DWH NRDA Restoration - Texas TIG Draft Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment #2: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats; Nutrient Reduction; Oysters; Sea Turtles; and Birds

Federal Agencies - other than NPS » DWH NRDA Restoration - Texas TIG Draft Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment #2: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats; Nutrient Reduction; Oysters; Sea Turtles; and Birds » Document List

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 Texas Trustee Implementation Group has prepared a Draft Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment #2: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats; Nutrient Reduction; Oysters; Sea Turtles; and Birds. The draft plan includes 13 projects including:
• Four Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitat projects
• Two Nutrient Reduction projects
• One Oyster restoration project
• Two Sea Turtles projects
• Four Bird projects

The total estimated cost for the 13 proposed projects is approximately $39 million.