Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Yazoo Backwater Area Water Management Project, 43101-43104 [2023-14279]
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 128 / Thursday, July 6, 2023 / Notices
Laura Galban,
Federal Register Liaison, Bureau of Consumer
Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2023–14197 Filed 7–5–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Army Corps
of Engineers
Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement for
the Yazoo Backwater Area Water
Management Project
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Department of the Army, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a
draft environmental impact statement
for the Yazoo Backwater Area water
management project, Sharkey, Yazoo,
Washington, and Issaquena, and
Humphrey Counties, Mississippi.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE), Vicksburg District,
is announcing its intent to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
for the authorized Yazoo Basin, Yazoo
Backwater, Mississippi, Project
(Project). The EIS will analyze a new
water management solution for the
Project. The EIS will also examine
measures to avoid, minimize, and
mitigate environmental impacts
associated with the Proposed Action
which is the USACE Preferred
Alternative. The EIS process does not
foreclose the authorities of other State
and Federal agencies to assist those
Yazoo Backwater Area communities in
risk management, emergency response,
and community resilience. State and
Federal agencies, with applicable
authorities, would be continually
engaged as necessary throughout the
process.
DATES: All comments and suggestions
must be submitted by August 7, 2023.
ADDRESSES: To ensure the Corps has
sufficient time to consider public input
in the preparation of the Draft EIS,
scoping comments should be submitted
by email at YazooBackwater@
usace.army.mil or by surface mail to
Mike Renacker at U.S. Army Corps of
Engineer, Vicksburg District, ATTN:
CEMVK–PPMD, 4155 East Clay Street,
Room 248, Vicksburg, MS 39183.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Stacey M. Jensen, in writing at the
Office of the Assistant Secretary of the
Army (Civil Works), 108 Army
Pentagon, Washington, DC 20318–0108;
by telephone at 703–695–6791; and by
email at YazooBackwater@
usace.army.mil.
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SUMMARY:
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Project Background and
Authorization. After the devastating
Mississippi River Flood of 1927,
Congress passed the 1928 Flood Control
Act (FCA) which authorized the
Mississippi River & Tributaries (MR&T)
project. The Mississippi River Levees
(MRL) project, which was authorized by
the 1928 FCA, as amended, is a
component of the MR&T project and
prevents inundation of the alluvial
valley of the lower Mississippi River
(LMR) which begins at Cape Girardeau,
Missouri, and gently slopes to the Gulf
of Mexico. The Mississippi River levees
protect major cities and towns,
developed industrial areas, valuable
farmlands, and wildlife habitats against
the Project Design Flood (PDF) by
confining flow to the leveed channel
except where it enters backwater areas
or is diverted purposely into floodway
areas. Backwater areas and floodways
were both integral features designed
into the overall MRL project.
Backwater areas are the necessary
result of gaps left in the main-stem
Mississippi River levee system at the
mouths of major tributaries that empty
into the river. During large flood events,
floodwaters from the Mississippi River
back into the gaps and/or block
discharges from the tributary systems
from exiting the backwater areas. The
MR&T project is augmented by four
backwater areas. The St. Francis River
Backwater Area and the White River
Backwater Area in the northern section
of the LMR, the Yazoo River Backwater
Area in the middle section of the LMR,
and Red River Backwater Area in the
southern section of the LMR. These
backwater areas typically operate
through the use of backwater levees
which tie into the MRL system, water
control structures, pumps, and
sometimes connecting channels. The St.
Francis River, White River, and Red
River backwater areas each have
operational pump stations; the Huxtable
pump station was built in 1977,
Graham-Burke pump station was built
in 1964, and Tensas-Cocodrie pump
station was built in 1986, respectively.
Floodways are intended to safely
divert excess floodwaters past critical
reaches in the levee system to prevent
the PDF from exceeding levee design
elevations. The original MR&T project
provided for five floodways which were
the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway
in the northern section of the LMR, the
Boeuf/Eudora floodway in the middle
section of the LMR, and the West
Atchafalaya, Morganza, and Bonnet
Carre floodways in the southern section
of the LMR. The Boeuf/Eudora
floodway, which would have diverted
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water from the middle section of the
LMR, from the mouth of the Arkansas
River to Old River, during a PDF, was
the only authorized floodway that was
never implemented and was eventually
removed as an authorized component of
the MR&T project. The Boeuf/Eudora
floodway would have removed
approximately 700,000 cubic feet per
second (cfs) of floodwater flow from the
Mississippi River during the PDF.
Without the Boeuf/Eudora floodway, it
became necessary to confine the PDF
between higher and stronger levees
along the Mississippi River. Prior to the
1941 FCA and in an attempt to reduce
the necessity of the Boeuf/Eudora
Floodway, the cutoff and channel
realignment component of the MR&T
was initiated in 1932 for the middle
section of the LMR. The cutoff and
channel realignment component was
intended to eventually increase the
carrying capacity of the channel and
lower flood stages. Legal action was
initiated in 1929 from landowners over
the use of the Boeuf/Eudora floodway.
By 1941, with the legal conflicts still
unresolved, the Mississippi River
Commission re-examined the MR&T
project but made no formal
recommendation on the floodway issue.
The 1941 FCA formally abandoned all
components of the Boeuf/Eudora
floodway and authorized an increase in
the height of the Mississippi River
levees, a plan developed by the
Mississippi River Commission to
provide flood protection to the Yazoo
Backwater Area.
