Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 14 / Friday, January 22, 2010 / Notices 3709 

acquisition of private lands or partial 

interests in private lands promotes the 

natural recovery of spill-injured 

resources and associated services by 

removing the threat posed by additional 

development impacts. The program is 

implemented by state and federal 

resource agencies, often in partnership 

with non-governmental organizations. 

The habitat program has protected 

approximately 650,000 acres of valuable 

habitat through a variety of purchases of 

various property rights, ranging from fee 

simple acquisition to conservation and 

timber easements. The goals of the 

habitat protection program remain 

viable. Resource and land management 

agencies, such as the Alaska Department 

of Natural Resources, Alaska 

Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, National Park 

Service and U.S. Forest Service, 

continue to receive parcel nominations 

for Council consideration. 

Approximately $24 million remains 

within the habitat subaccount for future 

habitat protection efforts. The Council is 

considering alternatives for allocation of 

these funds. For example, half of the 

funds remaining may be allocated to the 

purchase of large parcels within a 

period of two to three years, and the 

remaining half to a program spanning a 

12-year period focused on the protection 

of small parcels less than 1,000 acres or 

$1 million in price. The Council 

proposes to utilize the approximately 

$24 million remaining to continue the 

habitat program. A variety of 

administrative options, funding 

allocations, time frames, and 

management strategies will be 

considered. 

Public Involvement 

Scoping is an early and open process 

for determining the scope of issues to be 

addressed in a SEIS and for identifying 

if there are significant environmental 

effects or issues related to the proposed 

action. A principal objective of the 

scoping and public involvement process 

is to identify a range of reasonable 

alternatives that will delineate critical 

issues and provide a clear basis for 

distinguishing among those alternatives 

and selecting a preferred alternative. 

Through this Notice, the Council 

notifies the public that a NEPA analysis 

and decision-making process has been 

initiated so that interested or affected 

people may participate and contribute 

to the final decision. 

Through this scoping process, the 

Council is seeking input and feedback 

on the areas, issues and projects 

proposed above, as well as possible 

alternatives to these proposals. The 

Council seeks public involvement in the 

development of the SEIS and 

encourages members of the public to 

submit comments in writing at the 

address shown above (see ADDRESSES). 

Written comments should be as specific 

as possible to be the most helpful. 

Written comments received during the 

scoping process, including the names 

and addresses of those submitting them, 

will be considered part of the public 

record on this proposal and will be 

available for public inspection. 

The Council also invites the public to 

participate in the scoping meetings 

shown above (see DATES). When the lead 

federal agency considers a change to a 

proposed action analyzed in an 

environmental impact statement (EIS), 

or new information relevant to the 

action becomes available, the federal 

agency must determine whether a 

supplement to the EIS (also referred to 

as a ‘‘supplemental EIS’’) or a new EIS 

is appropriate. In this instance, NOAA, 

as the lead agency, has determined that 

a SEIS is appropriate and will be 

prepared under the authority and in 

accordance with the requirements of 

NEPA, Council on Environmental 

Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500– 

1508), other applicable federal laws and 

regulations, and NOAA’s established 

policies and procedures for compliance 

with those regulations. A SEIS must 

consider all reasonable alternatives, 

including the preferred action and the 

no action alternative. Even the most 

straightforward actions may have 

alternatives, often considered and 

rejected in early stages of project 

development that should be discussed. 

Opportunities for public comment are 

provided through public review and 

comment on documents contained in 

the Administrative Record as well as on 

the Public Review Document, Draft and 

Final Environmental Impact Statement 

when prepared. 

In compliance with 15 CFR 990.45, 

the Council will prepare an 

Administrative Record (Record). The 

Record will include documents that the 

Council relied upon during the 

development of the SEIS. After 

preparation, the Record will be on file 

at the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee 

Council office in Anchorage, AK and 

duplicate copies will be maintained at 

the following website: http:// 

www.evostc.state.ak.us. 

