[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 29, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32237-32238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-12608]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Office of the Secretary
[Docket No.: 130514469-3469-01]
Draft Initial Comprehensive Plan and Draft Programmatic
Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Resources and Ecosystems
Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the
Gulf States Act (RESTORE Act), the Secretary of Commerce, as Chair of
the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (Council), announces the
availability of a Draft Initial Comprehensive Plan (Draft Plan) to
restore and protect the Gulf Coast region. Council Members also have
compiled preliminary lists of ecosystem restoration projects that are
``authorized but not yet commenced'' and the full Council is in the
process of evaluating these lists; the Council announces the
availability of these preliminary lists. Finally, the Council has
drafted, and announces the availability of, a Draft Programmatic
Environmental Assessment (Draft PEA) for the Draft Plan. These
documents are available for public review and comment.
DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive your written comments
on the Draft Plan and Draft PEA by June 24, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the Draft Plan, the preliminary
lists of ``authorized but not yet commenced'' ecosystem restoration
projects, and Draft PEA by either of the following methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via www.restorethegulf.gov.
Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send a copy of your
comments to Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, c/o U.S.
Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Room 4077,
Washington, DC 20230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Council can be reached at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused
extensive damage to the Gulf Coast's natural resources, devastating the
economies and communities that rely on it. In an effort to help the
region rebuild in the wake of the spill, Congress passed and the
President signed the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist
Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of
2012 (``RESTORE Act''). Public Law 112-141, Sec. Sec. 1601-1608, 126
Stat. 588 (Jul. 6, 2012). The RESTORE Act created the Gulf Coast
Ecosystem Restoration Trust Fund (Trust Fund) and dedicates eighty
percent of any civil and administrative penalties paid under the Clean
Water Act, after the date of enactment, by parties responsible for the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill to the Trust Fund for ecosystem
restoration, economic recovery, and tourism promotion in the Gulf Coast
region. The ultimate amount of administrative and civil penalties
potentially available to the Trust Fund is currently unknown because
Clean Water Act claims against several responsible parties are
outstanding. On January 3, 2013, however, the United States announced
that Transocean Deepwater Inc. and related entities agreed to pay $1
billion in civil penalties for violating the Clean Water Act in
relation to their conduct in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. That
settlement was approved by the court in February, and Transocean paid
the first installment of its civil penalties to the United States at
the end of March. These funds are subject to the RESTORE Act.
In addition to creating the Trust Fund, the RESTORE Act established
the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (Council), which is
chaired by the Secretary of Commerce and includes the Governors of
Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, and the
Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, the Army, Homeland
Security, and the Interior, and the Administrator of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. Among other things, the Act requires
the Council to publish an Initial Comprehensive Plan to restore and
protect the Gulf Coast region after notice and an opportunity for
public comment.
This Draft Plan sets forth the Council's overarching goals for
restoring and protecting the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries,
marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, coastal wetlands, and economy of
the Gulf Coast region. Additionally, the Plan: (1) incorporates the
recommendations and findings of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration
Task Force (Task Force) as set forth in the Gulf Coast Ecosystem
Restoration Task Force Strategy (Strategy); (2) describes how Council-
Selected ecosystem restoration activities will be solicited, evaluated,
and funded; (3) outlines the process for the development, review, and
approval of State Expenditure Plans; and, (4) provides the Council's
next steps. In addition, the Council as a whole is in the process of
reviewing and evaluating preliminary lists submitted by individual
Council Members in order to compile, as required by the RESTORE Act,
``a list of any project or program authorized prior to the date of
enactment of [the Act] but not yet commenced, the completion of which
would further the purposes and goals of [the Act].''
The Council has responsibility over the expenditure of sixty
percent of the funds made available from the Trust Fund. The Council
will administer thirty percent, plus fifty percent of the interest on
Trust Fund monies, for ecosystem restoration and protection according
to the Plan. The other thirty percent will be allocated to the Gulf
States as described in the RESTORE Act
[[Page 32238]]
and spent according to individual State Expenditure Plans. The State
Expenditure Plans must be consistent with the goals and objectives of
the Comprehensive Plan and are subject to the Council's approval.
Remaining RESTORE Act funds are not within Council responsibility.
The Council is seeking public and tribal comment on all aspects of
the Draft Plan. In particular, the Council seeks public and tribal
comment on the following:
(1) The Draft Plan includes restoration Priority Criteria
established in the RESTORE Act and applicable to the Council's
selection of projects and programs for at least the first three years
after publication of the Initial Comprehensive Plan. The Council is
considering further defining these criteria and developing additional
criteria for consideration.
a. Should the Council further define the Priority Criteria? If so,
how?
b. Should the Council develop additional criteria for consideration
now or in the future? If so, what should they be?
(2) The ``Objectives'' section of the Draft Plan describes the
broad types of activities the Council envisions funding in order to
achieve its goals.
a. Should the Council consider other Objectives at this juncture?
If not, at what point, if any, should the Council consider additional
Objectives? If so, what should they be?
b. Similarly, should the Council eliminate any of the Objectives?
c. How should the Council prioritize its restoration Objectives?
(3) The Council is considering establishing or engaging advisory
committees as may be necessary, such as a citizens' advisory committee
and/or a science advisory committee, to provide input to the Council in
carrying out its responsibilities under the RESTORE Act.
a. Should the Council establish any advisory committees?
b. If so, what type of advisory committees should the Council
establish? How should the Council structure such advisory committees?
What role should such advisory committees play?
In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42
U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 4321-4335, and the Council on Environmental Quality's
regulations implementing NEPA, 40 C.F.R. Parts 1500-1507, the Council
has prepared a Draft PEA on the Draft Plan. The Council is also seeking
public comment on all aspects of the Draft PEA in addition to all
aspects of the Draft Plan and the preliminary list of ``authorized but
not yet commenced'' ecosystem restoration projects compiled by Council
Members.
Document Availability: Copies of the Draft Plan, the preliminary
list of ``authorized but not yet commenced'' projects and programs, and
Draft PEA are available at the following office during regular business
hours: Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Room 4077,
Washington, DC 20230.
Electronic versions of both documents can be viewed and downloaded
at www.restorethegulf.gov.
Legal Authority: The statutory program authority for the Draft
Initial Comprehensive Plan is found in subtitle F of the Moving
Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (``MAP-21''), Pub. L.
112-141, 126 Stat. 405 (Jul. 6, 2012).
Dated: May 22, 2013.
Rebecca M. Blank,
Acting Secretary of Commerce, Chair, Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration
Council.
[FR Doc. 2013-12608 Filed 5-28-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-EA-P