The Project was authorized by the
FCA of 1941 (Public Law (Pub. L.) 77–
228) and amended by the FCA of 1965
(Pub. L. 89–298). Section 103 of the
Water Resources Development Act
(WRDA) of 1986 established cost
sharing for flood control projects, or
separable elements thereof, on which
construction was initiated after April
30, 1986. This provision would have
required a local cost share to implement
the Project. WRDA of 1996 later
amended section 103 of WRDA 1986 to
define physical construction as the date
of the award of a construction contract,
which restored full Federal
responsibility for the Project. The FCA
of 1941 authorized flood protection to
the Yazoo Backwater Area through a
combination of levees, associated
drainage channels, water control
structures, and a pump station. By 1942
the cutoff and channel realignment
program was completed, and flood
stages were lowered on the Mississippi
River at Vicksburg. However, more
recent hydrologic studies have revealed
that these benefits have largely been
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reversed, and peak stages on the
Mississippi River at the Vicksburg gage
are increasing. To date, the levee, three
water control structures, and the
connecting channel have been
completed as part of the authorized
project. The levee, known as the Yazoo
Backwater Levee, is an extension of the
Mississippi River east bank levee,
generally along the west bank of the
Yazoo River to a connection with the
Will M. Whittington (Lower) Auxiliary
Channel Levee in the vicinity of the
mouth of the Big Sunflower River. The
Yazoo Backwater levee was completed
in 1978. The authorized water control
structures include the Steele Bayou,
Little Sunflower River, and Muddy
Bayou structures which were completed
in 1969, 1975, and 1978, respectively.
These water control structures allow for
gravity flow drainage. The connecting
channel between the Little Sunflower
and Steele Bayou water control
structures was completed in 1978. The
Yazoo Backwater Area is the only major
backwater area in the MR&T project that
has an authorized yet unconstructed
pump station to evacuate impounded
water.
The Yazoo Backwater Levee was
designed to reduce flood risks from
overbank flooding of the Yazoo River,
which is a major tributary that empties
into the Mississippi River. Water control
structures were incorporated into the
Yazoo Backwater Levee to facilitate the
release of water from the landside to the
riverside of the levee, which is
dependent on the elevation of the
Mississippi River, and subsequently the
Yazoo River. For instance, when the
Yazoo River stage is lower than the
landside stage at the Steele Bayou water
control structure, the structure remains
open to allow for the gravity flow
release of precipitation driven
headwaters from within the Yazoo
Basin. Likewise, when the Yazoo River
stage is higher than the landside stage
at the Steele Bayou water control
structure, the structure is closed to
prevent Yazoo River floodwaters from
entering or backing into the Yazoo
Backwater Area (typically referred to as
backwater flooding). Closure of the
Steele Bayou water control structure
also impounds any surface water and
precipitation from the 4,093 square mile
(2.62 million acres) drainage area of the
Yazoo Basin. Once these waters become
trapped, due to closure of the structure
and no drainage potential into the
Yazoo River, the flooding becomes
known as a backwater flood event.
When these conditions are met, and the
continued accumulation from local
rainfall events within the Yazoo Basin
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continue to drain southward, the
backwater flooding is increased. A
pump station would evacuate
impounded backwater when the water
control structures are closed.
The recurring backwater flooding has
demonstrated the need to complete the
remaining flood damage reduction
feature of the Yazoo Basin, Yazoo
Backwater, Mississippi, Project. In the
twenty-first century alone, the Yazoo
Backwater area has experienced some
degree of backwater-induced flooding
19 out of the 23 years. The historic 2019
flood inundated over a half million
acres of the Yazoo Backwater Area from
February to August. Another backwater
flood occurred in February of 2020 and
devastated the already flood-ravaged
area. The 2020 floodwaters peaked only
2 ft lower than in 2019 and flooded over
450,000 acres of land. More volume of
water passed through the Mississippi
River at Vicksburg during 2019 than
ever before in our period of record
(1927–2022). During 2020 the secondmost volume of water passed through
the Mississippi River at Vicksburg. The
volume of water passing through in
2019 was more than twice the amount
of volume that Lake Erie can hold.
During backwater flood events,
stagnant water conditions can remain,
often for extended periods of time, until
the Yazoo River stage is lower than the
landside stage at the Steele Bayou water
control structure, at which time the
structure can be opened to allow for
gravity flow out of the interior Yazoo
Basin Area, reducing the landside stages
of a given flood event. During prolonged
backwater flood events, stagnant
conditions create low dissolved oxygen
in the water column which impact
aquatic species. The backwater flooding
also affects terrestrial areas with
significant depths of water, restricting
usable habitat and available food for
terrestrial species. Therefore, these
species must leave the flood zone or
face mortality. The human population of
the Yazoo Backwater Area also suffers
significantly. During the 2019 flood,
hundreds were displaced from their
flooded homes for over six months.
Farmers lost their entire 2019 crop
season in the affected area.
2. Joint Agency Collaboration Effort.
In January 2023, the U.S. Department of
the Army (Civil Works) and the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
signed a Joint Memorandum of
Collaboration stating that the agencies
are committed to a collaborative and
expeditious path forward to establish
flood risk reduction in the Yazoo
Backwater Area that would be
compliant with the Clean Water Act
(CWA) and all other applicable laws and
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regulations. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS) was also included in
the collaborative effort. The Joint
Memorandum identified activities ‘‘to
enable the Army to deliver a preferred
approach on flood risk reduction
solution(s) for the YBA by June 2023.’’
The close collaboration between all
three agencies throughout the process
would serve the Federal Government in
meeting flood risk management
objectives, ensuring appropriate
consideration of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and
CWA section 404 requirements,
addressing the needs of the affected
communities, and addressing fish and
wildlife issues. Since the issuance of the
Joint Memorandum, the USACE, EPA,
and USFWS have organized interagency
technical and engagement teams to
identify issues of concern and develop
a draft water management solution. The
USACE, EPA, and USFWS also jointly
conducted public engagement sessions
to allow the public to provide comments
on preliminary options under
consideration by USACE for a Project.
All comments received were
cooperatively reviewed by the
interagency teams and considered in the
development of the USACE Preferred
Alternative.
