[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 52 (Monday, March 18, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16655-16656]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06137]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Draft Damage Assessment, Restoration Plan and Environmental
Assessment for the T/B DBL 152 Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico
AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Draft Damage Assessment and
Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for the T/B DBL 152 Oil
Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Request for Comments.
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SUMMARY: NOAA, the Natural Resource Trustee for this incident has
written a Draft Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and
Environmental Assessment (Draft DARP/EA) that describes proposed
alternatives for restoring natural resource injuries resulting from the
November 11, 2005, T/B DBL 152 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The
purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the availability of
the Draft DARP/EA and to seek written comments on the proposed
restoration alternative.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Plaisted, NOAA/GCNR, 501 W.
Ocean Blvd., Suite 4470, Long Beach, CA 90802, 562-980-4080.
Written comments on the Draft DARP/EA should be submitted to: Chris
Plaisted, NOAA/GCNR, FAX: 562-980-4065. Alternatively, comments may be
submitted electronically at www.regulations.gov (Docket I.D.: NOAA-
NMFS-2013-0034). All comments received, including names and addresses
will become a part of the administrative record.
The Draft DARP/EA is available at: http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/southeast/dbl152/admin.html. Comments on the Draft DARP/EA must be
submitted in writing on or before April 15, 2013.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 11, 2005, while en route from
Houston, Texas, to Tampa, Florida, the integrated tug-barge unit
comprised of the tugboat ``Rebel'' and the double-hull Tank Barge (T/B)
DBL 152 struck the submerged remains of a pipeline service platform in
the Gulf of Mexico that collapsed during Hurricane Rita. An
[[Page 16656]]
estimated 45,846 barrels of oil (1,925,532 gallons) were discharged
into federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico as a result of this incident,
most of which sank to the ocean floor. Of this volume, an estimated
2,355 barrels (98,910 gallons) were recovered by divers. In total, an
estimated 43,491 barrels (1,826,622 gallons) of oil remained
unrecovered at the time submerged oil cleanup operations were
discontinued in January 2006.
Government agencies responded to the incident to supervise and
assist in clean-up and begin assessing the impact of the spill on
natural resources. Under the federal Oil Pollution Act (OPA), the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), of the
Department of Commerce, is responsible for restoring natural resources
injured by the T/B DBL 152 oil spill with funding from either the
responsible party (RP) or, where an RP does not exist or exceeds its
limit of liability, the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF)
administered by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).
NOAA, acting as Trustee on the public's behalf, has conducted a
natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) to determine the nature and
extent of natural resource losses resulting from this incident and the
restoration actions needed to restore these losses. The NRDA was
conducted using the OPA NRDA regulations found at 15 CFR part 990. On
the basis of data provided by the NRDA, NOAA prepared this Draft Damage
Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment (Draft DARP/
EA) to consider restoration alternatives. The purpose of presenting
this Draft DARP/EA for comment is to inform the public about the NRDA
and restoration planning efforts that were conducted following the oil
spill. Further, the Trustees seek comments on the proposed restoration
alternative presented in this Draft DARP/EA, and will consider written
comments received during the public comment period before developing
the Final Restoration Plan (Final Plan).
An injury assessment conducted by NOAA determined that the primary
injury resulting from this incident was to offshore benthic habitat.
This conclusion is described in greater detail in the Draft DARP/EA.
NOAA considered various restoration alternatives to compensate the
public for spill-related injuries and to restore similar types of
natural resource services as those that were provided by the resources
injured by the spill. The preferred restoration alternative identified
by NOAA is an estuarine shoreline protection and salt marsh restoration
project at the Texas Chenier Plain National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
The project area is located in Galveston Bay, Texas. The project is
designed to protect shoreline with a protective structure consisting of
rip-rap habitat. The project will be designed so that salt marsh
habitat will be created behind the breakwater.
USCG has determined that the RP has exceeded its limit of liability
under OPA. Therefore, the Final DARP/EA will be submitted to the Oil
Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF) as part of a claim for funds to
implement the selected restoration project. The OSLTF is administered
by the USCG and is maintained through fees paid by industry.
Administrative Record: Pursuant to the OPA NRDA regulations, the
Trustees have developed an Administrative Record to support their
restoration planning decisions and inform the public of the basis of
their decisions. Additional information and documents, including public
comments received on this Draft DARP/EA, the Final Restoration Plan,
and other related restoration planning documents, will also become part
of the Administrative Record. The documents comprising the public
record (Administrative Record) can be viewed at http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/southeast/dbl152/admin.html.
Dated: February 22, 2013.
David G. Westerholm,
Director, Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2013-06137 Filed 3-15-13; 8:45 am]
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