Notice of Intent To Conduct Restoration Planning for the Bradley Beach Mystery Spill of February 2004, Monmouth and Ocean Counties, NJ, 78456-78457 [E6-22290]
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 250 / Friday, December 29, 2006 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Notice of Intent To Conduct
Restoration Planning for the Bradley
Beach Mystery Spill of February 2004,
Monmouth and Ocean Counties, NJ
AGENCY:
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
Notice of intent.
pwalker on PROD1PC69 with NOTICES
ACTION:
SUMMARY: The Secretary of the Interior
has designated the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service) to act on
behalf of the U.S. Department of the
Interior (DOI) as natural resource trustee
(Trustee) with respect to the February
2004 oil spill in the Bradley Beach, NJ,
area (the incident). The Service has
determined that the impacts of the
incident warrant conducting a natural
resource damage assessment that will
include restoration planning. The
incident has been referred to by a
number of names, including the Bradley
Beach Mystery Spill, the Monmouth
County Mystery Spill, the Monmouth
and Ocean Counties Mystery Spill, the
Brick Township Mystery Spill, and the
Brick Township Tarball Mystery Spill.
The DOI is hereby providing notice of
efforts to plan restoration actions for
injuries resulting from the incident. The
purpose of this restoration planning is
to evaluate potential injuries to natural
resources and lost services and use that
information to determine the need for
and scale of restoration actions.
ADDRESSES: Clay Stern, Environmental
Contaminants Branch, New Jersey Field
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
927 N. Main St., Pleasantville, NJ 08232.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Clay
Stern, at 609–646–9310, extension 27
(telephone), or clay_stern@fws.gov (email), or address under ADDRESSES.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On or
about February 3, 2004, tar-balls and tarpatties that were chemically and
physically consistent with a number 6
fuel oil began washing ashore from the
Atlantic Ocean onto the South
Mantoloking Beach in Brick Township,
Ocean County, NJ. Within 24 hours, the
New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection—Bureau of
Emergency Response had determined
that Oil had impacted beaches from
Monmouth Beach to Sea Girt in
Monmouth County (approximately 15
miles), with the heaviest oiling centered
around Bradley Beach, Monmouth
County; minor oil impacts had occurred
at South Mantoloking Beach in Ocean
County; and oiled birds had been
observed from Sea Bright in Monmouth
County south to Island Beach State Park
VerDate Aug<31>2005
18:15 Dec 28, 2006
Jkt 211001
in Ocean County (approximately 40
miles). The U.S. Coast Guard
determined that an ‘‘incident’’ as
defined by the Oil Pollution Act (OPA)
of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) had
occurred and that the incident did not
fall within the exclusionary conditions
set forth in 33 U.S.C 2702(c). Since a
responsible party has not been
identified, the incident was federalized
and assigned Federal Project Number
P04006. The total quantity of the oil
discharged was estimated at no more
than 1,000 gallons.
Immediately following notification of
the incident, the Service initiated preassessment data collection activities,
pursuant to OPA, to make an initial
determination as to whether natural
resources or services were injured or
were likely to be injured by the
discharge. More than 160 migratory
birds, or parts thereof, were recovered
during the initial spill response; spill
response and bird recovery activities
were coordinated. Although most of the
birds were recovered within the first
week after notification of the incident,
the Service continued to recover oiled
birds throughout February 2004.
Findings from the pre-assessment
efforts demonstrated that exposure to
the incident-related oil caused the
deaths of 73 birds, representing at least
16 species. Those birds are Federal trust
resources protected under the Migratory
Bird Treaty Act of 1918, as amended (16
U.S.C. 701 et seq.). The injured
resources and their supporting habitats
are under the trusteeship of the DOI.
