The Release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Bogue Banks Master Beach Nourishment Plan (BBMBNP), on Bogue Banks Barrier Island, Carteret County, NC, 17984-17986 [2017-07572]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 71 / Friday, April 14, 2017 / Notices
commercial industry may be a major
part of the strategy for deploying
adequate numbers of weapons. The
study should investigate and analyze all
of these areas and recommend preferred
system options. This two-day session
will focus on future capabilities and
architectures for the Department. Day
One briefings will include opening
remarks and expectations for the twoday session from Dr. David Whelan and
Mr. Mark Russell, task force co-chairs; a
briefing on long-range effects in the
Pacific, including U.S. Navy operational
programs and planning in the U.S.
Pacific Command area of responsibility,
from Commander David Fields, U.S.
Pacific Fleet, U.S. Navy; a briefing on
Future Naval Capabilities, including
utilization of Navy resources to address
adversary long range strike capabilities,
from VADM Jan Tighe, Deputy Chief of
Naval Operations for Information
Warfare/Director of Naval Intelligence,
U.S. Navy; a briefing on countering antiaccess systems with longer range and
standoff capabilities from Mr. James
MacStravic, Performing the Duties of the
Under Secretary of Defense for
Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics;
and a briefing on Department of Defense
Space Policy, from Mr. John Hill, Office
of the Secretary of Defense, Space
Policy. The remainder of this day will
be the Long Range Effects 2017 Summer
Study Task Force’s four panel break-out
sessions: Architecture; Intelligence,
Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR);
Basing, Delivery, and Weapons;
Command, Control, Communications,
and Cyber. These panels will meet
simultaneously to discuss topics to
analyze in support of the study. Day
Two activities will be the Long Range
Effects 2017 Summer Study Task
Force’s four panel break-out sessions:
Architecture; Intelligence, Surveillance,
and Reconnaissance (ISR); Basing,
Delivery, and Weapons; Command,
Control, Communications, and Cyber.
These panels will meet simultaneously
to discuss topics to analyze in support
of the study. The Day Two will close
with discussion of the four panels’
work.
In accordance with section 10(d) of
the FACA and 41 CFR 102–3.155, the
DoD has determined that the Long
Range Effects 2017 Summer Study Task
Force meeting will be closed to the
public. Specifically, the Under Secretary
of Defense (Acquisition, Technology,
and Logistics), in consultation with the
DoD Office of General Counsel, has
determined in writing that the meeting
will be closed to the public because
matters covered by 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(1)
will be considered. The determination is
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based on the consideration that it is
expected that discussions throughout
will involve classified matters of
national security concern. Such
classified material is so intertwined
with the unclassified material that it
cannot reasonably be segregated into
separate discussions without defeating
the effectiveness and meaning of the
overall meetings. To permit the meeting
to be open to the public would preclude
discussion of such matters and would
greatly diminish the ultimate utility of
the DSB’s findings and
recommendations to the Secretary of
Defense and to the Under Secretary of
Defense for Acquisition, Technology,
and Logistics.
In accordance with section 10(a)(3) of
the FACA and 41 CFR 102–3.105(j) and
102–3.140, interested persons may
submit a written statement for
consideration by the Long Range Effects
2017 Summer Study Task Force
members at any time regarding its
mission or in response to the stated
agenda of a planned meeting.
Individuals submitting a written
statement must submit their statement
to the DSB’s DFO—Ms. Karen D.H.
Saunders, Executive Director, Defense
Science Board, 3140 Defense Pentagon,
Room 3B888A, Washington, DC 20301,
via email at karen.d.saunders.civ@
mail.mil or via phone at (703) 571–0079
at any point; however, if a written
statement is not received at least 3
calendar days prior to the meeting,
which is the subject of this notice, then
it may not be provided to or considered
by the Long Range Effects 2017 Summer
Study Task Force until the next meeting
of this task force. The DFO will review
all submissions with the Long Range
Effects 2017 Summer Study Task Force
Co-Chairs and ensure they are provided
to Long Range Effects 2017 Summer
Study Task Force members prior to the
end of the two day meeting on April 27,
2017.
