Notice of Availability of the Portland Harbor Draft Supplemental Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment, 49359-49361 [2020-17679]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 157 (Thursday, August 13, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49359-49361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17679]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XA350]


Notice of Availability of the Portland Harbor Draft Supplemental 
Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Portland Harbor Natural Resource Trustee Council (Trustee 
Council) has prepared a Draft Supplemental Restoration Plan and 
Environmental Assessment (Draft SRP/EA). The Draft SRP/EA describes the 
Trustee Council's preferred restoration alternative to restore natural 
resources and ecological services injured or lost as a result of 
releases of hazardous substances and discharges of oil within the 
Portland Harbor assessment area (applicable to the current phase of 
restoration, but subject to revision in the future). The Federal 
Trustees also considered potential environmental impacts of the 
considered alternatives in

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the context of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The 
purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the availability of 
the Draft SRP/EA and to seek public comments on the document.

DATES: Submit comments on or before September 14, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Draft SRP/EA at: 
https://www.fws.gov/portlandharbor/sites/default/files/documents/2020-07_DraftSRP-EA_forRelease.pdf. Alternatively, you may make arrangements 
to view the document at the following location (subject to any Federal, 
state, or local public health restrictions associated with the COVID-19 
pandemic): Parametrix, 700 NE Multnomah Street, Suite 1000, Portland, 
OR 97232.
    Submitting Comments: You may submit comments on the Draft SRP/EA by 
one of the following methods:
     Via the Web: Email comments to 
[email protected] using the comment table available online 
at: https://www.fws.gov/portlandharbor/news/draft-supplemental-restoration-plan-available-comment.
     Via U.S. Mail: Lauren Senkyr, NOAA Restoration Center (C/O 
Parametrix), 700 NE Multnomah Street, Suite. 1000, Portland, OR 97232. 
Please note that mailed comments must be postmarked on or before the 
comment deadline of September 14, 2020 to be considered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration--Lauren Senkyr, NOAA Restoration Center, 503-231-2110, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    Since January 2007, the Trustee Council has been conducting a 
Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) within the Portland Harbor 
Assessment Area (PHAA or Portland Harbor). Under the NRDA process, the 
Trustee Council's overall goal is to restore, rehabilitate, replace, or 
acquire the equivalent of natural resources and their services that 
have been injured by contamination within the PHAA and to compensate 
the public for those losses. One critical part of this process is 
identifying suitable activities to restore the injured natural 
resources. In May 2017, the Trustee Council published its Final 
Portland Harbor Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and 
Restoration Plan (Programmatic Restoration Plan) that provided an 
overall restoration approach: Integrated habitat restoration. The 
Programmatic Restoration Plan also provided a comprehensive framework 
for implementing integrated habitat restoration and a broad analysis of 
the environmental impacts. The Trustee Council has now developed a 
Draft SRP/EA that uses the criteria identified in the Programmatic 
Restoration Plan to evaluate and select one of three alternatives to 
implement restoration actions during the Trustee Council's first phase 
of restoration. The Trustee Council may revisit its preferred 
restoration alternatives in future phases of restoration as the ongoing 
NRDA process continues. The Draft SRP/EA also evaluates potential 
environmental impacts from the alternatives under the NEPA.
    The Trustee Council is conducting the NRDA for Portland Harbor 
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act (CERCLA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and the Oil 
Pollution Act (OPA). Pursuant to CERCLA, CWA, and OPA, natural resource 
trustees act 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. CERCLA, CWA, and OPA further 
instruct 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 
quality and conditions that would exist if the releases of hazardous 
substances and discharges of oil had not occurred) is complete.
    The Portland Harbor Trustee Council members are as follows:
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), on 
behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce;
     U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI);
     State of Oregon, acting through the Oregon Department of 
Fish and Wildlife;
     Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of 
Oregon;
     Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians;
     Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation;
     Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of 
Oregon; and
     Nez Perce Tribe.
    This restoration planning activity is proceeding in accordance with 
the Programmatic Restoration Plan. Information on the site background, 
phased approach to the NRDA, restoration concepts considered in the 
Draft SRP/EA, and the criteria against which project ideas are 
evaluated can be viewed in the Programmatic Restoration Plan (https://www.fws.gov/portlandharbor/sites/default/files/2018-12/201706_FINAL_PEIS.pdf) and its appendices (https://www.fws.gov/portlandharbor/sites/default/files/2018-12/201706_FINAL_PEIS_Appendix.pdf).