A total of four public engagement
sessions were held on February 15,
2023, and a total of four public
engagement sessions were held on May
4 and 5, 2023, at the USACE Vicksburg
District office. The February 2023
sessions were held to receive input from
the communities on their needs and on
development of a draft preferred
approach, and the May 2023 sessions
were held to receive input from the
communities on the draft preferred
approach. In addition, roundtable
sessions were held on February 16,
2023, with various individuals, groups,
and organizations, including a session
for community leaders, local elected
officials, agricultural interests, and
environmental organizations. The input
gathered throughout these early
engagement sessions and on the draft
preferred approach was used to inform
the development of the USACE
Preferred Alternative in this NOI.
Transcripts from the May 2023 sessions
can be found on the Yazoo Backwater
Area Project web page.1
Commenters spoke on a variety of
topics regarding their concerns about,
and lived experiences during, flood
events, from lack of access to their
homes and families, damages to their
1 https://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/Missions/
Programs-and-Project-Management/YazooBackwater/ (last accessed June 28, 2023).
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homes, lack of access to emergency
services and education, lack of access to
roads and loss of infrastructure, loss of
agricultural crops and inability to plant
crops, loss of ability to receive payment
from crop insurance, economic losses
and business hardships with the
community being supported generally
by agricultural production, loss of
recreational values, loss of wetlands
through long duration of inundation, as
well as trees and other flora, loss of
environmental values and harms caused
to fish and wildlife, environmental
justice concerns, lack of community
growth and development opportunities,
and impacts to both physical and
mental health. The majority of
commenters supported a solution that
included a structural component. A few
commenters stated that only a fully nonstructural or nature-based solution
should be put forth for any proposed
action.
The USACE used the information
provided by engagements and
comments and the joint agency
collaborative efforts to develop its
Preferred Alternative for purposes of
NEPA compliance. The USACE used
information received, such as
information related to crop season dates,
to modify what the agencies presented
to the public in May 2023.
Through this collaborative process,
the USACE developed a Preferred
Alternative and must go through the
NEPA process to identify a final
selected alternative for the Project and
will fully consider the alternatives
described below in the EIS process. To
be clear, USACE has not made any
irreversible or irretrievable commitment
of resources regarding USACE’s
Preferred Alternative and seeks public
input on all alternatives proposed for
their ability to provide a communitydriven flood risk reduction solution to
the Yazoo Backwater Area.
3. The USACE Preferred Alternative.
The USACE Preferred Alternative is a
water management solution to reduce
flood risk in the Yazoo Backwater Area,
resulting from high stages of the
Mississippi River, and consists of
structural and nonstructural
components. The Preferred Alternative
provides flood risk reduction for
communities and the local economy.
Flood risk reduction will target primary
residences (and roads isolating them),
schools, infrastructure, commercial
properties, and prime farmland while
minimizing environmental losses.
The structural component consists of
a 25,000 cfs pump operated to manage
backwater flooding seasonally. The
proposed location for the pump station
would be on Steele Bayou adjacent to
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the water control structure in Issaquena
County, Mississippi. The backwater will
be managed at 90.0 feet (ft), National
Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD
throughout) at the Steele Bayou gage,
during the crop season of March 16th
through October 15th and will be
managed at 93.0 ft at the Steele Bayou
gage during the non-crop season of
October 16th through March 15th. These
elevations are close to the elevations for
the 2- (89.3 ft) and 5-year (92.0 ft)
floodplains. Including a buffer on the
extent of the 2- and 5-year floodplains
will help to protect wetlands across the
entire 2- and 5-year floodplains,
particularly those riverine backwater
wetlands located at the outer extent of
the floodplains, receive sufficient
backwater flood inundation to maintain
ecological functioning. Managing water
to any specific elevation requires the
pumps to be initiated at a lower
elevation and managing to 93.0 ft in the
non-crop season will allow backwater
flooding to benefit more wetlands before
pumping is initiated. Similarly,
managing to 90.0 ft during the crop
season will allow backwater flooding to
benefit more wetlands before pumping
is initiated. Lastly, there are fewer
wetlands anticipated to be impacted
between the 90.0–93.0 ft elevations than
between the 89.3–92.0 ft elevations,
which translates to fewer wetlands to
assess for impacts and likely less
compensatory mitigation needs.
This seasonal water management
solution will ensure flood risk reduction
for the primary residences and vital
infrastructure, preserving primary
economic drivers in the community,
while avoiding or minimizing adverse
impacts to fish, wildlife, and wetland
values. During the seasonal water
management at the 93.0 ft elevation,
minimal functional losses of aquatic
resources are anticipated, while some
functional losses, such as fish spawning
and rearing habitat, are anticipated
during the seasonal water management
at the 90.0 ft elevation. However, the
USACE Preferred Alternative is not
anticipated to convert any wetlands to
non-wetlands during operation of the
water management solution.
The nonstructural component consists
of various features to reduce future
flood impacts. One nonstructural feature
is modification of the operation of the
Steele Bayou water control structure to
minimize impacts. Currently the
structure is operated to maintain water
levels in the Yazoo Backwater Area
between 68.5 and 70.0 ft. The Preferred
Alternative will modify operation of the
structure to maintain water levels in the
Yazoo Backwater Area at approximately
75.0 ft. This feature would allow for
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43103
more exchange of water between the
riverside and landside of the Yazoo
Backwater Levee, mimicking more
natural flood pulses and therefore
benefiting the aquatic environment.
Water levels would be maintained
below top bank of the stream channels
and therefore will not result in an
increase in flood risk. Modifications to
the Steele Bayou water control structure
operation manual would be completed
as a joint effort between USACE, EPA,
and the USFWS. The remaining
nonstructural features consist of
acquisition (i.e., property buyouts) or
floodproofing of properties.
Floodproofing of properties includes
additions, changes, or adjustments to
structures which reduce or eliminate
flood damage to real estate or improved
real property, water and sanitary
facilities, and structures and their
contents. Floodproofing options may
include, but are not limited to,
construction of ring levees, elevating
homes, septic and sewer protection, and
raising road elevations. Any
floodproofing option outside of USACE
authority will be coordinated with the
appropriate State and/or Federal agency.
