[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 215 (Tuesday, November 6, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66626-66628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-27080]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
[FWS-R4-FHC-2012-N254; FVHC98130406900Y4-XXX-FF04G01000]
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill; Draft Early Restoration Plan and
Environmental Review
AGENCY: 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 Phase II Draft Early Restoration
Plan and Environmental Review (DERP/ER) describing and proposing two
additional early restoration projects intended to continue 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/ER and to seek
written comments on the proposed restoration alternative presented in
the DERP/ER.
DATES:
Comments Due Date: We will consider public comments received on or
before December 10, 2012.
Public Meetings: A public meeting is scheduled to facilitate public
review and comment on the DERP/ER. Both written and verbal public
comments will be taken at the meeting. The meeting will be held on
November 13, 2012, at the Escambia County Central Complex Building
(a.k.a. the LEED Building), Room 104, 3363 West Park Place, Pensacola,
Florida 32505. An open house will begin at 6:00 p.m. (central time);
the formal meeting, including a presentation of the DERP/ER will begin
at 7:00 p.m. (central time). A meeting notice will be posted on the web
at www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: You may download the DERP/ER and the framework
agreement at http://
[[Page 66627]]
www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov or http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon. You may also review hard copies of the DERP/ER at any
of the public repositories listed at http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.
Submitting Comments: You may submit comments on the DERP/ER by one
of following methods:
Via the Web: http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.
For electronic submission of comments containing
attachments, email: fw4coastalDERPcomments@fws.gov.
U.S. Mail: c/o U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box
2099, Fairhope, Alabama 36533.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Spears at
fw4coastalDERPcomments@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 87 days. In addition, approximately 1.84 million
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/ER 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;
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA);
U.S. Department of Defense (DOD);
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA);
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
For the State of Texas: Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department, Texas General Land Office, and Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
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
resolution of the Trustees' natural resource damages claim.
The Trustees actively solicited public input on restoration project
ideas 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. 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 underway. As the first step in
this accelerated process, the Trustees released, after public review of
a draft, a Phase I Early Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment
(Phase I ERP/EA) in April 2012. The Phase I ERP is currently being
implemented.
In a continuation of the early restoration process, the Trustees
are proposing two additional early restoration projects to address
response injuries from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. These projects
are approved in principle by BP. They address injuries to the nesting
habitats of beach nesting birds and loggerhead sea turtles that
resulted from response activities to the oil spill (e.g., efforts to
prevent oil from reaching beaches and to remove oil from beaches).
These projects address a number of specific public comments on the
Phase I projects that requested development of additional habitat and
wildlife-based early restoration projects.
Because loggerhead sea turtles and beach nesting birds begin
nesting along the Northeast Gulf coast in February, the Trustees
recognize the need to implement these two proposed projects in a timely
manner to be effective during the 2013 breeding season. Therefore, the
Trustees are proposing these projects at this time while continuing to
work with BP to develop additional restoration projects in accordance
with the Framework Agreement. The Alternatives within 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.
Overview of the Draft ERP/ER
Draft Early Restoration Plan Alternatives, Including Our Proposed
Alternative
The Draft ERP/ER is being released in accordance with the Oil
Pollution Act, the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA)
regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 15 CFR
part 990, the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.), and the Framework for Early Restoration Addressing Injuries
Resulting from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. It describes two early
restoration alternatives: No Action--Natural Recovery (required for
consideration by OPA) and Proposed
[[Page 66628]]
Action--Proposed Early Restoration Projects. Under the No Action
alternative, the trustees would not implement early restoration
projects as described in this Draft ERP/ER. Rather, the No Action
approach would result in delaying protection and improvement of
important nesting habitats injured by the oil spill.
Under the Proposed Action, the Trustees are considering two
projects that meet the selection criteria, which are also described in
the Draft ERP/ER.
Proposed Action--Proposed Early Restoration Projects
The proposed restoration projects are intended to protect and
enhance beach nesting habitats used by birds and sea turtles by, among
other things, protecting bird nesting habitat with symbolic fencing and
signs and reducing the presence of harmful lighting on certain beaches
as described in the plan. The proposed projects are: (1) Comprehensive
Program for Enhanced Management of Avian Breeding Habitat Injured by
Response in the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, and Mississippi; and (2)
Improving Habitat Injured by Spill Response: Restoring the Night Sky.
Each of these projects will benefit coastal nesting habitats injured by
response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Next Step
After the public comment period ends, the Trustees will analyze and
address the comments and will consider all input received before an
ERP/ER is finalized. As described above, a public meeting is scheduled
to facilitate the public review and comment process. During public
review and subsequent revision of the ERP/ER, 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 Jim Haas (james_haas@nps.gov).
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. 2012-27080 Filed 11-5-12; 8:45 am]
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