Notice2022-22575
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment, Alabama Trustee Implementation Group: Final Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge Recreation Enhancements: Supplemental Restoration Plan
Primary source
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Published
October 18, 2022
Issuing agencies
Interior Department
Abstract
In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Final Programmatic Damage Assessment Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS), and the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Consent Decree, the Federal and State natural resource trustee agencies for the Alabama Trustee Implementation Group (Alabama TIG) have prepared the Final Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge Recreation Enhancements: Supplemental Restoration Plan (SRP). The Alabama TIG selects their preferred alternative of adding approximately $2 million to the Mobile Street Boardwalk project budget to facilitate full implementation of the project as originally planned. This would continue the process of restoring lost recreational use in the Alabama Restoration Area that resulted from the DWH oil spill of 2010.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 200 (Tuesday, October 18, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 200 (Tuesday, October 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63086-63087]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-22575]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
[FWS-R4-ES-2022-N052; FVHC98220410150-XXX-FF04H00000]
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment,
Alabama Trustee Implementation Group: Final Bon Secour National
Wildlife Refuge Recreation Enhancements: Supplemental Restoration Plan
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 Final
Programmatic Damage Assessment Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS), and the Deepwater
Horizon (DWH) Consent Decree, the Federal and State natural resource
trustee agencies for the Alabama Trustee Implementation Group (Alabama
TIG) have prepared the Final Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge
Recreation Enhancements: Supplemental Restoration Plan (SRP). The
Alabama TIG selects their preferred alternative of adding approximately
$2 million to the Mobile Street Boardwalk project budget to facilitate
full implementation of the project as originally planned. This would
continue the process of restoring lost recreational use in the Alabama
Restoration Area that resulted from the DWH oil spill of 2010.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Final SRP from the
following websites:
<bullet> <a href="http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/alabama">http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/alabama</a>
<bullet> <a href="http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon">http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon</a>
Alternatively, you may request a CD (compact disc) of the Final SRP
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanciann Regalado, via email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#26484748454f47484879544341474a4742496640515508414950"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d9b7b8b7bab0b8b7b786abbcbeb8b5b8bdb699bfaeaaf7beb6af">[email protected]</span></a> or via telephone at 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, 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 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.
State and Federal 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 the 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 completion of restoration
to baseline (the resource quality and conditions that would exist if
the spill had not occurred).
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 (USFWS), 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);
<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.
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 the
Alabama Restoration Area are now chosen and managed by the Alabama TIG.
The Alabama TIG is composed of the following six Trustees: Alabama
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Geological Survey of
Alabama, DOI, NOAA, EPA, and USDA.
Background
The Alabama TIG Restoration Plan III/Environmental Assessment (RP
III/EA) selected seven projects for implementation, allocating funds
from two restoration types identified in the DWH Consent Decree:
``Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities'' and ``Birds.'' The
Alabama TIG RP III addendum subsequently approved funding for the two
projects conditionally approved in the RP III/EA, one of which was the
Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge Recreation Enhancement--Mobile
Street Boardwalk (Mobile Street Boardwalk) Project. Since then, the
project cost estimate has been revised because of increased costs in
materials and construction. The cost increases were incurred, in part,
due to economic fluctuations accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic, as
well as Hurricane Sally which made landfall in September 2020. Given
the substantial increase in project cost, the Alabama TIG prepared a
Supplemental Restoration Plan to evaluate increasing project funding
under the OPA.
[[Page 63087]]
A Notice of Availability of the Draft SRP was published in the
Federal Register on July 19, 2022 (87 FR 43049). The public was
provided with a period to review and comment on the Draft SRP from July
19, 2022, through August 18, 2022. One public comment, which generally
supported selection of the AL TIG's preferred alternative, was
received.
Overview of the Alabama TIG Final SRP
The Final SRP is being released in accordance with OPA, including
criteria set forth in the associated Natural Resource Damage Assessment
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, and the Final PDARP/PEIS and Consent Decree. The Final SRP
provides supplemental OPA NRDA analysis for two Bon Secour National
Wildlife Refuge (BSNWR) recreation enhancement projects considered in
the RP III/EA: the Mobile Street Boardwalk and Centennial Trail
Boardwalk projects. In the Final SRP the AL TIG selects implementation
of its preferred alternative: adding $2,037,313 in funding to the
Mobile Street Boardwalk project. Fully funding this project will
continue the process of restoring natural resources and services
injured or lost as a result of the DWH oil spill.
Administrative Record
The documents comprising the administrative record for the SRP can
be viewed electronically at <a href="https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord">https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord</a>.
Authority
The authority of this action is the OPA (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.),
its implementing NRDA regulations found at 15 CFR part 990, and NEPA
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations found at 40
CFR parts 1500-1508.
Mary Josie Blanchard,
Department of the Interior, Director of Gulf of Mexico Restoration.
[FR Doc. 2022-22575 Filed 10-17-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-10-P
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