Dated: April 11, 2017.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison
Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2017–07588 Filed 4–13–17; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Corps of
Engineers
The Release of the Draft Environmental
Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Bogue
Banks Master Beach Nourishment Plan
(BBMBNP), on Bogue Banks Barrier
Island, Carteret County, NC
Department of the Army, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (COE), Wilmington District,
Wilmington Regulatory Field Office has
received a request for Department of the
Army authorization, pursuant to Section
404 of the Clean Water Act and Section
10 of the Rivers and Harbor Act, from
Carteret County to implement, under an
inter-local agreement between the towns
on Bogue Banks barrier island, a
comprehensive 50-year beach and inlet
management plan for the protection of
approximately 25 miles of Bogue Banks
shoreline. In order to address ongoing
shoreline erosion in a more effective
manner, the County and island
municipalities (Towns of Atlantic
Beach, Pine Knoll Shores, Indian Beach,
and Emerald Isle) are proposing to
combine their shore protection efforts
under a more efficient comprehensive
50-year beach and inlet management
plan known as the Bogue Banks Master
Beach Nourishment Plan (BBMBNP).
DATES: Written comments on the DEIS
must be received at (see ADDRESSES
below) no later than 5 p.m. on May 29,
2017.
ADDRESSES: Copies of comments and
questions regarding the DEIS may be
addressed to: U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Wilmington District,
Regulatory Division. ATTN: File
Number SAW–2009–00293, 69
Darlington Avenue, Wilmington, NC
28403. Copies of the DEIS can be
reviewed on the Corps homepage at,
https://www.saw.usace.army.mil/
Missions/RegulatoryPermitProgram/
MajorProjects.aspx, under Bogue Banks
50-Year Project: Corps ID # SAW–2009–
00293.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions about the proposed action
and DEIS and/or to requests receive a
CD or written copies of the DEIS can be
directed to Mr. Mickey Sugg,
Wilmington Regulatory Field Office,
telephone: (910) 251–4811 or
mickey.t.sugg@usace.army.mil .
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Project Purpose and Need. The
proposed action is to establish and
implement a comprehensive, long-term,
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 71 / Friday, April 14, 2017 / Notices
non-federal beach and inlet
management program that would
preserve Bogue Banks’ tax base, protect
its infrastructure, and maintain its
tourism-based economy. The COE Civil
Work’s investigation of a long-term
federal Coastal Storm Damaged
Reduction (CSDR) project for Bogue
Banks has been ongoing for nearly 30
years. The island’s shoreline has been
managed in some capacity for over 35
years by Federal projects administered
through the COE Civil Works program
and by non-federal projects
implemented by the County, and/or
local municipalities through the COE
Regulatory permit program. Since 1978,
roughly 11 million cubic yards of sand
have been placed upon the beaches of
Bogue Banks at a total cost of
approximately $95 million. Past
management efforts have largely
consisted of stand-alone projects that
were undertaken to address site-specific
erosional problems. This stand-alone
approach has limited the efficiency and
effectiveness of past and current efforts
by the County and island municipalities
to implement shore protection projects
and to maintain the beaches. As federal
funding for shore protection projects has
declined, the future of a long-term
federal CSDR project has grown
increasingly uncertain. The proposed
action would address the ongoing trend
of declining federal shore protection
funding by establishing a non-federal
management program under the
autonomous control of the County and
the island municipalities. An island
wide regional strategy was developed to
do the following: (1) Establish a regional
approach by consolidating local
community resources, both financially
and logistically, to manage Bogue Inlet
and the beaches on Bogue Banks in an
effective manner, (2) Provide long-term
shoreline protection stabilization and an
equivalent level of protection along
Bogue Banks’ 25-mile oceanfront/inlet
shorelines addressing long-term erosion,
(3) Provide long-term protection to
Bogue Banks’ tourism industry, (4)
Provide short and long-term protection
to residential and commercial structures
and island infrastructure, (5) Provide
long-term protection to the local tax
base by protection existing and future
tax bases and public access/use, (6)
Maintain and improve natural resources
along Bogue Banks’ oceanfront and inlet
shoreline by using compatible beach
material in compliance with the North
Carolina State Sediment Criteria for
shore protection, (7) Maintain and
improve recreational uses of Bogue
Banks’ oceanfront/inlet shorelines, (8)
Maintain navigation conditions within
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Bogue Inlet, and (9) Balance the needs
of the human environment with the
protection of existing natural resources.
