Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the West Shore-Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction Feasibility Study, 74150-74152 [E8-28823]
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74150
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 235 / Friday, December 5, 2008 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; Corps of
Engineers
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Joint
Environmental Impact Statement for
Commercial Dredging of Construction
Aggregate From the Missouri River in
Missouri and Kansas
dwashington3 on PROD1PC60 with NOTICES
AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (COE) is preparing an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
to analyze the direct, indirect, and
cumulative effects of continued
commercial dredging of sand and gravel
from the Missouri River in Missouri and
Kansas. The proposed dredging will
occur in a navigable waterway and the
portion of dredged material that is too
coarse or too fine to be used will be
discharged back into the river, thereby
requiring Department of the Army (DA)
authorization under Section 10 of the
River and Harbors Act and Section 404
of the Clean Water Act. Commercial
dredging in the Missouri River has been
ongoing for more than 50 years but has
increased from approximately 1.3
million tons per year in 1974 to
approximately 8 million tons in 2006.
The current DA permits for six Missouri
River commercial dredging operations
will expire December 31, 2009 and
those six operations and four proposed
operations have applied for new DA
permits to dredge up to 12.435 million
tons per year beginning in 2010.
DATES: Scoping meetings will be held:
1. January 6, 2009, 4 to 8 p.m.,
Jefferson City, Missouri.
2. January 7, 2009, 4 to 8 p.m.,
Cottleville, Missouri (St. Louis area).
3. January 8, 2009, 4 to 8 p.m., Kansas
City, Missouri.
ADDRESSES: The scoping meeting
locations are:
1. January 6, 2009 in the Art Gallery
at the Missouri River Regional Library,
214 Adams Street, Jefferson City,
Missouri.
2. January 7, 2009 in the auditorium
at the St. Charles Community College,
4601 Mid Rivers Mall Drive, Cottleville,
Missouri.
3. January 8, 2009 in the Lobby
Courtyard at the KCI-Expo Center,
11730 N. Ambassador Dr., Kansas City,
Missouri.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions and comments regarding the
proposed action and EIS should be
addressed to Mr. Cody S. Wheeler,
Regulatory Project Manager, U.S. Army
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15:27 Dec 04, 2008
Jkt 217001
Corps of Engineers, 601 East 12th Street,
Room 706, Kansas City, MO 64106;
(816) 389–3739;
cody.s.wheeler@usace.army.mil. For
special needs (visual or hearing
impaired, Spanish translation, etc.)
requests during the scoping meetings,
please call Cody Wheeler by December
22, 2008.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The COE
will be conducting public scoping
meetings at three locations (see DATES
and ADDRESSES) to describe the
proposed activity, preliminary
alternatives, the NEPA compliance
process, and to solicit input on the
issues and alternatives to be evaluated
and other related matters. Written
comments for scoping will be accepted
until February 10, 2009. The COE has
prepared a scoping announcement to
familiarize agencies, the public and
interested organizations with the
proposed Project and potential
environmental issues that may be
involved. The scoping announcement
includes a list of the dredgers’ requested
annual extraction tonnage and the
requested dredging reaches. Copies of
the scoping announcement will be
available at the public scoping meetings
or can be requested by mail.
The applicants include the following
currently authorized dredgers: Holliday
Sand and Gravel Company (St. Joseph
and Kansas City, Missouri); Con-Agg of
MO, LLC (Columbia, Missouri); Capital
Sand Company, Inc. (Jefferson City,
Missouri); Hermann Sand & Gravel, Inc.
(Hermann, Missouri); J.T.R. Inc (Jotori
Dredging, St. Louis, Missouri); and
Limited Leasing Company (formerly St.
Charles Sand Company, St. Louis,
Missouri). Applicants not currently
authorized to dredge include The
Master’s Dredging Company, Inc.
(Kansas City, Missouri); Kaw Valley
Sand and Gravel, Inc. (Kansas City,
Missouri); Muenks Brothers Quarries,
Inc. (Loose Creek, Missouri); and
Edward N. Rau Contractor Company
(Washington, Missouri). The final EIS
will also apply to future applications for
similar dredging operations on the
Missouri River in Missouri and Kansas.
The COE has documented significant
degradation or down-cutting of the river
bed in areas where dredging has been
concentrated. Bed degradation may
disable water intake structures, initiate
tributary head cuts, promote bank and
levee instability, undermine pipelines
and bridge piers, increase encroachment
of the high bank, eliminate aquatic
habitat and create navigation hazards.
