Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Construction and Operation of the Everglades Agricultural Area A1 Flow Equalization Basin, Palm Beach County, FL, 51981-51983 [2012-21186]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 167 / Tuesday, August 28, 2012 / Notices [FR Doc. 2012–21055 Filed 8–27–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 5001–06–C DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Air Force [Docket ID: USAF–2012–0016] Proposed Collection; Comment Request United States Security Forces Center, Headquarters, DoD. ACTION: Notice. srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES AGENCY: In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the United States Security Forces Center, Headquarters announces the proposed extension of a public information collection and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by October 29, 2012. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number and title, by any of the following methods: • Federal eRulemaking Portal: https:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. • Mail: Federal Docket Management System Office, 4800 Mark Center Drive, East Tower, Suite 02G09, Alexandria, VA 22350. Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name, docket number and title for this Federal Register document. The general policy for comments and other submissions from members of the public is to make these submissions available for public viewing on the Internet at https:// www.regulations.gov as they are received without change, including any personal identifiers or contact information. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on this proposed information collection or to obtain a copy of the proposal and associated collection instruments, VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:39 Aug 27, 2012 Jkt 226001 please write to HQ AFSFC/SFOP, ATTN: TSgt Heather M. Cain/TSgt Janaea E. Warner,1517 Billy Mitchell Blvd., Lackland AFB, TX 78236–0119, or call SFOP, Security Forces Police Services, at 210–925–5050/0266. Title; Associated Form; and OMB Number: Security Forces Management Information System (SFMIS), AF Form 1199A, 1199B, 1199C, 1199D, USAF Restricted Area Badge; AF Form 75, Visitor Pass; AF 2586, Unescorted Entry Authorization Certificate and OMB Number 0701–TBD. Needs and Uses: The Security Forces Management Information System (SFMIS) was developed primarily to meet the Congressionally-mandated Defense Incident-Based Reporting System (DIBRS) requirements and improve Air Force Security Forces dayto-day operations IAW 10 U.S.C. 8013, Secretary of the Air Force; 18 U.S.C. 922 note, DoD Directive 5200.27, Air Force Instruction 31–203, Security Forces Management Information System; Air Force Instruction 31–101, Integrated Defense and E.O. 9397 (SSN), as amended. SFMIS also provides Restricted Area Badge creation and Installation Access Control in those cases where DBIDS is not fully deployed. The Pass & ID module in SFMIS automated most of SF clerical tasks, a majority of administrative tasks formerly performed manually are now done online via SFMIS, (i.e. AF Form 1199A, 1199B, 1199C, 1199D, USAF Restricted Area Badge; AF Form 75, Visitor Pass; AF 2586, Unescorted Entry Authorization Certificate) which document installation access and restricted area. Affected Public: Non-military personnel (civilians) and contractors business or other for profit; not-forprofit institutions. Annual Burden Hours: 28,000. Number of Respondents: 4. Responses per Respondent: 28,000. Annual Number of Responses: 112,000. Average Burden per Response: 15 minutes. Frequency: Daily. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Summary of Information Collection Respondents are DoD personnel assigned to Security Forces units who provide visitor passes for installation access and restricted area badges for controlled and restricted area access. SFMIS maintains personal information such as: Full names, Social Security Numbers (SSN); date of birth, home address, phone numbers, alias; race ethnicity, sex, height, weight, eye hair PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 51981 color, and any approved document (must be a picture ID) that is accepted as proof of identity, it must not be expired and has to be valid. SFMIS provides Restricted Area Badge creation and Installation Access Control in those cases where DBIDS is not fully deployed. The Badge/ID panel in the Pass & ID Module is used to record restricted and controlled area badges or identification cards using the information collected on the AF 2586. SFMIS will maintain an inventory on the stored data and create an Entry Authority List (EAL) or Master Entry Authority List (MEAL). SFMIS also prints restricted area badges, maintains the inventory and prints a destruction certificate for destroyed restricted area badges. This Visitor Pass panel in the Pass & ID Module is used to complete visitor pass requests and view and print the AF Form 75. An electronic signature pad can be set up with SFMIS to capture the visitor’s electronic signature. Visitor passes can be completed two different ways. First, SF personnel can create a new visitor pass for a customer by entering the visitor’s information into the system. Secondly, SF personnel can search the system for a pending web registration or kiosk request; select the name in the search results grid and it will populate the panel with the existing information. Visitor passes are stored in SFMIS for a 90 day period. During these 90 days, previously issued visitor passes can be recalled. Visitor passes may be recalled as an investigative tool or it can be used to issue a new pass based on the previous information. Dated: August 22, 2012. Aaron Siegel, Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense. [FR Doc. 2012–21098 Filed 8–27–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 5001–06–P DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Construction and Operation of the Everglades Agricultural Area A1 Flow Equalization Basin, Palm Beach County, FL Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD. ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI). AGENCY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Jacksonville SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\28AUN1.SGM 28AUN1 srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 51982 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 167 / Tuesday, August 28, 2012 / Notices District, is in the preapplication phase of its evaluation of the anticipated application from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) for a U.S. Department of the Army (DA) permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act for construction and operation of a Flow Equalization Basin (FEB) at the location of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) A1 Reservoir project that was not fully constructed. The USACE regulates the discharge of dredged or fill material into Waters of the United States, including jurisdictional ditches and/or wetlands, associated with construction of any proposed action. The USACE anticipates a decision on the proposed activities would constitute a Major Federal Action in accordance with 40 CFR Section 1501.8. Based on the size of the project area, the current purpose for the site, and the potential environmental impacts, both individually and cumulatively, of the anticipated Proposed Action, the USACE intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to inform any final decision on the permit application. The USACE’s decision will be to either issue, issue with modifications to the applicant’s proposal, or deny Department of the Army permits for the Proposed Action. The Draft EIS is intended to be sufficient in scope to address federal and other requirements and environmental issues concerning the Proposed Action to support the Corps determination whether to issue a Section 404 permit. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the U.S. Department of Interior (U.S. DOI) will be offered the option of being a cooperating agency on the EIS. DATES: The USACE plans to hold a public scoping meeting September 6, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). ADDRESSES: The public scoping meeting will be held at 3301 Gun Club Road, West Palm Beach, Florida 33406. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the Proposed Action and Draft EIS should be directed to Ms. Alisa Zarbo, (561) 472–3516 or by email at Alisa.A.Zarbo@usace.army.mil. Written comments should be addressed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: Ms. Alisa Zarbo, 4400 PGA Boulevard, Suite 500, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, 33410, or by facsimile at (561) 626–6971. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:39 Aug 27, 2012 Jkt 226001 a. Background/Project Authorization. The USACE is preparing this Draft EIS in accordance with NEPA, Council of on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations (40 CFR part1500 et seq.), and USACE provisions for implementing the procedural requirements of NEPA (33 CFR part 230, USACE Engineering Regulation ER 200– 2–2). A primary purpose of a USACE Regulatory Program EIS is to provide a comnprehensive discussion of the significant environmental impacts of a proposal or project that may be the subject of a DA permit. The Draft EIS and Final EIS are used to inform the public and agency decision-makers of alternatives to an applicant’s project and opportunities to avoid or minimize adverse impacts or enhance the quality of the human environment. The EIS is not a USACE regulatory decision document. It is used by agency officials in conjunction with other relevant information in a permit application file, including public and agency comments presented in the Final EIS, to inform the final decision on a permit application. In this instance, the SFWMD intends to submit a permit application to construct and operate a FEB on the site previously intended for the EAA A1 Reservoir known as the A1 Site. The purpose of the proposed action is to assist in meeting State of Florida water quality standards by attenuating peak stormwater flows and temporarily storing stormwater runoff from the central EAA which will improve inflow delivery rates to Stormwater Treatment Area (STA) 2 (including Compartment B) and STA 3/4. This project is anticipated to result in increased phosphorus removal performance in these STAs in order to meet State water quality standards. b. Need or Purpose. The purpose of the proposed action is to attenuate peak stormwater flows into Stormwater Treatment Areas 2 and 3/4 to assist in meeting State water quality standards. c. Prior EAs, EISs. In 2006, an EIS was completed for the A1 Reservoir site, which is expected to have the same footprint as the A1 FEB site; however, the project purpose and intended use for the A1 FEB is different. This Draft EIS will include the project purpose, evaluation of the FEB and its potential effects, evaluation of alternatives, relevant history and data, an evaluation of downstream effects based on current state of the environment with the FEB, and a jurisdictional determination. d. Alternatives. An evaluation of alternatives to the proposed FEB project, including a No Action alternative will be performed. The Draft EIS will analyze reasonable alternatives to meet PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 the project purpose and need. Alternatives will be determined through scoping, but are expected to include at a minimum the A1 Reservoir in addition to a ‘‘no action’’ alternative. e. Issues. The following issues have been identified for analysis in the Draft EIS. This list is preliminary and is intended to facilitate public comment on the scope of the Draft EIS. The Draft EIS will consider the effects on Federally listed threatened and endangered species, health and safety, socioeconomics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands (and other aquatic resources), historic properties, cultural resources, fish and wildlife values, land use, transportation, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, mineral needs, considerations of property ownership, and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people, and other issues identified through scoping, public involvement, and interagency coordination. At the present time, our primary areas of environmental concern are the loss of wetland functions and value, mitigation of such losses, the improvements in the downstream timing and delivery of water, and water quality. We expect to better define the issues of concern and define the methods that will be used to evaluate those issues through the scoping comment period. f. Scoping Process. CEQ regulations (40 CFR 1501.7) require an early and open process for determining the scope of a Draft EIS and for identifying significant issues related to the proposed action. The Corps is furnishing this notice to advise other Federal and State agencies, affected federally recognized Tribes, and the public of our intentions. This notice announces the initiation of a 30-day scoping period which requests the public’s involvement in the scoping and evaluation process of the Draft EIS. Stakeholders will be notified through advertisements, public notices and other means. All parties who express interest will be given an opportunity to participate in this process. The process allows the Corps to obtain suggestions and information on the scope of issues and an opportunity to provide reasonable alternatives to be included in the Draft EIS. (See DATES and ADDRESSES for meeting schedules) g. Public Involvement. The USACE invites Federal agencies, American Indian Tribal Nations, state and local governments, and other interested private organizations and parties to attend the public scooping meeting and to provide comments in order to ensure that all significant issues are identified E:\FR\FM\28AUN1.SGM 