81 FR 17438 - Notice of Availability of the Deepwater Horizon

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 60 (March 29, 2016)

In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), notice is hereby given that the Deepwater Horizon Federal and State natural resource trustee agencies (Trustees) have issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS). Based on the Trustees' injury determination established in the Final PDARP/ PEIS, the ROD sets forth the basis for the Trustees' decision to select Alternative A: Comprehensive Integrated Ecosystem Alternative. The Trustees' selection of this alternative includes the funding allocations established in the Final PDARP/PEIS.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 60 (Tuesday, March 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17438-17439]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-06979]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE201


Notice of Availability of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Record 
of Decision (ROD) for the Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and 
Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 
(Final PDARP/PEIS)

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

ACTION: Notice of availability of a Record of Decision.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) and the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), notice is hereby given that 
the Deepwater Horizon Federal and State natural resource trustee 
agencies (Trustees) have issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for the 
Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and Final 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PDARP/PEIS). Based 
on the Trustees' injury determination established in the Final PDARP/
PEIS, the ROD sets forth the basis for the Trustees' decision to select 
Alternative A: Comprehensive Integrated Ecosystem Alternative. The 
Trustees' selection of this alternative includes the funding 
allocations established in the Final PDARP/PEIS.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the ROD at http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov or http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon. You may also view the ROD at any of the public 
repositories listed at http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Courtney Groeneveld at 
[email protected], mail to: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 17, 2011, the Trustees initiated a 90-day formal 
scoping and public comment period for the Draft PDARP/PEIS (76 FR 9327) 
through a Notice of Intent (NOI) to Begin Restoration Scoping and 
Prepare a Gulf Spill Restoration Planning PEIS. The Trustees conducted 
the scoping in accordance with OPA (15 CFR 990.14(d)), NEPA (40 CFR 
1501.7), and State authorities. That NOI requested public input to 
identify and evaluate a range of restoration types that could be used 
to fully compensate the public for the environmental and recreational 
use damages caused by the spill, as well as develop procedures to 
select and implement restoration projects that will compensate the 
public for the natural resource damages caused by the spill. As part of 
the scoping process, the Trustees hosted public meetings across all the 
Gulf States during Spring 2011.
    A Notice of Availability of the Draft PDARP/PEIS was published in 
the Federal Register on October 5, 2015 (80 FR 60126). The Draft PDARP/
PEIS presented the assessment of impacts of the Deepwater Horizon 
incident on natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico and on the services 
those resources provide, and determined the restoration needed to 
compensate the public for these impacts. The Draft PDARP/PEIS presented 
four programmatic alternatives evaluated in accordance with OPA and 
NEPA:
     Alternative A (Preferred Alternative): Comprehensive 
Integrated Ecosystem Restoration Plan based on programmatic Trustee 
goals;
     Alternative B: Resource-Specific Restoration Plan based on 
programmatic Trustee goals;
     Alternative C: Continued Injury Assessment and Defer 
Comprehensive Restoration Plan; and
     Alternative D: No Action/Natural Recovery.
    The Trustees provided the public with 60 days to review and comment 
on the Draft PDARP/PEIS. The Trustees held public meetings in Houma, 
LA; Long Beach, MS; New Orleans, LA; Mobile, AL; Pensacola, FL; St. 
Petersburg, FL; Galveston, TX; and Washington, DC, to facilitate public 
understanding of the document and provide opportunity for public 
comment. Additionally, the Trustees solicited public input through a 
variety of mechanisms, including electronic communications, Trustee 
Council and individual Trustee public Web sites, and a public comment 
portal for public comment collection. The Trustees prepared the Final 
PDARP/PEIS in consideration of the public comments received and 
included a summary of the comments and responses in the Final PDARP/
PEIS.
    A Notice of Availability of the Final PDARP/PEIS was published in 
the Federal Register on February 19, 2016 (81 FR 8483). In the Final 
PDARP/PEIS, the Deepwater Horizon Trustees presented their findings on 
the extensive injuries to multiple habitats, biological species, 
ecological functions, and geographic regions across the northern Gulf 
of Mexico that occurred as a result of the Deepwater Horizon incident, 
as well as their programmatic plan, including funding allocations, for 
restoring those resources and the services they provide. The Final 
PDARP/PEIS describes the framework by which subsequent project specific 
restoration plans will be developed.
    As documented in the Record of Decision (ROD) signed on March 22, 
2016, the Trustees have: Determined the extent of injury to natural 
resources and services caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill 
incident; analyzed alternatives to restore those injuries; considered 
environmental impacts associated with the restoration alternatives, 
including the extent to which any adverse impacts could be mitigated; 
considered public and agency comments; considered the funding 
allocations required for restoration; and developed a governance 
approach for implementing restoration. Based on these considerations 
and the determination of injury, the ROD presents the Trustees' 
decision to select their Preferred Alternative, Alternative A: 
Comprehensive Integrated Ecosystem Restoration and the associated 
funding allocation, for implementation. The Trustees also conclude that 
all practicable means to avoid, minimize, or compensate for 
environmental harm from the action have been considered 
programmatically in the PDARP/PEIS, and that project-specific measures 
will be adopted at a later date during subsequent restoration planning.
    The Trustees considered this programmatic restoration planning 
decision in light of the proposed settlement among BP, the United 
States, and the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and 
Texas to resolve BP's liability for natural resource damages associated 
with the Deepwater

[[Page 17439]]

Horizon incident. Under this proposed settlement, BP would pay a total 
of $8.1 billion for restoration to address natural resource injuries 
(this includes $1 billion already committed for early restoration), 
plus up to an additional $700 million to respond to natural resource 
damages unknown at the time of the settlement and/or to provide for 
adaptive management. The proposed Consent Decree for the proposed 
settlement was the subject of a separate public notice and comment 
process; the Notice of Lodging of the proposed Consent Decree under the 
Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act was published in the Federal 
Register on October 5, 2015 (80 FR 60180).

Administrative Record

    The documents included in the Administrative Record for the final 
PDARP/PEIS decision can be viewed electronically at the following 
location: http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord.
    The Trustees opened a publicly available Administrative Record for 
the Natural Resource Damage Assessment for the Deepwater Horizon oil 
spill, including restoration planning activities, concurrently with 
publication of a 2010 Notice of Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning 
(75 FR 60802) (pursuant to 15 CFR 990.45).

Authorities

    The authorities for this action are the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 
(33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) and the 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.).

     Dated: March 23, 2016.
Eileen Sobeck,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-06979 Filed 3-28-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P