[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
nanciann_regalado@fws.gov 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]
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