28AUN1 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 167 / Tuesday, August 28, 2012 / Notices and the full range of issues related to the permit request are addressed. h. Coordination. The proposed action is being coordinated with a number of Federal, state, regional, and local agencies including but not limited to the following: U.S. DOI, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. EPA, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the federally recognized Native American Indian Tribes, Florida State Historic Preservation Officer, Palm Beach County, and other agencies as identified in scoping, public involvement, and agency coordination. i. Agency Role. The Corps will be the lead agency for the EIS. The U.S. EPA and the U.S. DOI will be asked to be cooperating agencies. The Corps expects to receive input and critical information from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. EPA, and other federal, state, and local agencies. k. A1 FEB Draft EIS Preparation. It is estimated that the Draft EIS will be available to the public on or about December 2012. A Notice of Availability will be issued which will open the public comment period. Comments will be accepted during the Draft EIS public comment period which will last at least 30 days. Dated: August 21, 2012. Donald W. Kinard, Chief, Regulatory Division. [FR Doc. 2012–21186 Filed 8–27–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3720–58–P DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics U.S. Department of Education, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. ACTION: Notice of an Open Conference Call Meeting. AGENCY: This notice sets forth the announcement of a conference call meeting of the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. The notice also describes the functions of the Commission. Notice of the meeting is required by section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and is intended to notify the public of this meeting. DATES: Friday, September 7, 2012. Time: 4:00–5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Conference Call Number/ID: (712) 432–3900/ID—391333 (Listen-Only). ADDRESSES: For members of the public who wish to convene in person and srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:39 Aug 27, 2012 Jkt 226001 listen to the conference call meeting, please arrive at the U.S. Department of Education, Lyndon Baines Johnson Building, Room 1W103, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Washington, DC, no later than 3:30 p.m. Please RSVP to WhiteHouseforHispanicEducation @ed.gov by Thursday, September 6, 2012. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marco A. Davis, Deputy Director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, 400 Maryland Ave. SW., Room 4W110, Washington, DC 20202; telephone: 202–453–7023. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics (the Commission) is established by Executive Order 13555 (Oct. 19, 2010). The Commission is governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), (Pub. L. 92–463; as amended, 5 U.S.C.A., Appendix 2) which sets forth standards for the formation and use of advisory committees. The purpose of the Commission is to advise the President and the Secretary of Education (Secretary) on all matters pertaining to the education attainment of the Hispanic community. The Commission shall advise the President and the Secretary in the following areas: (i) Developing, implementing, and coordinating educational programs and initiatives at the Department and other agencies to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for Hispanics of all ages; (ii) increasing the participation of the Hispanic community and HispanicServing Institutions in the Department’s programs and in education programs at other agencies; (iii) engaging the philanthropic, business, nonprofit, and education communities in a national dialogue regarding the mission and objectives of this order; (iv) establishing partnerships with public, private, philanthropic, and nonprofit stakeholders to meet the mission and policy objectives of this order. Agenda: The Commission will discuss the activities of its subcommittees and identify next steps. Please be advised that members of the public will be able to listen only to the conference call meeting. There will not be an opportunity for public comment during this meeting due to time constraints. However, members of the public may submit written comments related to the work of the Commission via WhiteHouseforHispanicEducation @ed.gov no later than September 5, PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 51983 2012. A recording of this meeting will be posted on the Commission’s Web page at https://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ list/hispanic-initiative/ no later than Sep. 14, 2012. Records are kept of all Commission proceedings and are available for public inspection at the office of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW., Room 4W108, Washington, DC, 20202, Monday through Friday (excluding federal holidays) during the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Electronic Access to the Document: You may view this document, as well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at: www.ed.gov/fedregister/. To use PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at this site. For questions about using PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free at 1–866–512–1830; or in the Washington, DC, area at 202–512– 0000. Dated: August 23, 2012. Martha Kanter, Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education. [FR Doc. 2012–21230 Filed 8–27–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4000–01–P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Availability of Department of Energy EV Everywhere Grand Challenge Initial Framing Document and Request for Public Comment Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy (DOE). ACTION: Notice of availability and request for public comment. AGENCY: The EV Everywhere Grand Challenge is a U.S. Department of Energy ‘‘Clean Energy Grand Challenge’’ with the goal of enabling U.S. companies to be the first in the world to produce plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) that are as affordable and convenient for the average American family as today’s gasoline-powered vehicles within the next 10 years. President Obama announced the EV Everywhere Challenge on March 7, 2012. The EV Everywhere Initial Framing Document (framing document) has been developed as a principal means of facilitating stakeholder engagement in SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\28AUN1.SGM 28AUN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51981-51983]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-21186]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement on the Construction and Operation of the Everglades 
Agricultural Area A1 Flow Equalization Basin, Palm Beach County, FL

