[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]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
[[Page 49360]]
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