Some of these effects have already been
observed in some areas. Reaches that are
not obviously affected may have
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
structures vulnerable to failure during
floods or other catastrophic events.
The EIS will be prepared according to
the COE’s procedures for implementing
the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1969, as amended, 42 U.S.C.
4332(2)(c), and consistent with the
COE’s policy to facilitate public
understanding and review of agency
proposals. As part of the EIS process, a
full range of reasonable alternatives
including the proposed dredging and no
dredging will be evaluated.
The COE has invited the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S.
Geologic Survey, the Missouri
Department of Natural Resources, the
Missouri Department of Conservation,
the Kansas Department of Health and
Environment, the Kansas Department of
Wildlife and Parks, and the Kansas
Geologic Survey to be contributing
agencies in the formulation of the EIS.
Dated: November 26, 2008.
Cody S. Wheeler,
Regulatory Project Manager, Regulatory
Branch.
[FR Doc. E8–28826 Filed 12–4–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720–58–P
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; Corps of
Engineers
Intent To Prepare a Draft
Environmental Impact Statement for
the West Shore-Lake Pontchartrain,
Louisiana, Hurricane and Storm
Damage Risk Reduction Feasibility
Study
AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
SUMMARY: This notice of intent (NOI)
supersedes the NOI published in the
Federal Register June 23, 1998 (63 FR
34151). The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, New Orleans District
(USACE) intends to prepare an
environmental impact statement (EIS)
for the West Shore-Lake Pontchartrain,
Louisiana, Hurricane and Storm Damage
Risk Reduction Feasibility Study. This
study will determine the feasibility and
assess the environmental impacts of
providing hurricane and storm damage
risk reduction measures in the study
area. The study area is bounded by the
Bonnet Carre Spillway to the east, the
Mississippi River to the south, Lakes
Pontchartrain and Maurepas to the
north, and St. James Parish/Ascension
Parish line to the west.
E:\FR\FM\05DEN1.SGM
05DEN1
dwashington3 on PROD1PC60 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 235 / Friday, December 5, 2008 / Notices
DATES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section for scoping meeting dates.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions regarding the feasibility study
should be directed to Mr. Durund Elzey,
Sr., CEMVN–PM–W, P.O. Box 60267,
New Orleans, LA, 70160–0267;
telephone: (504) 862–1674; fax: (504)
862–2089; or by e-mail at:
durund.elzey@usace.army.mil.
Questions regarding the EIS should be
directed to Dr. William P. Klein, Jr.,
CEMVN–PD–RS, P.O. Box 60267, New
Orleans, LA, 70160–0267; telephone:
(504) 862–2540; fax: (504) 862–1583; or
by e-mail at:
william.p.klein.jr@usace.army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Authority. This study is authorized
by a resolution adopted on July 29,
1971, by the Committee on Public
Works of the U.S. House of
Representatives; and by a resolution
adopted on September 20, 1974, by the
Committee on Public Works of the U.S.
Senate.
2. Background. On June 23, 1998, a
NOI was published in the Federal
Register (63 FR 34151) for preparing an
EIS for the West Shore-Lake
Pontchartrain, LA, Hurricane Protection
Feasibility Study. Concurrently, the
USACE and the project sponsor, the
Pontchartrain Levee District (PLD),
began evaluating various potential
measures to reduce the risk of
hurricane-induced flooding in the study
area. In 2001, USACE advanced the
study to a point where a federallypreferred alternative was tentatively
identified. Discussions between USACE,
PLD, and St. John the Baptist Parish
from 2001 to 2003 evaluated the
technical and environmental merits of
this and other alternatives. Although
USACE, PLD, and St. John the Baptist
Parish agreed on the importance of
providing protection for the area, a
consensus could not be reached on how
this objective should be achieved at that
time. In 2006 and 2007 USACE and PLD
renewed their discussion of providing
hurricane and storm damage reduction
measures in light of the critical lessons
learned following Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita. These discussions led to an
agreement between USACE and PLD to
re-initiate and complete the feasibility
study and prepare a Feasibility Report
and EIS for the project.