Dated: January 15, 2010. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–1201 Filed 1–21–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–12–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Notice of Intent To Conduct 

Restoration Planning (Pursuant to 15 

CFR 990.44)—Discharge of Oil From 

the MIV CASCO BUSAN Into San 

Francisco Bay, November 7, 2007 

AGENCY: National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to conduct 

restoration planning (pursuant to 15 

CFR 990.44)—Discharge of Oil from the 

MIV CASCO BUSAN into San Francisco 

Bay, November 7, 2007. 

SUMMARY: On or about November 7, 

2007, the privately owned cargo carrier 

MlV CASCO BUSAN struck a portion of 

the fendering system for the San 

Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge’s Delta 

Tower. This ruptured one or more of the 

vessel’s fuel tanks, allowing a portion of 

the vessel’s bunker oil to be discharged 

into the San Francisco Bay. The 

estimated discharge amounted to 

approximately 53,000 gallons of IFO 

380, a heavy fuel oil used primarily to 

propel ships. This discharge affected 

natural resources in the area. All of the 

foregoing is referred to as the ‘‘Incident.’’ 

Pursuant to section 1006 of the Oil 

Pollution Act (‘‘OPA’’), 33 U.S.C. 2701, 

et seq., federal and state trustees for 

natural resources are authorized to: (1) 

Assess natural resource injuries 

resulting from a discharge of oil or the 

substantial threat of a discharge and 

response activities, and (2) Develop and 

implement a plan for restoration of such 

injured resources. The federal trustees 

are designated pursuant to the National 

Contingency Plan, 40 CFR Section 

300.600 and Executive Order 12777. 

State trustees for California are 

designated pursuant to the National 

Contingency Plan, 40 CFR Section 

300.605 and the Governor’s Designation 

of State Natural Resource Trustees 

under the Comprehensive 

Environmental Response, Compensation 

and Liability Act of 1980, the Oil 

Pollution Act of 1990, and California 

Health and Safety Code section 

25352(c), dated October 5, 2007. The 

natural resources trustees (‘‘Trustees’’) 

under OPA for this Incident are the 

United States Department of Commerce, 

acting through the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (‘‘NOAA’’); 

the United States Department of the 

Interior (‘‘DOl’’), acting through the 

National Park Service (‘‘NPS’’), the U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service (‘‘FWS’’), and 

the Bureau of Land Management 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
3710 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 14 / Friday, January 22, 2010 / Notices 

(‘‘BLM’’); and the California Department 

of Fish and Game (‘‘CDFG’’). The 

California State Lands Commission 

(‘‘CSLC’’) is participating as a Trustee for 

this Incident pursuant to its jurisdiction 

under California state law over all state 

sovereign lands, including ungranted 

tidelands and submerged lands. 

The Responsible Parties (‘‘RPs’’) for 

this Incident are Regal Stone Limited 

and Fleet Management Limited. The 

United States and the People of the 

State of California ex reI. CDFG et al., 

currently have filed lawsuits against the 

RPs pursuant to OPA and other federal 

and state environmental statutes. The 

Trustees have coordinated with 

representatives of the RPs on Natural 

Resource Damage Assessment (‘‘NRDA’’) 

activities. 

The Trustees began the Preassessment 

Phase of the NRDA in accordance with 

15 CFR 990.40, to determine if they had 

jurisdiction to pursue restoration under 

OPA, and, if so, whether it was 

appropriate to do so. During the 

Preassessment Phase, the Trustees 

collected and analyzed the following: 

(1) Data reasonably expected to be 

necessary to make a determination of 

jurisdiction or a determination to 

conduct restoration planning, (2) 

Ephemeral data, and/or (3) Information 

needed to design or implement 

anticipated emergency restoration and/ 

or assessment as part of the Restoration 

Planning Phase. 

