Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Natural Resource Trustees to Hold Public Meetings on Gulf of Mexico Restoration Trustees announce new scoping process for early restoration GULF COAST (June 4, 2013) — The Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustees (Trustees) for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill today announced new opportunities for the public to engage in the early restoration process. In a Notice of Intent published today, the Trustees announced plans to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, or PEIS, to evaluate the potential environmental effects of general types of early restoration actions, as well as specific projects including those that the Trustees intend to propose in the Phase III Draft Early Restoration Plan as announced in the Federal Register on May 6, 2013. The PEIS also will evaluate the cumulative effects of early restoration. Early restoration was initiated by the April 2011 $1 billion Framework Agreement between the Trustees and BP. The Framework Agreement enables the Trustees to move forward in restoring the Gulf by beginning restoration projects before the completion of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill damage assessment. Development of the PEIS will begin with a public scoping period, as prescribed by the National Environmental Policy Act. The 60-day scoping period, which extends from June 4 to August 2, 2013, will include the six public meetings listed below: Houma (Thu, 7/18) Courtyard Marriott 142 Library Boulevard Houma, LA 70360 Start time: 6:30 PM Washington, D.C. (Tuesday, 7/23) U.S. Department of the Interior Main Interior Building Auditorium 1849 C St. NW Washington, D.C. 20240 Start time: 7:00 PM Pensacola (Thu, 7/25) Pensacola Bay Center 201 East Gregory Street Pensacola, FL 32502 Start time: 6:30 PM Galveston (Mon, 6/24) Texas A&M University at Galveston Seawolf Parkway on Pelican Island Class Room Lab Building (CLB 100) Auditorium (Building #3007 on campus map) Galveston, TX 77554 Start time: 6:30 PM Mobile (Thu, 6/27) The Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa Moonlight A 26 North Royal Street Mobile, AL 36602 Start time: 6:30 PM Long Beach (Tue, 7/16) University of Southern Mississippi FEC Auditorium 730 East Beach Boulevard Long Beach, MS 39560 Start time: 6:30 PM (more) The Trustees invite the public to comment on the scope, content and any other significant issues the Trustees should consider in the PEIS. The public may comment in writing either via the internet or through the U.S. Postal Service. Web: gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov Email (for electronic submission of comments containing attachments): [email protected] Mail: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 2099, Fairhope, AL 36533. All written scoping comments must be received by the close of the scoping period to be considered. A comprehensive Gulf Spill Restoration PEIS was initiated by the Trustees in February 2011 and is currently under development. The PEIS announced today is specifically and more narrowly focused on early restoration. Early restoration is not intended to, and does not fully, address all injuries caused by the spill. Restoration beyond early restoration projects will be required to fully compensate the public for natural resource losses from the spill. For updates on the restoration process as it continues to move forward, and to submit restoration project ideas for review, visit gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov. ### Media Contacts Department of the Interior: Nanciann Regalado, 678.296.6805, [email protected] NOAA: Tim Zink, 206.402.2059, [email protected] U.S. Department of Agriculture: Jody Holzworth, 202.720.3210, [email protected] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Stacy Kika, 202.564.0906, [email protected] Alabama: Patti Powell, 334.242.3484, [email protected] Florida: Kendra Parson, 850.245.2197, [email protected] Louisiana: Jenny Kurz, 225.610.9737, [email protected] Mississippi: Donna Lum, 601.948.3071, donna.lum@neel-schaffer Texas: Tom Harvey, 512.389.4453, [email protected] LaKeshia Robertson U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Gulf of Mexico Program Building 1100, Room 232 Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 (P) 228-688-1712 (F) 228-688-2709 [email protected]
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:28:43 +0000
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