Refugio Beach Oil Spill Final Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment (DARP/EA)

Refugio Beach Oil Spill Final Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment (DARP/EA)

In accordance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) regulations (See 33 U.S.C. Section 2706(e) and 15 CFR Part 990), the Natural Resource Trustees prepared the DARP/EA to inform the public about the natural resource damage assessment and restoration planning to restore natural resources injured by the 2015 Refugio Beach Oil Spill. The DARP/EA describes the preferred restoration alternatives to restore injured resources including shoreline habitats, fish and subtidal habitats, seabirds, marine mammals, and compensate for impacts to human use. The restoration alternatives include sandy beach and rocky intertidal projects (Ellwood Seawall removal - City of Goleta; black abalone enhancement - Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County; and restore degraded sand dune habitats near Oxnard in Ventura County and Santa Monica in Los Angeles County); fish and subtidal projects (restore abalone populations in Marine Protected Areas in Santa Barbara County; restore eelgrass beds in or around Refugio cove; restore sand-dwelling kelp offshore of Goleta Beach); seabird projects (restore brown pelican nesting colonies on Anacapa Island through invasive plant removal; outreach and education to reduce seabird injuries from fishing hook and line injuries in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles Counties; protect western snowy plover breeding colony at Coal Oil Point Reserve); marine mammal projects (augment stranding cleanup and treatment capability of an existing local wildlife care facility in Santa Barbara or Ventura County: augment an existing program to disentangle cetaceans in areas off southern California coast); recreation projects (the DARP/EA addresses the funding allocation for human use projects and the processes for project selection - State Parks to select projects to benefit recreational activities associated with State Parks’ units from Gaviota to El Capitan State Beach; State Trustees to administer South Coast Shoreline Parks and Outdoor Recreation Grants Program to fund projects that benefit recreational activities down coast of El Capitan State Beach; Regents of the University of California to fund projects benefitting research, education, and outreach at Coal Oil Point Reserve.)

Gaviota, Goleta, Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica

Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Ventura

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Coastal Commission (CCC), California Department of Conservation (DOC), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marin Region 7 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, South Coast Region 5 (CDFW), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Transportation, District 5 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 7 (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Fish and Game Commission (CDFGC), California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Natural Resources Agency, California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Coast Region 3 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region 4 (RWQCB), California State Lands Commission (SLC), Department of Toxic Substances Control, Office of Historic Preservation, Santa Monica Bay Restoration, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality

Other (Environmental Restoration projects)

Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment

Aesthetics, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Coastal Zone, Cumulative Effects, Economics/Jobs, Geology/Soils, Land Use/Planning, Noise, Public Services, Recreation, Vegetation, Archeological/Historical, Soil Erosion/Compaction/Grading, Toxic/Hazardous, Water Quality