[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 226 (Friday, November 25, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72507-72508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25724]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[FWS-R4-ES-2022-N050; FVHC98220410150-XXX-FF04H00000]


Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Louisiana Trustee Implementation 
Group Final Phase 2 Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment #7.1: 
Terrebonne HNC Island Restoration Project; 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 Restoration Plan and 
Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS), 
Record of Decision (ROD) and the Consent Decree, the Federal and State 
natural resource trustee agencies for the Louisiana Trustee 
Implementation Group (LA TIG) have prepared the Final Phase 2 
Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment #7.1: Terrebonne HNC Island 
Restoration Project (Final RP/EA #7.1) and Finding of No Significant 
Impact (FONSI). The Terrebonne HNC Restoration Project (HNC Island 
project) was approved for engineering and design (E&D) in a 2020 
restoration plan entitled Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group Final 
Restoration Plan #7: Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats and 
Birds (RP/EA #7). In the Final RP/EA #7.1, the LA TIG analyzes a 
reasonable range of design alternatives for the HNC Island project and 
selects design alternative 7A for construction, under the ``Birds'' 
restoration type. A No Action alternative is also analyzed for the 
project. The purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the 
availability of the Final RP/EA #7.1 and FONSI.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Final RP/EA #7.1 
at https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/louisiana.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanciann Regalado, at 
[email protected] or 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

    On April 20, 2010, the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater 
Horizon (DWH), 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.

[[Page 72508]]

Background

    The Final PDARP/PEIS provides for TIGs to propose phasing 
restoration projects across multiple restoration plans. A TIG may 
propose in a draft restoration plan conceptual projects to fund for an 
information-gathering planning phase, such as E&D (phase 1). This 
allows TIGs to develop information needed to fully consider a 
subsequent implementation phase in a later restoration plan (phase 2). 
In the final RP/EA #7, the LA TIG selected three conceptual projects 
for E&D, using funds from the ``Wetlands, Coastal and Nearshore 
Habitats'' and ``Birds'' restoration types, as provided for in the DWH 
Consent Decree. One of the projects selected for E&D in the Final RP/EA 
#7, the Terrebonne HNC Island project, reached a stage of design where 
proposed construction alternatives (phase 2) could be analyzed under 
the OPA NRDA regulations and NEPA.
    The LA TIG made the Draft RP/EA #7.1 available for public review 
and comment via publication of a notice of availability in the Federal 
Register on August 25, 2022 (87 FR 52411). The public review and 
comment period ran through September 26, 2022. To facilitate public 
understanding of the document, the LA TIG held a public webinar on 
September 8, 2022, during which public comment was also solicited. The 
LA TIG received no comments during the public comment period. After 
public review, the LA TIG finalized the plan and selected design 
alternative 7A for construction.

Overview of the Final RP/EA #7.1

    The Final RP/EA #7.1 and FONSI (Appendix C of the Final RP/EA #7.1) 
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 1500-1508, the Final 
PDARP/PEIS/ROD, and the Consent Decree. The Final RP/EA #7.1 provides 
the LA TIG's OPA, NRDA, and NEPA analyses for a reasonable range of 
design alternatives for the HNC Island project and selects the LA TIG's 
preferred design alternative, 7A, for implementation.
    Alternative 7A would increase the acreage of the island from 27.6 
acres (ac) to up to approximately 45 ac of shrub nesting, ground 
nesting, and marsh habitat. The approximate cost to complete E&D, 
construct, maintain, and monitor the selected alternative is $34 
million. A second design alternative, 7, is also evaluated in the 
restoration plan, as well as a No Action alternative. Both HNC Island 
action alternatives would include a rock dike around the island 
perimeter, breakwaters, and a bird ramp. While the non-preferred 
alternative would create more total habitat acres (53.3 ac), the 
preferred alternative would provide a balance between constructability, 
feasibility, and creation of optimal habitat features for nesting 
birds, while minimizing environmental impacts during construction.

Administrative Record

    The documents comprising the Administrative Record for the RP/EA 
#7.1 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 the Interior.
[FR Doc. 2022-25724 Filed 11-23-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P