Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Final Phase 2 Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment #1.1: Queen Bess Island Restoration and Finding of No Significant Impact; Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group, 10527-10528 [2019-05378]
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 55 / Thursday, March 21, 2019 / Notices
to be funded. Specifically, the FL TIG
selected the following projects:
Habitat Projects on Federally Managed
Lands
• Gulf Islands National Seashore
(Florida) Night Sky Restoration (P&D),
• Gulf Islands National Seashore
(Florida) Beach and Dune Habitat
Protection,
• Gulf Islands National Seashore
(Florida) Invasive Plant Removal, and
• St. Vincent National Wildlife
Refuge Predator Control.
Nutrient Reduction
• Pensacola Bay and Perdido River
Watersheds—Nutrient Reduction, and
• Lower Suwannee River
Watershed—Nutrient Reduction.
Water Quality
• Carpenter Creek Headwaters Water
Quality Improvements,
• Pensacola Beach Reclaimed Water
System Expansion,
• Rattlesnake Bluff Road and
Riverbank Restoration,
• Pensacola Bay Unpaved Roads
Initiative (P&D),
• Alligator Lake Coastal Dune Lake
Hydrologic Restoration,
• City of Port St. Joe Stormwater
Improvements,
• City of Carrabelle’s Lighthouse
Estates: Septic Tank Abatement Phase II,
• Lower Suwannee National Wildlife
Refuge Hydrologic Restoration (P&D),
and
• Lower Charlotte Harbor Flatwoods
Hydrologic Restoration Initiative, Yucca
Pens Unit (P&D).
amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with NOTICES
Provide and Enhance Recreational
Opportunities
• Perdido River and Bay Paddle Trail,
• Carpenter Creek Headwaters Park
Amenities,
• Gulf Islands National Seashore
(Florida) Rehabilitation of Okaloosa
Unit Recreational Facilities,
• Joe’s Bayou Recreation Area
Improvements,
• Topsail Hill Preserve State Park
Improvements,
• Camp Helen State Park
Improvements,
• St. Andrews State Park
Improvements, and
• St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
Coastal Trail Connection, Spring Creek
to Port Leon.
The FL TIG also analyzed nine
additional alternatives, as well as a no
action alternative. In accordance with
NEPA, as part of the Final RP1/EA, the
Trustees issued a FONSI. The FONSI is
available in Appendix G of the Final
RP1/EA.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 247001
The FL TIG determined that the
restoration projects selected for funding
will continue the process of restoring
the natural resources injured or lost as
a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill. The total estimated cost for the 23
selected restoration projects is
$61,282,740. Additional restoration
planning for the Florida Restoration
Area will continue.
Administrative Record
The documents comprising the
Administrative Record for the Draft
RP1/EA can be viewed electronically at
https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/
adminrecord.
Authority
The authority of this action is the Oil
Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701 et
seq.), and its implementing Natural
Resource Damage Assessment
regulations found at 15 CFR part 990,
and the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
Mary Josie Blanchard,
Director of Gulf of Mexico Restoration,
Department of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 2019–05377 Filed 3–20–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
[FWS–R4–ES–2019–N027;
FVHC98220410150–XXX–FF04H00000]
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Final
Phase 2 Restoration Plan/
Environmental Assessment #1.1:
Queen Bess Island Restoration and
Finding of No Significant Impact;
Louisiana Trustee Implementation
Group
Department of the Interior.
Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
In accordance with the Oil
Pollution Act (OPA), the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Final
Programmatic Damage Assessment and
Restoration Plan and Final
Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement (PDARP/PEIS), Record of
Decision, and the Consent Decree, the
Federal and State natural resource
trustee agencies for the Louisiana
Trustee Implementation Group
(Louisiana TIG) have prepared a Final
Phase 2 Restoration Plan/Environmental
Assessment #1.1: Restoration of Queen
Bess Island (Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1) and
Finding of No Significant Impact
(FONSI). The Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1
describes the restoration project design
alternatives considered by the Louisiana
TIG to continue the process of restoring
SUMMARY:
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
10527
natural resources and services injured or
lost as a result of the Deepwater Horizon
oil spill. The purpose of this notice is
to inform the public of the availability
of the final Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1 and
FONSI.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You
may download the Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1
and FONSI from any of the following
websites:
• https://
www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov
• https://www.doi.gov/
deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord
• https://www.la-dwh.com
Alternatively, you may request a CD
of the Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1 and FONSI
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nanciann Regalado, via email at
nanciann_regalado@fws.gov, via
telephone at 678–296–6805, or via the
Federal Relay Service at 800–877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
On April 20, 2010, the mobile
offshore drilling unit Deepwater
Horizon, which was being used to drill
a 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 Deepwater
Horizon oil spill is the largest off shore
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 Trustees conducted the natural
resource damage assessment (NRDA) for
the Deepwater Horizon oil spill under
the Oil Pollution Act (OPA; 33 U.S.C.
2701 et seq.). 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, including the loss of use
and services from those resources from
the time of injury until the time of
restoration to baseline (the resource
E:\FR\FM\21MRN1.SGM
21MRN1
amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with NOTICES
10528
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 55 / Thursday, March 21, 2019 / Notices
quality and conditions that would exist
if the spill had not occurred) is
complete.
The Deepwater Horizon Trustees are:
• 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;
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), on behalf of
the U.S. Department of Commerce;
• U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA);
• U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA);
• 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;
• State of Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality;
• State of Alabama Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources and
Geological Survey of Alabama;
• State of Florida Department of
Environmental Protection and Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission; and
• State of Texas: Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department, Texas General
Land Office, and Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
The Trustees reached and finalized a
settlement of their natural resource
damage claims with BP in an April 4,
2016, Consent Decree approved by the
U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of Louisiana. Pursuant to that
Consent Decree, restoration projects in
the Louisiana Restoration Area are now
selected and implemented by the
Louisiana Trustee Implementation
Group (TIG). The Louisiana TIG is
composed of the following Trustees:
• 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;
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), on behalf of
the U.S. Department of Commerce;
• U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA);
• U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA); and
• 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.
Background
The Final Programmatic Damage
Assessment Restoration Plan and Final
Programmatic Environmental Impact
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 247001
Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS) provides
for TIGs to propose phasing restoration
projects across multiple restoration
plans. A TIG may propose funding a
planning phase (e.g., initial engineering,
design, and compliance) in one plan for
a conceptual project. This would allow
the TIG to develop information needed
to fully consider a subsequent
implementation phase of that project in
a future restoration plan. In 2016, the
Louisiana TIG included the Queen Bess
Island Restoration Project as a preferred
alternative to fund for engineering and
design (E&D) in a restoration plan
entitled Louisiana Trustee
Implementation Group Draft Restoration
Plan #1: Restoration of Wetlands,
Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats;
Habitat Projects on Federally Managed
Lands; and Birds (Phase 1 RP #1). After
approval, the Queen Bess Island
Restoration Project began E&D. The
Louisiana TIG then evaluated several
design alternatives and prepared a draft
Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1.
Notice of availability of the draft
Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1 was published on
the Louisiana TIG website on December
7, 2018, and in the Federal Register and
Louisiana State Register on December
20, 2018 (83 FR 65360, Louisiana
Register Volume 44, No. 7). The draft
Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1 provided the
Louisiana TIG’s analysis of design
alternatives that would meet the
Trustees’ goal to replenish and protect
living coastal and marine resources
under OPA and NEPA, and identified
one design alternative that was
proposed as preferred for
implementation. The Louisiana TIG
provided the public a comment period
from December 7, 2018, through January
22, 2019. The Louisiana TIG also hosted
a public meeting on January 3, 2019, in
Baton Rouge to facilitate public review
and comment. The Louisiana TIG
considered the public comments
received, which informed their analysis
and decision making, and finalized the
Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1. A summary of the
public comments received and the
Louisiana TIG’s responses to those
comments are addressed in Section 7 of
the Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1.