2. Proposed Action. Within the
County’s preferred alternative, known as
Alternative 4 (or the BBMBNP), the
County would manage all of the
approximately 18 miles of beaches along
Pine Knoll Shores, Indian Beach/Salter
Path, and Emerald Isle, along with the
eastern shoreline of Bogue Inlet. The 50year management would employ a
regular and recurring cycle of
nourishment events, in combination
with periodic realignments of the Bogue
Inlet ebb tide channel, to continuously
maintain beach profile sand volumes at
a 25-year Level of Protection (LOP). This
LOP equates to protection for upland
structures against a 25-year storm event,
and nourishment events would be
implemented according to 25-year LOP
beach profile volumetric triggers.
Volumetric triggers were developed by
analyzing and adjusting design beach
profiles in a series of iterative SBEACH
numerical modeling runs. The final
modeling results indicated appropriate
volumetric triggers ranging from 211–
266 cubic yards/foot along Bogue Banks,
averaging 238 cubic yards/foot. Based
on variability in the volumetric triggers,
the project shoreline was divided into
management reaches ranging in length
from 2.4 to 4.5 miles. Reaches include
Pine Knoll Shores, Indian Beach/Salter
Path, Emerald Isle (EI) East, EI Central,
EI West, and Bogue Inlet. Based on the
SBEACH modeling results and observed
background erosional loss rates, EI
Central, EI West, and Bogue Inlet
management reaches are expected to
require recurring nourishment of
approximately 0.06 to 0.23 million
cubic yards of material at intervals of six
or nine years to offset background
erosion. For Pine Knoll Shores, Indian
Beach/Salter Path, and EI East, recurring
maintenance events would place
approximately 0.2 to 0.5 million cubic
yards of material at intervals of three or
six years to offset background erosion.
Actual maintenance nourishment
intervals would be expected to vary in
response to background erosion rate
variability over the course of the 50-year
project.
For Bogue Inlet management, the
proposal has designated a ‘‘safe box’’
within the inlet throat where the ebb
channel would be allowed to migrate
freely so long as it remains within the
boundaries of the safe box. If the
channel migrates beyond the eastern
boundary of the safe box (or toward
Emerald Isle), this would trigger a
preemptive event to realign the ebb
channel mid-center within the
established boundary. The limits of the
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17985
safe box were developed and evaluated
through empirical analysis of historical
inlet changes and supplemental
numerical modeling. Historical ebb
channel alignments and corresponding
inlet shoreline positions were analyzed
through GIS analysis of historical aerial
photography, National Ocean Service
(NOS) T-sheet maps, and LIDAR
topographic maps. Past migration rates
and corresponding shoreline changes
indicate that once eastward migration
accelerates toward Emerald Isle, the
migrating channel has the potential to
threaten structures along the shoreline
within two to three years. Based on the
historical patterns, a safe box was
established with boundaries
corresponding to the location where
acceleration of the ebb channel towards
the west end of Emerald Isle has
occurred in the past. The validity of the
boundaries were then evaluated by
modeling a series of six idealized inlet
configurations encompassing the range
of most relevant historical ebb channel
alignments. Modeling results did not
show any additional geomorphological
indicators of an impending shift to
accelerated migration that warranted
modifications to the initial safe box.
Once the boundary threshold is
triggered, the relocation event would
entail the construction of a channel
approximately 6,000-feet long with
variable bottom widths ranging from
150 to 500 feet. The dimensions of the
channel would be similar to the
footprint of the ebb tide channel
realignment construction completed in
2005. Maintenance events of Bogue Inlet
are expected approximately every ten to
fifteen years, with corresponding
placement of dredged material on the
beaches of Emerald Isle.
