Notice2022-10467
Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Final Restoration Plan 3 and Environmental Assessment: Habitat Projects on Federally Managed Lands, Sea Turtles, Marine Mammals, Birds, and Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities; and Finding of No Significant Impact
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Published
June 3, 2022
Issuing agencies
Interior Department
Abstract
In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Final Programmatic Damage Assessment Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS) and Record of Decision, and the Consent Decree, the Federal and State natural resource trustee agencies for the Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group (MS TIG) have prepared the Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group Final Restoration Plan 3 and Environmental Assessment: Habitat Projects on Federally Managed Lands, Sea Turtles, Marine Mammals, Birds, and Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities (Final RP3/EA); and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The Final RP3/EA describes and, in conjunction with the associated FONSI, selects for funding and implementation the preferred restoration projects considered by the MS TIG to compensate for natural resources and their services in the Mississippi Restoration Area as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The approximate cost to implement the MS TIG's preferred projects is $19,000,000. The purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the availability of the Final RP3/EA and FONSI.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 107 (Friday, June 3, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 107 (Friday, June 3, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33824-33825]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10467]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
[FWS-R4-ES-2022-N228; FVHC98220410150-XXX-FF04H00000]
Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group Deepwater Horizon Oil
Spill Final Restoration Plan 3 and Environmental Assessment: Habitat
Projects on Federally Managed Lands, Sea Turtles, Marine Mammals,
Birds, and Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities; 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, the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Final Programmatic Damage
Assessment Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS) and Record of Decision, and the Consent
Decree, the Federal and State natural resource trustee agencies for the
Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group (MS TIG) have prepared the
Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group Final Restoration Plan 3 and
Environmental Assessment: Habitat Projects on Federally Managed Lands,
Sea Turtles, Marine Mammals, Birds, and Provide and Enhance
Recreational Opportunities (Final RP3/EA); and Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI). The Final RP3/EA describes and, in
conjunction with the associated FONSI, selects for funding and
implementation the preferred restoration projects considered by the MS
TIG to compensate for natural resources and their services in the
Mississippi Restoration Area as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill. The approximate cost to implement the MS TIG's preferred
projects is $19,000,000. The purpose of this notice is to inform the
public of the availability of the Final RP3/EA and FONSI.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Final RP3/EA from
either of the following websites:
<bullet> https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon
<bullet> <a href="https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/mississippi">https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/mississippi</a>
Alternatively, you may request a CD of the Final RP3/EA (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanciann Regalado, at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c8a6a9a6aba1a9a6a697baadafa9a4a9aca788aebfbbe6afa7be"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ddb3bcb3beb4bcb3b382afb8babcb1bcb9b29dbbaaaef3bab2ab">[email protected]</span></a> 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:
<bullet> 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;
<bullet> National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), on
behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce;
<bullet> U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA);
<bullet> U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);
[[Page 33825]]
<bullet> 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;
<bullet> State of Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality;
<bullet> State of Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources and Geological Survey of Alabama;
<bullet> State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection
and Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; and
<bullet> 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.) (<a href="http://www.justice.gov/enrd/deepwater-horizon">http://www.justice.gov/enrd/deepwater-horizon</a>). Pursuant to the Consent Decree, restoration
projects in the Mississippi Restoration Area are chosen and managed by
the MS TIG. The MS TIG is composed of the following Trustees: State of
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, DOI, NOAA, EPA, and
USDA.
Background
On October 30, 2020, the MS TIG posted a public notice at <a href="http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov">http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov</a> requesting new or revised natural
resource restoration project ideas by November 30, 2020, for the
Mississippi Restoration Area. The notice stated that the MS TIG was
seeking project ideas for the following restoration types: (1) Habitat
Projects on Federally Managed Lands; (2) Sea Turtles; (3) Marine
Mammals; (4) Birds; and (5) Provide and Enhance Recreational
Opportunities. On June 11, 2021, the MS TIG announced that it had
initiated drafting of the RP3/EA and that it would include a reasonable
range of restoration alternatives (projects) for the five restoration
types.
The MS TIG released the Draft RP3/EA on December 7, 2021, and its
notice of availability was published in the Federal Register on
December 7, 2021 (86 FR 69287). In accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the OPA NRDA regulations, the MS
TIG analyzed a reasonable range of alternatives that would meet the
Trustees' goals to restore and conserve habitat, replenish and protect
living coastal and marine resources, and provide and enhance
recreational opportunities, and identified the alternatives that the MS
TIG preferred for implementation. The public review and comment period
ran from the date of notice of publication in the Federal Register
through January 26, 2022. To facilitate public review and comment, the
MS TIG held a public webinar on January 11, 2022. Before finalizing the
document, the MS TIG considered all public comments received during the
webinar, through direct submittals to its online public comment portal,
and by USPS. A summary of comments and the MS TIG's responses to those
comments are provided in Chapter 6 of the Final RP3/EA.
Overview of the MS TIG Final RP3/EA
The Final RP3/EA provides the MS TIG's analysis of a reasonable
range of alternatives, consisting of twelve alternatives, and a no
action alternative for each restoration type in the plan. The MS TIG's
seven preferred alternatives were ultimately selected for
implementation and are presented in the following table under the
restoration type from which funds would be allocated in accordance with
the DWH Consent Decree. The approximate cost for the seven selected
projects is $19,000,000.
Restoration Type: Habitat Projects on Federally Managed Lands
Improve Native Habitats by Removing Marine Debris from Mississippi
Barrier Islands
Restoration Type: Sea Turtles
Maintaining Enhanced Sea Turtle Stranding Network Capacity and
Diagnostic Capabilities (3 Years)
Restoration Type: Marine Mammals
Maintaining Enhanced Marine Mammal Stranding Network Capacity and
Diagnostic Capabilities
Reduction of Marine Mammal Fishery Interactions through Trawl
Technique and Component Material Improvements
Restoration Type: Birds
Bird Stewardship and Enhanced Monitoring in Mississippi
Restoration Type: Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities
Clower Thornton Nature Park Trail Improvement
Environmental Education and Stewardship at Walter Anderson Museum
of Art
Administrative Record
The documents comprising the Administrative Record for the Final
RP3/EA can be viewed electronically at <a href="https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord">https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord</a>.
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.) and its implementing regulations found at 40 CFR 1500-
1508.
Mary Josie Blanchard,
Department of the Interior, Director of Gulf of Mexico Restoration.
[FR Doc. 2022-10467 Filed 6-2-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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