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

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Jacksonville

[[Page 51982]]

District, is in the preapplication phase of its evaluation of the 
anticipated application from the South Florida Water Management 
District (SFWMD) for a U.S. Department of the Army (DA) permit under 
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act for construction and operation of a 
Flow Equalization Basin (FEB) at the location of the Everglades 
Agricultural Area (EAA) A1 Reservoir project that was not fully 
constructed. The USACE regulates the discharge of dredged or fill 
material into Waters of the United States, including jurisdictional 
ditches and/or wetlands, associated with construction of any proposed 
action. The USACE anticipates a decision on the proposed activities 
would constitute a Major Federal Action in accordance with 40 CFR 
Section 1501.8. Based on the size of the project area, the current 
purpose for the site, and the potential environmental impacts, both 
individually and cumulatively, of the anticipated Proposed Action, the 
USACE intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to inform any final decision on the permit 
application. The USACE's decision will be to either issue, issue with 
modifications to the applicant's proposal, or deny Department of the 
Army permits for the Proposed Action.
    The Draft EIS is intended to be sufficient in scope to address 
federal and other requirements and environmental issues concerning the 
Proposed Action to support the Corps determination whether to issue a 
Section 404 permit. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) 
and the U.S. Department of Interior (U.S. DOI) will be offered the 
option of being a cooperating agency on the EIS.

DATES: The USACE plans to hold a public scoping meeting September 6, 
2012, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).