A mitigation plan will be developed to
fully compensate for all unavoidable
environmental impacts and would be
approved by USACE, EPA, and USFWS.
In addition to the mitigation plan, a
comprehensive monitoring and adaptive
management plan will be developed as
a joint effort between USACE, EPA, and
USFWS. This plan will provide
monitoring guidelines throughout the
construction and operation of the
Preferred Alternative and describe
practical solutions to an array of
potential environmental challenges in
the Yazoo Backwater Area, as well as
the Yazoo Basin, potentially associated
with the USACE Preferred Alternative.
4. Other Alternatives to be
Considered. The EIS will evaluate the
USACE Preferred Alternative water
management solution described above.
As a result of the early joint agency
public engagement in the pre-scoping
process, three additional reasonable
alternatives were developed for
consideration in the EIS: the No Action
Alternative; variations of the Preferred
Alternative providing variations on the
crop season dates; an alternative to not
exceed the 90.0 ft elevation in water
management year round (i.e., no
seasonal water management); and, a
fully non-structural solution alternative
(i.e., without structural pumps) using
the non-structural methods described
above in the Preferred Alternative but
more extensive to provide flood risk
reduction for all primary residences
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impacted in the Yazoo Backwater Area.
Impacts and environmental
consequences of the alternatives on the
affected environment will be evaluated
and compared for the future with
project and future without project
conditions.
5. Scoping. The USACE invites all
affected Federal agencies, Tribal
Nations, State and local agencies,
community members with
environmental justice concerns
implicated by the project, other
interested parties, and the general
public to participate in the NEPA
scoping process during development of
the EIS. The purpose of the public
scoping process is to provide
information to the public, narrow the
scope of analysis to significant
environmental issues, serve as a
mechanism to solicit agency and public
input on potential alternatives and
issues of concern, and ensure full and
open participation in scoping for the
EIS. As previously described, the
USACE has already provided a number
of public opportunities for input that
helped inform the development of the
USACE Preferred Alternative including
robust early engagement and prescoping meetings and a written
comment period. The engagement
process continues in the scoping
process described in this NOI. The
USACE requests input from interested
parties regarding any potential
mitigation alternatives and information
and analyses relevant to impacts
associated with the alternatives,
including the USACE Preferred
Alternative. Project information can be
found on the USACE project website.2
Comments can be submitted via the
methods in the ADDRESSES section
above. All personally identifiable
information (for example, name,
address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by a
commenter may be publicly accessible.
Do not submit confidential business
information or otherwise sensitive or
protected information.
6. Potentially Significant Issues. The
EIS will provide data and analyses on,
but is not limited to, the following
resources: bottomland hardwood
wetlands and other wetland resources,
endangered species, waterfowl,
fisheries, water quality, downstream
effects, cultural resources,
environmental justice, recreation, and
where appropriate consideration of
ongoing and projected effects of climate
change and greenhouse gas emissions.
Wetlands, downstream effects, aquatics,
2 https://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/Missions/
Programs-and-Project-Management/YazooBackwater/ (last accessed on June 29, 2023).
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and environmental justice are discussed
briefly below.
Wetlands: The USACE Preferred
Alternative will be designed to avoid
and minimize wetland impacts. Aside
from the minimal unavoidable wetland
losses associated with construction of
an expanded footprint of the pump
station facility, the USACE’s Preferred
Alternative is designed to result in no
conversion of wetlands to non-wetlands.
Some wetland functional loss is
anticipated to occur during the crop
season water management period. The
USACE will collaborate with EPA and
USFWS to estimate wetland impacts
and identify compensatory mitigation
methods to offset unavoidable impacts.
Downstream Effects: Recent studies
have shown the additional water from
25,000 cfs pumps, operating at full
capacity, is approximately 1% of the
Mississippi River highwater flow,
representing a nearly immeasurable
contribution to the outflow at the
Vicksburg Gage. The additional flow
would minimally increase the water
surface stage, which would have no
appreciable effect to downstream
flooding. Water quality impacts are
anticipated to be insignificant because
the total load of nutrients and organic
carbon that will be exported
downstream would not be altered
because of pump operation. The overall
contribution of nutrients downstream,
resultant from pump operation, will
only affect the timing of nutrient
delivery, but not the overall appreciable
loading downstream in the Mississippi
River.
Aquatics: The USACE Preferred
Alternative is anticipated to result in
some loss of spawning and rearing
habitat, primarily during the crop
season. The USACE will collaborate
with EPA and USFWS to estimate
impacts to fish and other aquatic species
and identify compensatory mitigation
methods to offset any impacts. Current
data shows hypoxia occurs during major
backwater flood events and this hypoxia
negatively affects certain fish species
and other aquatic organisms. Floodinduced hypoxia during the spring and
early summer likely impacts successful
spawning and rearing regardless of the
amount of aquatic habitat available. The
EIS will analyze environmental and
adaptive management plans to reduce
the spatial extent and duration of
hypoxia.
Environmental Justice: Backwater
flooding events cause severe economic
damages to all populations in the Yazoo
Backwater Area by destroying homes,
farmland, wildlife resources,
community infrastructure, and access
routes used by residences and the
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public safety system. The majority of the
Yazoo Backwater Area is home to lowincome or minority communities which
meet the threshold criteria of at least 20
percent or more of households having
incomes below poverty levels or an area
having a majority of residents
identifying as a minority. The Yazoo
Backwater Area is also designated as
disadvantaged by the Council on
Environmental Quality’s Climate and
Economic Justice Screening Tool.3
Backwater flooding events create
disproportionately high adverse human
health and environmental effects to
these minority, low-income, and
underserved communities. Meaningful
outreach to communities with
environmental justice concerns will be
conducted and the EIS will compare the
current backwater flood conditions with
the future flood conditions across the
alternatives and analyze the impacts to
each of the communities with
environmental justice concerns.4
7. Anticipated NEPA Schedule. The
current schedule anticipates the release
of the draft EIS by the USACE for public
review and comment in December 2023.
