Notice of Intent To Prepare a Joint Environmental Impact Statement for Commercial Dredging of Construction Aggregate From the Missouri River in Missouri and Kansas, 74150 [E8-28826]
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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
VerDate Aug<31>2005
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
PO 00000
Frm 00021
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
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 235 (Friday, December 5, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 74150]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-28826]
[[Page 74150]]
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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
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 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 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
