Notice2025-00942
Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Texas Trustee Implementation Group Draft Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment #3: Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats
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 16, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) natural resource Trustees for the Texas Trustee Implementation Group (Texas TIG) have prepared the Draft Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment #3: Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats (Draft RP/EA #3). The Draft RP/EA #3 proposes alternatives to help restore wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats impacted by the DWH oil spill. The Draft RP/EA #3 evaluates eight restoration alternatives under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), including criteria set forth in the OPA Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) regulations and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its implementing regulations. A No Action Alternative is also evaluated pursuant to the NEPA. The total estimated cost to implement the Texas TIG's seven preferred alternatives is approximately $40 million. The Texas TIG invites the public to comment on the Draft RP/EA #3.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 10 (Thursday, January 16, 2025)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 10 (Thursday, January 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4725-4726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00942]
[[Page 4725]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE521]
Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Texas
Trustee Implementation Group Draft Restoration Plan/Environmental
Assessment #3: Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) natural resource Trustees for the
Texas Trustee Implementation Group (Texas TIG) have prepared the Draft
Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment #3: Wetlands, Coastal, and
Nearshore Habitats (Draft RP/EA #3). The Draft RP/EA #3 proposes
alternatives to help restore wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats
impacted by the DWH oil spill. The Draft RP/EA #3 evaluates eight
restoration alternatives under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA),
including criteria set forth in the OPA Natural Resource Damage
Assessment (NRDA) regulations and the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) and its implementing regulations. A No Action Alternative is
also evaluated pursuant to the NEPA. The total estimated cost to
implement the Texas TIG's seven preferred alternatives is approximately
$40 million. The Texas TIG invites the public to comment on the Draft
RP/EA #3.
DATES: Submitting Comments: The Texas TIG will consider public comments
on the Draft RP/EA #3 received on or before February 18, 2025.
Public meeting: The Texas TIG will host a public meeting to
facilitate public review and comment on the Draft RP/EA #3. The public
meeting date and time are as follows:
<bullet> Tuesday, January 28, 2025. An open house will be begin at
5 p.m. central time (CT). The public meeting will be held at 5:30 CT.
See ADDRESSES below for meeting location.
ADDRESSES: Meeting location: The meeting will be held at Rosenburg
Library in the Wortham Auditorium, 2310 Sealy Avenue, Galveston, TX
77750.
Obtaining Documents: You may view and download the Draft RP/EA #3
at <a href="https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/texas">https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/texas</a>.
You may also request a flash drive containing the Draft RP/EA #3 (see
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Submitting comments: You may submit comments on the Draft RP/EA #3
by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Website: <a href="https://parkplanning.nps.gov/TXTIGRP3">https://parkplanning.nps.gov/TXTIGRP3</a>. Follow the
online instructions for submitting comments.
<bullet> In person: Comments may be provided at the public meeting.
See DATES.
<bullet> Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Gulf Restoration
Office, 1875 Century Blvd., Atlanta, GA 30345. To be considered, mailed
comments must be postmarked on or before the comment deadline given in
DATES.
Please note that personal identifying information included in the
submitted comments (such as name, address, phone number, and email
address) may be made publicly available at any time. Personal
information is not required to submit comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration--Jamie Schubert, NOAA Restoration Center, (409) 679-
3237, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#08626965616d267b6b607d6a6d7a7c4866676969266f677e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="19737874707c376a7a716c7b7c6b6d5977767878377e766f">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
On April 20, 2010, the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater
Horizon, which was drilling a well for BP Exploration and Production,
Inc. (BP), experienced a significant explosion, fire and subsequent
sinking in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in the release of millions of
barrels of oil and other discharges into the Gulf. Under the authority
of the OPA, designated Federal and state Trustees, acting on behalf of
the public, assessed the injuries to natural resources and prepared the
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and
Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
(Final PDARP/PEIS), and the Record of Decision for the Deepwater
Horizon Oil Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration
Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (ROD), which
set forth the governance structure and process for DWH restoration
planning under the OPA NRDA regulations. 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.
The Texas TIG, which is composed of the NOAA, U.S. Department of
the Interior, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, the Texas General Land Office, the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality, selects and implements restoration projects
under the Texas TIG's management authority in accordance with the
Consent Decree. The Final PDARP/PEIS, ROD, Consent Decree, and
information on the DWH natural resource Trustees can be found at
<a href="https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-planning/gulf-plan">https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-planning/gulf-plan</a>.
Background
On August 5, 2024, the Texas TIG announced on the Gulf Spill
Restoration website that they were initiating preparation of the Draft
RP/EA #3, which tiers from the Final PDARP/PEIS and includes a
reasonable range of restoration project alternatives to provide
compensatory restoration toward meeting the Restore and Conserve
Habitats restoration goal identified in the Final PDARP/PEIS under the
Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats (WCNH) Restoration Type.
Overview of the Texas TIG Draft RP/EA #3
This Draft RP/EA #3 focuses on the beneficial use of dredged
material (BUDM) to restore and conserve wetlands, coastal, and
nearshore habitats. The Texas TIG proposes the allocation of $40
million toward the use of BUDM to construct wetland habitat along the
Texas coast through the projects included in the Draft RP/EA #3. The
$40 million will be divided among the selected projects to provide the
incremental cost for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or to fund other
viable sources to beneficially use dredged sediments to construct the
preferred restoration alternatives. This Draft RP/EA #3 includes a
description and evaluation of eight restoration projects, also called
restoration alternatives, which compensate for the WCNH Restoration
Type injury described in the Final PDARP/PEIS. Seven alternatives are
preferred and one of the alternatives is not preferred by the Texas TIG
at this time. Pursuant to NEPA, a No Action alternative is also
evaluated. Funding to implement any of the alternatives ultimately
selected by the Texas TIG would come from the WCNH Restoration Type
allocation. The reasonable range of project alternatives evaluated by
the Texas TIG are listed below:
[[Page 4726]]
<bullet> Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge Roberts Mueller Tract
Wetland Restoration (preferred);
<bullet> Goose Island Wetland Restoration (preferred);
<bullet> Guadalupe River Old Delta Wetland Restoration (not
preferred);
<bullet> Lower Neches Wildlife Management Area Old River Unit
Wetland Restoration (preferred);
<bullet> McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge Willow Lake Terraces
Wetland Restoration (preferred);
<bullet> San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge Sargent Oil Field
Wetland Restoration (preferred);
<bullet> Schicke Point Wetland Restoration (preferred); and
<bullet> Texas Point National Wildlife Refuge Wetland Restoration
(preferred).
The total estimated cost to implement the seven preferred
alternatives is $40 million.
Next Steps
After the public comment period ends, the Texas TIG will consider
and address all substantive comments received before making a final
decision on which, if any, alternatives to fund and implement. A Final
RP/EA #3 and Finding of No Significant Impact, as appropriate,
identifying the selected alternatives will be made publicly available
on <a href="https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/texas">https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/texas</a>.
Administrative Record
The Administrative Record for the Draft RP/EA #3 can be viewed
electronically at <a href="https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord">https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord</a>
under the folder 6.5.7.2.3.
Authority
The authority for this action is the OPA of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701 et
seq.), its implementing NRDA regulations found at 15 CFR part 990, and
the NEPA of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), its implementing regulations
found at 40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508.
Dated: January 10, 2025.
Carrie Diane Robinson,
Director, Office of Habitat Conservation, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-00942 Filed 1-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-12-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 January 16, 2025.
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.