After it is published, the USACE will
hold a public meeting(s) to present the
results of the analysis, to receive
comments, and to address questions
concerning the Preferred Alternative.
Approved by:
Michael L. Connor,
Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works).
[FR Doc. 2023–14279 Filed 7–5–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720–58–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[Docket No.: ED–2023–SCC–0117]
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget for Review
and Approval; Comment Request;
Application for the International
Research and Studies (IRS) Program
(1894–0001)
Office of Postsecondary
Education (OPE), Department of
Education (ED).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of
1995, the Department is proposing a
revision of a currently approved
information collection request (ICR).
SUMMARY:
3 https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en (last
accessed June 25, 2023).
4 The EIS will also consider Executive Order
14096, Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to
Environmental Justice For All, issued on April 26,
2023.
E:\FR\FM\06JYN1.SGM
06JYN1
Agencies
- DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
- Department of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 128 (Thursday, July 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43101-43104]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14279]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
the Yazoo Backwater Area Water Management Project
AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a draft environmental impact
statement for the Yazoo Backwater Area water management project,
Sharkey, Yazoo, Washington, and Issaquena, and Humphrey Counties,
Mississippi.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Vicksburg District,
is announcing its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) for the authorized Yazoo Basin, Yazoo Backwater, Mississippi,
Project (Project). The EIS will analyze a new water management solution
for the Project. The EIS will also examine measures to avoid, minimize,
and mitigate environmental impacts associated with the Proposed Action
which is the USACE Preferred Alternative. The EIS process does not
foreclose the authorities of other State and Federal agencies to assist
those Yazoo Backwater Area communities in risk management, emergency
response, and community resilience. State and Federal agencies, with
applicable authorities, would be continually engaged as necessary
throughout the process.
DATES: All comments and suggestions must be submitted by August 7,
2023.
ADDRESSES: To ensure the Corps has sufficient time to consider public
input in the preparation of the Draft EIS, scoping comments should be
submitted by email at [email protected] or by surface mail
to Mike Renacker at U.S. Army Corps of Engineer, Vicksburg District,
ATTN: CEMVK-PPMD, 4155 East Clay Street, Room 248, Vicksburg, MS 39183.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stacey M. Jensen, in writing at the
Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), 108 Army
Pentagon, Washington, DC 20318-0108; by telephone at 703-695-6791; and
by email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Project Background and Authorization. After the devastating
Mississippi River Flood of 1927, Congress passed the 1928 Flood Control
Act (FCA) which authorized the Mississippi River & Tributaries (MR&T)
project. The Mississippi River Levees (MRL) project, which was
authorized by the 1928 FCA, as amended, is a component of the MR&T
project and prevents inundation of the alluvial valley of the lower
Mississippi River (LMR) which begins at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and
gently slopes to the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River levees
protect major cities and towns, developed industrial areas, valuable
farmlands, and wildlife habitats against the Project Design Flood (PDF)
by confining flow to the leveed channel except where it enters
backwater areas or is diverted purposely into floodway areas. Backwater
areas and floodways were both integral features designed into the
overall MRL project.
Backwater areas are the necessary result of gaps left in the main-
stem Mississippi River levee system at the mouths of major tributaries
that empty into the river. During large flood events, floodwaters from
the Mississippi River back into the gaps and/or block discharges from
the tributary systems from exiting the backwater areas. The MR&T
project is augmented by four backwater areas. The St. Francis River
Backwater Area and the White River Backwater Area in the northern
section of the LMR, the Yazoo River Backwater Area in the middle
section of the LMR, and Red River Backwater Area in the southern
section of the LMR. These backwater areas typically operate through the
use of backwater levees which tie into the MRL system, water control
structures, pumps, and sometimes connecting channels. The St. Francis
River, White River, and Red River backwater areas each have operational
pump stations; the Huxtable pump station was built in 1977, Graham-
Burke pump station was built in 1964, and Tensas-Cocodrie pump station
was built in 1986, respectively.
Floodways are intended to safely divert excess floodwaters past
critical reaches in the levee system to prevent the PDF from exceeding
levee design elevations. The original MR&T project provided for five
floodways which were the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway in the
northern section of the LMR, the Boeuf/Eudora floodway in the middle
section of the LMR, and the West Atchafalaya, Morganza, and Bonnet
Carre floodways in the southern section of the LMR. The Boeuf/Eudora
floodway, which would have diverted water from the middle section of
the LMR, from the mouth of the Arkansas River to Old River, during a
PDF, was the only authorized floodway that was never implemented and
was eventually removed as an authorized component of the MR&T project.
The Boeuf/Eudora floodway would have removed approximately 700,000
cubic feet per second (cfs) of floodwater flow from the Mississippi
River during the PDF. Without the Boeuf/Eudora floodway, it became
necessary to confine the PDF between higher and stronger levees along
the Mississippi River. Prior to the 1941 FCA and in an attempt to
reduce the necessity of the Boeuf/Eudora Floodway, the cutoff and
channel realignment component of the MR&T was initiated in 1932 for the
middle section of the LMR. The cutoff and channel realignment component
was intended to eventually increase the carrying capacity of the
channel and lower flood stages. Legal action was initiated in 1929 from
landowners over the use of the Boeuf/Eudora floodway. By 1941, with the
legal conflicts still unresolved, the Mississippi River Commission re-
examined the MR&T project but made no formal recommendation on the
floodway issue. The 1941 FCA formally abandoned all components of the
Boeuf/Eudora floodway and authorized an increase in the height of the
Mississippi River levees, a plan developed by the Mississippi River
Commission to provide flood protection to the Yazoo Backwater Area.
The Project was authorized by the FCA of 1941 (Public Law (Pub. L.)
