[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 130 (Monday, July 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55941-55942]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14693]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-11586-02-OW]
Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Florida
Trustee Implementation Group Final Restoration Plan 3 and Environmental
Assessment: Water Quality and Finding of No Significant Impact
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) natural resource Trustees for the
Florida Trustee Implementation Group (Florida TIG) have prepared the
Final Restoration Plan 3 and Environmental Assessment: Water Quality
(Final RP3/EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The Final
RP3/EA proposes alternatives to help restore water quality impacted by
the DWH oil spill. The Final RP3/EA evaluates a reasonable range of
thirteen project alternatives under the Oil Pollution Act (OPA),
including criteria set forth in the OPA natural resource damage
assessment (NRDA) regulations, and the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) and its implementing regulations. A no action alternative is
also evaluated pursuant to the NEPA. In the Final RP3/EA the Florida
TIG selects eleven project alternatives under the Water Quality
Restoration Type for funding and implementation. The total estimated
cost to implement the selected projects is approximately $111.5
million. The purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the
[[Page 55942]]
availability of the Final RP3/EA and FONSI.
ADDRESSES: Obtaining Documents: You may view and download the Final
RP3/EA and FONSI at https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/florida. You may also request a flash drive
containing the Final RP3/EA and FONSI (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sarah Ketron, Florida Department of Environmental Protection;
telephone number: (850) 245-2167; email address:
[email protected].
Tripp Boone, Environmental Protection Agency; telephone number:
(228) 209-7555; email address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
On April 20, 2010, the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater
Horizon, which was drilling a well for BP Exploration and Production,
Inc., experienced a significant explosion, fire, and subsequent sinking
in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in the release of millions of barrels
of oil and other discharges into the Gulf. Under the authority of the
OPA, designated Federal and State Trustees, acting on behalf of the
public, assessed the injuries to natural resources and prepared the
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and
Restoration Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
(Final PDARP/PEIS), and the Record of Decision for the Deepwater
Horizon Oil Spill Final Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration
Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, which sets
forth the governance structure and process for DWH restoration planning
under the OPA NRDA regulations. On April 4, 2016, the United States
District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana entered a Consent
Decree resolving civil claims by the trustees against BP.
The Florida TIG, which is composed of the State of Florida
Department of Environmental Protection and the Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the
U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, selects and
implements restoration projects under the Florida TIG's management
authority in accordance with the Consent Decree. The Final PDARP/PEIS,
Record of Decision, Consent Decree, and information on the DWH Trustees
can be found at https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-planning/gulf-plan.
Background
On November 7, 2022, the Florida TIG issued a notice of
solicitation on the Gulf Spill Restoration website requesting project
ideas for the Water Quality Restoration Type as described in the Final
PDARP/PEIS. On August 7, 2023, the Florida TIG announced on the Gulf
Spill Restoration website that they reviewed project idea submissions
and initiated drafting the RP3/EA which tiers from the Final PDARP/PEIS
and would include a reasonable range of restoration project
alternatives for the Water Quality Restoration Type.
The Florida TIG released the Draft RP3/EA for public review and
comment on March 8, 2024, and published a Notice of Availability in the
Federal Register (89 FR 16765). The comment period ran through April 8,
2024. To facilitate public understanding of the document, the Florida
TIG held a webinar on March 27, 2024, during which public comments were
solicited. After the public review period closed, the Florida TIG
reviewed the comments received, prepared responses to those comments,
finalized the RP3/EA, and prepared a FONSI.
Overview of the Florida TIG Final RP3/EA
In the Final RP3/EA, the Florida TIG analyzes a reasonable range of
thirteen project alternatives and, pursuant to the NEPA, a no action
alternative. Two of the alternatives analyzed are not preferred by the
Florida TIG at this time. The eleven projects selected by the Florida
TIG for funding and implementation are listed below:
1. Pensacola and Perdido Watersheds Microbial Source Tracking
(Planning);
2. Pensacola Bay Unpaved Roads Initiative Phase 2 (Planning);
3. Carpenter Creek Hydrologic Restoration and Stormwater
Improvements;
4. Hollice T. Williams Stormwater Park;
5. Gulf Breeze Septic to Sewer Conversion;
6. Santa Rosa County Septic to Sewer Conversion;
7. Choctawhatchee Bay Unpaved Roads Initiative;
8. Telogia Creek Watershed Water Quality Improvements;
9. Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge Hydrologic Restoration
Phase 2 (Planning);
10. Bond Farm Hydrologic Enhancement Impoundment; and
11. Bond Farm Hydrologic Enhancement Southwest Discharge Structure
(Planning).
The total estimated cost to implement the eleven selected project
alternatives is approximately $111.5 million and will utilize funding
from the Florida TIG's Water Quality Restoration Type. Additional
restoration planning in the Florida TIG will continue.
Administrative Record
The Administrative Record for the Final RP3/EA can be viewed
electronically at https://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/adminrecord
under the folder 6.5.4.2.6.
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 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.), its implementing regulations found at 40 CFR parts 1500-
1508.
Benita Best-Wong,
Deputy Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2024-14693 Filed 7-5-24; 8:45 am]
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