Notice of Availability of the Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group Draft Restoration Plan II Environmental Assessment: Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats and Oysters, 22393-22395 [2020-08419]
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22393
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Federal Register
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khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
April 16, 2020.
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displays a currently valid OMB control
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coherent, and unambiguous questions in
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Ruth Brown,
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[FR Doc. 2020–08450 Filed 4–21–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Natural Resources Conservation
Service
[Docket No. NRCS–2020–0005]
Notice of Availability of the Mississippi
Trustee Implementation Group Draft
Restoration Plan II Environmental
Assessment: Wetlands, Coastal, and
Nearshore Habitats and Oysters
Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA).
ACTION: Notice of availability; request
for comments.
AGENCY:
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 Consent Decree,
the Federal and State natural resource
trustee agencies for the Mississippi
Trustee Implementation Group
(Mississippi TIG) have prepared a Draft
Restoration Plan II Environmental
Assessment: Wetlands, Coastal, and
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\22APN1.SGM
22APN1
22394
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 78 / Wednesday, April 22, 2020 / Notices
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Nearshore Habitats and Oysters (Draft
RP II EA). MS TIG identified two
Restoration Types—Wetlands, Coastal,
and Nearshore Habitats (WCNH) and
Oysters—that it considered appropriate
for the Draft RP II EA. The purpose of
this notice is to inform the public of the
availability of the Draft RP II EA and to
request public comments on the
document.
DATES: We will consider comments that
we receive by May 22, 2020.
ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit
comments on this notice. In your
comments, include the volume, date,
and page number of this issue of the
Federal Register. Comments may be
submitted by any of the following
methods:
• The web: https://www.gulfspill
restoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/
mississippi; or
• Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, P.O. Box 29649, Atlanta,
Georgia 30345. Please note that mailed
comments must be postmarked on or
before the comment deadline of May 22,
2020 to be considered.
MS TIG will host a public webinar on
May 13, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. CDT. The
public may register for the webinar at:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/
register/548768858601614861.
Comments will be accepted during the
public webinar.
After registering, participants will
receive a confirmation email with
instructions for joining the webinar.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron
Howard, Senior Technical Advisor,
Natural Resource Specialist, at
ron.howard@ms.usda.gov; and Valerie
Alley, NRDA Coordinator, at
mississippiTIG@mdeq.ms.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
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), exploded, caught fire, and
subsequently sank 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 maritime oil spill in U.S.
history, discharging millions of barrels
of oil over a period of 87 days. In
addition, well over one million gallons
of dispersants were applied to the
waters of the spill area to disperse the
spilled oil. An undetermined amount of
natural gas was also released to the
environment as a result of the spill.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:59 Apr 21, 2020
Jkt 250001
The Deepwater Horizon State and
Federal natural resource trustees (DWH
Trustees) conducted the natural
resource damage assessment (NRDA) for
the Deepwater Horizon oil spill under
the Oil Pollution Act 1990 (OPA; 33
U.S.C. 2701–2720) and the
implementing NRDA regulations (15
CFR part 990). In accordance with 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 to
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
quality and conditions that would exist
if the spill had not occurred) is
complete.
The DWH Trustees are:
• U.S. Department of the Interior
(DOI), as represented by the National
Park Service (NPS), U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS), and Bureau of
Land Management (BLM);
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), on behalf of
the U.S. Department of Commerce
(DOC);
• 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
• For the State of Texas, Texas Parks
and Wildlife Department, Texas General
Land Office, and Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
Upon completion of NRDA, the DWH
Trustees reached and finalized a
settlement of their natural resource
damage claims with BP in a Consent
Decree 1 approved by the United States
District Court for the Eastern District of
Louisiana. In accordance with that
1 https://www.justice.gov/enrd/file/838066/
download.
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Consent Decree, restoration projects in
the Mississippi Restoration Area are
now chosen and managed by the MS
TIG.
The MS TIG is composed of the
following Trustees:
• Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality;
• U.S. Department of the Interior
(DOI), as represented by the National
Park Service (NPS), U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS), and Bureau of
Land Management (BLM);
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), on behalf of
the U.S. Department of Commerce
(DOC);
• U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA); and
• U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
The restoration planning activity is
proceeding in accordance with the
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Final
Programmatic Damage Assessment and
Restoration Plan (PDARP) and Final
Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement (PEIS). Information on the
restoration types being considered in
the Draft RP II EA, as well as a general
overview of the OPA criteria against
which project ideas are being evaluated,
can be found in the Final PDARP/PEIS
(https://www.gulfspill
restoration.noaa.gov/restorationplanning/gulf-plan) and in the
Overview section of the PDARP PEIS
(https://www.gulfspill
restoration.noaa.gov/restorationplanning/gulf-plan).