77-228) and amended by the FCA of 1965 (Pub. L. 89-298). Section 103 of
the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1986 established cost
sharing for flood control projects, or separable elements thereof, on
which construction was initiated after April 30, 1986. This provision
would have required a local cost share to implement the Project. WRDA
of 1996 later amended section 103 of WRDA 1986 to define physical
construction as the date of the award of a construction contract, which
restored full Federal responsibility for the Project. The FCA of 1941
authorized flood protection to the Yazoo Backwater Area through a
combination of levees, associated drainage channels, water control
structures, and a pump station. By 1942 the cutoff and channel
realignment program was completed, and flood stages were lowered on the
Mississippi River at Vicksburg. However, more recent hydrologic studies
have revealed that these benefits have largely been
[[Page 43102]]
reversed, and peak stages on the Mississippi River at the Vicksburg
gage are increasing. To date, the levee, three water control
structures, and the connecting channel have been completed as part of
the authorized project. The levee, known as the Yazoo Backwater Levee,
is an extension of the Mississippi River east bank levee, generally
along the west bank of the Yazoo River to a connection with the Will M.
Whittington (Lower) Auxiliary Channel Levee in the vicinity of the
mouth of the Big Sunflower River. The Yazoo Backwater levee was
completed in 1978. The authorized water control structures include the
Steele Bayou, Little Sunflower River, and Muddy Bayou structures which
were completed in 1969, 1975, and 1978, respectively. These water
control structures allow for gravity flow drainage. The connecting
channel between the Little Sunflower and Steele Bayou water control
structures was completed in 1978. The Yazoo Backwater Area is the only
major backwater area in the MR&T project that has an authorized yet
unconstructed pump station to evacuate impounded water.
The Yazoo Backwater Levee was designed to reduce flood risks from
overbank flooding of the Yazoo River, which is a major tributary that
empties into the Mississippi River. Water control structures were
incorporated into the Yazoo Backwater Levee to facilitate the release
of water from the landside to the riverside of the levee, which is
dependent on the elevation of the Mississippi River, and subsequently
the Yazoo River. For instance, when the Yazoo River stage is lower than
the landside stage at the Steele Bayou water control structure, the
structure remains open to allow for the gravity flow release of
precipitation driven headwaters from within the Yazoo Basin. Likewise,
when the Yazoo River stage is higher than the landside stage at the
Steele Bayou water control structure, the structure is closed to
prevent Yazoo River floodwaters from entering or backing into the Yazoo
Backwater Area (typically referred to as backwater flooding). Closure
of the Steele Bayou water control structure also impounds any surface
water and precipitation from the 4,093 square mile (2.62 million acres)
drainage area of the Yazoo Basin. Once these waters become trapped, due
to closure of the structure and no drainage potential into the Yazoo
River, the flooding becomes known as a backwater flood event. When
these conditions are met, and the continued accumulation from local
rainfall events within the Yazoo Basin continue to drain southward, the
backwater flooding is increased. A pump station would evacuate
impounded backwater when the water control structures are closed.
The recurring backwater flooding has demonstrated the need to
complete the remaining flood damage reduction feature of the Yazoo
Basin, Yazoo Backwater, Mississippi, Project. In the twenty-first
century alone, the Yazoo Backwater area has experienced some degree of
backwater-induced flooding 19 out of the 23 years. The historic 2019
flood inundated over a half million acres of the Yazoo Backwater Area
from February to August. Another backwater flood occurred in February
of 2020 and devastated the already flood-ravaged area. The 2020
floodwaters peaked only 2 ft lower than in 2019 and flooded over
450,000 acres of land. More volume of water passed through the
Mississippi River at Vicksburg during 2019 than ever before in our
period of record (1927-2022). During 2020 the second-most volume of
water passed through the Mississippi River at Vicksburg. The volume of
water passing through in 2019 was more than twice the amount of volume
that Lake Erie can hold.
During backwater flood events, stagnant water conditions can
remain, often for extended periods of time, until the Yazoo River stage
is lower than the landside stage at the Steele Bayou water control
structure, at which time the structure can be opened to allow for
gravity flow out of the interior Yazoo Basin Area, reducing the
landside stages of a given flood event. During prolonged backwater
flood events, stagnant conditions create low dissolved oxygen in the
water column which impact aquatic species. The backwater flooding also
affects terrestrial areas with significant depths of water, restricting
usable habitat and available food for terrestrial species. Therefore,
these species must leave the flood zone or face mortality. The human
population of the Yazoo Backwater Area also suffers significantly.
During the 2019 flood, hundreds were displaced from their flooded homes
for over six months. Farmers lost their entire 2019 crop season in the
affected area.
2. Joint Agency Collaboration Effort. In January 2023, the U.S.
Department of the Army (Civil Works) and the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) signed a Joint Memorandum of Collaboration stating that
the agencies are committed to a collaborative and expeditious path
forward to establish flood risk reduction in the Yazoo Backwater Area
that would be compliant with the Clean Water Act (CWA) and all other
applicable laws and regulations. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) was also included in the collaborative effort. The Joint
Memorandum identified activities ``to enable the Army to deliver a
preferred approach on flood risk reduction solution(s) for the YBA by
June 2023.'' The close collaboration between all three agencies
throughout the process would serve the Federal Government in meeting
flood risk management objectives, ensuring appropriate consideration of
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and CWA section 404
requirements, addressing the needs of the affected communities, and
addressing fish and wildlife issues. Since the issuance of the Joint
Memorandum, the USACE, EPA, and USFWS have organized interagency
technical and engagement teams to identify issues of concern and
develop a draft water management solution. The USACE, EPA, and USFWS
also jointly conducted public engagement sessions to allow the public
to provide comments on preliminary options under consideration by USACE
for a Project. All comments received were cooperatively reviewed by the
interagency teams and considered in the development of the USACE
Preferred Alternative.