Site Background

    Since the 1900s, industrial facilities along the Willamette River 
at Portland Harbor have released an array of hazardous substances and 
discharged oil into the river system. In December 2000, the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) listed Portland Harbor on the 
National Priorities List due to elevated concentrations of 
contaminants. Two months later, the Portland Harbor Natural Resource 
Trustees entered into an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding 
with the EPA and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) 
to coordinate efforts at the Portland Harbor Superfund Site. In 2002, 
the Natural Resource Trustees established the Trustee Council. The 
restoration activities discussed in the Trustee Council's 2017 
Programmatic Restoration Plan and the current Draft SRP/EA are 
associated with the Trustee Council's ongoing NRDA.

Overview of the Draft SRP/EA

    In the Programmatic Restoration Plan, the Trustee Council described 
the following three ways that a potentially responsible party (PRP) 
could provide restoration to resolve its liability for damages at 
Portland Harbor:
     Trustee-Led Project Alternative--The Trustee Council would 
use settlement funds to design and construct a restoration project;
     Partnering Project Alternative--The Trustee Council would 
provide settlement funds to a third-party entity to develop and 
implement a restoration project; and
     Restoration Bank Credit Alternative--The Trustee Council 
or a PRP would purchase ecological benefits, in the form of credits, 
from a restoration bank.
    At the time the Programmatic Restoration Plan was published, it 
would have been premature for the Trustee Council to evaluate specific 
actions under these three alternatives. The Trustee Council anticipates 
that it will soon be in a position to begin its first phase of 
restoration implementation. In January 2020, the Trustee Council 
published a Request for Proposals (RFP) for ecological

[[Page 49361]]

restoration projects that outlined the eligibility and evaluation 
criteria that would be used to select specific restoration actions that 
could be implemented in the first phase of restoration implementation. 
Now, having received responses to the RFP, and with the prospect of 
potential natural resource damages settlements in the near future, the 
Trustee Council is preparing to implement restoration actions.
    After evaluating the projects submitted in response to the RFP, the 
Trustee Council has identified the Restoration Bank Credit Alternative 
as the Preferred Alternative. Five restoration bank projects were 
determined to be eligible under the Preferred Alternative.

Next Steps

    The public is encouraged to review and comment on the Draft SRP/EA. 
After the close of the public comment period, the Trustee Council will 
consider and address the comments received before issuing a Final SRP/
EA. A summary of comments received and the Trustee Council's responses 
will be included in the final document.

Invitation to Comment

    The Trustee Council seeks public review and comment on the Draft 
SRP/EA (see ADDRESSES above). Before including your address, telephone 
number, email address, or other personally identifiable information in 
your comment, please be aware that your entire comment, including your 
personally identifiable information, will become part of the public 
record.
    The Trustee Council will conduct a virtual public meeting on 
Tuesday, September 1, 2020 beginning at 6 p.m. Pacific Time to provide 
information and answer questions. Information on how to attend the 
virtual meeting is available at https://www.fws.gov/portlandharbor/news/draft-supplemental-restoration-plan-available-comment.

Administrative Record

    The documents comprising the Administrative Record for the Draft 
SRP/EA can be viewed electronically at https://www.diver.orr.noaa.gov/web/guest/portland-harbor-admin-record.

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) and 
its implementing Natural Resource Damage Assessment Regulations found 
at 43 CFR part 11, the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), the 
Oil Pollution Act (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), and the National 
Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

    Dated: August 7, 2020.
Carrie Selberg,
Director, Office of Habitat Conservation, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-17679 Filed 8-12-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P