3. Proposed Action. The USACE
proposes to investigate the feasibility of
providing hurricane and storm damage
risk reduction to residents living in the
area west of the Bonnet Carre Spillway
between the Mississippi River and
Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas. The
study area is located on the east bank of
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:27 Dec 04, 2008
Jkt 217001
the Mississippi River and includes
portions of St. Charles, St. John the
Baptist, and St. James Parishes.
Feasibility study evaluations performed
since 1998 have identified four
preliminary levee alignments. In
general, each preliminary levee
alignment system would extend
protection from the west guide levee of
the Bonnet Carre Spillway to the
vicinity of the Hope Canal. One
preliminary alignment would extend the
levee into Ascension Parish to tie into
an existing non-federal levee. The EIS
will document the process of identifying
and assessing the environmental
impacts of the proposed action and
reasonable alternatives, including the
identification of measures that would
avoid or minimize adverse effects on the
quality of the natural and human
environment. Specifically, the EIS will
analyze the potential direct, indirect,
and cumulative impacts of providing
hurricane and storm damage risk
reduction for portions of St. John the
Baptist, St. James, and St. Charles
Parishes. The Draft EIS will consider
reasonable alternatives for providing
hurricane and storm damage risk
reduction, including alternatives
developed under previous efforts, as
well other recommendations from the
public and interested parties.
4. Public Involvement. Public
involvement, an essential part of the EIS
process, is integral to assessing the
environmental consequences of the
proposed action and improving the
quality of the environmental decision
making. The public includes affected
and interested Federal, state, and local
agencies, Indian tribes, concerned
citizens, stakeholders, and other
interested parties. Public participation
in the EIS process will be strongly
encouraged, both formally and
informally, to enhance the probability of
a more technically accurate,
economically feasible, and socially and
politically acceptable EIS. Public
involvement will include but is not
limited to: information dissemination;
identification of problems, needs and
opportunities; idea generation; public
education; problem solving; providing
feedback on proposals; evaluation of
alternatives; conflict resolution by
consensus; public and scoping notices
and meetings; public, stakeholder and
advisory groups consultation and
meetings; and making the EIS and
supporting information readily available
in conveniently located places, such as
libraries and on the internet.
5. Scoping. Scoping, an early and
open process for identifying the scope of
significant issues related to the
proposed action to be addressed in the
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
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74151
EIS, will be used to: (a) Identify the
affected public and agency concerns; (b)
facilitate an efficient EIS preparation
process; (c) define the issues and
alternatives that will be examined in
detail in the EIS; and (d) save time in
the overall process by helping to ensure
that the draft EIS adequately addresses
relevant issues. A public scoping
meeting will be held on Wednesday
January 21, 2009, from 6 p.m. until 9
p.m. in LaPlace, LA. Announcements
through local media as well as a scoping
meeting public notice announcing the
locations, dates and times of the scoping
meeting will be mailed to all interested
parties in December 2008. Interested
parties are encouraged to express their
views throughout the entire study
process. Scoping comments will be
welcomed at the public scoping
meeting. In addition, written comments
will also be accepted during the scoping
comment period which will extend 30
days from the date of the scoping
meeting public notice.
6. Interagency Coordination and
Cooperation. The USACE and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
have formally committed to work
together to conserve, protect, and restore
fish and wildlife resources while
ensuring environmental sustainability of
our Nation’s water resources under the
January 22, 2003, Partnership
Agreement for Water Resources and
Fish and Wildlife. The USFWS will
provide a Fish and Wildlife
Coordination Act Report. Coordination
will be maintained with the USFWS and
the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) regarding threatened and
endangered species under their
respective jurisdictional
responsibilities. Coordination will be
maintained with the NMFS regarding
Essential Fish Habitat. Coordination
will be maintained with the Natural
Resources Conservation Service
regarding prime and unique farmlands.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will
be consulted regarding the
‘‘Swampbuster’’ provisions of the Food
Security Act. Coordination will be
maintained with the Advisory Counsel
on Historic Preservation and the State
Historic Preservation Officer. The
Louisiana Department of Natural
Resources will be consulted regarding
consistency with the Coastal Zone
Management Act. The Louisiana
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
will be consulted concerning potential
impacts to Natural and Scenic Streams.
Coordination will be maintained with
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency concerning compliance with
Executive Order 12898, ‘‘Federal Action
E:\FR\FM\05DEN1.SGM
05DEN1
74152
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 235 / Friday, December 5, 2008 / Notices
to Address Environmental Justice in
Minority Populations and Low-Income
Populations.’’
