Engineers Corps – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Los Angeles District in conjunction with the Los Angeles Harbor Department (Port) is examining the feasibility of various waterside navigation improvements as part of the Port's proposed San Pedro Waterfront and Promenade redevelopment proposal in the Port of Los Angeles. The Corps is considering the Port's application for a Department of the Army permit under Clean Water Act Section 404 and River and Harbor Act Section 10 to conduct dredge and fill activities and construct various navigation improvements The primary Federal involvement is the discharge of dredge and/or fill materials within waters of the United States, work (e.g. dredging) and structures in or affecting navigable waters of the United States, and potential impacts on the human environment from such activities. Therefore, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Corps is requiring the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prior to rendering a final decision on the Port's permit application. The Corps may ultimately make a determination to permit or deny the above project or permit or deny modified versions of the above project. Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Port will serve as Lead Agency for the Preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The Corps and the Port have agreed to jointly prepare a Draft EIS/EIR for the improvements at Berth 136-147 in order to optimize efficiency and avoid duplication. The Draft EIS/EIR is intended to be sufficient in scope to address both the Federal and the state and local requirements and environmental issues concerning the proposed activities and permit approvals.

This announces the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) which assesses the potential environmental impacts of the proposed reinforcement of an existing stone revetment wall at Montauk Point, Suffolk County, NY. The DEIS has been prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) regulations for implementing NEPA.

Minnesota Steel Industries, LLC (Minnesota Steel) has applied to the St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers (Corps) for a permit to discharge fill material into wetlands to facilitate the construction and operation of an open pit taconite mine at the former Butler Taconite site near Nashwauk, Minnesota, and the construction of new facilitiesa crusher, a concentrator, a pellet plant, a plant for producing direct reduced iron (DRI), and a steel mill consisting of two electric arc furnaces, two idle furnaces, two thin slab casters, and a sheet rolling mill. the former Butler Taconite Stage 1 tailings basin would be reactivated for the disposal of concentrator tailings. The mining process would require the construction of overburden, waste rock, and lean ore stockpiles just north of the proposed mine site. Ore would be hauled via truck from the mine to the adjacent ore concentrator. Concentrating the ore would involve crushing, grinding, magnetic separation, and flotation processes. Concentrator tailings would be pumped as slurry to the former Butler Taconite Stage 1 tailings basin approximately two miles southeast of the proposed mine site. The concentrate would be mixed with a binder and limestone, and converted to unfired pellets in balling drums or disks. The unfired pellets would be hardened in an indurating furnace. The DRI plant would convert the iron oxide pellets to nearly pure iron pellets (DRI pellets) in a 300- to 425-foot-high vertical shaft reactor. The DRI pellets would be fed to steel mill, which would produce hot rolled sheet steel. Project plans call for the mining of approximately 12.8 million long tons of crude ore per year at a stripping ratio of approximately 0.50:1. Approximately 2.4 million short tons per year of hot rolled sheet steel would be produced. The project would employ approximately 700 people for production, support, and administration. Economic feasibility of the project is based on a 20-year project life. Minnesota Steel at this time cannot predict whether investments for further operations would be economically desirable. Therefore, mine planning and detailed design are being prepared for 20 years of operation and environmental permits are being requested for a 20-year project life. If the project is permitted, and if Minnesota Steel proposes to extend the project life beyond the 20- year period, then modifications to the Section 404 permit and supplemental environmental review would be required. The project would require dredging or discharging fill material into approximately 1,014 acres of wetlands. While some of the wetlands may be isolated, the majority of the wetlands are adjacent to Oxhide Creek, Snowball Creek, Pickerel Creek, or O'Brien Creek, which are tributaries to the Swan River, or they are adjacent to an unnamed tributary to the Prairie River or to an unnamed tributary to Sucker Brook, which is a tributary to the Prairie River. The Swan River and the Prairie River are tributaries to the Mississippi River, which is a navigable water of the United States. A specific compensatory wetland mitigation plan has not been developed for the project. Minnesota Steel intends to work with interested Federal and state agencies to develop an acceptable plan that would meet Federal and state compensatory mitigation requirements. The discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States requires a permit issued by the Corps under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The final environmental impact statement will be used as a basis for the permit decision and to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Jacksonville District, intends to prepare a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule Study (LORSS), Lake Okeechobee, FL. The DSEIS will supplement the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule Study prepared in 2000. The DSEIS will address additional alternatives to the current regulation schedule in order to optimize environmental benefits at minimal or no impact to the competing project purposes, primarily flood control and water supply. This study will consider operational changes to water management structures that discharge water from the lake as well as criteria used to determine those operations. Any operational changes will also consider current and planned water management activities within the Kissimmee River Basin. No new structural features will be considered except those already embedded within the South Florida Water Management Model.