MS TIG posted a Notice of
Solicitation calling for project ideas on
June 11, 2018 2 (June 11, 2018, Notice).
Project ideas requested included the
following restoration types: Wetlands,
Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats
(WCNH); Nutrient Reduction; Oysters;
Sea Turtles; and Marine Mammals. MS
TIG notified the public that it would
consider new, revised, and previously
submitted project ideas received by
August 10, 2018. On October 10, 2018,
MS TIG published a notice of Initiation
of Restoration Planning in Mississippi.3
During the planning process MS TIG
decided to focus only on WCNH and
Oyster Restoration Types in RP II.
In developing the Draft RP II EA, MS
TIG considered projects previously
submitted to the MDEQ Restoration
Project Idea portal 4 and the Trustee
2 https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/2018/
06/mississippi-trustee-implementation-groupwelcomes-publics-project-ideas.
3 https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/2018/
10/notice-initiation-restoration-planningmississippi.
4 https://www.mdeq.ms.gov/restoration/projectportal/.
E:\FR\FM\22APN1.SGM
22APN1
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 78 / Wednesday, April 22, 2020 / Notices
Council Project Submission Portal,5 as
well as those proposed in response to
the June 11, 2018, Notice.
In total, MS TIG evaluated seven
alternatives and a No Action Alternative
for WCNH and for Oysters. The
proposed action of the Draft RP II EA is
the selection of four alternatives
(projects) for implementation:
(1) Wolf River Coastal Preserve
Habitat Management—Dupont and
Bell’s Ferry Tracts—WCNH;
(2) Hancock County Coastal Preserve
Habitat Management—Wachovia
Tract—WCNH;
(3) Oyster Spawning Reefs in
Mississippi—Oysters; and
(4) Mississippi Oyster Gardening
Program—Oysters.
The proposed action is consistent
with the restoration alternatives selected
in the Final PDARP PEIS and would be
funded by $4,887,500 from the WCNH
Restoration Type and $10,500,000 from
the Oysters Restoration Type.
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Overview of the Draft RP II EA
The Draft RP II EA is being released
in accordance with the OPA NRDA
regulations in 15 CFR part 990, NEPA
(42 U.S.C. 4321–4347), and 40 CFR
1500.
For the Draft RP II EA, MS TIG
proposes moving forward with the four
preferred alternatives:
• Wolf River Coastal Preserve Habitat
Management—Dupont and Bell’s Ferry
Tracts (WCNH);
• Hancock County Coastal Preserve
Habitat Management—Wachovia Tract
(WCNH);
• Oyster Spawning Reefs in
Mississippi (Oysters), and
• Mississippi Oyster Gardening
Program (Oysters).
The total cost of the four preferred
alternatives is approximately $15
million.
The MS TIG has examined and
assessed the extent of injury and the
restoration alternatives. In the Draft RP
II EA, MS TIG presents to the public its
draft plan for providing partial
compensation to the public for injured
natural resources and ecological
services in the Mississippi Restoration
Area. The proposed alternatives are
intended to continue the process of
restoring natural resources and
ecological services injured or lost as a
result of the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill. Additional restoration planning
5 https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/
restoration/give-us-your-ideas/suggest-arestoration-project/.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:59 Apr 21, 2020
Jkt 250001
for the Mississippi Restoration Area will
continue.
Matthew Lohr,
Chief, Natural Resources Conservation
Service.
[FR Doc. 2020–08419 Filed 4–21–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–16–P
COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS
Notice of Public Meeting of the
Vermont Advisory Committee
Commission on Civil Rights.
Announcement of meeting.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Notice is hereby given,
pursuant to the provisions of the rules
and regulations of the U.S. Commission
on Civil Rights (Commission), and the
Federal Advisory Committee Act
(FACA), that a meeting of the Vermont
Advisory Committee to the Commission
will convene by conference call at 11:00
a.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, April 28, 2020.
The purpose of the meeting is to discuss
next steps regarding the release of its
report on school discipline. The
Committee will also consider other
possible work products to conclude its
appointment term, which ends in June
2020.
DATES: Tuesday, April 28, 2020, at 11:00
a.m. (EDT).
Public Call-In Information:
Conference call-in number: 1–888–208–
1711 and conference call 5689268.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Evelyn Bohor at ero@usccr.gov or by
phone at 202–376–7533.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Interested
members of the public may listen to the
discussion by calling the following tollfree conference call-in number: 1–888–
208–1711 and conference call 5689268.