Under OPA, State and Federal
agencies and Indian tribes are
designated to act as natural resource
trustees, responsible for assessing
natural resource losses and restoring
those losses to baseline conditions, i.e.,
the condition that would have existed
had the incident not occurred. The
Trustee for the Bradley Beach incident
is the DOI, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. The Trustee is designated
pursuant to 33 U.S.C. 2706(b), Executive
Order 12777, and the National
Contingency Plan, 40 CFR 300.600 and
300.605.
In its role as the Natural Resource
Trustee, the Service has made the
following determinations required by 15
CFR 990.41(a):
The Service, as Natural Resource Trustee,
has jurisdiction to pursue restoration
pursuant to OPA (33 U.S.C. 2702 and
2706(c)); 40 CFR Part 300, and the OPA
Natural Resource Damage Assessments
Regulations, 15 CFR part 990.
The discharge of oil in the Bradley Beach
area and its environs on or about February 3,
2004, was an incident as defined in 15 CFR
990.30.
PO 00000
Frm 00062
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Natural resources under the trusteeship of
the DOI have been injured as a result of the
incident. The oil discharged contains
components that may be harmful to aquatic
organisms, birds, wildlife and vegetation.
In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard has
notified the Trustee that:
The discharge was not permitted under
Federal, State, or local law.
The discharge was not from a public
vessel.
The discharge was not from an onshore
facility subject to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline
Authority Act of 1973 (43 U.S.C. 1651 et
seq.).
Because the conditions of 15 CFR
990.41(a) were met, as described above,
the Service made the further
determination under 15 CFR 990.41(b)
to proceed with pre-assessment.
For the reasons discussed below, the
Service, as Trustee, has made the
determination required by 15 CFR
990.42(a) and is providing notice
pursuant to 15 CFR 990.44 that it
intends to conduct restoration planning
in order to develop restoration
alternatives that will restore, replace,
rehabilitate, or acquire the equivalent of
natural resources injured and/or natural
resource services lost as a result of this
incident.
Although response actions were
pursued, the nature of the discharge and
the sensitivity of the environment
precluded prevention of injuries to
some natural resources, such as
migratory birds and their supporting
habitats. The Service believes that
injured natural resources could return to
baseline through natural or enhanced
recovery, but interim losses have
occurred and will continue to occur
until a return to baseline is achieved.
There are a number of injury
assessment methods available to the
Trustee to evaluate the injuries and
define the appropriate type and scale of
restoration for the injured natural
resources and services. These include,
but are not limited to, literature reviews,
field studies, laboratory studies, and
modeling studies. These methods may
be used alone or in combination. In
order to scale restoration actions, the
Service intends to prepare an injury
assessment that integrates the degree
and spatial and temporal extent of
injury to estimate the total quantity of
injury.
Feasible direct and compensatory
restoration actions exist to address
injuries from this incident. Restoration
actions that could be considered
include, but are not limited to,
restoration, enhancement, and/or
acquisition of nesting or wintering
habitat of the injured species.
E:\FR\FM\29DEN1.SGM
29DEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 250 / Friday, December 29, 2006 / Notices
Pursuant to 15 CFR 990.44(c), the
Trustee will seek public involvement in
restoration planning for this incident
through public review of and comments
on the draft restoration plan.
Author: The primary author of this
notice is Clay Stern.
Authority: The authority for this action is
the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701
et seq.) and implementing Natural Resource
Damage Assessments Regulations found at 15
CFR part 990.
Dated: October 24, 2006.
Richard O. Bennett,
Acting Regional Director, Region 5, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, DOI Authorized Official,
U.S. Department of the Interior.
[FR Doc. E6–22290 Filed 12–28–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[CO–140–1430–ES; COC–63586, COC–
40272]
Notice of Realty Action; Recreation
and Public Purposes (R&PP) Act
Classification; Colorado
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
pwalker on PROD1PC69 with NOTICES
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) has examined and
found suitable for classification for
conveyance under the provisions of the
Recreation and Public Purposes (R&PP)
Act, 25 acres of public land in Eagle
County, Colorado. The Eagle River
Water and Sanitation District proposes
to use the land for a biosolids treatment
and storage facility.