The NRDA Regulations under OPA, 

15 CFR part 990 (‘‘NRDA regulations’’), 

provide that the Trustees are to prepare 

a Notice of Intent to Conduct 

Restoration Planning (Notice) if they 

determine certain conditions have been 

met, and if they decide to quantify the 

injuries to natural resources and to 

develop a restoration plan. 

This Notice is to announce, pursuant 

to 15 CFR 990.44, that the Trustees, 

having collected and analyzed data, 

intend to proceed with restoration 

planning actions to address injuries to 

natural resources resulting from the 

Incident. The purpose of this restoration 

planning effort is to further evaluate 

injuries to natural resources and 

services and to use that information to 

determine the need for, type of, and 

scale of restoration actions. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information contact one or more 

of the following Trustee representatives: 

Steve Hampton (CDFG) at 

shampton@ospr.dfg.ca.gov; Greg Baker 

(NOAA): greg.baker@noaa.gov; or Janet 

Whitlock (FWS): 

janecwhitlock@fws.gov. 

Opportunity to Comment: Pursuant to 

15 CFR 990.14(d), the Trustees seek 

public involvement in restoration 

planning for this Incident through 

public review of, and comment on, 

documents contained in the Record. The 

Trustees also intend to seek public 

comment on a draft Damage Assessment 

and Restoration Plan after it has been 

prepared. Comments should be sent to 

one or more of the Trustee 

representatives listed above. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Determination of Jurisdiction 

The Trustees have made the following 

findings pursuant to 15 CFR 990.41: 

1. The impact of the MIV CASCO 

BUSAN with the Bay Bridge on 

November 7, 2007, resulted in a 

discharge of oil into and upon navigable 

waters of the United States, including 

the San Francisco Bay and Pacific 

Ocean, as well as adjoining shorelines. 

Such occurrence constitutes an 

‘‘Incident’’ within the meaning of 15 

CFR 930.30. 

2. The Incident was not permitted 

pursuant to Federal, State, or local law; 

was not from a public vessel; and was 

not from an onshore facility subject to 

the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authority 

Act, 43 U.S.C. 1651 et seq. 

3. Natural resources under the 

trusteeship of the Trustees have been 

injured as a result of the Incident. The 

bunker oil discharged from the MIV 

CASCO BUSAN is harmful to certain 

aquatic organisms, birds, wildlife, and 

vegetation that were exposed to the oil. 

Accordingly, the discharged oil and the 

response activities to address the 

discharge have had an adverse effect on 

the natural resources of San Francisco 

Bay, the Pacific Ocean, and their 

adjoining shorelines, and impaired the 

services which those resources provide. 

Documents in the Administrative 

Record contain more information 

regarding the specific studies, 

observations, etc., by which the Trustees 

reached this determination. As a result 

of the foregoing determinations, the 

Trustees have jurisdiction to pursue 

restoration under the OPA. 

Determination To Conduct Restoration 

Planning 

The Trustees have determined, 

pursuant to 15 CFR 990.42(a), that: 

1. Observations and data collected 

pursuant to 15 CFR 990.43 (including 

dead and live oiled birds, information 

regarding marshes, beaches, eelgrass 

beds, and other oiled habitats) 

demonstrate that injuries to natural 

resources have resulted from the 

Incident; however, the extent of such 

injuries has not been fully determined at 

this time. Immediately following the 

Incident, the Trustees, in cooperation 

with the RPs, identified several 

categories of impacted and potentially 

impacted resources, including birds, 

shoreline habitats, marine mammals, 

fish, and eelgrass, as well as effects to 

human use resulting from the impacts 

on the resources. They then began 

conducting activities, in cooperation 

with the RPs, to evaluate injuries and 

potential injuries within these 

categories. More information on these 

resource categories is available in the 

Administrative Record, including 

information gathered during the preassessment. The full nature and extent 

of injuries will be determined during 

the injury assessment phase of 

restoration 4 planning. 