Please be advised that before placing
them into the conference call, the
conference call operator will ask callers
to provide their names, their
organizational affiliations (if any), and
email addresses (so that callers may be
notified of future meetings). Callers can
expect to incur charges for calls they
initiate over wireless lines, and the
Commission will not refund any
incurred charges. Callers will incur no
charge for calls they initiate over landline connections to the toll-free
conference call-in number.
Persons with hearing impairments
may also follow the discussion by first
calling the Federal Relay Service at 1–
800–977–8339 and providing the
operator with the toll-free conference
call-in number: 1–888–208–1711 and
conference call 5689268.
SUMMARY:
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22395
Members of the public are invited to
make statements during the open
comment period of the meeting or
submit written comments. The
comments must be received in the
regional office approximately 30 days
after each scheduled meeting. Written
comments may be mailed to the Eastern
Regional Office, U.S. Commission on
Civil Rights, 1331 Pennsylvania
Avenue, Suite 1150, Washington, DC
20425 or emailed to Evelyn Bohor at
ero@usccr.gov. Persons who desire
additional information may contact the
Eastern Regional Office at (202) 376–
7533.
Records and documents discussed
during the meeting will be available for
public viewing as they become available
at https://www.facadatabase.gov/FACA/
FACAPublicViewCommitteeDetails?id=
a10t0000001gzmXAAQ, click the
‘‘Meeting Details’’ and ‘‘Documents’’
links.Records generated from this
meeting may also be inspected and
reproduced at the Eastern Regional
Office, as they become available, both
before and after the meetings. Persons
interested in the work of this advisory
committee are advised to go to the
Commission’s website, www.usccr.gov,
or to contact the Eastern Regional Office
at the above phone numbers, email or
street address.
Agenda: Tuesday, April 28, 2020 at
11:00 a.m. (EDT).
• Rollcall
• Next Steps for Report Release
• Other Business
• Open Comment
• Adjourn
Dated: April 16, 2020.
David Mussatt,
Supervisory Chief, Regional Programs Unit.
[FR Doc. 2020–08436 Filed 4–21–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Economic Development Administration
Notice of Petitions by Firms for
Determination of Eligibility To Apply
for Trade Adjustment Assistance
Economic Development
Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice and opportunity for
public comment.
AGENCY:
The Economic Development
Administration (EDA) has received
petitions for certification of eligibility to
apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance
from the firms listed below.
Accordingly, EDA has initiated
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\22APN1.SGM
22APN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 78 (Wednesday, April 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22393-22395]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08419]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Natural Resources Conservation Service
[Docket No. NRCS-2020-0005]
Notice of Availability of the Mississippi Trustee Implementation
Group Draft Restoration Plan II Environmental Assessment: Wetlands,
Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats and Oysters
AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA).
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: 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 Consent Decree, the Federal and State natural
resource trustee agencies for the Mississippi Trustee Implementation
Group (Mississippi TIG) have prepared a Draft Restoration Plan II
Environmental Assessment: Wetlands, Coastal, and
[[Page 22394]]
Nearshore Habitats and Oysters (Draft RP II EA). MS TIG identified two
Restoration Types--Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats (WCNH) and
Oysters--that it considered appropriate for the Draft RP II EA. The
purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the availability of
the Draft RP II EA and to request public comments on the document.
DATES: We will consider comments that we receive by May 22, 2020.
ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments on this notice. In your
comments, include the volume, date, and page number of this issue of
the Federal Register. Comments may be submitted by any of the following
methods:
The web: https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/mississippi; or
Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 29649,
Atlanta, Georgia 30345. Please note that mailed comments must be
postmarked on or before the comment deadline of May 22, 2020 to be
considered.
MS TIG will host a public webinar on May 13, 2020, at 2:00 p.m.
CDT. The public may register for the webinar at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/548768858601614861. Comments will be
accepted during the public webinar.
After registering, participants will receive a confirmation email
with instructions for joining the webinar.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron Howard, Senior Technical Advisor,
Natural Resource Specialist, at [email protected]; and Valerie
Alley, NRDA Coordinator, at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
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), exploded, caught fire, and subsequently sank 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 maritime oil spill in U.S.
history, discharging millions of barrels of oil over a period of 87
days. In addition, well over one million gallons of dispersants were
applied to the waters of the spill area to disperse the spilled oil. An
undetermined amount of natural gas was also released to the environment
as a result of the spill.