Overview of the LA TIG Final RP/EA
#1.1
The Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1 is being
released in accordance with OPA,
NRDA regulations found in the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) at 15 CFR
part 990, NEPA, the Consent Decree,
and the Final PDARP/PEIS and Record
of Decision.
In the Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1 and FONSI,
the Louisiana TIG selects one
restoration alternative, Design
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Frm 00053
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Alternative 2B, for final design and
construction for Queen Bess Island
restoration, to be funded under the
Birds restoration type allocation.
The Louisiana TIG also analyzed one
additional design alternative, as well as
a no action alternative in the Phase 2
RP/EA #1.1. In accordance with NEPA,
as part of the Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1, the
Trustees issued a FONSI. The FONSI is
available in Appendix E of the Phase 2
RP/EA #1.1.
The Louisiana TIG determined that
the restoration project selected for final
design and funding will continue the
process of restoring the natural
resources injured or lost as a result of
the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The
total estimated project cost for the
selected restoration project is
$18,710,000. Additional restoration
planning for the Louisiana Restoration
Area will continue.
Administrative Record
The documents comprising the
Administrative Record for the Phase 2
RP/EA #1.1 can be viewed electronically
at https://www.doi.gov/
deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord.
Authority
The authority of this action is the Oil
Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701 et
seq.) and its implementing Natural
Resource Damage Assessment
regulations found at 15 CFR part 990
and the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
Mary Josie Blanchard,
Director of Gulf of Mexico Restoration,
Department of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 2019–05378 Filed 3–20–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
[FWS–R4–ES–2019–N026;
FVHC98220410150–XXX–FF04H00000]
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Final
Restoration Plan 1 and Environmental
Assessment: Birds and Sturgeon, and
Finding of No Significant Impact; Open
Ocean Trustee Implementation Group
Department of the Interior.
Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
In accordance with the Oil
Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), the
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), the Deepwater Horizon Oil
Spill Final Programmatic Damage
Assessment and Restoration Plan and
Final Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS),
Record of Decision, and the Consent
Decree, the Federal natural resource
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\21MRN1.SGM
21MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 55 (Thursday, March 21, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10527-10528]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05378]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
[FWS-R4-ES-2019-N027; FVHC98220410150-XXX-FF04H00000]
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Final Phase 2 Restoration Plan/
Environmental Assessment #1.1: Queen Bess Island Restoration and
Finding of No Significant Impact; Louisiana Trustee Implementation
Group
AGENCY: Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Final
Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and Final
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PDARP/PEIS), Record of
Decision, and the Consent Decree, the Federal and State natural
resource trustee agencies for the Louisiana Trustee Implementation
Group (Louisiana TIG) have prepared a Final Phase 2 Restoration Plan/
Environmental Assessment #1.1: Restoration of Queen Bess Island (Phase
2 RP/EA #1.1) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The Phase 2
RP/EA #1.1 describes the restoration project design alternatives
considered by the Louisiana TIG to continue the process of restoring
natural resources and services injured or lost as a result of the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The purpose of this notice is to inform
the public of the availability of the final Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1 and
FONSI.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1
and FONSI from any of the following websites:
https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov
https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord
https://www.la-dwh.com
Alternatively, you may request a CD of the Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1 and
FONSI (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanciann Regalado, via email at
nanciann_regalado@fws.gov, via telephone at 678-296-6805, or via the
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
On April 20, 2010, the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater
Horizon, which was being used to drill a 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 Deepwater Horizon oil spill is the largest off shore 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 Trustees conducted the natural resource damage assessment
(NRDA) for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill under the Oil Pollution Act
(OPA; 33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.). 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,
including the loss of use and services from those resources from the
time of injury until the time of restoration to baseline (the resource
[[Page 10528]]
quality and conditions that would exist if the spill had not occurred)
is complete.
