Notice of Intent To Conduct Restoration Planning and To Prepare a Draft Damage Assessment Restoration Plan Environmental Assessment for the Omega 707 Air Tanker Crash of May 18, 2011 at Mugu Lagoon, Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu, CA

Pursuant to section 1006 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), 33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq., and Section (102)(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the regulations implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the Department of the Navy (DoN), acting through Commander Navy Region Southwest (CNRSW), and in coordination with the U.S. Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Office of Spill Prevention and Response (CDFW-OSPR), announces its intent to conduct restoration planning and to prepare a draft Damage Assessment Restoration Plan (DARP) Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Omega 707 Air Tanker Crash of May 18, 2011 at Mugu Lagoon, Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) Point Mugu, CA. On May 18, 2011, a Boeing K707 aerial refueling tanker, carrying approximately 10,000 gallons of jet fuel, operated by Omega Air Inc., crashed during take[hyphen]off on Runway 21 into Mugu Lagoon at the end of Point Mugu Taxiway Alpha at NBVC Point Mugu. Spill response crews protected most of the lagoon and were able to limit crash impacts to an area of approximately 79 acres of wetlands. The crash scattered debris and different portions of the plane, scoured tracks into the marsh, and left the remaining fuselage partially buried in mudflats. A Unified Command (UC) was instituted immediately following the incident that consisted of staff from NBVC Point Mugu, CDFW-OSPR, U.S. Coast Guard, USFWS, and aircraft owner Omega Air, Inc. The UC oversaw the emergency response and spill containment debris clean-up operations. The natural resources trustees (Trustees) under OPA are the CNRSW, USFWS and CDFW-OSPR and are acting in accordance with the natural resources authorities provided by the OPA, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and other applicable Federal laws and regulations including the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) (40 CFR 300.600-300.615), the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) regulations applicable to OPA (15 CFR part 990), and the DoN Environmental Readiness Program Manual (OPNAVINST 5090.1D). USFWS and CDFW-OSPR are co-Trustees in this response, with CNRSW serving as lead Trustee. As owner and operator of the crashed plane from which the fire and release occurred, the Trustees identified Omega Air, Inc. as the Responsible Party (RP). The Trustees have coordinated with representatives of the RP on NRDA activities. The Trustees began the pre-assessment phase of the NRDA in accordance with 15 CFR 990.40, to determine if they had jurisdiction to pursue restoration under OPA, and, if so, whether it was appropriate to do so. During the pre-assessment phase, the Trustees collected and analyzed the following: 1. Data reasonably expected to be necessary to make a determination of jurisdiction or a determination to conduct restoration planning; 2. Ephemeral data; and/or 3. Information needed to design or implement anticipated emergency restoration and/or assessment as part of the restoration planning phase. The NRDA regulations provide that the Trustees are to prepare a Notice of Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning (Notice) if they determine certain conditions have been met, and if they decide to quantify the injuries to natural resources and to develop a restoration plan. This Notice announces, pursuant to 15 CFR 990.44, that the Trustees, having collected and analyzed data, intend to proceed with restoration planning actions to address injuries to natural resources resulting from the crash. The purpose of this restoration planning effort is to further evaluate injuries to natural resources and services and to use that information to determine the need for, type of, and scale of compensatory restoration actions. Dates and Addresses: The Trustees invite and encourage Federal, State, and local agencies, American Indian tribes, and interested persons to provide written comments on this Notice and the proposed DARP EA to ensure that all relevant issues are considered. All written comments may be submitted through the point of contact listed below and must be received by August 17, 2015 to ensure they become part of the official record. Written comments or questions on this Notice and the scope of the proposed DARP EA and its process, requests for inclusion on the mailing list, and requests for copies of any documents associated with the DARP EA should be directed to: Navy Region Southwest, Attention: Ms. Deb McKay, Code N40, Pt Mugu Omega Air Tanker Crash Spill, 937 North Harbor Drive, Box 81, San Diego, CA 92132.