[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]
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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.
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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.
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\1\ https://www.justice.gov/enrd/file/838066/download.
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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 (http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-planning/gulf-plan) and
in the Overview section of the PDARP PEIS (http://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.
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\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.
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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.
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\4\ https://www.mdeq.ms.gov/restoration/project-portal/.
\5\ http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration/give-us-your-ideas/suggest-a-restoration-project/.
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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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