Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement for the Cedar Port Navigation District Channel Deepening Project, Baytown, TX, 65375-65377 [2023-20598]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
• Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 183 (Friday, September 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65375-65377]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20598]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft Feasibility Report and 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Cedar Port Navigation District 
Channel Deepening Project, Baytown, TX

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a draft feasibility study and 
environmental impact statement for the Cedar Port Navigation and 
Improvement District Channel Deepening Project, Baytown, TX.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA), as amended, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston 
District (USACE) intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) for the Cedar Port Navigation and

[[Page 65376]]

Improvement District Channel Deepening Project. The EIS would be 
prepared in association with a feasibility report prepared by a Non-
Federal Interest (NFI)--the Cedar Port Navigation and Improvement 
District (CPNID) under authority granted by section 203 of WRDA 1986. 
The study will identify and evaluate the feasibility of providing a 
deep-water connection between the Houston Ship Channel (HSC) and a 
planned future deepwater terminal facility at Cedar Port Industrial 
Park while enhancing efficient, safe, and reliable navigation in the 
Cedar Bayou Navigation Channel and HSC to existing stakeholder 
terminals. This notice announces the USACE's intent to determine the 
scope of the issues to be addressed and identify the significant 
environmental issues related to the proposed action.

DATES: Public scoping comments should be submitted on or before October 
23, 2023, electronically or mailed as written letters. Three public 
scoping meetings will be held between September and October 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit all electronic public comments via email to: [email protected]. Written comments may be mailed to: ATTN: 
Mr. Christopher Ford, P.O. Box 1229, Galveston, TX 77553-1229.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding the proposed Draft 
EIS can be addressed by contacting Mr. Christopher (Brandon) Ford by 
phone at (409) 766-3079, or by email at 
[email protected].
    Pertinent information about the study can be found at: 
www.cedarportchannelproject.com or after publication of the draft EIS 
at: https://www.swg.usace.army.mil/Business-With-Us/Planning-Environmental-Branch/Documents-for-Public-Review/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    1. Authority. The Cedar Port Navigation District Channel Deepening 
Study is authorized under section 203 of WRDA 1986. Section 203 
authorizes the NFI to perform feasibility studies (FSs) of proposed 
water resources development projects for submission directly to the 
Secretary of the Army. Once submitted, the Assistant Secretary of the 
Army for Civil Works (ASA[CW]) evaluates the FS and prepares a report 
for congressional committees that describes whether the project is 
feasible, including recommendations concerning project design or 
conditions for construction. The feasibility study phase is 100% funded 
by the NFI.
    2. Background. The potential project area includes Cedar Bayou 
Navigation Channel, and portions of Tabbs Bay, Trinity Bay and 
Galveston Bay (Galveston Bay System) adjacent to the HSC in Chambers 
and Harris Counties, Texas. The project area also includes the existing 
Cedar Port terminal at Cedar Port Industrial Park in Baytown, Texas. 
The Cedar Bayou Navigation Channel is a federally authorized 5-mile 
shallow water barge channel that supports more than 1.5 million tons of 
cargo per year. The channel primarily serves chemical, aggregate, 
steel, and asphalt industries, as well as container-on-barge movement 
with connections to the Port of Houston container terminal. The Cedar 
Bayou Navigation Channel is separated into 5 Reaches. Reach 1 begins at 
the HSC between Hog Island and Atkinson Island. Reach 2 extends most of 
the way across the Cedar Bayou Channel in Galveston Bay. Reach 3 
provides access from the Bay to Cedar Point. Reaches 4 and 5 extend 
northeast into Cedar Bayou to the CPNID Barge Dock and Trans Global 
Solutions Finger Lakes Dock, among other industrial facilities and 
stakeholder barge terminals.
    The HSC is the busiest waterway in the U.S. and receives 8,000 
vessel calls annually, transporting more than 230 million tons of cargo 
(PAAC 2022). Due to the rising vessel fleet size and cargo tonnage, the 
current HSC navigational system and port facilities have experienced 
higher congestion than forecast, and it is anticipated that the volume 
of throughput will continue to grow over the next ten to twenty years. 
The purpose of the project is to evaluate the feasibility of and 
Federal Interest in providing a deep-water connection between the HSC 
and a planned future deepwater terminal facility at Cedar Port 
Industrial Park while enhancing efficient, safe, and reliable 
navigation in the Cedar Bayou Navigation Channel and HSC to existing 
stakeholder terminals. The Cedar Port deepwater terminal would provide 
an alternative port facility to accommodate projected volumes and 
alleviate congestion within the upper reaches of the HSC. The problems 
identified in the study area are (1) restricted access for deep and 
non-barge shallow-draft vessel to the existing Cedar Port, (2) 
navigational constraints and safety, (3) inefficient cargo movements, 
and (4) scarcity of environmentally acceptable dredged material for 
beneficial use.
    Expected impacts include short- and long-term impacts to existing 
aquatic habitats, fish and wildlife including federally protected 
species and their habitat, water quality, air quality, noise, and 
recreation features. Impacts to aquatic habitats are anticipated to 
require compensatory mitigation. Additional details related to sediment 
testing will be described in the Draft EIS.
    3. Alternatives. The study will evaluate alternatives that would 
provide alternative water routes to the deepwater terminal facility. A 
No Action Alternative is also being considered consistent with the 
requirements of NEPA. The study examines possible channel widening and 
deepening to provide for safe and efficient deep draft vessel transit 
through Reaches 1-3 of the Cedar Bayou Navigation Channel, or 
approximately 3 miles. The study also will investigate deepening 
opportunities and widening within the Galveston Bay System to connect 
HSC to Cedar Bayou Navigation Channel at Reaches 2 and 3.
    Alternatives to be considered in Draft EIS are as follows:
     No Action: As required by Section 203 and NEPA, a no 
action alternative must be considered. Under No Action, no channel 
deepening or widening would occur.
     Northern Route: This Alterative considers deepening and 
widening portions of the existing shallow-draft Cedar Bayou Navigation 
Channel.
     Mid-Route(s): Up to two alternative routes would be 
considered in this area. Both alternatives would include excavating a 
new deep-draft channel from the HSC north of the Blue Water Atoll 
through the existing bay bottom in Upper Galveston Bay to near the 
mouth of Cedar Bayou.
     Southern Route: This Alternative considers excavating a 
new deep-draft channel route from the HSC south of Blue Water Atoll 
through the existing bay bottom in Upper Galveston Bay to near the 
mouth of Cedar Bayou.
    The study will evaluate potential benefits and impacts of the 
reasonable array of alternatives including direct, indirect, and 
cumulative effects to the human and natural environments that balance 
the interests of flood damage reduction and environmental impacts.
    4. Public Participation. Scoping completed prior to and after 
publication of this NOI will be used to develop the EIS. The scoping 
comment period will begin on September 22, 2023 and will end 30 days 
after publication of this notice. All comments received during the 
scoping period are being used to identify additional measures and 
alternatives, significant resources, and impacts that should be 
considered in the EIS. Additional comments received outside the scoping 
period will be considered prior to the Draft EIS public review period, 
to the extent possible. For comments that cannot be addressed prior to 
the public review period, the