A total of four public engagement sessions were held on February
15, 2023, and a total of four public engagement sessions were held on
May 4 and 5, 2023, at the USACE Vicksburg District office. The February
2023 sessions were held to receive input from the communities on their
needs and on development of a draft preferred approach, and the May
2023 sessions were held to receive input from the communities on the
draft preferred approach. In addition, roundtable sessions were held on
February 16, 2023, with various individuals, groups, and organizations,
including a session for community leaders, local elected officials,
agricultural interests, and environmental organizations. The input
gathered throughout these early engagement sessions and on the draft
preferred approach was used to inform the development of the USACE
Preferred Alternative in this NOI. Transcripts from the May 2023
sessions can be found on the Yazoo Backwater Area Project web page.\1\
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\1\ https://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/Missions/Programs-and-Project-Management/Yazoo-Backwater/ (last accessed June 28, 2023).
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Commenters spoke on a variety of topics regarding their concerns
about, and lived experiences during, flood events, from lack of access
to their homes and families, damages to their
[[Page 43103]]
homes, lack of access to emergency services and education, lack of
access to roads and loss of infrastructure, loss of agricultural crops
and inability to plant crops, loss of ability to receive payment from
crop insurance, economic losses and business hardships with the
community being supported generally by agricultural production, loss of
recreational values, loss of wetlands through long duration of
inundation, as well as trees and other flora, loss of environmental
values and harms caused to fish and wildlife, environmental justice
concerns, lack of community growth and development opportunities, and
impacts to both physical and mental health. The majority of commenters
supported a solution that included a structural component. A few
commenters stated that only a fully non-structural or nature-based
solution should be put forth for any proposed action.
The USACE used the information provided by engagements and comments
and the joint agency collaborative efforts to develop its Preferred
Alternative for purposes of NEPA compliance. The USACE used information
received, such as information related to crop season dates, to modify
what the agencies presented to the public in May 2023.
Through this collaborative process, the USACE developed a Preferred
Alternative and must go through the NEPA process to identify a final
selected alternative for the Project and will fully consider the
alternatives described below in the EIS process. To be clear, USACE has
not made any irreversible or irretrievable commitment of resources
regarding USACE's Preferred Alternative and seeks public input on all
alternatives proposed for their ability to provide a community-driven
flood risk reduction solution to the Yazoo Backwater Area.
3. The USACE Preferred Alternative. The USACE Preferred Alternative
is a water management solution to reduce flood risk in the Yazoo
Backwater Area, resulting from high stages of the Mississippi River,
and consists of structural and nonstructural components. The Preferred
Alternative provides flood risk reduction for communities and the local
economy. Flood risk reduction will target primary residences (and roads
isolating them), schools, infrastructure, commercial properties, and
prime farmland while minimizing environmental losses.
The structural component consists of a 25,000 cfs pump operated to
manage backwater flooding seasonally. The proposed location for the
pump station would be on Steele Bayou adjacent to the water control
structure in Issaquena County, Mississippi. The backwater will be
managed at 90.0 feet (ft), National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD
throughout) at the Steele Bayou gage, during the crop season of March
16th through October 15th and will be managed at 93.0 ft at the Steele
Bayou gage during the non-crop season of October 16th through March
15th. These elevations are close to the elevations for the 2- (89.3 ft)
and 5-year (92.0 ft) floodplains. Including a buffer on the extent of
the 2- and 5-year floodplains will help to protect wetlands across the
entire 2- and 5-year floodplains, particularly those riverine backwater
wetlands located at the outer extent of the floodplains, receive
sufficient backwater flood inundation to maintain ecological
functioning. Managing water to any specific elevation requires the
pumps to be initiated at a lower elevation and managing to 93.0 ft in
the non-crop season will allow backwater flooding to benefit more
wetlands before pumping is initiated. Similarly, managing to 90.0 ft
during the crop season will allow backwater flooding to benefit more
wetlands before pumping is initiated. Lastly, there are fewer wetlands
anticipated to be impacted between the 90.0-93.0 ft elevations than
between the 89.3-92.0 ft elevations, which translates to fewer wetlands
to assess for impacts and likely less compensatory mitigation needs.
This seasonal water management solution will ensure flood risk
reduction for the primary residences and vital infrastructure,
preserving primary economic drivers in the community, while avoiding or
minimizing adverse impacts to fish, wildlife, and wetland values.
During the seasonal water management at the 93.0 ft elevation, minimal
functional losses of aquatic resources are anticipated, while some
functional losses, such as fish spawning and rearing habitat, are
anticipated during the seasonal water management at the 90.0 ft
elevation. However, the USACE Preferred Alternative is not anticipated
to convert any wetlands to non-wetlands during operation of the water
management solution.
The nonstructural component consists of various features to reduce
future flood impacts. One nonstructural feature is modification of the
operation of the Steele Bayou water control structure to minimize
impacts. Currently the structure is operated to maintain water levels
in the Yazoo Backwater Area between 68.5 and 70.0 ft. The Preferred
Alternative will modify operation of the structure to maintain water
levels in the Yazoo Backwater Area at approximately 75.0 ft. This
feature would allow for more exchange of water between the riverside
and landside of the Yazoo Backwater Levee, mimicking more natural flood
pulses and therefore benefiting the aquatic environment. Water levels
would be maintained below top bank of the stream channels and therefore
will not result in an increase in flood risk. Modifications to the
Steele Bayou water control structure operation manual would be
completed as a joint effort between USACE, EPA, and the USFWS. The
remaining nonstructural features consist of acquisition (i.e., property
buyouts) or floodproofing of properties. Floodproofing of properties
includes additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce
or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property,
water and sanitary facilities, and structures and their contents.
Floodproofing options may include, but are not limited to, construction
of ring levees, elevating homes, septic and sewer protection, and
raising road elevations. Any floodproofing option outside of USACE
authority will be coordinated with the appropriate State and/or Federal
agency. A mitigation plan will be developed to fully compensate for all
unavoidable environmental impacts and would be approved by USACE, EPA,
and USFWS. In addition to the mitigation plan, a comprehensive
monitoring and adaptive management plan will be developed as a joint
effort between USACE, EPA, and USFWS. This plan will provide monitoring
guidelines throughout the construction and operation of the Preferred
Alternative and describe practical solutions to an array of potential
environmental challenges in the Yazoo Backwater Area, as well as the
Yazoo Basin, potentially associated with the USACE Preferred
Alternative.