DATES: Comments should be received by
February 12, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to
the BLM, Grand Junction Field Office,
2815 H Road, Grand Junction, Colorado,
ATTN: Alan Kraus. Detailed
information concerning this action,
including appropriate environmental
documentation, is available for review
at the above address or at the BLM
Glenwood Springs Field Office, 50629
Highway 6 and 24, Glenwood Springs,
Colorado 81602.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Alan Kraus at the above address or by
telephone at (970) 244–3078.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
response to an application from the
Eagle River Water and Sanitation
District (ERWSD), Colorado, the
following public lands have been
examined and found suitable for
classification for conveyance under the
VerDate Aug<31>2005
18:15 Dec 28, 2006
Jkt 211001
provisions of the Recreation and Public
Purposes Act, as amended (43 U.S.C.
869 et seq. and 43 CFR Subpart 2743).
The lands are currently used by the
ERSWD under the terms of Bureau of
Land Management Right-of-Way COC–
40272 and would continue to be used to
treat and store municipal wastewater
treatment plant sludges. Additional
adjacent land would also be used for
this purpose.
Sixth Principal Meridian, Colorado
T 4 S., R 83 W.,
sec. 11; E1⁄2NE1⁄4SE1⁄4NW1⁄4, and
N1⁄2SW1⁄4NE1⁄4.
The area described contains 25 acres,
more or less, in Eagle County.
The lands are not needed for Federal
purposes. Conveyance is consistent with
current Bureau land-use planning and
would be in the public interest. The
patent, if issued, will be subject to the
following reservations, terms, and
conditions:
(1) Provisions of the Recreation and
Public Purposes Act and all applicable
regulations of the Secretary of the
Interior.
(2) The patentee shall comply with all
Federal and State laws applicable to the
disposal, placement, or release of
hazardous substances (hazardous
substance as defined in 40 CFR Part
302.)
(3) A right-of-way thereon for ditches
and canals constructed by authority of
the United States, pursuant to the Act of
August 30, 1890 (43 U.S.C. 945).
(4) Those rights for electric
transmission line purposes granted by
right-of-way COC–31358.
(5) Those rights for telephone line
purposes granted by right-of-way COC–
50820.
(6) Any other valid and existing rights
of record.
(7) Eagle River Water and Sanitation
District, its successors or assigns, shall
defend, indemnify, and save harmless
the United States and its officers, agents,
representatives, and employees
(hereinafter referred to in this clause as
the United States) from all claims, loss,
damage, actions, causes of action,
expense, and liability (hereinafter
referred to in this clause as claims)
resulting from, brought for, or on
account of, any personal injury, threat of
personal injury, or property damage
received or sustained by any person or
persons (including the patentee’s
employees) or property growing out of,
occurring, or attributable directly or
indirectly, to the disposal of solid waste
on, or the release of hazardous
substances from: Sixth Principal
Meridian, Colorado, Sec.11:
PO 00000
Frm 00063
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
78457
E1⁄2NE1⁄4SE1⁄4NW1⁄4, N1⁄2SW1⁄4NE1⁄4,
regardless of whether such claims shall
be attributable to: (1) The concurrent,
contributory, or partial fault, failure, or
negligence of the United States, or (2)
the sole fault, failure, or negligence of
the United States. In the event of
payment, loss, or expense under this
agreement, the patentee shall be
subrogated to the extent of the amount
of such payment to all rights, powers,
privileges, and remedies of the United
States against any person regarding such
payment, loss, or expense.
(8) Such other provisions as may be
required by law.
Upon publication of this notice in the
Federal Register, the lands will be
segregated from all forms of
appropriation under the public land
laws, including the general mining laws,
except for conveyance under the
Recreation and Public Purposes Act.
The segregative effect shall terminate
upon issuance of a patent or upon
publication in the Federal Register of an
opening order, whichever occurs first.
