[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 33 (Thursday, February 17, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9327-9328]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3634]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XA222
Gulf Spill Restoration Planning; Notice of Intent To Begin
Restoration Scoping and Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of intent to begin restoration scoping and prepare a
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS).
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SUMMARY: The purpose of the Gulf Spill Restoration Planning PEIS is to
identify restoration types and establish a programmatic framework and
procedures that will enable the Trustees to expedite the selection and
implementation of restoration projects to compensate the public and the
environment for loss of natural resources and services from the
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill that began on April 20, 2010, Mississippi
Canyon Block 252 (``the Oil Spill''). The Trustees will prepare a PEIS
that will evaluate a range of restoration types that could be used to
compensate the public for the environmental and human use damages
caused by the Oil Spill. The Trustees seek public involvement in the
scoping process and development of the PEIS. This notice explains the
scoping process the Trustees will use to gather input from the public.
Comments on what the Trustees should consider in the PEIS may be
submitted in written form or verbally at any of the public scoping
meetings; or may be submitted in written or electronic form at any
other time during the scoping process.
DATES: Public comments must be received by May 18, 2011. Preliminary
public scoping meeting locations are being scheduled for:
Pensacola, FL
Belle Chasse, LA
Grand Isle, LA
Port Arthur, TX
Galveston, TX
Houma, LA
Morgan City, LA
Gulfport, MS
Spanish Fort, AL
Panama City, FL
Washington, DC
The specific dates and times for each are to be determined and will
be announced in the Federal Register, on the Web site, and in local
newspapers no later than two weeks prior to each meeting.
ADDRESSES: Written scoping comments on suggested restoration types
should be sent to NOAA Restoration Center, Attn: DWH PEIS Comments, 263
13th Avenue South, Suite 166, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. Electronic
comments are strongly encouraged, and can also be submitted to http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov. All written scoping comments must be
received by the close of the scoping process to be considered during
the scoping process. The exact dates and venues of scoping meetings, as
well as the closing date for scoping comments, will be announced in a
public notice to be released two weeks prior to the first public
scoping meetings to be held pursuant to this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: NOAA--Brian Hostetter at 888.547.0174
or by e-mail at [email protected];
DOI--Robin Renn by e-mail at [email protected];
AL-- Will Gunter by e-mail at [email protected];
FL--Lee Edminston or Gil McRae by e-mail at
[email protected] or [email protected];
LA--Karolien Debusschere by e-mail at [email protected];
MS--Richard Harrell by e-mail at [email protected];
TX--Don Pitts by e-mail at [email protected].
To be added to the Oil Spill PEIS mailing list, please visit:
http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS),
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department
of Commerce is the lead agency for the preparation of the PEIS on
behalf of United States Department of the Interior (on behalf of the
Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of
Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Affairs) (``DOI''); the
Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the Louisiana
Oil Spill Coordinator's Office, the Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries, and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, for the
State of Louisiana; the Mississippi Department of Environmental
Quality, for the State of Mississippi; the Alabama Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources and the Geological Survey of
Alabama, for the State of Alabama; the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission for the State of Florida; and the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department, Texas General Land Office, and the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality, for the State of Texas.
Under the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), 33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.
Responsible Parties incur liability for the costs of cleaning up the
oil and for the restoration of injured natural resources and their
services. Liability for natural resource injuries caused by the Oil
Spill can also flow from the Park System Resource Protection Act
(PSRPA) (16 U.S.C. 19jj), the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16
U.S.C. 1431 et seq.), and other federal
[[Page 9328]]
and state laws. The Trustee agencies, including NOAA, are leading
efforts to assess and restore affected resources. These resources
include ecologically, recreationally, and commercially important
species and their habitats in the Gulf of Mexico and along the coastal
areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and Florida, as well
as human uses of these resources.
Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) is the process
established under OPA to evaluate the impacts to natural resources and
lost human uses of those resources. Information continues to be
collected on pre-oiled and oiled areas to assess potential impacts to
natural resources, including: fish, shellfish, marine mammals, turtles,
birds, and other sensitive resources and their habitats, including;
wetlands, beaches, mudflats, bottom sediments, corals, and the water
column. Losses of commercial and recreational human uses such as
fishing, hunting, boating, and beach enjoyment are also being assessed.
OPA authorizes certain federal and state agencies and Indian tribes
to be designated as Trustees for affected natural resources. Under OPA,
these agencies and tribes are authorized to assess natural resource
injuries and to seek compensation from RPs, including the costs of
performing the damage assessment. The Trustees are required to use
recovered damages only to restore, replace or acquire the equivalent of
injured or lost resources and the human use of those resources. Toward
that end, the PEIS will identify types of restoration that could be
used to compensate the public for lost resources and their services, as
well as a framework and procedures for the selection and implementation
of restoration projects that will compensate the public for the natural
resource damages caused by the Oil Spill.
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq., and the Council on Environmental Quality regulations implementing
NEPA under 40 CFR Chapter V apply to restoration actions by federal
trustees. The federal and state Trustees will be developing a PEIS to
help guide restoration actions associated with the NRDA for the Oil
Spill. The PEIS will assess the environmental, social, and economic
attributes of the affected environment and the potential consequences
of alternative actions to restore, rehabilitate, replace, or acquire
the equivalent of natural resources and services potentially injured by
the spill. A PEIS may be prepared to evaluate actions that encompass a
large geographic scale. Tiered analyses considering particular
restoration actions may be required in the future as specific plans for
implementing particular alternatives are established.
The purpose of the scoping process is to identify the concerns of
the affected public and federal agencies, states, and Indian tribes,
involve the public early in the decision making process, facilitate an
efficient PEIS preparation process, define the issues and alternatives
that will be examined in detail, and save time by ensuring that draft
documents adequately address relevant issues. The scoping process
reduces paperwork and delay by ensuring that important issues are
addressed early. Following the scoping process, the Trustees will
prepare a draft PEIS, at which time the public will be encouraged to
comment on the document. Similar to the scoping process, public comment
meetings will be held at that time to gather oral and written public
input on the draft PEIS.
In compliance with 15 CFR 990.45, the Trustees will prepare an
Administrative Record (Record). The Record will include documents that
the Trustees relied on during the development of the PEIS. After
preparation, the Record will be on file at the NOAA Restoration Center
in Silver Spring, MD, and duplicate copies will be maintained at the
following Web site: http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/. The specific web page
will be provided in the next public notice.
The draft PEIS document is intended to be released for public
comment by Fall/Winter, 2011. Specific dates and times for future
events will be publicized when scheduled.
Dated: February 11, 2011.
Patricia A. Montanio,
Director, Office of Habitat Conservation, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-3634 Filed 2-16-11; 8:45 am]
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