4. Other Alternatives to be Considered. The EIS will evaluate the
USACE Preferred Alternative water management solution described above.
As a result of the early joint agency public engagement in the pre-
scoping process, three additional reasonable alternatives were
developed for consideration in the EIS: the No Action Alternative;
variations of the Preferred Alternative providing variations on the
crop season dates; an alternative to not exceed the 90.0 ft elevation
in water management year round (i.e., no seasonal water management);
and, a fully non-structural solution alternative (i.e., without
structural pumps) using the non-structural methods described above in
the Preferred Alternative but more extensive to provide flood risk
reduction for all primary residences
[[Page 43104]]
impacted in the Yazoo Backwater Area. Impacts and environmental
consequences of the alternatives on the affected environment will be
evaluated and compared for the future with project and future without
project conditions.
5. Scoping. The USACE invites all affected Federal agencies, Tribal
Nations, State and local agencies, community members with environmental
justice concerns implicated by the project, other interested parties,
and the general public to participate in the NEPA scoping process
during development of the EIS. The purpose of the public scoping
process is to provide information to the public, narrow the scope of
analysis to significant environmental issues, serve as a mechanism to
solicit agency and public input on potential alternatives and issues of
concern, and ensure full and open participation in scoping for the EIS.
As previously described, the USACE has already provided a number of
public opportunities for input that helped inform the development of
the USACE Preferred Alternative including robust early engagement and
pre-scoping meetings and a written comment period. The engagement
process continues in the scoping process described in this NOI. The
USACE requests input from interested parties regarding any potential
mitigation alternatives and information and analyses relevant to
impacts associated with the alternatives, including the USACE Preferred
Alternative. Project information can be found on the USACE project
website.\2\ Comments can be submitted via the methods in the ADDRESSES
section above. All personally identifiable information (for example,
name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by a commenter may be
publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or
otherwise sensitive or protected information.
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\2\ https://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/Missions/Programs-and-Project-Management/Yazoo-Backwater/ (last accessed on June 29,
2023).
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6. Potentially Significant Issues. The EIS will provide data and
analyses on, but is not limited to, the following resources: bottomland
hardwood wetlands and other wetland resources, endangered species,
waterfowl, fisheries, water quality, downstream effects, cultural
resources, environmental justice, recreation, and where appropriate
consideration of ongoing and projected effects of climate change and
greenhouse gas emissions. Wetlands, downstream effects, aquatics, and
environmental justice are discussed briefly below.
Wetlands: The USACE Preferred Alternative will be designed to avoid
and minimize wetland impacts. Aside from the minimal unavoidable
wetland losses associated with construction of an expanded footprint of
the pump station facility, the USACE's Preferred Alternative is
designed to result in no conversion of wetlands to non-wetlands. Some
wetland functional loss is anticipated to occur during the crop season
water management period. The USACE will collaborate with EPA and USFWS
to estimate wetland impacts and identify compensatory mitigation
methods to offset unavoidable impacts.
Downstream Effects: Recent studies have shown the additional water
from 25,000 cfs pumps, operating at full capacity, is approximately 1%
of the Mississippi River highwater flow, representing a nearly
immeasurable contribution to the outflow at the Vicksburg Gage. The
additional flow would minimally increase the water surface stage, which
would have no appreciable effect to downstream flooding. Water quality
impacts are anticipated to be insignificant because the total load of
nutrients and organic carbon that will be exported downstream would not
be altered because of pump operation. The overall contribution of
nutrients downstream, resultant from pump operation, will only affect
the timing of nutrient delivery, but not the overall appreciable
loading downstream in the Mississippi River.
Aquatics: The USACE Preferred Alternative is anticipated to result
in some loss of spawning and rearing habitat, primarily during the crop
season. The USACE will collaborate with EPA and USFWS to estimate
impacts to fish and other aquatic species and identify compensatory
mitigation methods to offset any impacts. Current data shows hypoxia
occurs during major backwater flood events and this hypoxia negatively
affects certain fish species and other aquatic organisms. Flood-induced
hypoxia during the spring and early summer likely impacts successful
spawning and rearing regardless of the amount of aquatic habitat
available. The EIS will analyze environmental and adaptive management
plans to reduce the spatial extent and duration of hypoxia.
Environmental Justice: Backwater flooding events cause severe
economic damages to all populations in the Yazoo Backwater Area by
destroying homes, farmland, wildlife resources, community
infrastructure, and access routes used by residences and the public
safety system. The majority of the Yazoo Backwater Area is home to low-
income or minority communities which meet the threshold criteria of at
least 20 percent or more of households having incomes below poverty
levels or an area having a majority of residents identifying as a
minority. The Yazoo Backwater Area is also designated as disadvantaged
by the Council on Environmental Quality's Climate and Economic Justice
Screening Tool.\3\ Backwater flooding events create disproportionately
high adverse human health and environmental effects to these minority,
low-income, and underserved communities. Meaningful outreach to
communities with environmental justice concerns will be conducted and
the EIS will compare the current backwater flood conditions with the
future flood conditions across the alternatives and analyze the impacts
to each of the communities with environmental justice concerns.\4\
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\3\ https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en (last accessed June
25, 2023).
\4\ The EIS will also consider Executive Order 14096,
Revitalizing Our Nation's Commitment to Environmental Justice For
All, issued on April 26, 2023.
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7. Anticipated NEPA Schedule. The current schedule anticipates the
release of the draft EIS by the USACE for public review and comment in
December 2023. After it is published, the USACE will hold a public
meeting(s) to present the results of the analysis, to receive comments,
and to address questions concerning the Preferred Alternative.
Approved by:
Michael L. Connor,
Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works).
[FR Doc. 2023-14279 Filed 7-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P