7. Availability of EIS. It is anticipated
that the draft EIS will be available for
public review during the spring of 2010.
The draft EIS or a notice of availability
will be provided during the 45-day
review period to affected Federal, state
and local agencies, Indian tribes, and
other interested parties.
Dated: November 26, 2008.
Mark D. Jernigan,
Major (P), U.S. Army, Deputy District
Commander.
[FR Doc. E8–28823 Filed 12–4–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720–58–P
DENALI COMMISSION
Fiscal Year 2009 Draft Work Plan
dwashington3 on PROD1PC60 with NOTICES
AGENCY: Denali Commission.
ACTION: Denali Commission Fiscal Year
2009 Draft Work Plan request for
comments.
SUMMARY: The Denali Commission
(Commission) is an independent Federal
agency based on an innovative federalstate partnership designed to provide
critical utilities, infrastructure and
support for economic development and
training in Alaska by delivering federal
services in the most cost-effective
manner possible. The Commission was
created in 1998 with passage of the
October 21, 1998 Denali Commission
Act (Act) (Title III of Pub. L. 105–277,
42 U.S.C. 3121). The Denali
Commission Act requires that the
Commission develop proposed work
plans for future spending and that the
annual Work Plan be published in the
Federal Register, providing an
opportunity for a 30-day period of
public review and written comment.
This Federal Register notice serves to
announce the 30-day opportunity for
public comment on the Denali
Commission Draft Work Plan for Federal
Fiscal Year 2009.
DATES: Comments and related material
must be received by January 15, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments to the
Denali Commission, Attention: Tessa
Rinner, 510 L Street, Suite 410,
Anchorage, AK 99501.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Tessa Rinner, Denali Commission, 510 L
Street, Suite 410, Anchorage, AK 99501.
Telephone: (907) 271–1414. E-mail:
trinner@denali.gov.
Introduction: Rural Alaska is an
American treasure. Scattered across vast
tundra, tucked away along rugged
coastlines and forests and deep within
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15:27 Dec 04, 2008
Jkt 217001
Alaska’s Interior, people living in over
300 communities raise families, educate
their children, and work to provide
opportunities for all. Alaska Native
people rely heavily on subsistence
hunting, fishing and gathering as a
central part of both culture and
economic sustenance. Values of sharing,
love of family and country and
traditional cultures run deep.
Rural Alaska still resembles the
United States at the time of Lewis &
Clark. Major rivers are undammed,
unbridged and lack even basic
navigational aids. Many health and
social indicators still resemble those in
developing countries.
No where else in our country can
people live amidst wilderness, largely
disconnected from highway and road
connections and from regional power
grids. Here, resilience and innovation
are required both to survive and thrive.
Reliance on air and river transportation
is essential for everyday living. And
where else in the country would
women, in their third trimester of
pregnancy, be required to fly into a
regional center and wait to have their
babies safely delivered, given the lack of
local medical facilities?
The Denali Commission has now
invested nearly a billion dollars in ten
years on basic infrastructure projects at
the local level. We know lives have been
improved through greater access to
primary health care, through safe and
reliable energy projects, through job
training programs, sanitation and
landfill improvements and basic surface
and water transportation improvements.
We know the taxpayer benefits from an
emphasis on coordinating the planning,
construction and delivery of capital
projects and through a focus on
sustainability.
We see innovation everywhere. The
regional corporations formed by the
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act,
for example, are becoming economic
powerhouses in their own rights. Major
investments in private-sector anchors in
each region complement the
Commission’s work in basic community
infrastructure. Many regional non-profit
corporations provide an array of
effective health and social services. The
Alaska Marketplace competition, now in
its fourth year, proves again that local
people have great ideas and with a small
infusion of capital and technical
assistance, have real potential for
making positive and lasting change. The
Community Development Quota
program, for example, offers
opportunities for residents in over 60
coastal communities to benefit directly
from offshore fishing revenues.
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
We are buoyed by the sense of
progress over the last ten years, at the
resurgence of traditional culture, by the
progress in celebrating diversity at all
levels and by the awareness among
leaders to reduce dependency on
government and eliminate social ills
that seem to come with long winters and
isolation found in northern countries.
We take delight in working with many
progressive and innovative partners,
grant recipients and local champions
whose leadership and inspiration is
critical for village survivability.