The Deepwater Horizon State and Federal natural resource trustees
(DWH Trustees) conducted the natural resource damage assessment (NRDA)
for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill under the Oil Pollution Act 1990
(OPA; 33 U.S.C. 2701-2720) and the implementing NRDA regulations (15
CFR part 990). In accordance with 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 to 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
quality and conditions that would exist if the spill had not occurred)
is complete.
The DWH Trustees are:
U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), as represented by
the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS),
and Bureau of Land Management (BLM);
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), on
behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC);
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
For the State of Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department, Texas General Land Office, and Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
Upon completion of NRDA, the DWH Trustees reached and finalized a
settlement of their natural resource damage claims with BP in a Consent
Decree \1\ approved by the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Louisiana. In accordance with that Consent Decree,
restoration projects in the Mississippi Restoration Area are now chosen
and managed by the MS TIG.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.justice.gov/enrd/file/838066/download.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The MS TIG is composed of the following Trustees:
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality;
U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), as represented by
the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS),
and Bureau of Land Management (BLM);
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), on
behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC);
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA); and
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The restoration planning activity is proceeding in accordance with
the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Final Programmatic Damage Assessment
and Restoration Plan (PDARP) and Final Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement (PEIS). Information on the restoration types being
considered in the Draft RP II EA, as well as a general overview of the
OPA criteria against which project ideas are being evaluated, can be
found in the Final PDARP/PEIS (https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-planning/gulf-plan) and
in the Overview section of the PDARP PEIS (https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-planning/gulf-plan).
MS TIG posted a Notice of Solicitation calling for project ideas on
June 11, 2018 \2\ (June 11, 2018, Notice). Project ideas requested
included the following restoration types: Wetlands, Coastal, and
Nearshore Habitats (WCNH); Nutrient Reduction; Oysters; Sea Turtles;
and Marine Mammals. MS TIG notified the public that it would consider
new, revised, and previously submitted project ideas received by August
10, 2018. On October 10, 2018, MS TIG published a notice of Initiation
of Restoration Planning in Mississippi.\3\ During the planning process
MS TIG decided to focus only on WCNH and Oyster Restoration Types in RP
II.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/2018/06/mississippi-trustee-implementation-group-welcomes-publics-project-ideas.
\3\ https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/2018/10/notice-initiation-restoration-planning-mississippi.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In developing the Draft RP II EA, MS TIG considered projects
previously submitted to the MDEQ Restoration Project Idea portal \4\
and the Trustee
[[Page 22395]]
Council Project Submission Portal,\5\ as well as those proposed in
response to the June 11, 2018, Notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ https://www.mdeq.ms.gov/restoration/project-portal/.
\5\ https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration/give-us-your-ideas/suggest-a-restoration-project/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In total, MS TIG evaluated seven alternatives and a No Action
Alternative for WCNH and for Oysters. The proposed action of the Draft
RP II EA is the selection of four alternatives (projects) for
implementation:
(1) Wolf River Coastal Preserve Habitat Management--Dupont and
Bell's Ferry Tracts--WCNH;
(2) Hancock County Coastal Preserve Habitat Management--Wachovia
Tract--WCNH;
(3) Oyster Spawning Reefs in Mississippi--Oysters; and
(4) Mississippi Oyster Gardening Program--Oysters.
The proposed action is consistent with the restoration alternatives
selected in the Final PDARP PEIS and would be funded by $4,887,500 from
the WCNH Restoration Type and $10,500,000 from the Oysters Restoration
Type.
Overview of the Draft RP II EA
The Draft RP II EA is being released in accordance with the OPA
NRDA regulations in 15 CFR part 990, NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321-4347), and 40
CFR 1500.
For the Draft RP II EA, MS TIG proposes moving forward with the
four preferred alternatives:
Wolf River Coastal Preserve Habitat Management--Dupont and
Bell's Ferry Tracts (WCNH);
Hancock County Coastal Preserve Habitat Management--
Wachovia Tract (WCNH);
Oyster Spawning Reefs in Mississippi (Oysters), and
Mississippi Oyster Gardening Program (Oysters).
The total cost of the four preferred alternatives is approximately
$15 million.
The MS TIG has examined and assessed the extent of injury and the
restoration alternatives. In the Draft RP II EA, MS TIG presents to the
public its draft plan for providing partial compensation to the public
for injured natural resources and ecological services in the
Mississippi Restoration Area. The proposed alternatives are intended to
continue the process of restoring natural resources and ecological
services injured or lost as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill. Additional restoration planning for the Mississippi Restoration
Area will continue.
Matthew Lohr,
Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-08419 Filed 4-21-20; 8:45 am]
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