The Corps of Engineers is amending its regulations to establish a restricted area and danger zone in Brickyard Creek (including a portion of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway), Mulligan Creek, Albergottie Creek and Salt Creek in the vicinity of the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) in Beaufort, South Carolina. The MCAS restricted area contains six sections that are contiguous to Brickyard, Albergottie and Salt Creeks, and two sections that are located on the northern border of the MCAS that encompasses Mulligan Creek. In addition, these regulations establish a restricted area in the Broad River in the vicinity of Laurel Bay Military Family Housing Area, which is associated with the Marine Corps Air Station. The purpose of these regulations is to provide effective security in the vicinity of the Marine Corps Air Station and the Laurel Bay Military Family Housing Area.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District (CEMVN) is initiating a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Henderson Lake Management Unit feature, including the freshwater distribution structure element, of the Henderson Lake Area Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana project, pursuant to the authority of the Flood Control Act of May 15, 1928 (Pub. L. 391, 70th Congress); and for the Recreational Development feature of the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana project (hereinafter ``ABFS'' project), pursuant to the authority of the Flood Control Act of May 15, 1928 (Pub. L. 391, 70th Congress), as amended by the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1985, Pub. L. 99-88 and as reauthorized and further amended by Section 601(a) of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (WRDA 1986), Pub. L. 99-662. The CEMVN is initiating this study to implement construction and operation of the Henderson Lake Management Unit, St. Martin and St. Landry Parishes, which is one of two authorized pilot management units for the Management Unit feature of the ABFS Project; the freshwater distribution structure element, of the Henderson Lake Area Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana project in St. Martin and St. Landry Parishes, Louisiana; and the Recreational Development feature of the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System, Louisiana project in St. Martin, Iberia, St. Mary, Iberville, St. Landry, and Pointe Coupee Parishes, Louisiana. The authorized goals of the Management Unit feature of the ABFS project are to improve water quality and interior water circulation; remove barriers to reestablish north to south water flow; provide input of oxygenated low temperature water; and reduce or manage sediment input into the interior swamp. Action is necessary due to the existing poor water quality resulting from the lack of internal circulation and oxygenated water inputs, and increased sedimentation. In addition if action is not taken, both deep-water and shallow water habitat utilized by fish and wildlife resources will continue to be lost, reduced, or degraded. The intended result of the proposed work is to prolong the life expectancy of the productive habitat (primarily aquatic and cypress tupelo habitats) by restricting or redirecting sediments, while simultaneously achieving a healthy water circulation pattern that would maintain or restore water quality and reestablish north to south water movement. The Henderson Lake Management Unit is hydrologically separate and independent from the Buffalo Cove, Flat Lake, Cocodrie Swamp and Beau Bayou Management Unit elements of the ABFS project. The authorized goal of the freshwater distribution structure element, of the Henderson Lake Area Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana project is to provide water inflow to the Henderson Lake area and, together with the Henderson Lake Management Unit, restore overflow patterns to the extent practicable, and to encourage water movement through the Henderson Lake Management Unit for the benefit of the aquatic environment. The goals and objectives of the Recreational Development feature of the ABFS project are the development of facilities such as boat launching ramps for the provision of interior and peripheral access to the ABFS project area, including those lands acquired for the Public Access feature of the ABFS project, as well as the construction and operation of developed and primitive campgrounds, an interpretive facility and other facilities complementary to the enjoyment of outdoor recreational activities for the observation and utilization by the public of the fish and wildlife resources of the Lower Atchafalaya Basin Floodway. Public demand and expectations for the ABFS have increased due to an increased awareness and use of the vast ABFS natural resource, and the involvement of the CEMVN through management and part-ownership of the resource. The CEMVN will address public concerns for management of the Henderson Lake Management Unit, and recreational development opportunities within the ABFS, through an SEIS.

The project proponent and landowner, The Newhall Land and Farming Company (Newhall Land), has requested a long-term Clean Water Act Section 404 permit from the Corps of Engineers for facilities associated with the Newhall Ranch Specific Plan. The action is necessary to facilitate buildout of the Specific Plan. The effect will be to authorize the construction of bridges, flood control structures, and to grade and fill certain side drainages for roads and buildings. The reason for this revised notice of intent (NOI) is because the project proponent's proposed action has been expanded to include development of a voluntary CCAA between Newhall Land and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to specify spineflower preserve locations, manage spineflower habitat, and to authorize future take of spineflower, in the event it becomes federally listed under the federal Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered, involving three properties: Newhall Ranch, Valencia Commerce Center, and Entrada. The Corps of Engineers intends to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to evaluate the potential effects of the proposed action on the environment. To eliminate duplication of paperwork, the Corps of Engineers intends to coordinate the DEIS with the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) being prepared by the California Department of Fish and Game. The joint document will meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as well as enable the Corps to analyze the project pursuant to the 404(b)(1) Guidelines and assess potential impacts on various public interest factors.

