustee Implementation Group Draft Restoration Plan and Environmental 
Assessment #5: Marine Mammals and Oysters (Draft RP/EA #5) was 
published in the Federal Register at 85 FR 16078 on March 20, 2020. The 
Louisiana TIG hosted a public webinar on April 8, 2020, and the public 
comment period for the Draft RP/EA #5 closed on April 20, 2020. The 
Draft RP/EA #5 evaluated seven restoration alternatives: Two Marine 
Mammal alternatives, four Oyster project alternatives, and the No 
Action alternative in accordance with the OPA and the NEPA. The 
Louisiana TIG considered the public comments received on the Draft RP/
EA #5 which informed the analyses and selection of four restoration 
projects for implementation in the Final RP/EA #5. A summary of the 
public comments received and the Trustees' responses to those comments 
are included in Chapter 6 of the Final RP/EA #5 and all correspondence 
received are provided in the DWH Administrative Record.

Overview of the Final RP/EA

    The Final RP/EA is being released in accordance with the OPA, NRDA 
implementing regulations, and the NEPA. In the Final RP/EA #5, the 
Louisiana TIG selects the following preferred alternatives in the 
Marine Mammals and Oysters restoration types:
     Increasing Capacity and Expanding Partnerships along the 
Louisiana Coastline for Marine Mammal Stranding Response ($3,955,620).
     Enhancing Oyster Recovery Using Brood Reefs ($9,701,447).
     Cultch Plant Oyster Restoration Projects ($10,070,000).
     Hatchery-based Oyster Restoration Projects ($5,850,000).
    The Louisiana TIG has examined the injuries assessed by the 
Deepwater Horizon Trustees and evaluated restoration alternatives to 
address the injuries. In the Final RP/EA #5, the Louisiana TIG presents 
to the public its plan for providing partial compensation for lost 
living coastal and marine resources. The selected projects are intended 
to continue the process of using restoration funding to replenish and 
protect marine mammals and oysters injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil 
spill. The total estimated cost of the selected projects is 
approximately $28,717,075.
    The funding proposed for implementation of oyster restoration under 
the trustees' preferred alternatives represents a commitment of all 
remaining available funding for oyster restoration in the Louisiana 
Restoration Area. The programmatic structure of the proposed oyster 
cultch and brood reef projects would allow the trustees to continue to 
construct specific reef sites in the future. In alignment with the 
PDARP, the trustees may propose projects in the future that benefit 
oysters through the wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats 
restoration allocation. Additional restoration planning for marine 
mammals and other restoration types in the Louisiana Restoration Area 
will continue.

Administrative Record

    The documents comprising the Administrative Record for the Final 
RP/EA #5 and FONSI can be viewed electronically at http://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 Oil Pollution Act 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.).

    Dated: July 30, 2020.
Carrie Selberg,
Director, Office of Habitat Conservation, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-16976 Filed 8-3-20; 8:45 am]
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