Classification Comments: Interested
parties may submit comments involving
the suitability of the land to treat and
store municipal wastewater treatment
plant sludge. Comments on the
classification are restricted to whether
the land is physically suited for the
proposed use, whether the use will
maximize the future use or uses of the
land, whether the use is consistent with
local planning and zoning, or whether
the use is consistent with State and
Federal programs.
Application Comments: Interested
parties may submit comments regarding
the specific use proposed in the
application and plan of development,
whether the BLM followed proper
administrative procedures in reaching
the decision, or any other factor not
directly related to the suitability of the
land for the proposed use.
All submissions from organizations or
businesses will be made available for
public inspection in their entirety.
Individuals may request confidentiality
with respect to their name, address, and
phone number. If you wish to have your
name or street address withheld from
public review or from disclosure under
the Freedom of Information Act, the first
line of the comment should start with
the words ‘‘CONFIDENTIALITY
REQUEST’’ in uppercase letters in order
for BLM to comply with your request.
Such requests will be honored to the
extent allowed by law. Comment
contents will not be kept confidential.
Any objections will be evaluated by the
State Director, who may sustain, vacate,
or modify this realty action. In the
absence of any adverse comments, this
E:\FR\FM\29DEN1.SGM
29DEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 250 (Friday, December 29, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78456-78457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-22290]
[[Page 78456]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Notice of Intent To Conduct Restoration Planning for the Bradley
Beach Mystery Spill of February 2004, Monmouth and Ocean Counties, NJ
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Secretary of the Interior has designated the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service) to act on behalf of the U.S. Department of
the Interior (DOI) as natural resource trustee (Trustee) with respect
to the February 2004 oil spill in the Bradley Beach, NJ, area (the
incident). The Service has determined that the impacts of the incident
warrant conducting a natural resource damage assessment that will
include restoration planning. The incident has been referred to by a
number of names, including the Bradley Beach Mystery Spill, the
Monmouth County Mystery Spill, the Monmouth and Ocean Counties Mystery
Spill, the Brick Township Mystery Spill, and the Brick Township Tarball
Mystery Spill.
The DOI is hereby providing notice of efforts to plan restoration
actions for injuries resulting from the incident. The purpose of this
restoration planning is to evaluate potential injuries to natural
resources and lost services and use that information to determine the
need for and scale of restoration actions.
ADDRESSES: Clay Stern, Environmental Contaminants Branch, New Jersey
Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 927 N. Main St.,
Pleasantville, NJ 08232.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Clay Stern, at 609-646-9310, extension
27 (telephone), or clay_stern@fws.gov (e-mail), or address under
ADDRESSES.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On or about February 3, 2004, tar-balls and
tar-patties that were chemically and physically consistent with a
number 6 fuel oil began washing ashore from the Atlantic Ocean onto the
South Mantoloking Beach in Brick Township, Ocean County, NJ. Within 24
hours, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection--Bureau of
Emergency Response had determined that Oil had impacted beaches from
Monmouth Beach to Sea Girt in Monmouth County (approximately 15 miles),
with the heaviest oiling centered around Bradley Beach, Monmouth
County; minor oil impacts had occurred at South Mantoloking Beach in
Ocean County; and oiled birds had been observed from Sea Bright in
Monmouth County south to Island Beach State Park in Ocean County
(approximately 40 miles). The U.S. Coast Guard determined that an
``incident'' as defined by the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990 (33
U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) had occurred and that the incident did not fall
within the exclusionary conditions set forth in 33 U.S.C 2702(c). Since
a responsible party has not been identified, the incident was
federalized and assigned Federal Project Number P04006. The total
quantity of the oil discharged was estimated at no more than 1,000
gallons.
Immediately following notification of the incident, the Service
initiated pre-assessment data collection activities, pursuant to OPA,
to make an initial determination as to whether natural resources or
services were injured or were likely to be injured by the discharge.
