[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 133 (Thursday, July 13, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32362-32366]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-14690]
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GULF COAST ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION COUNCIL
[Docket No.: 107132017-1111-15]
RESTORE Act--Draft 2017 Funded Priorities List: Comprehensive
Commitment and Planning Support
AGENCY: Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Resources and Ecosystems
Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the
Gulf States Act (RESTORE Act or Act), the Gulf Coast Ecosystem
Restoration Council (Council) announces the availability of the Draft
2017 Funded Priorities List: Comprehensive Commitment and Planning
Support (draft CPS FPL). In the draft CPS FPL, the Council proposes to
provide its members with funding to enhance collaboration,
coordination, public engagement and use of best available science
needed to make efficient use of
[[Page 32363]]
Gulf restoration funds resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
These awards will support the Council's commitment to a coordinated
approach to ecosystem restoration, as called for in the Comprehensive
Plan Update 2016: Restoring the Gulf Coast's Ecosystem and Economy. The
draft CPS FPL is now available for public and Tribal review and comment
at www.restorethegulf.gov.
DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive your written comments
on the draft CPS FPL by 11:59 p.m. MT August 14, 2017.
Two informational webinars will be conducted:
July 13, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. Central Time https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8691294554732234497.
July 25, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. Central Time https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6303399390784342017.
You may register for these webinars in advance. Once registered, a
link to access the webinar will be sent to the email address provided
during registration.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the draft CPS FPL by one of the
following methods:
Electronic Web site Submission: Through the following Web
site: www.restorethegulf.gov.
Email: Submit electronic public comments by email to:
[email protected].
Mail/Commercial Delivery: You may also mail comments to:
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, Attention: Draft FPL
Comments, Hale Boggs Federal Building, 500 Poydras Street, Suite 1117,
New Orleans, LA 70130.
In general, the Council will make such comments available for
public inspection and copying on its Web site, www.restorethegulf.gov
without change, including any business or personal information
provided, such as names, addresses, email addresses, or telephone
numbers. All comments received, including attachments and other
supporting materials, will be part of the public record and subject to
public disclosure. You should only submit information you wish to make
publicly available.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please send questions by email to
[email protected], or contact Keala J. Hughes at (504)
717-7235.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Draft 2017 Funded Priorities List: Comprehensive Plan Commitment and
Planning Support
The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council's (Council) 2016
Comprehensive Plan commits to enhancing collaboration, coordination,
public engagement and the use of best available science to support a
holistic approach to Gulf of Mexico restoration. This approach reflects
the interconnected nature of coastal and marine ecosystems and the
importance of addressing system-wide stressors to improve ecosystem
function. To that end, the Comprehensive Plan sets forth a vision to
guide the Council's future actions:
A Healthy and Productive Gulf Ecosystem Achieved Through Collaboration
on Strategic Restoration Projects and Programs
The Council is proposing to provide limited funding over five years
to its members to support the aforementioned Comprehensive Plan
commitments and identify the future investments that maximize
achievement of Gulf-wide restoration goals. The Council is also
proposing to review the effectiveness of this funding at year four and
consider whether extending planning and commitment support efforts
beyond the five-year period is needed to continue to meet the
Comprehensive Plan commitments.
The Council refers to this proposal as Comprehensive Plan
Commitment and Planning Support (CPS). Pursuant to the RESTORE Act (33
U.S.C. 1321(t)(2)(D)(ii)(V)(bb)), in order to disburse Council-Selected
Restoration Component funding to Council members, such funding must
first be approved through a Funded Priorities List (FPL). Therefore,
the CPS funding is being proposed as a draft 2017 FPL. This FPL
development process enables the Council to solicit critical input from
key stakeholders and the general public prior to making final decisions
regarding CPS funding.
Background and Rationale
The fines and penalties arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill represent a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for large-scale
restoration in the Gulf of Mexico. Restoration funding in connection
with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is administered through a variety
of programs, each governed by different laws and/or procedures. These
programs include the five Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability,
Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States
Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act) (33 U.S.C. 1321(t) and note) components,
Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's (NFWF) Gulf Environmental
Benefit Fund (GEBF) and other funding sources.
A major challenge to Gulf-wide ecosystem restoration is
coordinating efforts within each state, among Council members, among
stakeholders within the Gulf region, and across funding streams. Adding
to the challenge is the fact that no designated funding stream exists
to support Council Member efforts to plan and coordinate restoration
activities under the Council-Selected Restoration Component.