Beach fill for all the proposed
nourishment activities on Bogue Banks
would be acquired from a combination
of sources including offshore borrow
sites, Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway
disposal areas, upland sand mines, and
the management of the Bogue Inlet. The
offshore borrow sites consist of the Old
Offshore Dredge Material Disposal Site
(ODMDS) and the current ODMDS,
which are located approximately 3
nautical miles offshore from Beaufort
Inlet, and Area Y, which is located over
1.0 mile offshore from EI West reach. It
is expected that hopper dredge plants
will be used to extract beach fill
material from the offshore borrow sites.
Material would be transported from the
hopper dredges to offshore booster
pumps and carried to the appropriate
nourishment reaches via pipeline. A
hydraulic cutterhead dredge will likely
be used during the management of the
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 71 / Friday, April 14, 2017 / Notices
inlet bar channel event, which would
transport the dredge material directly
from the dredge plant onto the beach via
pipelines.
3. Alternatives. Several alternatives
have been identified and evaluated
through the scoping process, and further
detailed description of all alternatives is
disclosed in Section 3.0 of the FEIS.
4. Scoping Process. To date, a public
scoping meeting was held on September
30, 2010 in Morehead City; several
Project Delivery Team (PDT) meetings
have been held, which were comprised
of local, state, and federal government
officials, local residents and nonprofit
organizations.
The COE has coordinated closely with
Bureau of Ocean Energy and
Management (BOEM), which has agreed
to be a cooperating agency, in the
development of the DEIS to ensure the
process complies with the requirements
of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands
Act (OCSLA) and with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Additionally, the COE has preliminarily
consulted with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and the National
Marine Fisheries Service Protected
Resources Division under the
Endangered Species Act; with U.S. Fish
and Wildlife and National Marine
Fisheries Service Habitat Conservation
Division under the Fish and Wildlife
Coordination Act; and with the National
Marine Fisheries Service Habitat
Conservation Division under the
Magnuson-Stevens Act. The DEIS
assesses the potential water quality
impacts pursuant to Section 401 of the
Clean Water Act, and is coordinated
with the North Carolina Division of
Coastal Management (DCM) to insure
consistency with the Coastal Zone
Management Act.
Dated: April 3, 2017.
Scott McLendon,
Regulatory Division Chief, Wilmington
District.
[FR Doc. 2017–07572 Filed 4–13–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720–58–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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[Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
(CFDA) Number: 84.259A]
Proposed Waiver and Extension of the
Project Period for the Native Hawaiian
Career and Technical Education
Program
Office of Career, Technical, and
Adult Education, Department of
Education.
ACTION: Proposed waiver and extension
of the project period.
AGENCY:
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For the Native Hawaiian
Career and Technical Education
Program (NHCTEP), the Secretary
proposes to waive the requirements in
34 CFR 75.261(a) and (c)(2) that
generally prohibit project period
extensions involving the obligation of
additional Federal funds and extend the
project periods for the current seven
NHCTEP grantees for an additional 12
months under the existing program
authority. This proposed waiver and
extension would allow the seven
current NHCTEP grantees to seek fiscal
year (FY) 2017 continuation awards for
project periods through FY 2018 under
the existing program authority.
DATES: We must receive your comments
on or before May 15, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments
regarding this proposed extension and
waiver to Linda Mayo, U.S. Department
of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue
SW., Room 11075, Potomac Center Plaza
(PCP), Washington, DC 20202–7241. If
you prefer to send your comments by
email, use the following address:
linda.mayo@ed.gov. You must include
the term ‘‘Proposed Waiver and
Extension for NHCTEP’’ in the subject
line of your message.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Linda Mayo by telephone at (202) 245–
7792 or by email at: linda.mayo@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications device
for the deaf or a text telephone, call the
Federal Relay Service, toll free, at 1–
800–877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation to Comment: We invite you
to submit comments regarding this
proposed waiver and extension of the
project period. During and after the
comment period, you may inspect all
public comments about this proposed
waiver and extension in Room 11075,
PCP, 550 12th Street SW., Washington,
DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and
4 p.m., Washington, DC time, Monday
through Friday of each week, except
Federal holidays.