More than 160 migratory birds, or parts thereof, were recovered during
the initial spill response; spill response and bird recovery activities
were coordinated. Although most of the birds were recovered within the
first week after notification of the incident, the Service continued to
recover oiled birds throughout February 2004.
Findings from the pre-assessment efforts demonstrated that exposure
to the incident-related oil caused the deaths of 73 birds, representing
at least 16 species. Those birds are Federal trust resources protected
under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, as amended (16 U.S.C. 701
et seq.). The injured resources and their supporting habitats are under
the trusteeship of the DOI.
Under OPA, State and Federal agencies and Indian tribes are
designated to act as natural resource trustees, responsible for
assessing natural resource losses and restoring those losses to
baseline conditions, i.e., the condition that would have existed had
the incident not occurred. The Trustee for the Bradley Beach incident
is the DOI, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Trustee is designated
pursuant to 33 U.S.C. 2706(b), Executive Order 12777, and the National
Contingency Plan, 40 CFR 300.600 and 300.605.
In its role as the Natural Resource Trustee, the Service has made
the following determinations required by 15 CFR 990.41(a):
The Service, as Natural Resource Trustee, has jurisdiction to
pursue restoration pursuant to OPA (33 U.S.C. 2702 and 2706(c)); 40
CFR Part 300, and the OPA Natural Resource Damage Assessments
Regulations, 15 CFR part 990.
The discharge of oil in the Bradley Beach area and its environs
on or about February 3, 2004, was an incident as defined in 15 CFR
990.30.
Natural resources under the trusteeship of the DOI have been
injured as a result of the incident. The oil discharged contains
components that may be harmful to aquatic organisms, birds, wildlife
and vegetation.
In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard has notified the Trustee that:
The discharge was not permitted under Federal, State, or local
law.
The discharge was not from a public vessel.
The discharge was not from an onshore facility subject to the
Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authority Act of 1973 (43 U.S.C. 1651 et
seq.).
Because the conditions of 15 CFR 990.41(a) were met, as described
above, the Service made the further determination under 15 CFR
990.41(b) to proceed with pre-assessment.
For the reasons discussed below, the Service, as Trustee, has made
the determination required by 15 CFR 990.42(a) and is providing notice
pursuant to 15 CFR 990.44 that it intends to conduct restoration
planning in order to develop restoration alternatives that will
restore, replace, rehabilitate, or acquire the equivalent of natural
resources injured and/or natural resource services lost as a result of
this incident.
Although response actions were pursued, the nature of the discharge
and the sensitivity of the environment precluded prevention of injuries
to some natural resources, such as migratory birds and their supporting
habitats. The Service believes that injured natural resources could
return to baseline through natural or enhanced recovery, but interim
losses have occurred and will continue to occur until a return to
baseline is achieved.
There are a number of injury assessment methods available to the
Trustee to evaluate the injuries and define the appropriate type and
scale of restoration for the injured natural resources and services.
These include, but are not limited to, literature reviews, field
studies, laboratory studies, and modeling studies. These methods may be
used alone or in combination. In order to scale restoration actions,
the Service intends to prepare an injury assessment that integrates the
degree and spatial and temporal extent of injury to estimate the total
quantity of injury.
Feasible direct and compensatory restoration actions exist to
address injuries from this incident. Restoration actions that could be
considered include, but are not limited to, restoration, enhancement,
and/or acquisition of nesting or wintering habitat of the injured
species.
[[Page 78457]]
Pursuant to 15 CFR 990.44(c), the Trustee will seek public
involvement in restoration planning for this incident through public
review of and comments on the draft restoration plan.
Author: The primary author of this notice is Clay Stern.
Authority: The authority for this action is the Oil Pollution
Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) and implementing Natural
Resource Damage Assessments Regulations found at 15 CFR part 990.
Dated: October 24, 2006.
Richard O. Bennett,
Acting Regional Director, Region 5, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, DOI
Authorized Official, U.S. Department of the Interior.
[FR Doc. E6-22290 Filed 12-28-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