Historically, Council members have had to rely upon general, tax-
generated or appropriated funds to support their involvement in
Council-Selected Restoration Component, including FPL development and
the Comprehensive Plan update. The funds proposed to be approved in
this draft FPL would provide Council members with funding from the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement. By supporting collaboration and
leveraging among these programs, the Council will be able to produce
the greatest on-the-ground restoration results possible.
To effectively and efficiently address the commitments of the
Comprehensive Plan, the Council proposes to provide funds necessary for
members to:
Strengthen ecosystem restoration proposals for future
FPL(s) under the Council-Selected Restoration component of the RESTORE
Act.
[cir] These funds will allow for the collaborative development of
large-scale project and/or program submissions for potential funding
through future FPL(s) to advance watershed/estuary-based efforts that
were initiated in the Council's Initial FPL.
Enhance the efficiency of future FPL development
processes.
[cir] Investing in these CPS activities will provide for more
thorough development of information on future FPL project/program
proposals through the collaborative process.
[cir] Included in this information could be any necessary pre-
submission consultations on best available science and environmental
compliance.
[cir] Collectively, this information may result in potentially
faster evaluation and funding of future FPLs.
Facilitate long-term planning and leveraging efforts
across funding streams.
[cir] Because funds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will come
in annual installments over the next 15 years,
[[Page 32364]]
investing in collaborative planning will help the Council develop a 10-
year funding strategy based upon the anticipated BP payment schedule.
[cir] This strategy will include identifying opportunities to
leverage across funding streams, as opposed to spending each annual
payment on relatively small and possibly disconnected projects.
The Council believes that investing a relatively small amount of
time and resources in planning can ensure that restoration projects
selected for funding will yield greater ecosystem benefits in the
future.
Ensuring Fiscal Responsibility
If approved, the Council intends to incentivize cost savings and
efficiency in the CPS effort. Accordingly, if a member does not utilize
its full allocation of CPS funding then, subject to Council approval in
accordance with the RESTORE Act and all other applicable laws, the
Council will take such savings into account when considering that
member's proposals for future restoration funding opportunities. In
other words, savings in the proposed CPS funds could be used to support
specific restoration projects and programs sponsored by the Council
member that achieves the savings.
Commitment and Planning Support Activities
The CPS funding will provide the necessary resources for Council
members to stimulate and encourage the coordination and collaboration
necessary to achieve the commitments of the Comprehensive Plan. By
working closely within the Council, and among our restoration partners
and the public, the Council believes it can make significant progress
towards comprehensive Gulf restoration and provide substantial
environmental and economic benefits to current and future generations.
For example, the Council anticipates that the proposed CPS funds will
be used to collaborate with the Deepwater Horizon NRDA Trustees, NFWF's
GEBF and/or other relevant funding programs. Specifically, the CPS
funds would cover individual Council Members' costs associated with:
Evaluating the efficacy of using multiple funding streams
to fund a single large-scale restoration and/or conservation project/
program beyond what could be achieved through a single funding source.
Developing project and program concepts that may be
pursued for funding in future FPL(s), thereby potentially accelerating
implementation of those selected for funding. Note that CPS funds may
not be used to advance specific projects and programs beyond what is
needed for submission for possible FPL approval.
Harmonizing projects and programs within a defined
geographic area, including a watershed/estuary system, that are
temporally and spatially aligned with ecosystem function.
Activities supported by the proposed CPS funding would include the
planning, coordination, collaboration, and pre-submission environmental
compliance review \1\ that will enable Council members to more
effectively:
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\1\ CPS funds do not cover preparation of environmental
compliance documentation (e.g., NEPA documentation) or permit
application costs. Such activities are only funded after the given
project or program is approved in an FPL, and after a separate grant
or Interagency Agreement is awarded.
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Meet the requirements of the RESTORE Act Council-Selected
Restoration Component;
Meet the commitments of the Comprehensive Plan Update (see
Appendix A); and
Address associated planning needs for developing future
FPLs.
Allowable Activities
Specifically, categories of activities proposed to be allowed under
this CPS FPL would include:
Planning and collaboration to develop submissions and/or
conceptual, pre-submission options for the next FPL. Planning
activities must be reasonable and directly related to the Council-
Selected Restoration Component FPL development, and could include:
[cir] Planning and collaboration with other Council members for
joint/coordinated proposal submissions;
[cir] Intra- and inter-state planning with multiple state and/or
federal agencies and partners to develop proposals including those
requiring multiple partner contributions (e.g., with federal partners
to do a project in a state);
[cir] Intra-member planning to develop proposals including those
requiring multiple agency contributions (state and federal);
[cir] Technical meetings/focus groups (e.g., with other regional
efforts such as but not limited to National Estuary Programs; National
Estuarine Research Reserve System; National Academies of Sciences,
environmentally-focused NGOs, Gulf Research Program; Council Monitoring
and Assessment Workgroup; etc.);
[cir] Public engagement activities for the purposes of developing
FPL submissions (e.g., directed stakeholder engagement, public meetings
and workshops) to cover expenses such as venues, invited facilitators,
speakers, translators, etc.; \2\
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\2\ The public may include a wide and diverse array of
stakeholders, such as Tribes, federal, state and local governments,
private businesses, academic and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), and the general public.
