Notice2024-00348
Restoration Planning To Address 1999 Oregon-Washington Coast Mystery Oil Spill
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
January 10, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
Notice is hereby given of the trustees' (Department of the Interior, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife) intent to proceed with restoration planning actions to address injuries to natural resources resulting from the discharge of oil associated with a 1999 mystery spill along the northern Oregon and southern Washington coastline. The purpose of this restoration planning effort is to assess injuries to natural resources resulting from the spill and develop and implement a plan for the restoration of these injured resources.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 7 (Wednesday, January 10, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 10, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1589-1590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00348]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R1-ES-2023-N087; FXES11140400000-234-FF04E00000]
Restoration Planning To Address 1999 Oregon-Washington Coast
Mystery Oil Spill
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent to conduct restoration planning.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the trustees' (Department of the
Interior, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife) intent to
proceed with restoration planning actions to address injuries to
natural resources resulting from the discharge of oil associated with a
1999 mystery spill along the northern Oregon and southern Washington
coastline. The purpose of this restoration planning effort is to assess
injuries to natural resources resulting from the spill and develop and
implement a plan for the restoration of these injured resources.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, contact the
following trustee representatives: Mike Szumski (U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service), via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b5f8dcded0eae6cfc0d8c6dedcf5d3c2c69bd2dac3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="662b0f0d0339351c130b150d0f2600111548010910">[email protected]</span></a> or via phone at 541-867-
4550, or Donald Noviello (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife),
via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a1e5cecfc0cdc58fefced7c8c4cdcdcee1c5c7d68fd6c08fc6ced7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3e7a51505f525a10705148575b5252517e5a584910495f10595148">[email protected]</span></a> or via phone at 360-280-9376.
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:
Background
On March 4, 1999, Federal and State natural resource agencies
received reports of tarballs and oiled birds coming ashore on beaches
in northern Oregon and southern Washington. The event lasted several
days, during which response crews collected the carcasses of 272
seabirds, primarily rhinoceros auklets (Cerorhinca monocerata),
Cassin's auklets (Ptychoramphus aleuticus), common murres (Uria aalge),
and northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis). At the time, the trustees
were responding to the New Carissa oil spill, which had occurred 120
miles to the south, near Waldport, Oregon. The New Carissa was
initially suspected as the source of the spill, but chemical analysis
of tarballs and oiled bird feathers indicated that the oil in the
northern Oregon and southern Washington area did not match the New
Carissa source samples. The vessel responsible for the spill was never
identified. Therefore, we are referring to the northern Oregon/southern
Washington spill as the Oregon-Washington Coast Mystery Spill (or
incident).
Under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA; 33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.),
and in accordance with the provisions of regulations in title 15 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at Sec. Sec. 990.42 and 990.44 (15
CFR 990.42 and 990.44), the trustees are initiating a natural resource
damage assessment (NRDA), which will include injury assessment and
restoration planning for the incident.
The purpose of the OPA is to make the environment and public whole
for injuries to natural resources and services resulting from an
incident involving a discharge of oil. Pursuant to section 1006(b) of
OPA (33 U.S.C. 2706(b)), the Department of the Interior (U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service) and the State of Washington (Washington Department of
Fish and Wildlife) are joint trustees (trustees) for natural resources
injured by the incident. Per section 1006 of OPA (33 U.S.C. 2706), the
trustees are authorized to assess the type and extent of injury to
natural resources from an oil spill and then develop a plan that will
restore injured resources back to baseline, a process known as
restoration planning. With this Federal Register notice, the trustees
announce their intent to assess the injuries and damages to natural
resources caused by the incident and prepare a plan for the restoration
of those resources (damage assessment/restoration plan).
The NRDA process will identify and quantify the nature and extent
(both temporal and spatial) of injuries to natural resources and
resource services arising out of the incident, and enable the trustees
to develop plans for the restoration, replacement, or rehabilitation of
those injured resources, or for the acquisition of equivalent resources
or resource services. The assessment will be conducted pursuant to the
regulations for NRDA at 15 CFR part 990. The NRDA will address natural
resources and resource services, primarily bird injury, along the
northern Oregon and southern Washington coastline for which injuries
attributable to the incident have been, or can be, determined.
