DWH NRDA Restoration - Open Ocean TIG Restoration Plan 3 and Environmental Assessment

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The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the largest maritime oil spill in U.S. history. It resulted in the discharge of millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Under the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), each party responsible for a vessel or facility from which oil is discharged, or which poses the substantial threat of a discharge, is liable for, among other things, removal costs and damages for injury to, destruction of, loss, or loss of use of natural resources, including the reasonable cost of assessing the damage. Pursuant to OPA, federal and state natural resource trustees, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and trustee agencies from the states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, were charged with assessing and restoring for injuries to affected Gulf resources.

Under a global settlement reached on April 4, 2016, the Trustees released the Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PDARP/PEIS). The settlement agreement includes a funding schedule that will extend through 2031. During this timeframe the trustees will provide many opportunities for public participation, including the opportunity to submit project ideas and proposals and to comment on draft restoration plans.

Consistent with the PDARP/PEIS, the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group has prepared the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group Draft Restoration Plan 3 and Environmental Assessment. The Draft Restoration Plan proposes projects to help restore bird species injured in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It evaluates a reasonable range of 11 project alternatives and identifies 7 preferred alternatives. The total cost to implement the preferred alternatives is approximately $25.8 million.

The preferred alternatives would:

• improve seabird nesting colonies through habitat enhancement, as well as predator and invasive species management;
• reestablish seabird colonies by attracting breeding adults to restoration sites; and
• work through collaborative partnerships to identify and implement strategies to reduce the risk of seabird bycatch. 

A No Action Alternative is also analyzed. The Open Ocean TIG invites comments on the Draft Restoration Plan.

To view fact sheets and translated documents, please go to: www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/open-ocean

Contact Information

Ashley Mills
812-756-2712