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[cir] Process-related activities to support development of project/
program options (e.g., developing decision support structures at
various levels (e.g., projects, programs, watersheds), preparing
materials for collaboration activities, reviewing and addressing public
comments on future FPLs);
[cir] Project scoping, pre-submission environmental compliance
review/coordination and engagement, and technical assistance for
potential future FPL projects (including Council workgroups); and
[cir] Collaboration and coordination among Council, NRDA, NFWF, as
well as entities identified in the RESTORE Act with roles in the Spill
Impact Component to support development of restoration priorities and/
or development of jointly funded/implemented projects and programs.
Staffing in support of planning, collaboration, pre-
submission environmental compliance coordination, and meeting other
commitments from the Comprehensive Plan;
Preparation of proposals in accordance with FPL submission
guidelines, including entry of proposals into the Council's Restoration
Assistance and Award Management System (RAAMS);
Evaluation activities to determine the impact of the
Council's projects/programs and inform adaptive management for future
funding decisions. Activities should complement work undertaken through
the Council Monitoring and Assessment Program, and could include:
[cir] Near-term design of an evaluation structure and process,
[cir] Periodic evaluations of overall Bucket 2 project/program
impact at multiple scales, and
[cir] Development of recommendations for adaptive management.
Financial support for outreach mechanisms (printing, Web
site maintenance, and other similar activities);
Travel expenses that are reasonable and directly related
to the Council-Selected Restoration Component projects/programs
development, including:
[cir] Steering Committee/Council meetings;
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[cir] Meetings with individual Council member agencies and other
potential partners to develop project concepts;
[cir] Meetings to support project/program planning and
collaboration;
[cir] Participation in Council workgroups and FPL project-specific
workgroups and committees;
[cir] Participation in training, conferences, and workshops to
facilitate general collaboration among restoration practitioners and
scientists and maximize use of existing expertise; and
[cir] Site visits to support development of reasonably viable
projects/program submissions for potential FPL funding.
Preparation and execution of Interagency Agreements,
grants, and other related items required by the Council prior to
implementing the scope of work covered by project-specific interagency
project-specific activities. These CPS funds would not be able to be
used to conduct post-award, project-specific activities. Those costs
would be borne by the project itself.
The allowable uses of CPS funding would not include
engineering and design and environmental compliance activities beyond
the pre-submission stage (see footnote 1, above).
With these funds, Council members would have the necessary
resources to enable stronger support of collaboration activities,
including:
Collaborating on various scales, including:
[cir] Watershed-scale to sequence projects in alignment with
ecosystem function, including evaluation of applicability of various
Deepwater Horizon and other funding streams to maximize the
effectiveness of conservation efforts;
[cir] A state-scale and/or landscape-scale geographic area; and
[cir] Region-wide-scale for restoration planning focused on a
specific resource (e.g., oysters, birds) or strategy (e.g., living
shorelines).
Providing opportunities to facilitate the formation of
strategic partnerships and collaboration on innovative ecosystem
restoration projects, programs, and approaches, including:
[cir] Public engagement opportunities that reflect the richness and
diversity of Gulf Coast communities to ensure ongoing public
participation in the Council's restoration efforts;
[cir] Focused resource and/or geographic-specific discussions with
stakeholders and technical experts; and
[cir] Advancing the ability to achieve, assess, and report on
watershed or regional outcomes (i.e., measures, developing indicators
to meet Council goals and objectives)
Reporting Elements
Council members utilizing CPS funds under this FPL will provide
information on the progress of their respective efforts. The primary
focus of reporting is to encourage further collaboration and share best
practices/lessons learned. To that end, the following reporting
elements of the CPS funding awards would include:
Semi-Annual Financial and Expenditure written reports, and
annual progress summaries, submitted through the Council's RAAMS in
adherence to federal financial assistance requirements (2 CFR part
200). The annual progress summaries should include, as appropriate:
[cir] Collaboration activities and partners,
[cir] Stakeholders and public engagement workshops/meetings held,
[cir] FPL-related Planning,
[cir] Lessons learned, and
[cir] Potential project/program concepts, which may include such
details as:
[ssquf] Watershed, estuary or other geographic areas; and
[ssquf] Council Goal(s) and Objective(s) addressed
Work with Council Staff to populate and regularly update
project/program concepts information in the internal online project/
program mapping tool. The purpose is to facilitate pre-submission
collaboration between members who may have preliminary interests in
similar projects or programs.
