[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 20, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43292-43294]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15029]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[FWS-R4-ES-2022-N032; FVHC98220410150-XXX-FF04H00000]


Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment, 
Florida Trustee Implementation Group: Final Phase V.4 Florida Coastal 
Access Project: Restoration Plan and Supplemental Environmental 
Assessment; and Finding of No Significant Impact

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 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 Consent Decree, the Federal and State natural resource trustee 
agencies for the Florida Trustee Implementation Group (Florida TIG) 
have approved the Final Phase V.4 Restoration Plan and Supplemental 
Environmental Assessment (Final Phase V.4 RP/SEA) and Finding of No 
Significant Impact (FONSI). In the Final Phase V.4 RP/SEA, the FL TIG 
selects to fund the fourth phase of the Florida Coastal Access Project 
through acquisition of the Dickerson Bay parcel: a 114-acre undeveloped 
coastal inholding in Wakulla County, Florida, within the approved 
boundary of St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). This acquisition 
will continue the process of restoring natural resources and services 
injured or lost resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. 
The purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the availability 
of the Final Phase V.4 RP/SEA and FONSI.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Final Phase V.4 
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


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Alternatively, you may request a CD of the Final Phase V.4 RP/SEA (see 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanciann Regalado, at 
[email protected], or via telephone at 678-296-6805. 
Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of 
hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or 
TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals 
outside the United States should use the relay services offered within 
their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in 
the United States.

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, 
including the Florida Coastal Access Project for approximately $45.4 
million. The Trustees selected these projects after public notice, 
public meetings, and consideration of public comments.
    The Consent Decree 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.4 Restoration Plan 
and Supplemental Environmental Assessment was published in the Federal 
Register on April 18, 2022 (87 FR 22937). The public was provided with 
a period to review and comment on the Draft Restoration Plan, from 
April 18, 2022, through May 20, 2022. A webinar was held for the public 
on May 10, 2022, and an in-person public meeting was held on May 12, 
2022, in Panacea, Florida. The Florida TIG considered the public 
comments received, which informed the TIG's analyses and selection of 
the preferred restoration alternative, the Dickerson Bay Addition, in 
the Final Phase V.4 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.4 RP/SEA. The FONSI is included as 
Appendix C of the Final Phase V.4 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 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 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 FL TIG's Final Phase V.4 RP/SEA

    The Final Phase V.4 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 Phase V.4 RP/SEA provides an 
OPA analysis for the proposed fourth phase of the Florida Coastal 
Access Project and supplements the NEPA analysis completed in the 
first, second, and third phases of the project (2016 Final Phase V 
Early Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment, 2017 Final Phase 
V.2 Restoration Plan and Supplemental Environmental Assessment, and 
2019 Final Phase V.3 Restoration Plan and Supplemental Environmental 
Assessment, respectively). In the Final Phase V.4 RP/SEA, the Florida 
TIG selects to fund the fourth phase of the Florida Coastal Access 
Project to

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address lost recreational opportunities caused by the Deepwater Horizon 
oil spill in the Florida Restoration Area, through the acquisition of 
the Dickerson Bay Addition: a 114-acre coastal inholding parcel in 
Wakulla County within the approved boundary of St. Marks National 
Wildlife Refuge. The cost to carry out the Dickerson Bay Addition is 
approximately $685,000. Details on the fourth phase of the project are 
provided in the Final Phase V.4 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.4 RP/SEA can be viewed electronically at http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/administrativerecord.

Authority

    The authority of 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,
Department of the Interior, Director of Gulf of Mexico Restoration.
[FR Doc. 2022-15029 Filed 7-19-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P