Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Coos Bay Channel Modification Project, 39417-39418 [2017-17483]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
• Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 159 (Friday, August 18, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39417-39418]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17483]



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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE



Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers




Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the 

Coos Bay Channel Modification Project



AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.



ACTION: Notice of intent.



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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District intends to 

prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the 

potential environmental effects of approving the Oregon International 

Port of Coos Bay's (OIPCB) proposed Coos Bay Channel Modification 

Project. The OIPCB proposes to widen and deepen the Coos Bay Federal 

Navigation Project from the ocean to river mile (RM) 8.2 to improve 

navigation efficiency, reduce shipping transportation costs and 

facilitate the shipping industry's transition to larger, more efficient 

vessels.



DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit written comments on or 

before October 3, 2017.



ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

Portland District (PM-E), P.O. Box 2946, Portland, OR 97208-2946, or at 

the project Web site: https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/coast/coos-bay/channel-modification. All comments should include ``Coos Bay Channel 

Modification Project EIS'' in the subject line.



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action 

and draft EIS can be addressed to: Dr. Ann Hodgson, by mail, telephone 

(503) 808-4663, or by email at coosbaychannelmodEIS@usace.army.mil.



SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 1. Previous Withdrawn Action. The Corps 

published a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS and Feasibility Study 

for a previous proposal to modify the Coos Bay Federal Navigation 

Project on January 11, 2008 (73 FR 2013). The channel modification 

described in 2008 was proposed under the authority of Section 203 of 

the Water Resources Development Act of 1986; however, the proposal was 

withdrawn and a draft EIS was not prepared.

    2. Proposed Action. The OIPCB is requesting approval to construct 

the Coos Bay Channel Modification Project. If approved, the OIPCB would 

construct the project without any federal cost sharing (i.e., the OIPCB 

would pay 100 percent of the cost of construction). The proposed 

project requires Department of the Army authorization under: Section 

204 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, as amended (33 

U.S.C. 2232); Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 

U.S.C. 408, commonly referred to as Section 408), Section 10 of the 

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403); Section 404 of the 

Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344); and Section 103 of the Marine 

Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, as amended (33 

U.S.C. 1413).

    Section 204 authorizes the Secretary of the Army, acting through 

the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, to grant approval 

to non-federal entities to design and construct improvements to Corps 

navigation projects. This section also provides that the Secretary 

shall be responsible for the operation and maintenance of those 

improvements if the Secretary determines the improvements are 

economically justified, environmentally acceptable and certifies the 

project was constructed in accordance with applicable permits and 

engineering and design standards.

    Section 408 authorizes the Secretary of the Army, acting through 

the Chief of Engineers, to grant permission for the alteration or 

occupation or use of Corps Civil Works projects (e.g., a federal 

navigation project) if the Secretary determines that the activity will 

not be injurious to the public interest and will not impair the 

usefulness of the project.

    Section 10, Section 404, and Section 103 authorizes the Secretary 

of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to issue permits to 

authorize work in navigable waters of the U.S., to authorize the 

discharge of dredged of fill material into waters of the U.S., and to 

authorize the transport of dredged material for the purpose of dumping 

it into ocean waters, respectively.

    The Corps, as the lead agency for compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), has determined the above-listed 

actions require the preparation of an EIS. The following state and 

federal agencies may participate as cooperating agencies for the 

preparation of the EIS: The Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Coast 

Guard, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of 

Land Conservation and Development, Oregon Department of Environmental 

Quality. In addition, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower 

Umpqua, and Siuslaw, Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians, and the 

Coquille Indian Tribe may participate as cooperating entities on the 

preparation of the EIS.

    3. Project Site and Background. The project site is in Coos Bay, 

located on the southern coast of Oregon. The Coos Bay Federal 

Navigation Project was originally authorized by the Rivers and Harbors 

Act of March 1879. The Coos Bay Federal Navigation Project includes two 

entrance jetties, the two navigation channels, two turning basins, and 

pile dikes. The current channel configuration from the ocean entrance 

to the navigation channel is -47 feet deep, the channel transitions to 

-37 feet deep between RM 0 to RM 1, then maintains -37 feet deep from 

RM 1 to RM 15.0. The main channel has a nominal width of 300 feet wide 

from the ocean inlet to RM 9.2. At RM 9.2, the channel widens to 400 

feet and continues at that width to RM 15.0; from RM 15.0 through RM 

17.0, the channel decreases to -22 feet deep and 150 feet wide. 