Assistance to Individuals with
Disabilities in Reviewing the
Rulemaking Record: On request, we will
provide an appropriate accommodation
or auxiliary aid to an individual with a
disability who needs assistance to
review the comments or other
documents in the public rulemaking
record for this notice. If you want to
schedule an appointment for this type of
aid, please contact the person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
SUMMARY:
Background
NHCTEP, authorized by section 116 of
the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical
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Education Act of 2006 (Act), supports
grants to community-based
organizations primarily serving and
representing Native Hawaiians.1 Under
this program, grantees carry out projects
that provide organized educational
activities offering a sequence of courses
that—
(a) Provides individuals with coherent
and rigorous content aligned with
challenging academic standards and
relevant technical knowledge and skills
needed to prepare for further education
and careers in current or emerging
professions;
(b) Provides technical skill
proficiency, an industry-recognized
credential, a certificate, or an associate
degree; and
(c) May include prerequisite courses
(other than remedial courses) that meet
the definitional requirements of section
3(5)(A) of the Act (20 U.S.C. 2302(5)(A)).
These organized educational activities
may also include competency-based
applied learning that contributes to the
academic knowledge, higher-order
reasoning and problem-solving skills,
work attitudes, general employability
skills, technical and occupation-specific
skills, and knowledge of all aspects of
an industry, including
entrepreneurship, of an individual.
On June 14, 2013, we published in the
Federal Register (78 FR 35877), a notice
inviting applications for NHCTEP grants
(2013 NIA). The project periods for the
NHCTEP projects funded under the
2013 NIA were scheduled to end in
2015.
On February 10, 2015, we published
in the Federal Register (80 FR 7397) a
proposed waiver and extension of the
project period for the NHCTEP. In that
notice, we stated that we did not believe
it would be in the public interest to hold
a new NHCTEP competition in FY 2015,
due to the potential for changes in the
authorizing legislation for NHCTEP
beyond 2015, resulting in projects that
might then operate for just one year.
Following that notice and consideration
of the comments received in response to
it, on July 7, 2015 we published in the
Federal Register (80 FR 38672), a notice
of final waiver and extension of the
project period for the NHCTEP, waiving
the requirements of 34 CFR 75.261(a)
and (c)(2) that generally prohibit project
period extensions involving the
obligation of additional Federal funds.
Therefore, the current seven NHCTEP
grantees were permitted to request an
1 For purposes of NHCTEP, ‘‘community-based
organization’’ means a public or private
organization that provides career and technical
education, or related services, to individuals in the
Native Hawaiian community.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 71 (Friday, April 14, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17984-17986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-07572]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers
The Release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
for the Bogue Banks Master Beach Nourishment Plan (BBMBNP), on Bogue
Banks Barrier Island, Carteret County, NC
AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), Wilmington District,
Wilmington Regulatory Field Office has received a request for
Department of the Army authorization, pursuant to Section 404 of the
Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbor Act, from
Carteret County to implement, under an inter-local agreement between
the towns on Bogue Banks barrier island, a comprehensive 50-year beach
and inlet management plan for the protection of approximately 25 miles
of Bogue Banks shoreline. In order to address ongoing shoreline erosion
in a more effective manner, the County and island municipalities (Towns
of Atlantic Beach, Pine Knoll Shores, Indian Beach, and Emerald Isle)
are proposing to combine their shore protection efforts under a more
efficient comprehensive 50-year beach and inlet management plan known
as the Bogue Banks Master Beach Nourishment Plan (BBMBNP).
DATES: Written comments on the DEIS must be received at (see ADDRESSES
below) no later than 5 p.m. on May 29, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Copies of comments and questions regarding the DEIS may be
addressed to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District,
Regulatory Division. ATTN: File Number SAW-2009-00293, 69 Darlington
Avenue, Wilmington, NC 28403. Copies of the DEIS can be reviewed on the
Corps homepage at, https://www.saw.usace.army.mil/Missions/RegulatoryPermitProgram/MajorProjects.aspx, under Bogue Banks 50-Year
Project: Corps ID # SAW-2009-00293.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action
and DEIS and/or to requests receive a CD or written copies of the DEIS
can be directed to Mr. Mickey Sugg, Wilmington Regulatory Field Office,
telephone: (910) 251-4811 or mickey.t.sugg@usace.army.mil .
