[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 130 (Monday, July 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55941-55942]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14693]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-11586-02-OW]


Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Florida 
Trustee Implementation Group Final Restoration Plan 3 and Environmental 
Assessment: Water Quality and Finding of No Significant Impact

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) natural resource Trustees for the 
Florida Trustee Implementation Group (Florida TIG) have prepared the 
Final Restoration Plan 3 and Environmental Assessment: Water Quality 
(Final RP3/EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The Final 
RP3/EA proposes alternatives to help restore water quality impacted by 
the DWH oil spill. The Final RP3/EA evaluates a reasonable range of 
thirteen project alternatives under the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), 
including criteria set forth in the OPA natural resource damage 
assessment (NRDA) regulations, and the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) and its implementing regulations. A no action alternative is 
also evaluated pursuant to the NEPA. In the Final RP3/EA the Florida 
TIG selects eleven project alternatives under the Water Quality 
Restoration Type for funding and implementation. The total estimated 
cost to implement the selected projects is approximately $111.5 
million. The purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the

[[Page 55942]]

availability of the Final RP3/EA and FONSI.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may view and download the Final 
RP3/EA and FONSI at https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/florida. You may also request a flash drive 
containing the Final RP3/EA and FONSI (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    Sarah Ketron, Florida Department of Environmental Protection; 
telephone number: (850) 245-2167; email address: 
[email protected].
    Tripp Boone, Environmental Protection Agency; telephone number: 
(228) 209-7555; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    On April 20, 2010, the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater 
Horizon, which was drilling a well for BP Exploration and Production, 
Inc., experienced a significant explosion, fire, and subsequent sinking 
in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in the release of millions of barrels 
of oil and other discharges into the Gulf. Under the authority of the 
OPA, designated Federal and State Trustees, acting on behalf of the 
public, assessed the injuries to natural resources and prepared the 
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and 
Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 
(Final PDARP/PEIS), and the Record of Decision for the Deepwater 
Horizon Oil Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration 
Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, which sets 
forth the governance structure and process for DWH restoration planning 
under the OPA NRDA regulations. 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.
    The Florida TIG, which is composed of the State of Florida 
Department of Environmental Protection and the Fish and Wildlife 
Conservation Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the 
U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, selects and 
implements restoration projects under the Florida TIG's management 
authority in accordance with the Consent Decree. The Final PDARP/PEIS, 
Record of Decision, Consent Decree, and information on the DWH Trustees 
can be found at https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-planning/gulf-plan.

Background

    On November 7, 2022, the Florida TIG issued a notice of 
solicitation on the Gulf Spill Restoration website requesting project 
ideas for the Water Quality Restoration Type as described in the Final 
PDARP/PEIS. On August 7, 2023, the Florida TIG announced on the Gulf 
Spill Restoration website that they reviewed project idea submissions 
and initiated drafting the RP3/EA which tiers from the Final PDARP/PEIS 
and would include a reasonable range of restoration project 
alternatives for the Water Quality Restoration Type.
    The Florida TIG released the Draft RP3/EA for public review and 
comment on March 8, 2024, and published a Notice of Availability in the 
Federal Register (89 FR 16765). The comment period ran through April 8, 
2024. To facilitate public understanding of the document, the Florida 
TIG held a webinar on March 27, 2024, during which public comments were 
solicited. After the public review period closed, the Florida TIG 
reviewed the comments received, prepared responses to those comments, 
finalized the RP3/EA, and prepared a FONSI.

Overview of the Florida TIG Final RP3/EA

    In the Final RP3/EA, the Florida TIG analyzes a reasonable range of 
thirteen project alternatives and, pursuant to the NEPA, a no action 
alternative. Two of the alternatives analyzed are not preferred by the 
Florida TIG at this time. The eleven projects selected by the Florida 
TIG for funding and implementation are listed below:
    1. Pensacola and Perdido Watersheds Microbial Source Tracking 
(Planning);
    2. Pensacola Bay Unpaved Roads Initiative Phase 2 (Planning);
    3. Carpenter Creek Hydrologic Restoration and Stormwater 
Improvements;
    4. Hollice T. Williams Stormwater Park;
    5. Gulf Breeze Septic to Sewer Conversion;
    6. Santa Rosa County Septic to Sewer Conversion;
    7. Choctawhatchee Bay Unpaved Roads Initiative;
    8. Telogia Creek Watershed Water Quality Improvements;
    9. Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge Hydrologic Restoration 
Phase 2 (Planning);
    10. Bond Farm Hydrologic Enhancement Impoundment; and
    11. Bond Farm Hydrologic Enhancement Southwest Discharge Structure 
(Planning).
    The total estimated cost to implement the eleven selected project 
alternatives is approximately $111.5 million and will utilize funding 
from the Florida TIG's Water Quality Restoration Type. Additional 
restoration planning in the Florida TIG will continue.

Administrative Record

    The Administrative Record for the Final RP3/EA can be viewed 
electronically at https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord 
under the folder 6.5.4.2.6.

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 
U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), its implementing NRDA regulations found at 15 CFR 
part 990, and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
4321 et seq.), its implementing regulations found at 40 CFR parts 1500-
1508.

Benita Best-Wong,
Deputy Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2024-14693 Filed 7-5-24; 8:45 am]
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