[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 241 (Thursday, December 15, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78016-78018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-32185]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior
[FWS-R4-FHC-2011-N255;FVHC98130406900Y4-XXX-FF04G01000]
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill; Draft Phase I Early Restoration Plan
and Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Framework Agreement
for Early Restoration Addressing Injuries Resulting from the Deepwater
Horizon Oil Spill, the Federal and State natural resource trustee
agencies (Trustees) have prepared a Draft Early Restoration Plan and
Environmental Assessment (DERP/EA) describing and proposing a suite of
early restoration projects intended to commence the process of
restoring natural resources and services injured or lost as a result of
the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which occurred on or about April 20,
2010, in the Gulf of Mexico. The purpose of this notice is to inform
the public of the availability of the DERP/EA and to seek written
comments on the proposed restoration alternative presented in the DERP/
EA.
DATES: Comments Due Date: We will consider public comments received on
or before February 14, 2012.
Public Meetings: A series of public meetings are scheduled to
facilitate public review and comment on the DERP/EA. Both written and
verbal public comments will be taken at the meetings. The meeting
dates, times, and locations are listed below. Meeting facilities and
their addresses will be published in local newspapers and will be
posted on the web at www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.
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Date Time Location
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Jan 11, 2012.................. 6:00 pm Open House... Florida
7:00 pm Meeting/
presentation/comment.
Jan 12, 2012.................. 6:00 pm Open House... Florida
7:00 pm Meeting/
presentation/comment.
[[Page 78017]]
Jan 17, 2012.................. 6:00 pm Open House... Mississippi
7:00 pm Meeting/
presentation/comment.
Jan 18, 2012.................. 6:00 pm Open House... Mississippi
7:00 pm Meeting/
presentation/comment.
Jan 19, 2012.................. 6:00 pm Open House... Mississippi
7:00 pm Meeting/
presentation/comment.
Jan 23, 2012.................. 6:00 pm Open House... Alabama
7:00 pm Meeting/
presentation/comment.
Jan 24, 2012.................. 6:00 pm Open House... Alabama
7:00 pm Meeting/
presentation/comment.
Jan 26, 2012.................. 6:00 pm Open House... Texas
7:00 pm Meeting/
presentation/comment.
Jan 31, 2012.................. 5:30 pm Open House... Louisiana
6:30 pm Meeting/
presentation/comment.
Feb 1, 2012................... 5:30 pm Open House... Louisiana
6:30 pm Meeting/
presentation/comment.
Feb 2, 2012................... 5:30 pm Open House... Louisiana
6:30 pm Meeting/
presentation/comment.
Feb 7, 2012................... 6:00 pm Open House... Washington, D.C.
7:00 pm Meeting/
presentation/comment.
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ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the DERP/EA and the
framework agreement at http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov or
http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon. Alternatively, you may request a
CD of the DERP/EA (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). You may also
review hard copies of the DERP/EA at any of the public repositories
listed at http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov. Submitting
Comments: You may submit comments on the DERP/EA by one of following
methods:
Via the Web: http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.
For electronic submission of comments containing
attachments, email: Phase1DERPcomments@fws.gov.
U.S. Mail: c/o U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box
200, Fairhope, AL 36533.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Spears at FW4DWHInfo@fws.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
On or about 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
discharges of oil and other substances from the rig and from the
wellhead on the seabed. An estimated 4.9 million barrels (210 million
gallons) of oil were released from the well into the Gulf of Mexico
over a period of approximately three months. In addition, approximately
771,000 gallons of dispersants were applied to the waters of the spill
area in an attempt to minimize impacts from spilled oil. Affected
resources include ecologically, recreationally, and commercially
important species and their habitats in the Gulf of Mexico and along
the coastal areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and
Texas.
Federal and State trustees (listed below) are conducting the
natural resource damage assessment for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
under the Oil Pollution Act 1990 (OPA; 33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.).
Pursuant to OPA, federal and state agencies and Indian tribes may act
as trustees on behalf of the public to assess natural resource injuries
and losses and to determine the damages 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.
The trustees have developed this DERP/EA under the Framework Agreement.
The 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;
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
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas General Land
Office and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is a Trustee, but does not
have affected lands in this Draft Phase I Early Restoration Project.
