Notice2025-10709
Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group Final Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment: Fish and Water Column Invertebrates and Sea Turtles and Finding of No Significant Impact
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Published
June 12, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
This notice announces that the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) natural resource Trustees for the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group (Open Ocean TIG) have prepared and are making available to the public the Final Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment: Fish and Water Column Invertebrates (FWCI) and Sea Turtles (RP4/EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The Final RP4/EA considers alternatives to help restore FWCI and sea turtles injured by the DWH oil spill. The Final RP4/EA evaluates a reasonable range of project alternatives under the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) and the OPA Natural Resource Damage Assessment regulations, and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and selects ten projects for funding and implementation. A no action alternative is also evaluated pursuant to NEPA.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 112 (Thursday, June 12, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 112 (Thursday, June 12, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24790-24791]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-10709]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE797]
Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Open Ocean
Trustee Implementation Group Final Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental
Assessment: Fish and Water Column Invertebrates and Sea Turtles and
Finding of No Significant Impact
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) natural
resource Trustees for the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group (Open
Ocean TIG) have prepared and are making available to the public the
Final Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment: Fish and Water
Column Invertebrates (FWCI) and Sea Turtles (RP4/EA) and Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI). The Final RP4/EA considers alternatives to
help restore FWCI and sea turtles injured by the DWH oil spill. The
Final RP4/EA evaluates a reasonable range of project alternatives under
the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) and the OPA Natural Resource Damage
Assessment regulations, and the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), and selects ten projects for funding and implementation. A no
action alternative is also evaluated pursuant to NEPA.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may view and download the Final
RP4/EA and FONSI at <a href="https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/open-ocean">https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/open-ocean</a>. You may also request a flash drive
containing the Final RP4/EA, FONSI, and a Fact Sheet (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration--Laurie Rounds, NOAA Restoration Center, (850) 378-1263,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3b544b5e5554585e5a55156f727c7b55545a5a155c544d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="630c13060d0c0006020d4d372a24230d0c02024d040c15">[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 America (formerly, 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 sets forth the
governance structure and process for DWH restoration planning under the
OPA Natural Resource Damage Assessments (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.
[[Page 24791]]
The Open Ocean TIG, which is composed of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, selects and implements restoration projects under the Open
Ocean TIG's management authority in accordance with the Consent Decree.
The Final PDARP/PEIS, ROD, Consent Decree, and information on the DWH
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 June 1, 2023, the Open Ocean TIG issued a notice of solicitation
on the Gulf Spill Restoration website requesting project ideas for FWCI
and Sea Turtles Restoration Types as described in the Final PDARP/PEIS.
On June 25, 2024, the TIG announced on the Gulf Spill Restoration
website that they reviewed project idea submissions and were initiating
drafting of the RP4/EA which tiers from the Final PDARP/PEIS and would
include a reasonable range of restoration project alternatives for the
FWCI and Sea Turtle Restoration Types. On October 30, 2024, the Open
Ocean TIG released the Draft RP4/EA for a 45-day public review period
(89 FR 86321). To facilitate public understanding of the document, the
Open Ocean TIG held webinars on November 14 and 20, 2024, during which
public comments were solicited. The Open Ocean TIG accepted public
comments through December 16, 2024. After the public review period
closed, the Open Ocean TIG reviewed the comments received, prepared
responses to those comments, finalized the plan, and prepared the
FONSI.
Overview of the Open Ocean TIG Final RP4/EA
In the Final RP4/EA, the Open Ocean TIG analyzes a reasonable range
of 12 project alternatives and, pursuant to the NEPA, a No Action
alternative for each Restoration Type. Two of the alternatives are not
preferred by the TIG at this time. The ten projects selected by the
Open Ocean TIG for funding and implementation are listed below:
<bullet> Return `Em Right: Species and Area Expansion;
<bullet> Next Generation Fishing;
<bullet> Communication Networks and Mapping Tools to Reduce Fish
Mortality;
<bullet> Reduction of Stressors to Fish and Water Column
Invertebrates;
<bullet> Education and Stewardship Partnerships with Charter
Anglers;
<bullet> Communication, Adaptive Management, Planning, and
Integration;
<bullet> Sea Turtle Nesting Habitat Protection Expansion in Florida
(Long Term Nesting Habitat Protection for Sea Turtles);
<bullet> Sea Turtle Bycatch Reduction;
<bullet> Sea Turtle Vessel Strike Reduction; and
<bullet> Sea Turtle Stranding Network and Emergency Response
Enhancements.
The total estimated cost to implement the ten preferred
alternatives is approximately $210,620,000. Funding to implement the
alternatives selected by the Open Ocean TIG will come from the FWCI and
Sea Turtles Restoration Types and Monitoring and Adaptive Management
allocations. Additional restoration planning in the Open Ocean TIG will
continue.
Administrative Record
The Administrative Record for the Final RP4/EA can be viewed
electronically at <a href="https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord">https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord</a>
under the folder 6.5.2.2.4.
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.).
Dated: June 9, 2025.
Sunny Snider,
Deputy Director, Office of Habitat Conservation, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-10709 Filed 6-11-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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