1584 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 8 / Tuesday, January 13, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

1SEPs must meet the statutory requirements of 

the RESTORE Act, including: (1) All projects, 

programs and activities included in the SEP are 

eligible activities as defined by the RESTORE Act; 

(2) all projects, programs and activities included in 

the SEP contribute to the overall economic and 

ecological recovery of the Gulf Coast; (3) the SEP 

takes the Council’s Comprehensive Plan into 

consideration and is consistent with the goals and 

objectives of the Comprehensive Plan; and (4) no 

more than 25 percent of the allotted funds are used 

for infrastructure projects unless the SEP contains 

certain certifications from the Gulf Coast State 

submitting the SEP. 

2A Gulf Coast State may receive more than the 

statutory minimum depending on the calculation of 

each Gulf Coast State’s share under an allocation 

formula established by the Council by regulation 

based on criteria specified in the Act. 33 U.S.C. 

1321(t)(3)(A)(ii). The Council is developing a 

regulation to be published in the Federal Register 

at a later date establishing this allocation formula. 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Parts 5 and 119 

[Docket No. FAA–2009–0671; Amendment 

Nos. 5–1 and 119–17] 

RIN 2120–AJ86 

Safety Management Systems for 

Domestic, Flag, and Supplemental 

Operations Certificate Holders 

Correction 

In rule document 2015–00143 

appearing on pages 1307–1328 in the 

issue of January 8, 2015, make the 

following correction: 

§ 5.1 [Corrected] 

On page 1326, in § 5.1, in the second 

column, in the second line from the top, 

‘‘January 8, 2018’’ should read ‘‘March 

9, 2018’’. 

[FR Doc. C1–2015–00143 Filed 1–12–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1505–01–D 

GULF COAST ECOSYSTEM 

RESTORATION COUNCIL 

40 CFR Part 1800 

[Docket Number: 110142014–1111–02] 

RIN 3600–AA00 

RESTORE Act Spill Impact Component 

Planning Allocation 

AGENCY: Gulf Coast Ecosystem 

Restoration Council. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Gulf Coast Ecosystem 

Restoration Council (Council) is issuing 

a final rule authorizing the Gulf Coast 

State members of the Council, or their 

administrative agents, and the Gulf 

Consortium of Florida counties to apply 

for grants to fund planning activities to 

develop individual State Expenditure 

Plans (SEP) using amounts up to the 

statutory minimum that each Gulf Coast 

State must receive under the Spill 

Impact Component of the Resources and 

Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist 

Opportunities, and Revived Economies 

of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 

(RESTORE Act). 

DATES: This final rule becomes effective 

on January 13, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: The Council posted all 

comments to the interim rule on its Web 

site, http://www.restorethegulf.gov/, 

without change, including any business 

or personal information provided, such 

as names, addresses, email addresses, or 

telephone numbers. All comments 

received are part of the public record 

and subject to public disclosure. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jeffrey Roberson at 202–482–1315. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The RESTORE Act, Public Law 112– 

141 (July 6, 2012), codified at 33 U.S.C. 

1321(t) and note, makes funds available 

for the restoration and protection of the 

Gulf Coast Region through a new trust 

fund in the Treasury of the United 

States, known as the Gulf Coast 

Restoration Trust Fund (Trust Fund). 

The Trust Fund will contain 80 percent 

of the administrative and civil penalties 

paid by the responsible parties after July 

6, 2012, under the Federal Water 

Pollution Control Act in connection 

with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. 

These funds will be invested and made 

available through five components of 

the RESTORE Act. On August 15, 2014, 

the Department of Treasury (Treasury) 

issued regulations (79 FR 48039) 

applicable to all five components, and 

which generally describe the 

responsibilities of the Federal and State 

entities that administer RESTORE Act 

programs and carry out restoration 

activities in the Gulf Coast Region. 

Two of the five components, the 

Comprehensive Plan and Spill Impact 

Components, are administered by the 

Council, an independent federal entity 

created by the RESTORE Act. Under the 

Spill Impact Component (33 U.S.C. 

1321(t)(3)), the subject of this final rule, 

30 percent of funds in the Trust Fund 

will be disbursed to the five Gulf Coast 

States (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, 

Mississippi, and Texas) or their 

administrative agents based on an 

allocation formula established by the 

Council by regulation based on criteria 

in the RESTORE Act. The RESTORE Act 

establishes a statutory minimum under 

which each of the five Gulf Coast States 

is guaranteed five percent of the funds 

made available under this component. 

In order for funds to be disbursed to a 

Gulf Coast State, the RESTORE Act 

requires each Gulf Coast State to 

develop a SEP and submit it to the 

Council for approval. The RESTORE Act 

specifies the particular entity within 

each Gulf Coast State that will prepare 

the individual SEPs: In Alabama, the 

Alabama Gulf Coast Recovery Council; 

in Florida, a consortium of local 

political subdivisions that includes a 

minimum of one representative of each 

affected county (officially named the 

‘‘Gulf Consortium’’ as organized under 

Florida law); in Louisiana, the Coastal 

Protection and Restoration Authority of 

Louisiana; in Mississippi, the Office of 

the Governor or an appointee of the 

Office of the Governor; and in Texas, the 

Office of the Governor or an appointee 

of the Office of the Governor. 33 U.S.C. 

1321(t)(3)(B)(iii). 

On August 22, 2014, the Council 

issued an interim final rule to permit 

the five eligible entities responsible for 

drafting SEPs to have access to amounts 

up to the statutory minimum to help 

draft a SEP that meets all statutory 

requirements.1 79 FR 49690. The 

Council opened this interim final rule 

up for public comment for 30 days. The 

Council received substantive comments 

from three separate commenters. 

After considering public comments, 

the Council now issues the regulations 

as a final rule. The rule will take effect 

on January 13, 2015. The Council will 

separately make available a guidance 

document that details the content and 

process requirements of both the 

planning SEP that is required to get 

access to the planning grants authorized 

under this rule and the full SEP that is 

required to get access to the entire 

amount of funds made available to each 

Gulf Coast State under the Spill Impact 

Component of the RESTORE Act. The 

Council is also currently developing 

another set of regulations to more fully 

implement the Spill Impact Component 

of the RESTORE Act. These regulations 

will be published in the Federal 

Register at a later date and will establish 

how funds made available from the 

Trust Fund will be allocated between 

the five Gulf Coast States based on the 

allocation formula. 

II. Public Comments and Summary of 

Final Rule 

Each of the five Gulf Coast States, 

Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, 

Mississippi, and Texas, are statutorily 

guaranteed a minimum of five percent 

of amounts made available from the 

Trust Fund under the Spill Impact 

Component.2 33 U.S.C. 


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