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Project Purpose and Need. The proposed action is to establish
and implement a comprehensive, long-term,
[[Page 17985]]
non-federal beach and inlet management program that would preserve
Bogue Banks' tax base, protect its infrastructure, and maintain its
tourism-based economy. The COE Civil Work's investigation of a long-
term federal Coastal Storm Damaged Reduction (CSDR) project for Bogue
Banks has been ongoing for nearly 30 years. The island's shoreline has
been managed in some capacity for over 35 years by Federal projects
administered through the COE Civil Works program and by non-federal
projects implemented by the County, and/or local municipalities through
the COE Regulatory permit program. Since 1978, roughly 11 million cubic
yards of sand have been placed upon the beaches of Bogue Banks at a
total cost of approximately $95 million. Past management efforts have
largely consisted of stand-alone projects that were undertaken to
address site-specific erosional problems. This stand-alone approach has
limited the efficiency and effectiveness of past and current efforts by
the County and island municipalities to implement shore protection
projects and to maintain the beaches. As federal funding for shore
protection projects has declined, the future of a long-term federal
CSDR project has grown increasingly uncertain. The proposed action
would address the ongoing trend of declining federal shore protection
funding by establishing a non-federal management program under the
autonomous control of the County and the island municipalities. An
island wide regional strategy was developed to do the following: (1)
Establish a regional approach by consolidating local community
resources, both financially and logistically, to manage Bogue Inlet and
the beaches on Bogue Banks in an effective manner, (2) Provide long-
term shoreline protection stabilization and an equivalent level of
protection along Bogue Banks' 25-mile oceanfront/inlet shorelines
addressing long-term erosion, (3) Provide long-term protection to Bogue
Banks' tourism industry, (4) Provide short and long-term protection to
residential and commercial structures and island infrastructure, (5)
Provide long-term protection to the local tax base by protection
existing and future tax bases and public access/use, (6) Maintain and
improve natural resources along Bogue Banks' oceanfront and inlet
shoreline by using compatible beach material in compliance with the
North Carolina State Sediment Criteria for shore protection, (7)
Maintain and improve recreational uses of Bogue Banks' oceanfront/inlet
shorelines, (8) Maintain navigation conditions within Bogue Inlet, and
(9) Balance the needs of the human environment with the protection of
existing natural resources.
2. Proposed Action. Within the County's preferred alternative,
known as Alternative 4 (or the BBMBNP), the County would manage all of
the approximately 18 miles of beaches along Pine Knoll Shores, Indian
Beach/Salter Path, and Emerald Isle, along with the eastern shoreline
of Bogue Inlet. The 50-year management would employ a regular and
recurring cycle of nourishment events, in combination with periodic
realignments of the Bogue Inlet ebb tide channel, to continuously
maintain beach profile sand volumes at a 25-year Level of Protection
(LOP). This LOP equates to protection for upland structures against a
25-year storm event, and nourishment events would be implemented
according to 25-year LOP beach profile volumetric triggers. Volumetric
triggers were developed by analyzing and adjusting design beach
profiles in a series of iterative SBEACH numerical modeling runs. The
final modeling results indicated appropriate volumetric triggers
ranging from 211-266 cubic yards/foot along Bogue Banks, averaging 238
cubic yards/foot. Based on variability in the volumetric triggers, the
project shoreline was divided into management reaches ranging in length
from 2.4 to 4.5 miles. Reaches include Pine Knoll Shores, Indian Beach/
Salter Path, Emerald Isle (EI) East, EI Central, EI West, and Bogue
Inlet. Based on the SBEACH modeling results and observed background
erosional loss rates, EI Central, EI West, and Bogue Inlet management
reaches are expected to require recurring nourishment of approximately
0.06 to 0.23 million cubic yards of material at intervals of six or
nine years to offset background erosion. For Pine Knoll Shores, Indian
Beach/Salter Path, and EI East, recurring maintenance events would
place approximately 0.2 to 0.5 million cubic yards of material at
intervals of three or six years to offset background erosion. Actual
maintenance nourishment intervals would be expected to vary in response
to background erosion rate variability over the course of the 50-year
project.
