[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 2, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11426-11427]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-4540]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XA222
Gulf Spill Restoration Planning; Public Scoping Meetings for the
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Deepwater Horizon
Oil Spill
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; public scoping meetings.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In a February 17, 2011, Federal Register notice, the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced in a notice of intent that it, on
behalf of the Trustee Council, will begin restoration scoping and
preparation of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for
the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill that began on April 20, 2010,
Mississippi Canyon Block 252 (``the Oil Spill''). The notice announced
NOAA's intent to hold public scoping meetings in eleven (11) locations
in the five Gulf of Mexico States and in Washington, DC, but it did not
include meeting details. The meeting details for these locations are
available now.
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 Oil
Spill.
DATES: All public scoping meetings will begin at 7:30 p.m. (local time)
and doors will open at 6:30 p.m., except in Grand Isle, Houma, and
Morgan City, Louisiana, which will start at 6:30 p.m. and open doors at
5:30 p.m. For scoping meetings dates and locations see Scoping Meetings
under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
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 be submitted to http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov. All written comments must be
received by the close of the scoping process to be considered. Scoping
will close 90 days after the February 17, 2011 NOI, on Tuesday, May 18,
2011. A public announcement will be provided in a future Federal
Register document to remind the public at the end of the scoping
period.
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:
www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.
[[Page 11427]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Scoping Meetings
The meetings have been scheduled for:
1. Wednesday, March 16, 2011: Escambia County Central Office
Complex, 3363 West Park Place, Pensacola, FL. This is across the street
from the Escambia County Health Department at 1295 West Fairfield Drive
in Pensacola, FL.
2. Thursday, March 17, 2011: Bay County Government Center, County
Commissioner Chambers, 840 W. 11th Street, Panama City, FL.
3. Monday, March 21, 2011: The Donald Snyder Community Center, Main
Floor, 2520 Pass Rd., Biloxi, MS.
4. Tuesday, March 22, 2011: Belle Chasse Public Library, 8442
Highway 23, Belle Chasse, LA.
5. Wednesday, March 23, 2011: Five Rivers--Alabama's Delta Resource
Center, 30945 Five Rivers Blvd., Spanish Fort, AL.
6. Thursday, March 24, 2011: Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center, 346
Civic Center Blvd., Houma, LA.
7. Monday, March 28, 2011: The Grand Isle Community Center, 3811
Highway 1, Grand Isle, LA.
8. Tuesday, March 29, 2011: Holiday Inn, 520 Roderick St., Morgan
City, LA.
9. Wednesday, March 30, 2011: Port Arthur Civic Center, 3401
Cultural Center Drive, Port Arthur, TX.
10. Thursday, March 31, 2011: Texas A & M at Galveston Ocean and
Coastal Studies Building, Seawolf Parkway, Bldg. 3029, Galveston, TX.
11. Monday, April 4, 2011: U.S. Department of Commerce, Herbert
Hoover Bldg. Auditorium, 1401 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC.
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. The
notice of intent to begin restoration scoping and prepare a
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement published at 76 FR 9327,
February 17, 2011.
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 applies to restoration actions by Federal
trustees. The Federal and state Trustees will be developing a PEIS to
help guide restoration actions associated with the Natural Resource
Damage Assessment (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
generally 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 for the Federal agencies, states, and Indian
tribes to 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 (AR). The AR 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 23, 2011.
Patricia A. Montanio,
Director, Office of Habitat Conservation, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-4540 Filed 3-1-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P