Advanced



[[Page 39418]]



maintenance dredging and allowable overdepth dredging (standard 

practice on deep draft navigation channels) results in a depth 

approximately five feet deeper than the authorized depth. The secondary 

channel, known as the Charleston Channel, is not included in the 

proposed project.

    4. Project Description. The OIPCB proposes to deepen and widen the 

navigation channel from the ocean to approximately RM 8.2. The project 

would require the dredging and disposal of approximately 18 million 

cubic yards of material (sand and rock) to deepen and widen the 

navigation channel. The proposed navigation channel configuration would 

be -45 feet deep with a nominal width of 450 feet wide. The entrance to 

the navigation channel at the ocean would have a nominal width of 1,280 

feet and an authorized depth of 57 feet MLLW at its offshore entrance. 

The channel width would transition to a width of 450 feet at RM 1; this 

narrowing is continuous from the offshore entrance until RM 1. Upstream 

of RM 1, the proposed channel would have a nominal width of 450 feet 

and an authorized depth of 45 feet MLLW. The proposed project design 

would also accommodate advance maintenance dredging and allowable 

overdepth dredging of approximately five feet deeper than the proposed 

depths. The modified channel would have a vessel-turning basin 

extending from RM 7.3 to RM 7.8. At its full width, the proposed 

vessel-turning basin is 1,400-feet-long and 1,100-feet-wide, with an 

authorized depth of 37 feet MLLW. The portion of the channel that 

intersects this turning basin will have an authorized depth of 45 feet 

MLLW. The Port proposes to dispose of this dredged material at a newly 

proposed Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site located approximately two 

miles offshore of the navigation channel entrance. The proposed 

disposal site would have an area of approximately 1,850 acres in water 

depths ranging from -140 to -320 feet deep. The channel modification 

project would include improvements to the North Jetty to alleviate 

impacts from the entrance channel widening, deepening, and lengthening, 

and to retard erosion at Log-Spiral Bay, by placing rock at the jetty 

toe and by increasing the size of the rock along the jetty head. The 

channel modification would also include the relocation and expansion of 

aids to navigation by relocating and installing new fixed and floating 

channel and range markers. The Corps will be responsible for the 

operation and maintenance of these improvements if the Secretary 

determines the improvements are economically justified, environmentally 

acceptable and certifies the project was constructed in accordance with 

applicable permits and engineering and design standards.

    5. Alternatives. The draft EIS will evaluate a range of reasonable 

alternatives. Alternatives may include, but are not limited to, no 

action, alternative channel widths and depths, and alternative dredged 

material disposal locations.

    6. Other Environmental Reviews and Consultations. Other 

environmental reviews and consultations for the proposed project may 

include, but is not limited to, Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, 

Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, Section 305 of the Magnuson-

Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, Section 307 of the 

Coastal Zone Management Act, and Section 106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act.

    7. Scoping Process and Public Comments. The Corps will conduct 

public scoping (40 CFR 1501.7) to determine the scope of issues (40 CFR 

1508.25) to be addressed in the draft EIS and to identify the 

significant issues related to the proposed project. All interested 

parties including individuals; organizations; local, state, and federal 

agencies; and tribes and tribal governments are invited to participate 

in the scoping process for the draft EIS, which will analyze numerous 

issues in depth. These issues include, but are not limited to: 

Navigation, socioeconomics, fish and wildlife, water quality, safety, 

shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, and cultural and historic 

resources. Scoping comments also will be used to develop possible 

project alternatives. Additional project information is available 

online at: www.nwp.usace.army.mil/coast/coos-bay/channel-modification. 

All parties are invited to participate in the scoping process to 

determine the range of issues and alternatives to be addressed. A 

public scoping meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 13, 2017, 

from 3-7:30 p.m. at the Coos Bay Public Library, 525 Anderson Ave., 

Coos Bay, OR 97420. The Corps expects the Draft EIS to be made 

available to the public in March 2018.



John D. Cunningham,

Major, Corps of Engineers Deputy District Commander.

[FR Doc. 2017-17483 Filed 8-17-17; 8:45 am]

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