In accordance with 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), announcement is made of the forthcoming meeting. Name of Committee: Inland Waterways Users Board (Board). Date: July 27, 2005. Location: Radisson Riverfront Hotel St. Paul, 11 East Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101, (1-651-292-1900). Time: Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 12:30 p.m. Agenda: The Board will hear briefings on the status of both the funding for inland navigation projects and studies, and the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. The Board will also consider its priorities for the next fiscal year.

The Coyote Creek Watershed Study will integrate and balance the physical and biological systems within the watershed to enhance aquatic and terrestrial habitat, improve water quality, enhance water resources, increase trail connections, enhance passive recreation and open space, reduce sediment and erosion, and aid in flood protection. Additionally, the Watershed Management Plan will encourage greater cooperation between public agencies and private organizations to leverage limited resources and improve quality of life within the watershed. It will be a guidance document for watershed stakeholders to better manage watershed resources and land use. This Plan will identify and prioritize projects for maintaining, constructing, restoring, and enhancing resources that contribute to a healthy and sustainable watershed. Policy and management recommendations will result from this plan that will connect existing public policy and watershed management principles. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the County of Orange, California will cooperate in conducting this feasibility study.

PolyMet Mining, Inc., has applied to the St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers (Corps) for a permit to discharge fill material into wetlands to facilitate the construction and operation of an open pit copper/ nickel/cobalt/precious metals mine in the low grade polymetallic disseminated magmatic sulfide NorthMet deposit in northeastern Minnesota, approximately 6 miles south of the town of Babbitt. The mining process would require the construction of waste and product stockpiles near the open pit. Ore processing would be conducted at a currently inactive taconite processing plant (modifications would be necessary), and ore tailings would be disposed of in a currently inactive taconite tailings basin adjacent to the processing plant. The processing plant and tailings basin are located about 8 miles west of the NorthMet deposit and about 5 miles north of the town of Hoyt Lakes. Ore would be transported from the mine to the processing plant via an existing railroad line. Construction of a railroad spur to the mine and a connecting railroad line to the plant site would be required. Project plans call for the mining of up to 32,000 tons of ore per day after overburden and waste rock stripping and stockpiling. Mining operations would be conducted 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, over the 20- year life of the project. Processing the ore would involve crushing, grinding, flotation, and hydrometallurgical processing. Cathode copper (high purity metal) would be produced on-site by solvent extraction and electrowinning. The processing would produce other metals (nickel, cobalt, palladium, platinum, and gold) as precipitates rather than as finished metal. The precipitates would be shipped offsite for further refining. The project would require dredging or discharging fill material into an estimated 1,257 acres of wetlands. While some of the wetlands may be isolated, the majority of the wetlands are adjacent to the Partridge River, which is a tributary to the St. Louis River, which is a navigable water of the United States. A specific compensatory wetland mitigation plan has not yet been developed for the project. PolyMet Mining, Inc., has expressed interest in working with various interested federal and state agencies to develop an acceptable plan that would meet federal and state compensatory mitigation requirements. The discharge of fill material into waters of the United States requires a permit pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The final environmental impact statement will be used as a basis for the permit decision and to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Forth Worth District (USACE) has received an application for a Department of the Army permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) from the Angelina & Neches River Authority (ANRA) to construct Lake Columbia. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA0 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the USACE has determined that issuance of such a permit may have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment and, therefore, requires the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The USACE intends to prepare an EIS to assess the environmental, social, and economic effects of issuances of a Department of the Army permit under Section 404 of the CWA for discharges of dredged and fill material into waters of the United States (U.S.) associated with the construction of the proposed water supply reservoir. In the EIS, the USACE will assess potential impacts associated with a range of alternatives.

The Corps of Engineers is proposing regulations to establish a restricted area around the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), Parris Island, South Carolina including areas within the Broad River, the Beaufort River, Battery Creek, Archers Creek, Ballast Creek and Ribbon Creek in the vicinity of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. The MCRD restricted area will surround Parris Island and Horse Island and the causeways in between. The purpose of these regulations is to provide effective security in the vicinity of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District (Corps), will prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Corps authorization actions for the proposed River Islands project. The overall project purpose is to construct a large-scale, mixed-use project consisting of residential development, a commercial complex, and which may include open space and recreational amenities, located in San Joaquin County or the south delta area. The DEIS will address impacts such as major changes in the operation and maintenance of a Federal flood control project, navigation, hydrology, water quality, wetlands, endangered species, agricultural resources, transportation, cultural resources, and air quality.