[[Page 65377]]

comments will be included with the public review period comments and 
addressed at that time. In October 2023, Cedar Port in conjunction with 
the USACE will host two in person Public Scoping Meetings, one in 
Chambers County and one in Harris County, and a virtual meeting. A 
Public Notice is available on the project website: 
www.cedarportchannelproject.com and in the Legal Notices section of the 
Houston Chronicle. Public news releases announcing the scoping period 
timeframe; public meeting dates, times, and locations; and where to 
send comments were published in the appropriate local newspapers, on 
the project website, and were distributed to the local stakeholders and 
known interested parties.
    5. Coordination. USACE will prepare the EIS based on information 
and analyses provided by Cedar Point or analyses conducted by USACE as 
part an agreement with Cedar Point under the authority of Section 203 
of WRDA 1986. Other Federal and state agencies have been invited to 
participate throughout the study process as Coordinating or 
Participating Agencies. Further coordination with environmental 
agencies will be conducted by USACE under the NEPA, the Fish and 
Wildlife Coordination Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water 
Act, the Clean Air Act, the National Historic and Preservation Act, the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and the 
Coastal Zone Management Act.
    6. Availability of Draft EIS. The Draft EIS is estimated to be 
available for public review and comment during the fall or early winter 
of 2023/24. At that time a 45-day public review period will be provided 
for individuals and agencies to review and comment. USACE will notify 
all interested agencies, organizations, and individuals of the 
availability of the draft document at that time. To request a hard copy 
of the Draft EIS, please email [email protected] 
or send a request to Cedar Port Channel Project, P.O. Box 741, 
Rockport, Texas 783. Please include your mailing address.

Wesley E. Coleman, Jr.,
Programs Director, Southwestern Division.
[FR Doc. 2023-20598 Filed 9-21-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P