CPS activities will also be periodically discussed in Steering
Committee meetings to foster additional collaboration and share lessons
learned. During these meetings, Council members are encouraged to
highlight progress and accomplishments related to this work.
Proposed Funding Amount
The Council proposes to allow each of the 11 Council members to
apply for up to $500,000 per year for up to 3 years and up to $300,000
per year for 2 years thereafter, resulting in a total of up to $23.1
million, or 1.44% of the total funds available (not including interest)
in the Council-Selected Restoration Component supporting these
activities, as detailed in Table 1 (below).
Table 1--Funding for the Commitments and Planning Support Activities
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Total 5-year
investment Percentage of
Annual per member (maximum) Annual total council cap maximum based total Bucket
on annual cap 2 funds
($M)
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$500K for 3 Years............................ $5.5M/year for 3 years......... 23.1 *1.44
$300k for 2 Years............................ $3.3M/year for 2 years.........
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* The 1.44% is calculated based upon total funds provided by BP and other responsible parties; it does not
include interest. Therefore, the percentage will be less over time as interest is accrued.
The Council also proposes to review the effectiveness of this
funding at year four and consider the need to continue the CPS beyond
the five-year period. Based upon this evaluation, the Council will
determine whether there is a need to undertake follow-on awards to
continue this work. The timing of this review during year four is
intended to avoid a lapse in funding. If the need for CPS funding
extends beyond 5 years, future awards would use the same FPL amendment
process requiring public notice and a formal Council vote.
Summary
The Council has a key role in helping to ensure that the Gulf's
natural resources are sustainable and available for future generations.
The Gulf restoration funds available now and in the future, represent
an incredible opportunity and responsibility for the Council and all
the stakeholders in the Gulf Coast region.
In the coming months and years, the Council will focus its efforts
on collaboration--among and between members and with other restoration
partners--to fully leverage available funds. Through such focused
collaboration, the Council can facilitate holistic, large-scale, and
coordinated restoration. The CPS funding proposed
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in this draft FPL is intended to enable the Council to most effectively
meet these fundamental commitments. The Council looks forward to
hearing from the public on this proposal.
Appendix A--Council Comprehensive Plan Commitments
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Topic Commitment Page No.
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Development of Funded Priority Lists.......... Take a holistic approach to restoration......... 13, 14
Continue to improve Submission Guidelines....... 17
The Council adopted the watershed/estuary-based 22
approach as a strategic planning principle for
future FPL development.
Healthy and sustainable ecosystems are essential 23
for thriving and resilient coastal communities.
Encourage partnerships and additional public and 23
private financial and technical support to
maximize outcomes and impacts.
Identify and leverage new sources of funding to 25
support current and future restoration work by
exploring creative conservation funding.
The Council will refine its processes for 25
considering public input on draft FPLs before
finalizing changes to the final FPL.
Project evaluation and selection will be 25
conducted in the most open manner feasible.
Will update and improve the process for applying 27
BAS to FPL proposals, including exploring the
use of one or more science review panels.
Collaboration and Coordination................ Sponsor and participate in meetings and 17
workshops in 2017 and into 2018.
Facilitate meaningful engagement with range of 17
stakeholders.
Maximize outcomes by leveraging funds and 17
expertise.
Coordination and collaboration among members and 24
our restoration partners is critical to the
success of Gulf restoration.
Coordinate regulatory efforts across Council 26
membership.
Science....................................... Decisions made pursuant to the FPL will be based 6, 17, 27
on the best available science.
The Council recognizes the importance of 27
measuring outcomes and impacts in order to
achieve tangible results and ensure that funds
are invested in a meaningful way.
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Document Availability: Copies of the draft CPS FPL are available at
the following office during regular business hours: Gulf Coast
Ecosystem Restoration Council, Hale Boggs Federal Building, 500 Poydras
Street, Suite 1117, New Orleans, LA 70130. The draft CPS FPL can also
be viewed and downloaded at www.restorethegulf.gov.
Legal Authority: The statutory program authority for the draft
FPL is found at 33 U.S.C. 1321(t)(2).
Will D. Spoon,
Program Analyst, Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council.
[FR Doc. 2017-14690 Filed 7-12-17; 8:45 am]
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