[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 8, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15941-15943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-7850]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Notice of Intent To Conduct Restoration Planning To Evaluate 
Potential Injuries to Natural Resources and Services Resulting From the 
Discharge of Oil From the Tank Barge (T/B) DBL 152 in the Gulf of 
Mexico

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning to evaluate 
potential injuries to natural resources and services resulting from the 
discharge of oil from the Tank Barge (T/B) DBL 152 in the Gulf of 
Mexico. NOAA also seeks public involvement in

[[Page 15942]]

the restoration planning for this oil spill.

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SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has 
determined that the impacts of the November 11, 2005, discharge of 
slurry oil from the Tank Barge (T/B) DBL 152, over which NOAA has 
jurisdiction as a natural resource trustee, warrant performing a 
natural resource damage assessment. NOAA is hereby providing notice of 
its intent to conduct restoration planning to evaluate potential 
injuries to natural resources and services resulting from this incident 
and to use that information to determine the need for and the scale of 
restoration actions to address these potential injuries.
    NOAA seeks public involvement in the restoration planning for this 
spill. Opportunities for public involvement are provided through public 
review and comment on documents contained in the Administrative Record, 
as well as on the Draft and Final Restoration Plans when they have been 
prepared.
    Public Involvement and Further Information: Pursuant to 15 CFR 
990.44(c), NOAA seeks public involvement in restoration planning for 
this incident, through public review of and comments on the documents 
contained in the administrative record. Comments should be sent to: 
Troy Baker, NOAA Assessment and Restoration Division, LSU/Sea Grant 
Building, Room 124B, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, 225-578-7921 (ph), 
225-578-7926 (fax), <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3367415c4a1d7152585641735d5c52521d545c45">[email protected]</a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Oil Spill and Response Activities

    On November 11, 2005, while en route from Houston, Texas, to Tampa, 
Florida, the T/B DBL 152, owned and operated by K-Sea Transportation 
Partners, L.P. and K-Sea Operating Partnership, L.P. (collectively ``K-
Sea'') allided with the unmarked, submerged remains of a pipeline 
service platform that collapsed in the western Gulf of Mexico during 
Hurricane Rita. The double-hulled barge was carrying approximately 
119,793 barrels (5,031,317 gallons) of a blended mixture of heavier-
than-water slurry oil. An estimated 45,846 barrels of oil (1,925,532 
gallons) were discharged into federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico as a 
result of the allision (the Incident). Of this volume, an estimated 
2,355 bbls (98,910 gallons) were recovered by divers. In total, 43,491 
bbls (1,826,622 gallons) of unrecovered oil was left remaining in the 
environment. The discharge occurred in federal waters approximately 35 
nautical miles south-southeast of Sabine Pass, Texas and Calcasieu 
Pass, Louisiana.
    Operations to locate, assess and recover the submerged oil were 
initiated shortly after the Incident occurred. Full-scale submerged oil 
recovery efforts using diver-directed pumping were initiated by early 
December 2005. Submerged oil cleanup activities were continued until 
January 12, 2006, at which time recovery operations were suspended by 
the Unified Command. Long-term monitoring of non-recovered submerged 
oil was initiated in January 2006 and continued for a period of 
approximately one year. Based on the results of long-term monitoring 
and on-going feasibility constraints, no additional submerged oil 
recovery was performed after January 2006. As of July 2006, residual 
submerged oil had been found as far as 13 nautical miles from the 
accident site.
    The owner/operator of the vessel is a ``Responsible Party'' for 
this incident as defined by the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), 33 U.S.C. 
Section 2701 et seq. To date, the Responsible Party has cooperated with 
NOAA in the performance and/or funding of response, cleanup, and 
preassessment data collection activities. By letter dated May 10, 2007, 
the Responsible Party has committed to participate in a cooperative 
natural resource damage assessment. NOAA is the sole natural resource 
trustee for the DBL 152 Incident, as designated pursuant to 33 U.S.C. 
Section 2706(b), Executive Order 12777, and the National Contingency 
Plan, 40 CFR 300.600 and 300.605. NOAA's trust resources include, but 
are not limited to, commercial and recreational fish species, 
anadramous and catadromous fish species, marshes and other coastal 
habitats, marine mammals, and endangered and threatened marine species.
    Immediately following the spill, NOAA and the Responsible Party 
initiated a number of cooperative preassessment data collection 
activities, pursuant to OPA, to gather information to aid in an initial 
determination as to whether natural resources or services have been 
injured or are likely to be injured by the discharge. Specific 
preassessment activities included the collection and analysis of neat 
and weathered oil samples, benthic fauna and demersal fishes, and 
samples of sediments and water taken in the oiled areas. NOAA's 
Preassessment Data Report details these preassessment data collection 
efforts, and provides summaries of laboratory results and supporting 
information. This Preassessment Data Report is available for review at: 
http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/southeast/dbl152/index.html.

