82 FR 60397 - Notice of Availability of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group Draft Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment #2: Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 243 (December 20, 2017)

In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal and State natural resource trustee agencies for the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group (Louisiana TIG) have prepared a Draft Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment #2: Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities (RP/EA). The Draft RP/EA describes and proposes restoration project alternatives considered by the Louisiana TIG to compensate for recreational use services lost as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Louisiana TIG evaluated these alternatives under criteria set forth in the OPA natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) regulations, and also evaluated the environmental consequences of the restoration alternatives in accordance with NEPA. The proposed projects are consistent with the restoration alternatives selected in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PDARP/PEIS). The purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the availability of the Draft RP/EA and to seek public comments on the document.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 20, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60397-60398]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-26565]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9971-53-OW]


Notice of Availability of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 
Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group Draft Restoration Plan and 
Environmental Assessment #2: Provide and Enhance Recreational 
Opportunities

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) and the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal and State natural 
resource trustee agencies for the Louisiana Trustee Implementation 
Group (Louisiana TIG) have prepared a Draft Restoration Plan and 
Environmental Assessment #2: Provide and Enhance Recreational 
Opportunities (RP/EA). The Draft RP/EA describes and proposes 
restoration project alternatives considered by the Louisiana TIG to 
compensate for recreational use services lost as a result of the 
Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Louisiana TIG evaluated these 
alternatives under criteria set forth in the OPA natural resource 
damage assessment (NRDA) regulations, and also evaluated the 
environmental consequences of the restoration alternatives in 
accordance with NEPA. The proposed projects are consistent with the 
restoration alternatives selected in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill 
Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (PDARP/PEIS). The purpose of this notice 
is to inform the public of the availability of the Draft RP/EA and to 
seek public comments on the document.

DATES: The Louisiana TIG will consider public comments received on or 
before January 19, 2018.
    Public Meeting: The Louisiana TIG will also take written and verbal 
comments at the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board 
Meeting on January 17, 2018; 9:30 a.m.; Louisiana State Capitol, House 
Committee Room 5, 900 North Third Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802.

ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may download the Draft RP/EA at any 
of the following sites:

 http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov
 http://www.la-dwh.com

    Alternatively, you may request a CD of the Draft RP/EA (see FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). You may also view the document at any of 
the public facilities listed at http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.
    Submitting Comments: You may submit comments on the Draft RP/EA by 
one of following methods:
     Via the Web: http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/louisiana.
     Via U.S. Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 
49567, Atlanta, GA 30345; or Louisiana Coastal Protection & Restoration 
Authority, ATTN: Liz Williams, P.O. Box 44027, Baton Rouge, LA 70804.
     In Person: Written and verbal comments may be submitted at 
the public meeting on January 17, 2018
    Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. The 
Louisiana TIG may publish any comment received on the document. Do not 
submit electronically any information you consider to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must 
be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered 
the official comment and should include discussion of all points you 
wish to make. The Louisiana TIG will generally not consider comments or 
comment contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on 
the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). Please be aware that 
your entire comment, including your personal identifying information, 
will become part of the public record. Please not that mailed comments 
must be postmarked on or before the comment deadline of 30 days 
following publication of this notice to be considered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

[[Page 60398]]

     Louisiana--Liz Williams at [email protected].
     EPA--Tim Landers at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    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), experienced a significant explosion, fire, and subsequent 
sinking 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 off shore oil 
spill in U.S. history, discharging millions of barrels of oil over a 
period of 87 days. The Trustees conducted the natural resource damage 
assessment for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill under the Oil Pollution 
Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.). Under 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 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 restoration to baseline (the resource 
quality and conditions that would exist if the spill had not occurred) 
is complete.
    The Deepwater Horizon oil spill Trustees are:
     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);
     U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), as represented by 
the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau 
of Land Management;
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), on 
behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce;
     U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA);
     State of Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration 
Authority (CPRA), Oil Spill Coordinator's Office (LOSCO), Department of 
Environmental Quality (LDEQ), Department of Wildlife and Fisheries 
(LDWF), and Department of Natural Resources (LDNR);
     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
     State of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, General Land 
Office, and Commission on Environmental Quality.
    On April 4, 2016, the Trustees reached and finalized a settlement 
of their natural resource damage claims with BP in a Consent Decree 
approved by the United States District Court for the Eastern District 
of Louisiana. Pursuant to that Consent Decree, restoration projects in 
the Louisiana Restoration Area are now chosen and managed by the 
Louisiana TIG. The Louisiana TIG is composed of the following Trustees: 
CPRA, LOSCO, LDEQ, LDWF, LDNR, EPA, DOI, NOAA, USDA.

Background

    In a November 2016 notice posted at http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov the Louisiana TIG notified the public 
that the $22 million originally allocated to the Louisiana Marine 
Fisheries Enhancement, Research, and Science Center (LMFERSC) in the 
2014 Programmatic and Phase III Early Restoration Plan and Early 
Restoration Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Phase III ERP/
PEIS) would need to be re-allocated to other restoration projects 
intended to provide and enhance recreational opportunities. Site issues 
that arose during planning and development of the LMFERSC had precluded 
the Louisiana TIG from moving forward with the project. The Louisiana 
TIG requested restoration project ideas, including in a May 17, 2017, 
notice posted at http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov, to provide 
and enhance recreational opportunities using the $22 million in early 
restoration funding.

Overview of the Draft RP/EA

    The Draft RP/EA is being released in accordance with OPA, NRDA 
regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 15 CFR 
part 990, and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). In the Draft RP/EA, the 
Louisiana TIG presents to the public their plan to compensate for 
recreational use services lost as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil 
spill. The Draft RP/EA proposes four restoration project alternatives, 
evaluated in accordance with OPA and NEPA. The four proposed 
restoration project alternatives in the Draft RP/EA are as follows:

 Elmer's Island Access
 Island Road Piers
 Statewide Artificial Reefs
 Lake Charles Science Center and Educational Complex

    The Draft RP/EA also evaluates a no action alternative. One or more 
alternatives may be selected for implementation by the Louisiana TIG to 
compensate for recreational use services lost as a result of the 
Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
    The Louisiana TIG has examined the injuries assessed by the 
Deepwater Horizon Trustees and evaluated restoration project 
alternatives to address the injuries. In the Draft RP/EA, the Louisiana 
TIG presents to the public its plan for providing partial compensation 
for lost recreational use services in the Louisiana Restoration Area. 
The proposed project alternatives are intended to continue the process 
of using restoration funding to restore recreational use services lost 
as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The total estimated 
cost of the proposed project alternatives is $22 million. Additional 
restoration planning for lost recreational use in the Louisiana 
Restoration Area will occur at a later time.

Next Steps

    The public is encouraged to review and comment on the Draft RP/EA. 
A public meeting is scheduled to also help facilitate the public review 
and comment process. After the public comment period ends, the 
Louisiana TIG will consider the comments received before issuing a 
Final RP/EA. A summary of comments received and the Louisiana TIG's 
responses and any revisions to the document, as appropriate, will be 
included in the final document.

Administrative Record

    The documents comprising the Administrative Record for the Draft 
RP/EA can be viewed electronically at http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/administrativerecord.

Authority

    The authority for this action is the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 
U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), its implementing NRDA regulations found at 15 CFR 
part 990, and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

    Dated: November 22, 2017.
Benita Best-Wong,
Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2017-26565 Filed 12-19-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P