2. The response actions did not 

address all injuries resulting from the 

Incident to the extent that restoration 

would not be necessary. Although 

response actions were initiated soon 

after the spill, the nature and location of 

the discharge prevented recovery of all 

of the oil and precluded prevention of 

injuries to some natural resources. In 

addition, certain response efforts, such 

as scrubbing of oiled rocks and rip rap 

and the removal of wrack from beaches, 

caused additional injuries to natural 

resources. It is anticipated that injured 

natural resources will eventually return 

to baseline levels (the condition they 

would have been in had it not been for 

the Incident), but interim losses have 

occurred or have likely occurred and 

will continue until a return to baseline 

is achieved. In addition, there were lost 

and diminished human uses of the 

resources resulting from the impacts to 

the natural resources and from the 

response actions themselves. 

3. Feasible primary and compensatory 

restoration actions exist to address 

injuries and lost human uses resulting 

from the Incident. In preparation for 

restoration planning, the Trustees have 

begun to compile a list of restoration 

projects that could potentially be 

implemented to compensate for interim 

losses resulting from the incident. The 

Trustees have also sought suggestions 

from the public on potential restoration 

projects to compensate for the services 

and functions provided by natural 

resources. In addition, assessment 

procedures such as Habitat Equivalency 

Analysis and Resource Equivalency 

Analysis are available to scale the 

appropriate amount of compensatory 

restoration required to offset ecological 

service losses resulting from this 

Incident. To quantify lost human uses 

resulting from the Incident, the 

Trustees, partially in cooperation with 

the RPs, have gathered data regarding 

visitor use of impacted sites and 

associated activities. To value those lost 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 14 / Friday, January 22, 2010 / Notices 3711 

uses the Trustees are using a Travel Cost 

Model and are employing the Benefits 

Transfer Method. To compensate for the 

lost and diminished human uses arising 

from the Incident, the Trustees intend to 

solicit project ideas from local, regional, 

State, and Federal managers of parks 

and other recreational areas, as well as 

from the general public. The Trustees 

will then select restoration actions using 

a value to cost approach, by which the 

cost of the restoration actions are scaled 

to the monetary value of lost and 

diminished human uses. 

During the restoration planning 

phase, the Trustees will evaluate 

potential projects, determine the scale of 

restoration actions needed to make the 

environment and the public whole, and 

release a draft Damage Assessment and 

Restoration Plan for public review and 

comment. Based upon information in 

the Administrative Record and the 

foregoing determinations, the Trustees 

intend to proceed with restoration 

planning for this Incident. 

Administrative Record 

The Trustees have opened an 

Administrative Record (‘‘Record’’) in 

compliance with 15 CFR 990.45. The 

Record will include documents 

considered by the Trustees during the 

preassessment, assessment, and 

restoration planning phases of the 

NRDA performed in connection with 

the Incident. The Record will be 

augmented with additional information 

over the course of the NRDA process. 

The Record is available at the following 

locations: 

San Francisco Main Library, 100 

Larkin Street (at Grove Street), Civic 

Center, San Francisco, CA 94102, 

(415) 557–4400. 

The Library is open seven days a 

week. Please check its Web site for 

hours and directions: http://sfpl.org/

librarylocations/mainimain.htm. 

and at: 

Water Resources Center Archives, 410 

O’Brien Hall, University of 

California, Berkeley, CA 94720– 

1718, (510) 642–2666. 

The Center is generally open Monday 

through Friday. However, please check 

its Web site for hours that may be 

different during academic vacations and 

for directions: http:// 

www.lib.berkeley.edul

WRCNinfo.htm1#hours. 

The Index of the Administrative 

Record and selected documents may 

also be viewed at the following Web 

site(s): http://www.dfg.ca.gov/

osprispilllnrda/nrda_cosco-busan.html; 

http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/southwest/

coscolindex.html; and http:// 

www.fws.gov/contaminants/Issues/

OiISpill.cfm. 

Dated: January 11, 2010. 