ADDRESSES: The public scoping meeting will be held at 3301 Gun Club 
Road, West Palm Beach, Florida 33406.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the Proposed Action 
and Draft EIS should be directed to Ms. Alisa Zarbo, (561) 472-3516 or 
by email at Alisa.A.Zarbo@usace.army.mil. Written comments should be 
addressed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: Ms. Alisa Zarbo, 
4400 PGA Boulevard, Suite 500, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, 33410, or by 
facsimile at (561) 626-6971.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    a. Background/Project Authorization. The USACE is preparing this 
Draft EIS in accordance with NEPA, Council of on Environmental Quality 
(CEQ) Regulations (40 CFR part1500 et seq.), and USACE provisions for 
implementing the procedural requirements of NEPA (33 CFR part 230, 
USACE Engineering Regulation ER 200-2-2). A primary purpose of a USACE 
Regulatory Program EIS is to provide a comnprehensive discussion of the 
significant environmental impacts of a proposal or project that may be 
the subject of a DA permit. The Draft EIS and Final EIS are used to 
inform the public and agency decision-makers of alternatives to an 
applicant's project and opportunities to avoid or minimize adverse 
impacts or enhance the quality of the human environment. The EIS is not 
a USACE regulatory decision document. It is used by agency officials in 
conjunction with other relevant information in a permit application 
file, including public and agency comments presented in the Final EIS, 
to inform the final decision on a permit application. In this instance, 
the SFWMD intends to submit a permit application to construct and 
operate a FEB on the site previously intended for the EAA A1 Reservoir 
known as the A1 Site. The purpose of the proposed action is to assist 
in meeting State of Florida water quality standards by attenuating peak 
stormwater flows and temporarily storing stormwater runoff from the 
central EAA which will improve inflow delivery rates to Stormwater 
Treatment Area (STA) 2 (including Compartment B) and STA 3/4. This 
project is anticipated to result in increased phosphorus removal 
performance in these STAs in order to meet State water quality 
standards.
    b. Need or Purpose. The purpose of the proposed action is to 
attenuate peak stormwater flows into Stormwater Treatment Areas 2 and 
3/4 to assist in meeting State water quality standards.
    c. Prior EAs, EISs. In 2006, an EIS was completed for the A1 
Reservoir site, which is expected to have the same footprint as the A1 
FEB site; however, the project purpose and intended use for the A1 FEB 
is different. This Draft EIS will include the project purpose, 
evaluation of the FEB and its potential effects, evaluation of 
alternatives, relevant history and data, an evaluation of downstream 
effects based on current state of the environment with the FEB, and a 
jurisdictional determination.
    d. Alternatives. An evaluation of alternatives to the proposed FEB 
project, including a No Action alternative will be performed. The Draft 
EIS will analyze reasonable alternatives to meet the project purpose 
and need. Alternatives will be determined through scoping, but are 
expected to include at a minimum the A1 Reservoir in addition to a ``no 
action'' alternative.
    e. Issues. The following issues have been identified for analysis 
in the Draft EIS. This list is preliminary and is intended to 
facilitate public comment on the scope of the Draft EIS. The Draft EIS 
will consider the effects on Federally listed threatened and endangered 
species, health and safety, socioeconomics, aesthetics, general 
environmental concerns, wetlands (and other aquatic resources), 
historic properties, cultural resources, fish and wildlife values, land 
use, transportation, recreation, water supply and conservation, water 
quality, energy needs, mineral needs, considerations of property 
ownership, and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people, and 
other issues identified through scoping, public involvement, and 
interagency coordination. At the present time, our primary areas of 
environmental concern are the loss of wetland functions and value, 
mitigation of such losses, the improvements in the downstream timing 
and delivery of water, and water quality. We expect to better define 
the issues of concern and define the methods that will be used to 
evaluate those issues through the scoping comment period.
    f. Scoping Process. CEQ regulations (40 CFR 1501.7) require an 
early and open process for determining the scope of a Draft EIS and for 
identifying significant issues related to the proposed action.
    The Corps is furnishing this notice to advise other Federal and 
State agencies, affected federally recognized Tribes, and the public of 
our intentions. This notice announces the initiation of a 30-day 
scoping period which requests the public's involvement in the scoping 
and evaluation process of the Draft EIS. Stakeholders will be notified 
through advertisements, public notices and other means. All parties who 
express interest will be given an opportunity to participate in this 
process. The process allows the Corps to obtain suggestions and 
information on the scope of issues and an opportunity to provide 
reasonable alternatives to be included in the Draft EIS. (See DATES and 
ADDRESSES for meeting schedules)
    g. Public Involvement. The USACE invites Federal agencies, American 
Indian Tribal Nations, state and local governments, and other 
interested private organizations and parties to attend the public 
scooping meeting and to provide comments in order to ensure that all 
significant issues are identified

[[Page 51983]]

and the full range of issues related to the permit request are 
addressed.
    h. Coordination. The proposed action is being coordinated with a 
number of Federal, state, regional, and local agencies including but 
not limited to the following: U.S. DOI, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. EPA, Florida Department of 
Environmental Protection, the federally recognized Native American 
Indian Tribes, Florida State Historic Preservation Officer, Palm Beach 
County, and other agencies as identified in scoping, public 
involvement, and agency coordination.
    i. Agency Role. The Corps will be the lead agency for the EIS. The 
U.S. EPA and the U.S. DOI will be asked to be cooperating agencies. The 
Corps expects to receive input and critical information from the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. EPA, and other federal, state, and 
local agencies.
    k. A1 FEB Draft EIS Preparation. It is estimated that the Draft EIS 
will be available to the public on or about December 2012. A Notice of 
Availability will be issued which will open the public comment period. 
Comments will be accepted during the Draft EIS public comment period 
which will last at least 30 days.

    Dated: August 21, 2012.
Donald W. Kinard,
Chief, Regulatory Division.
[FR Doc. 2012-21186 Filed 8-27-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P
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