[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 145 (Friday, July 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45770-45772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15846]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9874-01-OW]


Notice of Availability of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Texas 
Trustee Implementation Group Final Restoration Plan/Environmental 
Assessment #2: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore 
Habitats; Nutrient Reduction; Oysters; Sea Turtles; and Birds 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 Texas Trustee Implementation Group 
(Texas TIG) prepared the Final Restoration Plan/Environmental 
Assessment #2: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore 
Habitats; Nutrient Reduction; Oysters; Sea Turtles; and Birds (Final 
RP/EA #2). The Final RP/EA #2 describes and, in conjunction with the 
associated Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), selects thirteen 
restoration project alternatives considered by the Texas TIG to restore 
natural resources and ecological services injured or lost as a result 
of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Texas TIG evaluated these 
alternatives in accordance with the OPA, including

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criteria set forth in the OPA natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) 
regulations, and evaluated the environmental consequences of the 
restoration alternatives in accordance with the NEPA. The selected 
projects are consistent with the restoration alternatives selected in 
the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Final Programmatic Damage Assessment 
and Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement (PDARP/PEIS). The Federal Trustees of the Texas TIG have 
determined that implementation of the Final RP/EA #2 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 RP/EA #2 and FONSI.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Final RP/EA #2 and 
FONSI at https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/texas. Alternatively, you may request a compact disc (CD) of the Final 
RP/EA #2 and FONSI (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section). You 
may also view the Final RP/EA #2 and FONSI at the following locations:

 Port Arthur Public Library, 4615 9th Avenue, Port Arthur, TX 
77642
 Jack K. Williams Library, Texas A&M University at Galveston, 
200 Seawolf Parkway Building #3010, Galveston, TX 77554
 Mary and Jeff Bell Library, Texas A&M University--Corpus 
Christi, 6300 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi, TX 78412

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
 Texas--Angela Schrift; [email protected]; 512-389-
8755.
 EPA--Douglas Jacobson; [email protected]; 214-665-6692.

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 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 OPA. 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 restoration to baseline (i.e., 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 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), 
General Land Office (TGLO), and Commission on Environmental Quality 
(TCEQ);
     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; and
     State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection 
and Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
    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 Texas Restoration Area are chosen and managed by the Texas TIG. The 
Texas TIG is composed of the following Trustees: TPWD, TGLO, TCEQ, EPA, 
DOI, NOAA, and USDA.

Background

    A Notice of Availability of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Texas 
Trustee Implementation Group Draft Restoration Plan/Environmental 
Assessment #2: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore 
Habitats; Nutrient Reduction; Oysters; Sea Turtles; and Birds (Draft 
RP/EA #2) was published in the Federal Register at 87 FR 10787 on 
February 25, 2022. The Texas TIG hosted a public webinar on March 9, 
2022, and the public comment period for the Draft RP/EA #2 closed on 
March 28, 2022. In the Draft RP/EA #2, the Texas TIG evaluated eighteen 
restoration project alternatives in accordance with the OPA and the 
NEPA. Of these restoration project alternatives, thirteen were 
identified as preferred, and five were identified as non-preferred. The 
Draft RP/EA #2 also evaluated a no-action alternative. The Texas TIG 
considered the public comments received on the Draft RP/EA #2 which 
informed the Texas TIG's analyses and selection of thirteen restoration 
projects for implementation in the Final RP/EA #2. A summary of the 
public comments received and the Trustees' responses to those comments 
are included in Chapter 7 of the Final RP/EA #2.

Overview of the Final RP/EA

    The Final RP/EA #2 is being released in accordance with the OPA, 
its NRDA implementing regulations, and the NEPA. In the Final RP/EA #2, 
the Texas TIG selects the following preferred project alternatives for 
each restoration type:

Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats
     Bird Island Cove Habitat Restoration--Construction;
     Bahia Grande Channel F Hydrologic Restoration;
     Follets Island Habitat Acquisition Phase 2; and
     Galveston Island Habitat Acquisition.
Nutrient Reduction
     Petronila Creek Constructed Wetlands Planning; and
     Petronila Creek Watershed Nutrient Reduction Initiative.
Oysters
     Landscape Scale Oyster Restoration in Galveston Bay.
Sea Turtles
     Upper Texas Coast Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Facility; and
     Reducing Sea Turtle Mortality through Removal of Illegal 
Fishing Gear.
Birds
     Laguna Vista Rookery Island

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Habitat Protection;
     Jones Bay Oystercatcher Habitat Restoration;
     San Antonio Bay Bird Island; and
     Texas Breeding Shorebird and Seabird Stewardship.

    The total estimated cost of the selected restoration projects is 
approximately $39 million. The Texas TIG has examined the injuries 
assessed by the Deepwater Horizon Trustees and evaluated restoration 
alternatives to address the injuries. In the Final RP/EA #2, the Texas 
TIG presents to the public the Texas TIG's most recent plan to restore 
natural resources and ecological services injured or lost as a result 
of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Additional restoration planning for 
the Texas Restoration Area will continue.

Administrative Record

    The documents comprising the Administrative Record for the Final 
RP/EA #2 and FONSI can be viewed electronically at https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord under folder 6.5.7.2.2.

Authority

    The authority for this action is the OPA (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. 2022-15846 Filed 7-28-22; 8:45 am]
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