Background
On April 20, 2011, BP agreed to provide 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. This early
restoration agreement, entitled ``Framework for Early Restoration
Addressing Injuries Resulting from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill''
(Framework Agreement), represents a preliminary step toward the
restoration of injured natural resources. The Framework Agreement is
intended to expedite the start of restoration in the Gulf in advance of
the completion of the injury assessment process. The Framework
Agreement provides a mechanism through which the Trustees and BP can
work together ``to commence implementation of early restoration
projects that will provide meaningful benefits to accelerate
restoration in the Gulf as quickly as practicable'' prior to the
completion of the natural resource damage assessment process or full
resolution of the Trustees' natural resource damages claim.
The Trustees have actively solicited public input on restoration
project ideas
[[Page 78018]]
through a variety of mechanisms, including public meetings, electronic
communication, and creation of a Trustee-wide public Web site and
database to share information and receive public project submissions.
The Trustees are considering a broad array of potential early
restoration projects. Their key objective in pursuing early restoration
is to secure tangible recovery of natural resources and natural
resource services for the public's benefit while the longer-term
process of fully assessing injury and damages is still underway. As the
first step in this accelerated process, the Trustees are first
proposing eight projects as set forth in this Phase I Draft Early
Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment (DERP/EA) in accordance with
OPA and NEPA. The projects proposed in this plan are not intended to,
and do not fully, address all injuries caused by the spill or provide
the extent of restoration needed to satisfy claims against BP.
In keeping with the Framework Agreement, the DERP/EA includes an
estimate of the gains anticipated to result from each project, referred
to as ``Natural Resource Damage Offsets'' (NRD Offsets). These NRD
Offsets were identified consistent with the terms of the Framework
Agreement. If these projects are approved, at the end of the NRDA
process, the Trustees would credit these NRD Offsets generated by these
early restoration projects towards the total restoration credits
required based on the completed injury assessment. Further
comprehensive restoration will still be required to fully compensate
the public for natural resource losses from the oil spill.
Overview of the Phase 1 DERP/EA
Draft Early Restoration Plan Alternatives, Including Proposed
Alternative
The DERP/EA describes two early restoration alternatives: No
Action--Natural Recovery (required for consideration by OPA) and
Proposed Action--Proposed Early Restoration Projects. Under the No
Action alternative, the trustees would not implement early restoration
projects as described in this DERP/EA. Rather, the trustees would rely,
for the time being, solely on natural recovery processes to restore
natural resources to their pre-spill conditions and would undertake no
early actions to accelerate recovery or to help address interim
resource losses.
Under the Proposed Action, the Trustees are considering eight
projects that meet the selection criteria as described in the DERP/EA.
Proposed Action--Proposed Early Restoration Projects
The proposed projects are intended to provide services that will
benefit injured marshes, coastal dune habitats, nearshore sediments,
oysters, and human uses (on water recreation). Each of these projects
provides benefits to natural resources and their services injured by
the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The proposed projects are: (1) Lake
Hermitage Marsh Creation, Louisiana; (2) Louisiana Oyster Cultch
Project; (3) Mississippi Oyster Cultch Restoration; (4) Mississippi
Artificial Reef Habitat; (5) Marsh Island (Portersville Bay, Alabama)
Marsh Creation; (6) Alabama Dune Restoration Cooperative Project; (7)
Florida Boat Ramp Enhancement Cooperative Project; (8) Florida Dune
Restoration.
Next Step
After the public comment period ends, we will analyze and address
the comments. After close of the public comment period, the Trustees
will consider all input received before a Phase I Early Restoration
Plan is finalized. As described above, a series of public meetings are
scheduled to facilitate the public review and comment process. Upon
completion of the Phase I Early Restoration Plan, negotiations with BP
will be completed and approved projects will proceed to implementation,
pending compliance with all applicable state and federal laws.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment including your personal identifying
information, may be publicly available at any time. While you can ask
us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information
from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Administrative Record
The documents comprising the Administrative Record can be viewed
electronically at the following location: http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon.
Author
The primary author of this notice is Nanciann Regalado.
Authority
The authority of this action is the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33
U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), the implementing Natural Resource Damage
Assessment regulations found at 15 CFR Part 990, and the Framework
Agreement for Addressing Injuries Resulting from the Deepwater Horizon
Oil Spill.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
DOI Authorized Official.
[FR Doc. 2011-32185 Filed 12-14-11; 8:45 am]
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