[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 244 (Thursday, December 20, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65360-65361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-27530]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
[FWS-R4-ES-2018-N153; FVHC98220410150-XXX-FF04H00000]
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Draft Restoration Plan #1.1 and
Environmental Assessment; Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group
AGENCY: Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, the National
Environmental Policy Act, the Final Programmatic Damage Assessment
Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
(Final PDARP/PEIS), and the Consent Decree, the Federal and State
natural resource trustee agencies for the Louisiana Trustee
Implementation Group (Louisiana TIG) have prepared Draft Restoration
Plan and Environmental Assessment #1.1: Restoration of Queen Bess
Island (Draft RP/EA #1.1), describing and proposing construction
activities for the restoration of Queen Bess Island. The Queen Bess
Island Restoration Project was approved for engineering and design in a
2016 restoration plan entitled Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group
Draft Restoration Plan #1: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and
Nearshore Habitats; Habitat Projects on Federally Managed Lands; and
Birds (RP 1). The Queen Bess Island Restoration Project would continue
the process of restoring birds injured as a result of the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill, which occurred on or about April 20, 2010, in the
Gulf of Mexico.
DATES:
Submitting Comments: We will consider public comments received on
or before January 22, 2019.
Public Meeting: The Trustees will host a public meeting on January
3, 2019, in association with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries
Commission meeting at the Wildlife and Fisheries Headquarters Building,
2000 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70808. The exact meeting time will be
posted on the Trustees' website (see ADDRESSES).
ADDRESSES:
Obtaining Documents: You may download the Draft RP/EA #1.1 from any
of the following websites:
http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov;
https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord; or
http://www.la-dwh.com.
Alternatively, you may request a CD of the Draft RP/EA #1.1 (see
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Submitting Comments: You may submit comments on the Draft RP/EA
#1.1 by one of the following methods:
Via the Web: http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/louisiana.
Via U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box
49567, Atlanta, GA 30345. In order to be considered, mailed comments
must be postmarked on or before the comment deadline given in DATES.
In Person: Verbal comments may be provided at the public
meeting on January 3, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanciann Regalado, via email at
nanciann_regalado@fws.gov, via telephone at 678-296-6805, or via the
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
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 Deepwater Horizon oil spill is the largest oil spill in
U.S. history, discharging millions of barrels of oil over a period of
87 days. In addition, well over one 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 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 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,
including the loss of use and services from those resources from the
time of injury until the time of restoration to baseline (the resource
quality and conditions that would exist if the spill had not occurred)
is complete.
The Deepwater Horizon 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.
The Trustees reached and finalized a settlement of their natural
resource damage claims with BP in an April 4, 2016, Consent Decree
approved by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Louisiana. Pursuant to that Consent Decree, restoration projects in
Louisiana are now selected and implemented by the Louisiana Trustee
Implementation Group (TIG). The Louisiana TIG is composed of the
following Trustees:
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;
[[Page 65361]]
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.
Background
The Final Programmatic Damage Assessment Restoration Plan and Final
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS) provides
for TIGs to propose phasing restoration projects across multiple
restoration plans. A TIG may propose funding a planning phase (e.g.,
initial engineering, design, and compliance) in one plan for a
conceptual project. This would allow the TIG to develop information
needed to fully consider a subsequent implementation phase of that
project in a future restoration plan. In 2016, the LA TIG included the
Queen Bess Island Restoration Project as a preferred alternative to
fund engineering and design (E&D) in RP #1. After approval, the Queen
Bess Island Restoration Project began E&D. It is currently at a stage
of E&D where National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analyses can be
conducted on the design alternatives. Therefore, the Louisiana TIG is
proposing in RP/EA #1.1 the implementation phase for the Queen Bess
Island Restoration Project.
Overview of the Louisiana TIG Draft RP/EA #1.1
The Draft RP/EA #1.1 is being released in accordance with OPA, NRDA
regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 15 CFR
part 990, NEPA, the Consent Decree, and Final PDARP/PEIS.
In the Draft RP/EA #1.1, the Louisiana TIG proposes a preferred
design alternative for the Queen Bess Island Restoration Project, which
was approved for E&D in a 2016 Louisiana TIG final restoration plan,
under the bird restoration type. After screening six design
alternatives, the Louisiana TIG analyzed in detail in the Draft RP/EA
#1.1 one other design alternative and a no action alternative.
The proposed design alternative is intended to continue the process
of using Deepwater Horizon restoration funding to restore natural
resources injured or lost as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill. The total estimated cost for construction of the proposed Queen
Bess Island Restoration Project is $16,710,000. Details are provided in
the Draft RP/EA #1.1. Additional restoration planning for the Louisiana
Restoration Area will continue.
Next Steps
As described above, the Trustees will hold a public meeting to
facilitate the public review and comment process. After the public
comment period ends, the Trustees will consider and address the
comments received before issuing a Final RP/EA #1.1.
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 made 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 for this Draft
RP/EA #1.1 can be viewed electronically at https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord.
Authority
The authority of 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.).
Mary Josie Blanchard,
Department of the Interior, Director of Gulf of Mexico Restoration.
[FR Doc. 2018-27530 Filed 12-19-18; 8:45 am]
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