We are alarmed, however, at the
recent convergence of several issues
which threaten the survival of many
Alaskan communities and provide
urgent impetus for the Commission to
improve our investment strategies.
These issues include the impacts of
climate change, unpredictable and
unaffordable energy costs at the village
level, the expectation of declining
federal revenues to support rural
investment in Alaska, evidence of outmigration from many small
communities into larger regional centers
and urban areas such as Anchorage, and
the urgent need to find regional and
systemic solutions to bolster long-term
community viability. The global
financial crisis will also strain an
already thin social service delivery
system and bring other consequences
yet unseen.
The following are some of the critical
issues which frame the debate over the
Denali Commission’s FY09 Work Plan:
Climate Change
Evidence is now overwhelming that
climate change is impacting Alaska and
the north faster than elsewhere in the
nation. Temperatures have been rising,
plant and animal species have been
moving north, and permafrost is
melting, resulting in major challenges
for all infrastructure programs. Denali
Commission funded wind turbines for
example, are major engineering
challenges for successfully placing a
vertical wind tower in a permafrost
setting. The Denali Commission is
committed to participating fully with
the State of Alaska, the U.S. Corps of
Engineers and other partners in a
coordinated approach to policy
formulation and the execution of
adaptation measures for climate change.
The most immediate challenge is the
urgent need to protect and relocate
many coastal communities impacted by
the lack of sea ice, the repetition of
major storm events, flooding and
erosion of coastlines. While Congress
provides no funds to the Commission to
support relocation efforts, we coordinate
closely with other agencies and tribes.
E:\FR\FM\05DEN1.SGM
05DEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 235 (Friday, December 5, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74150-74152]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-28823]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers
Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the
West Shore-Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, Hurricane and Storm Damage
Risk Reduction Feasibility Study
AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice of intent (NOI) supersedes the NOI published in
the Federal Register June 23, 1998 (63 FR 34151). The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, New Orleans District (USACE) intends to prepare an
environmental impact statement (EIS) for the West Shore-Lake
Pontchartrain, Louisiana, Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction
Feasibility Study. This study will determine the feasibility and assess
the environmental impacts of providing hurricane and storm damage risk
reduction measures in the study area. The study area is bounded by the
Bonnet Carre Spillway to the east, the Mississippi River to the south,
Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas to the north, and St. James Parish/
Ascension Parish line to the west.
[[Page 74151]]
DATES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for scoping meeting dates.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding the feasibility
study should be directed to Mr. Durund Elzey, Sr., CEMVN-PM-W, P.O. Box
60267, New Orleans, LA, 70160-0267; telephone: (504) 862-1674; fax:
(504) 862-2089; or by e-mail at: durund.elzey@usace.army.mil. Questions
regarding the EIS should be directed to Dr. William P. Klein, Jr.,
CEMVN-PD-RS, P.O. Box 60267, New Orleans, LA, 70160-0267; telephone:
(504) 862-2540; fax: (504) 862-1583; or by e-mail at:
william.p.klein.jr@usace.army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Authority. This study is authorized by a resolution adopted on
July 29, 1971, by the Committee on Public Works of the U.S. House of
Representatives; and by a resolution adopted on September 20, 1974, by
the Committee on Public Works of the U.S. Senate.
2. Background. On June 23, 1998, a NOI was published in the Federal
Register (63 FR 34151) for preparing an EIS for the West Shore-Lake
Pontchartrain, LA, Hurricane Protection Feasibility Study.
Concurrently, the USACE and the project sponsor, the Pontchartrain
Levee District (PLD), began evaluating various potential measures to
reduce the risk of hurricane-induced flooding in the study area. In
2001, USACE advanced the study to a point where a federally-preferred
alternative was tentatively identified. Discussions between USACE, PLD,
and St. John the Baptist Parish from 2001 to 2003 evaluated the
technical and environmental merits of this and other alternatives.
Although USACE, PLD, and St. John the Baptist Parish agreed on the
importance of providing protection for the area, a consensus could not
be reached on how this objective should be achieved at that time. In
2006 and 2007 USACE and PLD renewed their discussion of providing
hurricane and storm damage reduction measures in light of the critical
lessons learned following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. These
discussions led to an agreement between USACE and PLD to re-initiate
and complete the feasibility study and prepare a Feasibility Report and
EIS for the project.