NOAA's Determination of Jurisdiction

    NOAA made the following determinations required by 15 CFR 
990.41(a):
    (1) NOAA has jurisdiction to pursue restoration pursuant to OPA, 33 
U.S.C. 2702 and 2706(c); 40 CFR part 300, the OPA Natural Resource 
Damage Assessments Final Rule, 15 CFR part 990, and 61 FR 440 (January 
6, 1996).
    (2) The discharge of slurry oil into the Gulf of Mexico on November 
11, 2005, was an incident, as defined in 15 CFR 990.30.
    (3) The discharge was not permitted under State, Federal, or local 
law; the discharge was not from a public vessel; and the discharge was 
not from an onshore facility subject to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline 
Authority Act, 43 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.
    (4) Natural resources under the trusteeship of NOAA may have been 
injured as a result of the incident. The slurry oil discharged contains 
components that may be harmful to aquatic organisms, birds, wildlife, 
and vegetation. Specifically, benthic and demersal invertebrate and 
vertebrate fauna were likely exposed to the oil from this discharge, 
and injury to those resources, as well as lost ecological services, may 
have resulted from the Incident.
    Based on the above findings, NOAA made the determination that it 
has jurisdiction to pursue restoration pursuant to OPA, 33 U.S.C. 
Sections 2702 and 2706(b)-(c).

Determination To Conduct Restoration Activities

    For the reasons discussed below, NOAA has made the determinations 
required by 15 CFR 990.42(a) and is providing notice pursuant to 15 CFR 
990.44 that it intends to conduct restoration planning in order to 
develop restoration alternatives that will restore, replace, 
rehabilitate, or acquire the equivalent of natural resources injured 
and/or natural resource services lost as a result of the Incident.
    (1) Injuries have likely resulted from the Incident, though the 
extent of such injuries has not been fully determined at this time. 
NOAA bases this determination upon data presented in the Preassessment 
Data Report, which were collected and analyzed pursuant to 15 CFR 
990.43. These data demonstrate the likelihood that natural resources 
and services have been injured from this incident including, but not 
limited to, benthic and demersal vertebrates and

[[Page 15943]]

invertebrates, which live on or near the ocean floor where the oil 
settled. The nature and extent of injuries will be determined during 
the damage assessment.
    (2) Response actions during cleanup have not fully addressed the 
injuries resulting from the Incident. Although response actions were 
initiated promptly, the nature and location of the discharge prevented 
recovery of all of the oil and precluded prevention of injuries to some 
natural resources. It is anticipated that injured natural resources 
will eventually return to baseline levels, but there is the potential 
for interim losses to have occurred and to continue to occur until a 
return to baseline is achieved.
    (3) Feasible compensatory restoration actions exist to address 
injuries from this incident. Restoration actions that could be 
considered may include, but are not limited to: creation or enhancement 
of offshore artificial reef structures; creation, restoration, 
enhancement or protection of marsh habitat; and marine debris removal. 
In addition, methods such as Habitat Equivalency Analysis exist to 
scale the amount of compensatory restoration required to offset 
ecological service losses resulting from this incident.

Administrative Record

    NOAA has opened an Administrative Record (Record) in compliance 
with 15 CFR 990.45. The Record will include documents relied on by NOAA 
during the pre-assessment performed in conjunction with the Incident. 
To date the Record contains:
    (1) A copy of this notice;
    (2) A letter from NOAA to the Responsible Party inviting their 
participation in a cooperative natural resource damage assessment;
    (3) A letter from the Responsible Party to NOAA accepting the 
invitation to participate in a cooperative natural resource damage 
assessment and enclosing the ``Guiding Principles for NOAA/K-Sea DBL 
152 Cooperative Natural Resource Damage Assessment'' that were 
developed and coordinated by NOAA and K-Sea to guide the cooperative 
NRDA for the Incident; and
    (4) The Preassessment Data Report prepared in conjunction with the 
preassessment activities arising from the Incident.
    The Record is on file at: NOAA Assessment & Restoration Division, 
ATTN: Troy Baker, Louisiana State University, Sea Grant Building, Room 
124B, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, 225-578-7921 (ph), 225-578-7926 (fax), 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fda98f9284bf9c96988fbd93929c9cd39a928b">[email protected]</a>.

    Dated: March 31, 2009.
David G. Westerholm,
Director, Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean Service, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. E9-7850 Filed 4-7-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-JE-P


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