Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), New England District is conducting a feasibility study and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to examine navigation-improvements to the existing New Haven Harbor Federal Navigation project. The non-Federal sponsor for the study is the New Haven Port Authority in partnership with the Connecticut State Port Authority. Inadequate channel depths result in navigation inefficiencies in transporting goods into and out of the harbor. To reach the terminals, larger ships must lighter outside the breakwaters and/or experience delays while waiting for favorable tide conditions, or both. Deeper and wider navigation features (main channel, maneuvering area, and turning basin) are needed to increase the navigation efficiency and safety of New Haven Harbor.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has developed draft internal agency implementation guidance for the Executive Order on Floodplain Management to incorporate the new requirements of the Executive Order on Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a Process for Further Soliciting and Considering Stakeholder Input. USACE is seeking feedback from partners, other government and non-government stakeholders, Tribes, and members of the general public on the proposed draft guidance that has been developed.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is proposing to revise the existing regulations for a danger zone at the Naval Special Warfare Center (NSWC) N31 Branch within the acoustic buffer of the John C. Stennis Space Center on the East Pearl River, in Hancock County, Mississippi. The Navy requested establishment of a danger zone on waterways and tributaries of the East Pearl that are used by Naval Special Warfare units to conduct riverine training. The purpose of the proposed danger zone is to ensure public safety by restricting access within the danger zone during training events. This amendment to the existing regulation is necessary to minimizing potential conflicts between local populace activities and ongoing military training in the subject area.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), New Orleans District will be the lead agency for a draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), to be integrated with a Feasibility Report (FR), for the Bayou Lafourche and Lafourche-Jump Waterway, Louisiana Project, in Lafourche Parish. The FR and DEIS will investigate channel modification to the Bayou Lafourche Waterway up to as much as 50 feet deep. The integrated document will be prepared by the Greater Lafourche Port Commission (GLPC).

The purpose of this notice is to initiate a 45-day scoping process for preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Coachella Valley Water District's (CVWD) proposed Thousand Palms Flood Control Project.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Charleston District intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the potential social, economic, and environmental effects of the proposed construction and operation of a marine container terminal by the Jasper Ocean Terminal (JOT) Joint Venture, a partnership between the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) and the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA). In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Corps is the lead Federal agency responsible for the preparation of the EIS. Information included in the EIS will serve as the basis for the Corps' evaluation of the proposed marine container terminal pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA) and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The EIS will assess the potential effects of the proposed project and a range of reasonable project alternatives on impacts to navigable waters and other waters of the United States. The EIS will also provide information for Federal, State, and local agencies having other jurisdictional responsibility.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Fort Worth District, is issuing this notice to advise Federal, state, and local governmental agencies and the public that USACE has signed a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Remaining Balanced Vision Plan (BVP) and Interior Drainage Plan (IDP) Features Feasibility Report and Final Environmental Impact Statement, in Dallas County, TX. This ROD was rendered to declare that a USACE action, a Section 408 Permission for the City of Dallas to alter the Dallas Floodway, is in the public interest.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Sacramento District, as the lead agency under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), as the lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), will prepare a joint Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the Lower Elkhorn Setback Levee Project. DWR is the project proponent and may be referred to as the Applicant or Requester. The EIS/EIR will analyze DWR's proposed action to implement a flood risk management project in the Lower Elkhorn Basin in Yolo County, California. Because the proposed action would alter Federal levees, permission from USACE is required under Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act (Section 408) (33 U.S.C. 408). The proposed action would also affect waters of the United States and require a permit from USACE under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344).

The Department of the Army is publishing this notice to announce the following Federal advisory committee meeting of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Inland Waterways Users Board (Board). This meeting is open to the public. For additional information about the Board, please visit the committee's Web site at https:// www.iwr.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/InlandWaterways UsersBoard.aspx.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) intends to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to address the proposed Springfield Supplemental Water Supply Project (previously referred to as the Proposed Water Supply Reservoir Hunter Lake) in Sangamon County, IL. The Corps, working in conjunction with the City of Springfield, Office of Public Utilities, also known as the City Water, Light & Power (City), prepared an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 [42 U.S.C. 4321 et. seq.] that evaluated a range of alternatives to provide supplemental water supply to meet a projected deficit in water availability. A final EIS was prepared and published in November of 2000. The Final EIS (EIS No. 000402) was published in the Federal Register on November 24, 2000; however, no Record of Decision was issued. The City has conducted an updated water demand analysis that demonstrates a sustained need for additional water supply to meet current and future demands. In accordance with Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations specified in 40 CFR 1502.9, the Corps in conjunction with the City are initiating the preparation of an EIS supplement.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is publishing the names of water resources projects that have been automatically deauthorized under the provisions of Sec. 1001(a), Public Law 99-662, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 579a(a).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is publishing the names of water resources projects that have been automatically deauthorized under the provisions of Sec. 1001(b)(2), Public Law 99-662, as amended, 33 U.S.C 579a(b)(2).

The Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is beginning preparation of a National Environmental Policy Act assessment for the Western Everglades Restoration Project (WERP). The Everglades ecosystem, including Lake Okeechobee, encompasses a system of diverse wetland landscapes that are hydrologically and ecologically connected across more than 200 miles from north to south and across 18,000 square miles of southern Florida. In 2000, the U.S. Congress authorized the Federal government, in partnership with the State of Florida, to embark upon a multi-decade, multi-billion dollar Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) to further protect and restore the remaining Everglades ecosystem while providing for other water-related needs of the region. CERP involves modification of the existing network of drainage canals and levees that make up the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project. One of the next steps for implementation of CERP is to identify opportunities within the tributary areas of Water Conservation Area (WCA) 3A to restore natural areas within the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation and adjacent portions of Big Cypress National Preserve (BCNP) and the Miccosukee Indian Reservation. Encompassing approximately 440,000 acres located primarily in eastern Hendry County, WCA 3A tributary areas include the C-139, Feeder Canal and L-28 Gap Basins as well as the C-139 Annex and L-28 Interceptor. These areas are collectively called the Western Basins as they are located along the western edge of the Everglades and were historic flow ways. Both water supply and water quality of storm water runoff are challenges facing the Western Basins.

The Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is beginning preparation of a National Environmental Policy Act assessment for the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Project (LOWP). The Everglades ecosystem, including Lake Okeechobee, encompasses a system of diverse wetland landscapes that are hydrologically and ecologically connected across more than 200 miles from north to south and across 18,000 square miles of southern Florida. In 2000, the U.S. Congress authorized the Federal government, in partnership with the State of Florida, to embark upon a multi-decade, multi-billion dollar Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) to further protect and restore the remaining Everglades ecosystem while providing for other water-related needs of the region. CERP involves modification of the existing network of drainage canals and levees that make up the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project. One of the next steps for implementation of CERP is to identify opportunities to restore the quantity, quality, timing and distribution of flows into Lake Okeechobee. The LOW Project preliminary project area, where placement of features will be considered, covers a large portion of the Lake Okeechobee Watershed north of the lake. Water inflows into Lake Okeechobee greatly exceed outflow capacity, thus many times there is too much water within Lake Okeechobee that needs to be released in order to ensure integrity of the Herbert Hoover Dike. At other times, there may be too little water within Lake Okeechobee. Lake levels that are too high or too low, and inappropriate recession and ascension rates, can adversely affect native vegetation, and fish and wildlife species that depend upon the lake for foraging and reproduction. The volume and frequency of undesirable freshwater releases to the east and west lowers salinity in the estuaries, severely impacting oysters, sea grasses, and fish. Additionally, high nutrient levels adversely affect in-lake water quality, estuary habitat, and habitat throughout the Greater Everglades. The objectives of the LOW Project are to improve the quality, quantity, timing and distribution of water entering Lake Okeechobee, provide for better management of lake water levels, reduce damaging releases to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries downstream of the lake and improve system-wide operational flexibility.

Pursuant to the section 102(2) (C) of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CMNI), Municipality of Rota (Municipality)/Commonwealth Ports Authority (CPA) gives notice that an Integrated Feasibility/Environmental Impact Statement (F/EIS) report is being prepared for the Proposed Rota Harbor Modifications Project, Island of Rota, CNMI. This project is authorized under section 209 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1962 (Pub. L. 87-874) and will consider the implementation of navigation improvements at Rota Harbor.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), Wilmington District, Wilmington Regulatory Field Office has received a permit application for Department of the Army authorization, pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, from Figure Eight Beach Homeowners' Association Inc. (HOA) to install a terminal groin structure along Rich Inlet and to conduct a supplemental beach nourishment on approximately 4,500 linear feet of oceanfront beach and 1,400 linear feet of back barrier shoreline to protect residential homes and infrastructures along the central and northern sections of Figure Eight Island. The terminal groin structure will be placed perpendicular on the northern tip of the island along the shoulder of Rich Inlet; and the proposed source of the material for the nourishment will be dredged from an area within Nixon Channel, a back barrier channel, that has been previously used for past beach nourishment projects. In case the quantity of material from Nixon Channel is not sufficient, material pumped from (3) nearby upland disposal islands will be used to supplement the nourishment needs. The majority of the material will be disposed within the fillet area, or down shore, of the groin. Pending storm events and shoreline changes, proposed maintenance, or periodic nourishment, of the beach is once every five years, or potentially 6 separate events over the 30-year study period. Nixon Channel and the upland disposal islands are the proposed material sources for the periodic maintenance, or renourishment, events.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), on November 1, 2007 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Sacramento District, initiated the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process to evaluate the effects of the proposed expansion of solar evaporation ponds in the Great Salt Lake, Box Elder County, Utah and to assist the Corps in deciding whether to approve Great Salt Lake Mineral Corporation's application under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. On December 23, 2015, the applicant for the proposed project withdrew their application for a Department of the Army Permit. Therefore, the Corps is terminating the EIS process, and is issuing this Notice of Intent to withdraw the November 1, 2007 Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), in cooperation with Navajo County Flood Control District, announces the availability of a Draft Integrated Feasibility Report (Draft IFR) including Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Little Colorado River at Winslow Flood Risk Management Study, Navajo County, AZ for review and comment. The study evaluates alternatives to reduce the risk of damages and to reduce the life, safety, and health risks caused by flooding of the Little Colorado River (LCR) to the City of Winslow, surrounding community, and public and private infrastructure. A Notice of Intent to prepare the Draft EIS was published in the Federal Register on February 27, 2009 (74 FR 8918).