Congress has appropriated limited funds to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to implement the Estuary Habitat Restoration Program as authorized in Section 104 of the Estuary Restoration Act of 2000, Title I of the Estuaries and Clean Waters Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-457) (accessible at https://restoration.nos.noaa.gov/pdfs/act s835.pdf). On behalf of the Estuary Habitat Restoration Council (Council), the Corps is soliciting proposals for estuary habitat restoration projects. This document describes project criteria and evaluation criteria the Council will use to determine which projects to recommend. Recommended projects must provide ecosystem benefits, have scientific merit, be technically feasible, and be cost-effective. Proposals selected for Estuary Habitat Restoration Program funding will be implemented in accordance with a cost-share agreement with the Corps. This is not a grants program.

In accordance with 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), announcement is made of the forthcoming meeting. The meeting is open to the public. Name of Committee: Chief of Engineers Environmental Advisory Board (EAB). Date: June 17, 2005. Location: Radisson Hotel Old Town Alexandria, 901 N. Fairfax Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-1501, (703) 683-6000. Time: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, is initiating this study authorized by a July 23, 1997 resolution of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the U.S. House of Representatives. The resolution reads: ``Resolved by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the U.S. House of Representatives, that the Secretary of the Army is required to review the report of the Chief of Engineers on the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project, published as House Document 308, Eighty-eighth Congress, Second Session, and other pertinent reports, to determine whether modifications of the recommendations contained therein are advisable at the present time in the interest of flood control, navigation, wetlands, conservation restoration, wildlife habitat, commercial and recreational fishing, saltwater intrusion, freshwater and sediment diversion, and other purposes in the area drained by the West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee, from Alexandria, Louisiana, to the Gulf of Mexico.''

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to establish a procedure for modifying scheduled operational hours at the Lake Washington Ship Canal, Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Seattle, Washington. This procedure would allow the district engineer to change the scheduled operational hours of the locks after issuing a public notice and providing a 30-day comment period for any proposed change. Corrections are also made to two citations.

The Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, intends to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes (KCOL) portion of the Kissimmee River Restoration (KRR) project. This project involves the establishment of a coordinated schedule of water level drawdowns throughout the seventeen lakes comprising the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes (KCOL), for the ultimate purpose of facilitating environmental restoration throughout those water bodies. The local sponsor is the South Florida Water Management District.

In accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District has prepared a Draft Integrated Feasibility Report & Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the flood damage reduction project for the Town of Bloomsburg, in Columbia County, PA. The integrated report investigates the potential environmental effects of an array of alternative plans based on reducing flood damages in Bloomsburg. The preferred alternative includes 16,555 linear feet of levee/floodwall systems with fourteen drainage structures, and nine closure structures, six of which incorporate limited road raisings. We are making the integrated report and EIS available to the public for a 45-day review and comment period.

The Corps of Engineers (Corps) published a Notice of Intent to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) in the Federal Register (Vol. 66, No. 76, pages 20135-20136) on April 19, 2001, for a Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) within the San Juan Creek and western San Mateo Creek Watersheds. The Notice of Intent stated that the eventual document would be a joint state and federal document in coordination with the California Department of Fish and Game (Department). The Department intended to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act for the Department's proposed Master Streambed Alteration Agreement (MSAA), a proposed state program analogous to the SAMP. It is now necessary to revise the Notice of Intent to reflect that the doucment will now be a federal document and not a joint federal and state document. Scoping commenced on April 19, 2001 with the publication of the original Notice of Intent in the Federal Register. In addition, the Corps issued a special public notice on the SAMP dated April 18, 2001, to the general public. A public scoping meeting was held on May 8, 2001, in San Juan Capistrano, California. All comments received during the special public notice comment period between April 19, 2001, and May 18, 2001, and during the public meetings are being considered in this process. A new scoping period is not being started with the revised NOI.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District have developed the six guidance memoranda required by the programmatic regulations for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan for approval by the Secretary of the Army. The public is invited to review and comment on the final draft of the guidance memoranda prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, intends to prepare a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for the Brevard County (Mid-Reach) Shore Protection Feasibility Study. The study will focus on 7.6 miles of developed shoreline, also referred to as the ``Mid-Reach'', from the south end of Patrick Air Force Base to just north of Indialantic. Ongoing erosion problems are endangering the shoreline infrastructure within the study area. In cooperation with Brevard County, the study will evaluate alternative solutions that will maximize shore protection while minimizing environmental impacts.