[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1062-1063]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00167]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation Service


Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group Deepwater Horizon Oil 
Spill Final Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment: 
Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats; Nutrient 
Reduction (Nonpoint Source); and Provide and Enhance Recreational 
Opportunities; and Finding of No Significant Impact

AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Department 
of Agriculture (USDA).

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 
(DWH) Oil Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment Restoration Plan 
and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Record of 
Decision, and the Consent Decree referenced below, the Federal and 
State natural resource trustee agencies for the Mississippi Trustee 
Implementation Group (MS TIG) have prepared and are making available to 
the public the ``Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group Final 
Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment: Restoration of 
Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats; Nutrient Reduction (Nonpoint 
Source), and Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities'' (Final 
RP4 and EA); and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The Final 
RP4 and EA analyzes projects to partially restore wetlands, coastal, 
and nearshore habitats; reduce nutrient pollution (nonpoint source); 
and provide and enhance recreational opportunities to compensate for 
lost recreational use in the Mississippi Restoration Area resulting 
from the DWH oil spill. The Final RP4 and EA evaluates a reasonable 
range of project alternatives under OPA, the OPA Natural Resources 
Damage Assessment (NRDA) regulations, and NEPA and the NEPA 
implementing regulations, and selects seven projects for funding and 
implementation. A No Action alternative is also evaluated for each of 
the restoration types. The estimated cost to implement MS TIG's 
proposed action (seven preferred alternatives) is $26.4 million. Of 
this amount, $18,500,000 will be funded from the Wetlands, Coastal and 
Nearshore Habitats restoration allocation, $5,000,000 from the Nutrient 
Reduction restoration allocation, and $2,853,000 from the Recreational 
Use restoration allocation.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Final RP4 and EA 
and FONSI from the following website: https://gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/media/document/2024-01-ms-final-rp4ea in 
the ``Restoration Plans'' section. Alternatively, you may request a CD 
of the Final RP4 and EA (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanciann Regalado at 
[email protected] or 678-296-6805, or via the Federal Relay 
Service at 800-877-8339; Ronald Howard, Senior Advisor, USDA Gulf Coast 
Ecosystem Restoration Team, at [email protected]; and Dr. Tina 
Nations, NRDA Program Manager, MDEQ Office of Restoration, at 
[email protected]. Individuals who require alternative means 
for communication should contact the USDA TARGET Center at (202) 720-
2600 (voice and text telephone (TTY)) or dial 711 for 
Telecommunications Relay Service (both voice and text telephone users 
can initiate this call from any telephone).

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 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 DWH Federal and State natural resource trustees (DWH Trustees) 
conducted NRDA for the DWH oil spill under OPA (33 U.S.C. 2701-2720). 
Pursuant to OPA, Federal, and State agencies act as trustees on behalf 
of the public, to assess natural resources 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 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;
     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 DWH 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.) (https://www.justice.gov/enrd/deepwater-horizon). Pursuant to the Consent Decree, restoration 
projects in the Mississippi Restoration Area are chosen and managed by 
MS TIG. MS TIG is composed of the following Trustees: State of 
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality; DOI; NOAA; EPA; and 
USDA.
    On February 7, 2022, MS TIG posted public notice requesting natural 
resource restoration project ideas by March 7, 2022, for the 
Mississippi Restoration Area. The notice stated that MS TIG was seeking 
project ideas for the following restoration types:
    (1) Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitat;
    (2) Nutrient Reduction; and
    (3) Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities.

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    On October 11, 2022, the MS TIG announced that it had initiated 
drafting of the RP4 and EA (https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/2022/10/notice-initiation-restoration-planning-mississippi) and that 
the plan may include proposed projects for some or all of the three 
restoration types.

Overview of the MS TIG Draft RP4 and EA

    MS TIG released the Draft RP4 and EA for public review and comment 
announced through a notice published in the Federal Register on August 
31, 2023 (88 FR 60174-60176). The 30-day comment period for the notice 
closed on October 2, 2023. To facilitate public understanding of the 
document, MS TIG released a pre-recorded webinar on September 12, 2023, 
which had been announced in the August notice. In addition, the Draft 
RP and EA was made available to the public through a web story posted 
on MS TIG's website (www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov). Informally, MS 
TIG accepted additional public comments through October 13, 2023, as 
announced on the MS TIG's website. MS TIG received three comments from 
the public. MS TIG reviewed the comments received, prepared responses 
to those comments, finalized the RP4 and EA, and prepared a FONSI.

Overview of MS TIG Final RP4 and EA

    In the Final RP4 and EA, MS TIG analyzes a reasonable range of 10 
restoration alternatives and, pursuant to NEPA, a no action alternative 
for each of the restoration types. MS TIG selected seven preferred 
alternatives for funding and implementation, which are listed in the 
table below:

Restoration Type: Wetlands, Coastal and Nearshore Habitat:
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  Coastwide Habitat Acquisition.
  Living Shoreline Bulkhead Alternative.
  Hancock County Marsh Living Shoreline Phase 6 Breakwater.
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Restoration Type: Nutrient Reduction (Nonpoint Source):
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  Back Bay--Davis Bayou Nutrient Reduction.
  Big Cedar Creek--Rocky Creek Nutrient Reduction.
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Restoration Type: Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities:
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  Jourdan River Boardwalk.
  Shepard State Park Recreational Enhancements--1.
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Administrative Record

    The documents comprising the Administrative Record for the Final 
RP4 and EA can be viewed electronically at https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord under the folder 6.5.6.2.4.

Authorities

    The authorities for this action are OPA, its implementing NRDA 
regulations in 15 CFR part 990; and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321--4347) and its 
implementing regulations in 40 CFR parts 1500-1508.

Ronald Howard,
Senior Technical Advisor, Natural Resource Specialist, Natural 
Resources Conservation Service, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Alternate to Principal Representative.
[FR Doc. 2024-00167 Filed 1-8-24; 8:45 am]
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