The Deepwater Horizon Trustees are:
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;
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), on
behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce;
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA);
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);
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;
State of Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality;
State of Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources and Geological Survey of Alabama;
State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection
and Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; and
State of Texas: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas
General Land Office, and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The Trustees reached and finalized a settlement of their natural
resource damage claims with BP in an April 4, 2016, Consent Decree
approved by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Louisiana. Pursuant to that Consent Decree, restoration projects in the
Louisiana Restoration Area are now selected and implemented by the
Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group (TIG). The Louisiana TIG is
composed of the following Trustees:
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;
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), on
behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce;
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA);
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and
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.
Background
The Final Programmatic Damage Assessment Restoration Plan and Final
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS) provides
for TIGs to propose phasing restoration projects across multiple
restoration plans. A TIG may propose funding a planning phase (e.g.,
initial engineering, design, and compliance) in one plan for a
conceptual project. This would allow the TIG to develop information
needed to fully consider a subsequent implementation phase of that
project in a future restoration plan. In 2016, the Louisiana TIG
included the Queen Bess Island Restoration Project as a preferred
alternative to fund for engineering and design (E&D) in a restoration
plan entitled Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group Draft Restoration
Plan #1: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats;
Habitat Projects on Federally Managed Lands; and Birds (Phase 1 RP #1).
After approval, the Queen Bess Island Restoration Project began E&D.
The Louisiana TIG then evaluated several design alternatives and
prepared a draft Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1.
Notice of availability of the draft Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1 was
published on the Louisiana TIG website on December 7, 2018, and in the
Federal Register and Louisiana State Register on December 20, 2018 (83
FR 65360, Louisiana Register Volume 44, No. 7). The draft Phase 2 RP/EA
#1.1 provided the Louisiana TIG's analysis of design alternatives that
would meet the Trustees' goal to replenish and protect living coastal
and marine resources under OPA and NEPA, and identified one design
alternative that was proposed as preferred for implementation. The
Louisiana TIG provided the public a comment period from December 7,
2018, through January 22, 2019. The Louisiana TIG also hosted a public
meeting on January 3, 2019, in Baton Rouge to facilitate public review
and comment. The Louisiana TIG considered the public comments received,
which informed their analysis and decision making, and finalized the
Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1. A summary of the public comments received and the
Louisiana TIG's responses to those comments are addressed in Section 7
of the Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1.
Overview of the LA TIG Final RP/EA #1.1
The Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1 is being released in accordance with OPA,
NRDA regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 15
CFR part 990, NEPA, the Consent Decree, and the Final PDARP/PEIS and
Record of Decision.
In the Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1 and FONSI, the Louisiana TIG selects one
restoration alternative, Design Alternative 2B, for final design and
construction for Queen Bess Island restoration, to be funded under the
Birds restoration type allocation.
The Louisiana TIG also analyzed one additional design alternative,
as well as a no action alternative in the Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1. In
accordance with NEPA, as part of the Phase 2 RP/EA #1.1, the Trustees
issued a FONSI. The FONSI is available in Appendix E of the Phase 2 RP/
EA #1.1.
The Louisiana TIG determined that the restoration project selected
for final design and funding will continue the process of restoring the
natural resources injured or lost as a result of the Deepwater Horizon
oil spill. The total estimated project cost for the selected
restoration project is $18,710,000. Additional restoration planning for
the Louisiana Restoration Area will continue.
Administrative Record
The documents comprising the Administrative Record for the Phase 2
RP/EA #1.1 can be viewed electronically at https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord.
Authority
The authority of this action is the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33
U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) and its implementing Natural Resource Damage
Assessment regulations found at 15 CFR part 990 and the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
Mary Josie Blanchard,
Director of Gulf of Mexico Restoration, Department of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 2019-05378 Filed 3-20-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
