PUBLIC NOTICE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO, DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES and the NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ANNOUNCE ISSUANCE OF FINAL COMPENSATORY RESTORATION PLAN for the APRIL 27, 2006 T/V MARGARA INCIDENT

13 Dec PUBLIC NOTICE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO, DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES and the NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ANNOUNCE ISSUANCE OF FINAL COMPENSATORY RESTORATION PLAN for the APRIL 27, 2006 T/V MARGARA INCIDENT

Pursuant to 33 U.S.C. § 2706(c)(5) and 15 C.F.R. § 990.55(c)

Notice is hereby given that the Final “Phase II of the Comprehensive Plan for the 2006 T/V MARGARA Incident Natural Resource Damage Assessment: Compensatory Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment” (Final Compensatory RP/EA) is approved and released. This document has been prepared by the state and federal natural resource trustee agencies listed above (the “Trustees”). The T/V MARGARA Incident involved the grounding of a 228-m (748-ft) oil tanker carrying over 300,000 barrels of #6 fuel oil in coral reef habitat three miles south of Tallaboa, Puerto Rico. Response actions to the substantial threat of release of oil injured and destroyed coral species and impacted the coral reef structure and ecosystem across 6,755 m2 of coral reef habitat. The restoration actions identified in this Final Compensatory RP/EA are needed to compensate the public for lost coral reef resources at the T/V MARGARA Incident site that were not recovered during Emergency and Primary Restoration phases of the Natural Resources Damage Assessment. A copy of the Final Compensatory RP/EA may be requested by mail or email sent to:

Attn: Sean Griffin NOAA Restoration Center 260 Guard Rd. Aguadilla, PR 00603 Sean.Griffin@noaa.gov

The Final Compensatory RP/EA is also available for downloading at https://darrp.noaa.gov/ship-groundings/tv-margara.

The Trustees’ proposed plan for compensatory restoration was available for public comment beginning on October 9, 2020. The release of the draft plan and the public comment period were announced in a notice published in “Primera Hora”, a newspaper of general circulation in Puerto Rico. The notice was published in both English and Spanish. The deadline for submitting written comments on the Draft RP/EA was extended to December 14, 2020. During the public comment period, the Trustees received a total of nine submissions from private citizens, NGOs, academic institutions, and representatives of the Responsible Parties. All public comments have been included in the Administrative Record. After considering the public comments received, the Trustees revised the Draft Compensatory RP/EA to prepare this Final Compensatory RP/EA. A summary of the edits made to the Draft RP/EA, comments received, and the Trustees’ responses thereto, are included in the Final Compensatory RP/EA. Accordingly, these proposed actions are now approved and selected in the Final RP/EA.
The Final Compensatory RP/EA was developed in accordance with the Trustees’ authorities under the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), 33 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq., and other applicable federal laws. The Puerto Rico Department of Natural And Environmental Resources is also acting pursuant to Law 147 of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Margara – notice re FINAL Compensatory RPEA -03DEC 2021[15422]