Department of Defense July 31, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Sacramento District, the State of California, and Central Valley Flood Protection Board (CVFPB) are preparing a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (Draft Supplemental EIS/EIR) for the American River Contract 2 (Proposed Action) of the American River Common Features (ARCF) Levee Improvement Project authorized by the Water Resources Development Act of 2016. This Draft Supplemental EIS/ EIR supplements the ARCF General Reevaluation Report (GRR) Final EIS/ EIR (May 2016). The Proposed Action includes constructing erosion protection measures at Lower American River (LAR) sites 2-2 (river mile 7.5 right bank), and 2-3 (river mile 5.9 right bank), transporting excavated materials from site 2-3 to the Arden Pond mitigation site for construction of shallow water fish habitat for juvenile salmon, construction of a berm to separate the restored Arden Pond from the adjacent bass pond, and planting of emergent and riparian vegetation to provide Shaded Riverine Aquatic (SRA) habitat. The Proposed Action is necessary to protect the levee from erosion damage that could reduce its reliability to protect against flooding, and to mitigate loss of fish and riparian habitat for the American River Common Features Project Endangered Species Act consultation requirements. Conceptual components of the Proposed Action were analyzed (erosion protection measures) in the ARCF GRR Final EIS/EIR, but some elements of the Proposed Action (Arden Pond and SRA habitat mitigation) were not analyzed in the ARCF GRR Final EIS/EIR because habitat mitigation locations and designs were still in formulation at the time the Final EIS/EIR was completed. The USACE has now developed levee erosion protection and habitat mitigation designs in sufficient detail to analyze their environmental effects.