For Bogue Inlet management, the proposal has designated a ``safe
box'' within the inlet throat where the ebb channel would be allowed to
migrate freely so long as it remains within the boundaries of the safe
box. If the channel migrates beyond the eastern boundary of the safe
box (or toward Emerald Isle), this would trigger a preemptive event to
realign the ebb channel mid-center within the established boundary. The
limits of the safe box were developed and evaluated through empirical
analysis of historical inlet changes and supplemental numerical
modeling. Historical ebb channel alignments and corresponding inlet
shoreline positions were analyzed through GIS analysis of historical
aerial photography, National Ocean Service (NOS) T-sheet maps, and
LIDAR topographic maps. Past migration rates and corresponding
shoreline changes indicate that once eastward migration accelerates
toward Emerald Isle, the migrating channel has the potential to
threaten structures along the shoreline within two to three years.
Based on the historical patterns, a safe box was established with
boundaries corresponding to the location where acceleration of the ebb
channel towards the west end of Emerald Isle has occurred in the past.
The validity of the boundaries were then evaluated by modeling a series
of six idealized inlet configurations encompassing the range of most
relevant historical ebb channel alignments. Modeling results did not
show any additional geomorphological indicators of an impending shift
to accelerated migration that warranted modifications to the initial
safe box. Once the boundary threshold is triggered, the relocation
event would entail the construction of a channel approximately 6,000-
feet long with variable bottom widths ranging from 150 to 500 feet. The
dimensions of the channel would be similar to the footprint of the ebb
tide channel realignment construction completed in 2005. Maintenance
events of Bogue Inlet are expected approximately every ten to fifteen
years, with corresponding placement of dredged material on the beaches
of Emerald Isle.
Beach fill for all the proposed nourishment activities on Bogue
Banks would be acquired from a combination of sources including
offshore borrow sites, Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway disposal areas,
upland sand mines, and the management of the Bogue Inlet. The offshore
borrow sites consist of the Old Offshore Dredge Material Disposal Site
(ODMDS) and the current ODMDS, which are located approximately 3
nautical miles offshore from Beaufort Inlet, and Area Y, which is
located over 1.0 mile offshore from EI West reach. It is expected that
hopper dredge plants will be used to extract beach fill material from
the offshore borrow sites. Material would be transported from the
hopper dredges to offshore booster pumps and carried to the appropriate
nourishment reaches via pipeline. A hydraulic cutterhead dredge will
likely be used during the management of the
[[Page 17986]]
inlet bar channel event, which would transport the dredge material
directly from the dredge plant onto the beach via pipelines.
3. Alternatives. Several alternatives have been identified and
evaluated through the scoping process, and further detailed description
of all alternatives is disclosed in Section 3.0 of the FEIS.
4. Scoping Process. To date, a public scoping meeting was held on
September 30, 2010 in Morehead City; several Project Delivery Team
(PDT) meetings have been held, which were comprised of local, state,
and federal government officials, local residents and nonprofit
organizations.
The COE has coordinated closely with Bureau of Ocean Energy and
Management (BOEM), which has agreed to be a cooperating agency, in the
development of the DEIS to ensure the process complies with the
requirements of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and with
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Additionally, the COE has
preliminarily consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the
National Marine Fisheries Service Protected Resources Division under
the Endangered Species Act; with U.S. Fish and Wildlife and National
Marine Fisheries Service Habitat Conservation Division under the Fish
and Wildlife Coordination Act; and with the National Marine Fisheries
Service Habitat Conservation Division under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
The DEIS assesses the potential water quality impacts pursuant to
Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, and is coordinated with the North
Carolina Division of Coastal Management (DCM) to insure consistency
with the Coastal Zone Management Act.
Dated: April 3, 2017.
Scott McLendon,
Regulatory Division Chief, Wilmington District.
[FR Doc. 2017-07572 Filed 4-13-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P