3. Proposed Action. The USACE proposes to investigate the
feasibility of providing hurricane and storm damage risk reduction to
residents living in the area west of the Bonnet Carre Spillway between
the Mississippi River and Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas. The study
area is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River and includes
portions of St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. James Parishes.
Feasibility study evaluations performed since 1998 have identified four
preliminary levee alignments. In general, each preliminary levee
alignment system would extend protection from the west guide levee of
the Bonnet Carre Spillway to the vicinity of the Hope Canal. One
preliminary alignment would extend the levee into Ascension Parish to
tie into an existing non-federal levee. The EIS will document the
process of identifying and assessing the environmental impacts of the
proposed action and reasonable alternatives, including the
identification of measures that would avoid or minimize adverse effects
on the quality of the natural and human environment. Specifically, the
EIS will analyze the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts
of providing hurricane and storm damage risk reduction for portions of
St. John the Baptist, St. James, and St. Charles Parishes. The Draft
EIS will consider reasonable alternatives for providing hurricane and
storm damage risk reduction, including alternatives developed under
previous efforts, as well other recommendations from the public and
interested parties.
4. Public Involvement. Public involvement, an essential part of the
EIS process, is integral to assessing the environmental consequences of
the proposed action and improving the quality of the environmental
decision making. The public includes affected and interested Federal,
state, and local agencies, Indian tribes, concerned citizens,
stakeholders, and other interested parties. Public participation in the
EIS process will be strongly encouraged, both formally and informally,
to enhance the probability of a more technically accurate, economically
feasible, and socially and politically acceptable EIS. Public
involvement will include but is not limited to: information
dissemination; identification of problems, needs and opportunities;
idea generation; public education; problem solving; providing feedback
on proposals; evaluation of alternatives; conflict resolution by
consensus; public and scoping notices and meetings; public, stakeholder
and advisory groups consultation and meetings; and making the EIS and
supporting information readily available in conveniently located
places, such as libraries and on the internet.
5. Scoping. Scoping, an early and open process for identifying the
scope of significant issues related to the proposed action to be
addressed in the EIS, will be used to: (a) Identify the affected public
and agency concerns; (b) facilitate an efficient EIS preparation
process; (c) define the issues and alternatives that will be examined
in detail in the EIS; and (d) save time in the overall process by
helping to ensure that the draft EIS adequately addresses relevant
issues. A public scoping meeting will be held on Wednesday January 21,
2009, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. in LaPlace, LA. Announcements through
local media as well as a scoping meeting public notice announcing the
locations, dates and times of the scoping meeting will be mailed to all
interested parties in December 2008. Interested parties are encouraged
to express their views throughout the entire study process. Scoping
comments will be welcomed at the public scoping meeting. In addition,
written comments will also be accepted during the scoping comment
period which will extend 30 days from the date of the scoping meeting
public notice.
6. Interagency Coordination and Cooperation. The USACE and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have formally committed to work
together to conserve, protect, and restore fish and wildlife resources
while ensuring environmental sustainability of our Nation's water
resources under the January 22, 2003, Partnership Agreement for Water
Resources and Fish and Wildlife. The USFWS will provide a Fish and
Wildlife Coordination Act Report. Coordination will be maintained with
the USFWS and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) regarding
threatened and endangered species under their respective jurisdictional
responsibilities. Coordination will be maintained with the NMFS
regarding Essential Fish Habitat. Coordination will be maintained with
the Natural Resources Conservation Service regarding prime and unique
farmlands. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will be consulted
regarding the ``Swampbuster'' provisions of the Food Security Act.
Coordination will be maintained with the Advisory Counsel on Historic
Preservation and the State Historic Preservation Officer. The Louisiana
Department of Natural Resources will be consulted regarding consistency
with the Coastal Zone Management Act. The Louisiana Department of
Wildlife and Fisheries will be consulted concerning potential impacts
to Natural and Scenic Streams. Coordination will be maintained with the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concerning compliance with
Executive Order 12898, ``Federal Action
[[Page 74152]]
to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income
Populations.''
7. Availability of EIS. It is anticipated that the draft EIS will
be available for public review during the spring of 2010. The draft EIS
or a notice of availability will be provided during the 45-day review
period to affected Federal, state and local agencies, Indian tribes,
and other interested parties.
Dated: November 26, 2008.
Mark D. Jernigan,
Major (P), U.S. Army, Deputy District Commander.
[FR Doc. E8-28823 Filed 12-4-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P