The Department of the Army is publishing this notice to announce the following Federal advisory committee meeting of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Inland Waterways Users Board (Board). This meeting is open to the public. For additional information about the Board, please visit the committee's Web site at https:// www.iwr.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/ InlandWaterwaysUsersBoard.aspx.

On March 17, 2014, Brookfield Sunset LLC (applicant) submitted a Department of the Army (DA) permit application for the discharge of dredged and/or fill material into waters of the United States (WOUS) associated with the construction of the proposed Amoruso Ranch project. On December 22, 2014, the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District (Corps) determined that the proposed discharge of fill material into WOUS may result in significant impacts to the environment, and that the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is necessary. A revised DA permit application was submitted by the applicant on October 30, 2014. The applicant proposes to implement a large-scale, mixed-use, mixed density, master planned community. The proposed project consists of approximately 347 acres designated for residential use that would contain 2,827 dwelling units (in a mix of low, medium and high density), 51 acres for a village center and community commercial uses, 12 acres for public/quasi-public space containing a fire station and school, 161 acres of parks and natural avoided areas of open space reserve and/or preserve, and 82 acres of associated infrastructure containing roads and other public transportation corridors. Approximately 17 acres of the adjacent Al Johnson Wildlife Area property would be used to construct a 325-foot long drainage ditch. No other off-site improvements are included in the proposed project. A segment of the future Placer Parkway would be constructed by others on 49 acres of the site and is not part of this permit application. The proposed project site is approximately 674 acres and contains approximately 38.86 acres of WOUS, including: Vernal pools; seasonal wetlands; University Creek; and, grasslands. The proposed project would involve the discharge of fill material into approximately 18.64 acres of WOUS, including vernal pools, seasonal wetlands, and open water pond. The proposed project may also result in indirect impacts to WOUS, including wetlands.

Pursuant to the requirements of section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321-4370, as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) plans to prepare a Feasibility Study with an integrated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate environmental impacts from reasonable project alternatives and to determine the potential for significant impacts related to reduce future flood risk in ways that support the long[hyphen]term resilience and sustainability of the coastal ecosystem and surrounding communities due to sea level rise, local subsidence and storms, and to reduce the economic costs and risks associated with large[hyphen]scale flood and storm events in the City of Norfolk, Virginia.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District, Regulatory Division is notifying interested parties that it has terminated the process to develop a Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and has withdrawn the Section 404 Clean Water Act permit application for the proposed `Lake Columbia Regional Water Supply Reservoir Project' submitted in 2005 by an independent governmental agency known as the Angelina & Neches River Authority (ANRA). The original Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS was published in the Federal Register on Friday, June 28, 2005 (70 FR 37094).

Pursuant to the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321-4370, as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), on behalf of the Arlington National Cemetery (ANC), plans to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) to evaluate environmental impacts from reasonable project alternatives and to determine the potential for significant impacts related to the proposed ANC Southern Expansion Project and Associated Roadway Realignment. If the ANC and the USACE determine that there is a potential for a significant environmental impact, the USACE will issue a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in the Federal Register.

The Los Angeles District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the City of Long Beach intend to prepare a draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the East San Pedro Bay Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study, Los Angeles County, California. The components of the EIS/EIR will be contained in an Integrated Feasibility Report (IFR) that also includes a Feasibility Report.

The Department of the Army is publishing this notice to announce the following Federal advisory committee meeting of the Chief of Engineers, Environmental Advisory Board (EAB). This meeting is open to the public. For additional information about the EAB, please visit the committee's Web site at https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/ Environmental/EnvironmentalAdvisoryBoard.aspx.