Notice2023-18774
Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Draft Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal and Nearshore Habitats; Nutrient Reduction (Nonpoint Source); and Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 31, 2023
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentNatural Resources Conservation Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Oil Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 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 Draft Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats; Nutrient Reduction (Nonpoint Source), and Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities" (Draft RP4 and EA). In the Draft RP4 and EA, MS TIG proposes projects to partially restore wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats; reduce nutrient pollution (nonpoint source); and provide and enhance recreational opportunities to compensate for lost recreational use in the Mississippi Restoration Area as a result of the DWH oil spill. The Draft RP4 and EA, a No Action alternative is also evaluated for each of the restoration types. The approximate cost to implement the MS TIG's proposed action (seven preferred alternatives) is $26.4 million. We invite public comments on the Draft RP4 and EA.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 168 (Thursday, August 31, 2023)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 168 (Thursday, August 31, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60174-60176]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18774]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group Deepwater Horizon Oil
Spill Draft Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment:
Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal and Nearshore Habitats; Nutrient
Reduction (Nonpoint Source); and Provide and Enhance Recreational
Opportunities
AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA).
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Deepwater Horizon
(DWH) Oil Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment Restoration Plan
and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 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 Draft Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment:
Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats; Nutrient
Reduction (Nonpoint Source), and Provide and Enhance Recreational
Opportunities'' (Draft RP4 and EA). In the Draft RP4 and EA, MS TIG
proposes projects to partially restore wetlands, coastal, and nearshore
habitats; reduce nutrient pollution (nonpoint source); and provide and
enhance recreational opportunities to compensate for lost
[[Page 60175]]
recreational use in the Mississippi Restoration Area as a result of the
DWH oil spill. The Draft RP4 and EA, a No Action alternative is also
evaluated for each of the restoration types. The approximate cost to
implement the MS TIG's proposed action (seven preferred alternatives)
is $26.4 million. We invite public comments on the Draft RP4 and EA.
DATES: We will consider comments that we receive by October 2, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Draft RP4 and EA
from the following website: <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 Draft RP4 and EA (see
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Submitting Comments: You may submit comments by one of the
following methods:
<bullet> Via the Web: <a href="http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/mississippi">http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/mississippi</a>; or
<bullet> Via U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1875
Century Boulevard, Atlanta, GA 30345.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanciann Regaldo,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#622c030c010b030c0c3d100705030e03060d220415114c050d14"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="024c636c616b636c6c5d706765636e63666d426475712c656d74">[email protected]</span></a>, 678-296-6805, or via the Federal Relay
Service at 800-877-8339; Ronald Howard, Senior Advisor, USDA Gulf Coast
Ecosystem Restoration Team, at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f0829f9ede989f87918294b085839491de979f86"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="abd9c4c585c3c4dccad9cfebded8cfca85ccc4dd">[email protected]</span></a>; and Dr. Tina
Nations, the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) and the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation Program Manager, MDEQ Office of
Restoration, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#71051f1005181e1f02311c1514005f1c025f161e07"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="afdbc1cedbc6c0c1dcefc2cbcade81c2dc81c8c0d9">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
On April 20, 2010, the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater
Horizon, which was being used to drill 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 DWH Federal and State natural resource trustees (DWH Trustees)
conducted NRDA for the DWH oil spill under OPA (33 U.S.C. 2701-2720).
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. 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> 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.
On April 4, 2016, the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Louisiana entered a Consent Decree resolving civil claims
by the DWH 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
MS TIG. MS TIG is composed of the following Trustees: State of
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality; DOI; NOAA; EPA; and
USDA.
On February 7, 2022, MS TIG posted a public notice requesting
natural resource restoration project ideas by March 7, 2022, for the
Mississippi Restoration Area. The notice stated that MS TIG was seeking
project ideas for the following restoration types:
(1) Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitat;
(2) Nutrient Reduction; and
(3) Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities.
On October 11, 2022, MS TIG announced that it had initiated
drafting of the RP4 and EA (<a href="https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/2022/10/notice-initiation-restoration-planning-mississippi">https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/2022/10/notice-initiation-restoration-planning-mississippi</a>) and that
the plan may include proposed projects for some or all of the three
restoration types.
Overview of the MS TIG Draft RP4 and EA
The Draft RP4 and EA provides the MS TIG's analysis of a reasonable
range of restoration alternatives. The MS TIG's seven preferred
alternatives are presented in the following table under the restoration
type from which funds would be allocated in accordance with the DWH
Consent Decree. The MS TIG also evaluated three non-preferred
alternatives as part of the reasonable range, and a No Action
alternative for each restoration type in the plan.
Restoration Type: Wetlands, Coastal and Nearshore Habitat
Coastwide Habitat Acquisition
Living Shoreline Bulkhead Alternative
Hancock County Marsh Living Shoreline Phase 6 Breakwater
Restoration Type: Nutrient Reduction (Nonpoint Source)
Back Bay--Davis Bayou Nutrient Reduction
Big Cedar Creek--Rocky Creek Nutrient Reduction
Restoration Type: Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities
Jourdan River Boardwalk
Shepard State Park Recreational Enhancements--1
Next Steps
MS TIG will post a pre-recorded public webinar to facilitate the
public review and comment process no later than September 15, 2023. The
pre-recorded webinar will be available on the Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality Office of Restoration website at <a href="https://www.mdeq.ms.gov/restoration/">https://www.mdeq.ms.gov/restoration/</a>. The pre-recorded public webinar will be
available for viewing at any time during the public comment period.
[[Page 60176]]
After the public comment period ends, the MS TIG will consider all
comments received and address them in the Final RP4 and EA.
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.
Translation Opportunities
Vietnamese and Spanish translated materials including the Executive
Summary and project fact sheets are posted in the ``News'' section of
the MS TIG website: <a href="http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/mississippi">http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/mississippi</a>.
Administrative Record
The documents comprising the Administrative Record for the Draft
RP4 and EA can be viewed electronically at <a href="https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord">https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord</a> under the folder 6.5.6.2.4.
Authority
The authority for this action is OPA, its implementing NRDA
regulations in 15 CFR part 990, and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321-4347) and its
implementing regulations in 40 CFR 1500-1508.
Ronald Howard,
Senior Technical Advisor, Natural Resource Specialist, Natural
Resources Conservation Service, and U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Alternate to Principal Representative.
[FR Doc. 2023-18774 Filed 8-30-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-16-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 31, 2023.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.