Section 1006 of the OPA, 33 U.S.C. 2706, authorizes the trustees to
seek damages from the responsible party to pay for the implementation
of the restoration plan. In the event that a viable responsible party
cannot be identified, the trustees are authorized (33 U.S.C. 1321) to
seek funding for natural resource damage claims for damage costs from
the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF), which is administered by
the U.S. Coast Guard National Pollution Funds Center (Center). The
trustees are proceeding in accordance with the regulations for NRDA at
15 CFR part 990, and plan to seek funding from the Center for costs
associated with the Oregon-Washington Coast Mystery Spill NRDA and
restoration.
[[Page 1590]]
Determination of Jurisdiction
The trustees have made the following determinations pursuant to 15
CFR 990.41 and 990.42:
1. A spill of undetermined volume began on or about March 4, 1999,
into the waters of the Pacific Ocean, off the coasts of northern Oregon
and southern Washington. This occurrence constituted an ``incident''
within the meaning of 15 CFR 990.30.
2. The incident was not permitted under a permit issued under
Federal, State, or local law; was not from a public vessel; and was not
from an onshore facility subject to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authority
Act (43 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.).
3. Oil discharged during the incident adversely affected marine and
shoreline habitats, and wildlife. Consequently, natural resources under
the trusteeship of the trustees have been injured as a result of the
incident.
4. As a result of the foregoing determinations, the trustees have
jurisdiction to pursue restoration under the OPA.
Determination To Conduct Restoration Planning
The trustees have determined, pursuant to 15 CFR 990.42(a), that:
1. Pre-assessment data collected and analyzed pursuant to 15 CFR
990.43 demonstrate that injuries to a wide variety and number of
seabirds have resulted from the incident, including marbled murrelets
(Brachyramphus marmoratus, a species listed as threatened under the
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)). Specifically, 272
dead seabirds of various species were collected during the incident.
The trustees plan to undertake additional assessment activities to
determine the total number of birds injured and services lost from the
incident.
2. Response actions during cleanup have not adequately addressed
the injuries and lost services resulting from the incident. Response
efforts consisted of cleaning up oil stranded along affected beaches
and the collection of injured birds. These efforts reduced the
magnitude and duration of impacts to shoreline habitats and wildlife
but did not eliminate all injuries or make restoration unnecessary.
Data from numerous oil spills demonstrate that the bird carcasses
collected during an oil spill represent only a portion of the birds
killed by the oil, suggesting that additional birds likely died as a
result of the incident.
3. Assessment procedures are available to estimate total injury,
identify appropriate restoration projects, and scale those projects to
compensate for the injury. Procedures consist of, but are not limited
to, the following.
a. Analysis of mortality data collected during the incident;
b. Analysis of reproductive and demographic parameters of key
species;
c. Modeling environmental parameters such as historical winds and
currents;
d. Analysis of historic seabird population data; and
e. Analysis of habitat information to scale restoration.
4. Feasible restoration alternatives exist to address injuries from
the incident. Restoration activities are expected to focus on seabirds.
Restoration could include enhancement or protection of seabird nesting
habitat through acquisition, predator management, invasive species
removal, habitat creation, habitat enhancement, education, or other
means. During restoration planning, the trustees evaluate potential
projects, determine the scale of restoration actions needed to make the
environment and the public whole, and release a draft damage assessment
and restoration plan for public review and comment.
Based upon the foregoing determinations, the trustees intend to
proceed with restoration planning for this incident.
Administrative Record
The trustees have opened an administrative record (``record'') in
compliance with 15 CFR 990.45. The record will include documents relied
upon by the trustees during the assessment of natural resource damages
being performed in connection with the incident. The public may view
the record online at <a href="https://www.cerc.usgs.gov/orda_docs/CaseDetails?ID=1099">https://www.cerc.usgs.gov/orda_docs/CaseDetails?ID=1099</a>.
Opportunity To Comment
Pursuant to 15 CFR 990.14(d), the trustees intend to seek public
comment on the draft damage assessment and restoration plan once it is
completed. A separate Federal Register notice will be issued when the
draft damage assessment and restoration plan is available for comment.
Bridget Fahey,
Acting Regional Director--Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service; Lead Administrative Trustee, Oregon-Washington Coast Mystery
Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2024-00348 Filed 1-9-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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