Army Department July 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In response to a request from potential applications the submission deadline for project applications had been extended from July 25, 2005 as stated in the original notice published on June 8, 2005 in Federal Register (70 FR 33453).

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 Department of the Army proposes to revise its regulation concerning obtaining information from financial institutions. The regulation prescribes policies for the Department of the Army to obtain information on a customer's financial records from financial institutions.

The Department of the Army proposes to revise its part concerning armed forces disciplinary control boards and off- installation liaison and operations. The part prescribes uniform policies and procedures for the establishment, and operation of Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Boards, and off-installation liaison and operations.

Four Authorities authorize the study of the Colorado River and its Tributaries: (1) Flood Control Act, approval June 22, 1936: ``Section 6. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to cause preliminary examinations and surveys for flood control at the following named localities * * * Colorado River, Texas, above the county line between Coke and Runnels counties * * * Lower Colorado River, Texas.'' (2) Resolution by the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, adopted August 4, 1936; ``Resolved by the Committee of the United States Senate, that the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors created under Section 3 of the River and Harbor Act, approved June 13, 1902, be and is hereby, requested to review the reports on Colorado River, Texas, submitted in House Document Number 361, Seventy- first Congress, second session, and previous reports, with a view to determining if improvement in the interest of commerce and flood control is advisable at the present time.'' (3) Rivers and Harbors Act, approved August 26, 1937: ``Section 4. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to cause preliminary examinations and surveys to be made at the following named localities * * * Colorado River, and its tributaries, Texas, with a view to its improvement in the interest of navigation and flood control.'' (4) Rivers and Harbors Act, approved March 2, 1945: ``Section 6. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to cause preliminary examinations and surveys to be made at the following named localities * * * Colorado River, Texas.'' An initial assessment based on the resolution guidance indicates a Federal interest in continuing with more detailed studies for these purposes. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be prepared to evaluate and compare flood control damage reduction and recreation alternatives within and along the Colorado River and its tributaries concentrated along the Highland Lakes. The EIS will also assess the impacts to the quality of the human environment associated with each alternative. The study area for project implementation primarily includes the lower Colorado River and its adjoining tributaries below Lake O.H. Ivie to Tom Miller Dam or Lake Austin. The construction of residential and commercial structures within the Highland Lakes and along the Colorado River, have lead to extensive amounts of flood damages. Consequently, flood damage reduction measures will be developed to address the flood damages. In addition, recreation measures will be developed and evaluated as complements to proposed flood damage reduction measures. The non-Federal cost sharing sponsors for the feasibility study are the Lower Colorado River Authority and Travis County.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District (CEMVN) is initiating this draft supplemental environmental impact statement (DSEIS) under the authority of the Rivers and Harbors Act of July 24, 1946 (House Document 190, 79th Congress, 2nd Session) and prior Rivers and Harbors acts; the Rivers and Harbors Act of July 14, 1960 (House Document 436, 86th Congress, 2nd Session); the Rivers and Harbors Act of October 23, 1962 (House Document 582, 87th Congress, 2nd Session); the Senate Public Works committee on December 27, 1970, and the House Public Works committee on December 15, 1970, under the provisions of Section 201 of the Flood Control Act of 1965 (Pub. L. 89-298; S.D. 91- 111); and Section 107 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1960, as amended by Section 310 and Section 112 of the Rivers and Harbors Acts of 1965 and 1970, respectively, to investigate dredged material placement for the next 20 years of maintenance dredging of the Calcasieu and River and Pass, LA. The Calcasieu River and Pass, LA project does not have adequate dredged material disposal areas for the long-term maintenance of the project. Existing disposal sites are at or near capacity, and some disposal sites have been substantially eroded into adjacent water bodies. Other disposal areas have been lost to commercial developments. As a result, remaining disposal areas cannot accommodate the volume of dredged material needed to maintain the Calcasieu River and Pass, LA navigation channel to project-authorized dimensions, and CEMVN has been forced to reduce channel dimensions in some reaches.

In accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) hereby given notice that it is contemplating the grant of an exclusive license in the United States to practice the below referenced invention owned by the U.S. Government to TSI Incorporated, 500 Cardigan Road, Shoreview, MN 55126.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District announces the availability of the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the design modifications and recreational enhancements to the Wyoming Valley Levee Raising Project at the Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania River Commons. The Final SEIS investigates the potential environmental effects of an array of alternative plans based on the conceptual riverfront plan for Wilkes-Barre. The preferred alternative includes the addition of two portals through the levee, a river landing, fishing platform, and an amphitheater and stage. The Draft SEIS was released on a 45-day review and comment period during August and September 2004, and a Notice of Availability was published in the Federal Register under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on August 13, 2004. Comments received on the Draft SEIS and our responses are included in the Final SEIS (Appendices G and H).

The notice of an open meeting scheduled for July 15, 2005 published in the Federal Register on June 10, 2005 (70 FR 33884) has a new meeting place. The meeting will now be held at the Kimsey Athletic Center, West Conference Room, 4th Floor, West Point, NY.

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).