David G. Westerholm, 

Director, Office of Response and Restoration, 

National Ocean Service, National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2010–1117 Filed 1–21–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3S10–JE–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[Docket No. 0907081108–91430–02] 

RIN 0648–XP68 

Listing Endangered and Threatened 

Wildlife and Designating Critical 

Habitat; 12–month Determination on 

How to Proceed with a Petition to 

Revise Designated Critical Habitat for 

Elkhorn and Staghorn Corals 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of 12–month 

determination. 

SUMMARY: We, the National Marine 

Fisheries Service (NMFS), announce our 

12–month determination on how to 

proceed with a petition to revise the 

critical habitat designation for elkhorn 

(Acropora palmata) and staghorn (A. 

cervicornis) corals pursuant to section 

4(b)(3)(D)(ii) of the Endangered Species 

Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended. Elkhorn 

and staghorn corals are listed as 

threatened throughout their ranges and 

have designated critical habitat 

consisting of substrate of suitable 

quality and availability to support 

successful larval settlement and 

recruitment, and successful 

reattachment and recruitment of asexual 

fragments in water depths shallower 

than 30 meters in four areas in Florida, 

Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

The petition seeks to extend the 

northern boundary of designated critical 

habitat in the Florida area to the Lake 

Worth Inlet, which is approximately 

15.5 miles (25 km) north of the current 

boundary at Boynton Beach Inlet, based 

on the discovery of staghorn corals 

north of the existing critical habitat 

boundary. We have evaluated the 

available scientific information and 

have decided, based on the adequacy of 

the existing, recent designation to meet 

the corals’ conservation needs, the 

relatively low benefit the requested 

revision would provide, the protections 

afforded to the species from the recent 

ESA section 4(d) regulations, and our 

need to complete higher priority 

conservation activities for these and 

other coral species, to deny the 

petitioned action. 

DATES: The finding announced in this 

document was made on January 22, 

2010. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may 

obtain more information about critical 

habitat designated for elkhorn and 

staghorn corals online at the NMFS 

Southeast Regional Office website: 

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/esa/ 

acropora.htm. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennifer Moore by phone 727–824–5312, 

fax 727–824–5309, or e-mail 

jennifer.moore@noaa.gov; or Marta 

Nammack by phone 301–713–1401 or email marta.nammack@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 6, 2009, NOAA received a 

petition from Palm Beach County Reef 

Rescue (the Petitioner) to revise the 

designated critical habitat of elkhorn 

(Acropora palmata) and staghorn (A. 

cervicornis) corals (PBCRR, 2009). On 

July 27, 2009, we issued a positive 90– 

day finding that the petition presented 

substantial scientific information 

indicating the revision may be 

warranted and initiated a 30–day 

information solicitation period (74 FR 

36995). Section 4(a)(3)(A)(i) of the ESA 

(16 U.S.C. §§ 1533 et seq.) requires 

generally that critical habitat shall be 

initially designated at the time of listing 

a species as threatened or endangered. 

The ESA also provides that NMFS may 

revise critical habitat from time-to-time 

as appropriate (section 4(a)(3)(A)(ii)). 

For any petition to revise a designated 

critical habitat that presents substantial 

scientific and commercial information, 

section 4(b)(3)(D)(ii) of the ESA 

provides only that, ‘‘the Secretary shall 

determine how he intends to proceed 

with the requested revision, and shall 

promptly publish notice of such 

intention in the Federal Register.’’ The 

statute says nothing more about options 

or considerations regarding the 

Secretary’s 12–month determination. 

We have fully considered all 

information received in response to our 

90–day finding and determined that the 

most appropriate action to take in 

response is to deny the petition. 

Background 

On November 26, 2008, we published 

a final rule designating critical habitat 

for elkhorn and staghorn corals (73 FR 

72210). On January 6, 2009, we received 

a petition from Palm Beach County Reef 

Rescue (the Petitioner) to revise elkhorn 

and staghorn corals’ critical habitat 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES