Army Department August 9, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of the Army proposes to amend its regulation to reflect a substantial revision of AR 27-20, an Army publication which governs the processing of claims worldwide. The purpose of this revision is to make AR 27-20 clearer and easier to use, after years of piecemeal amendments. This rewrite also ensures that AR 27-20 is in keeping with current statutes, legal opinions and Department of Justice guidance pertaining to claims processing. This updated rule will expedite payment of meritorious claims throughout the world. AR 27-20 includes rules for processing affirmative claims, i.e., recovery actions on behalf of the United States.

The Mobile District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), intends to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to address the potential impacts associated with actions to comprehensively address hurricane and storm damage reduction, prevention of saltwater intrusion, preservation of fish and wildlife, prevention of erosion, and other related water resource purposes in coastal Mississippi. These actions are related to the consequences of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005. The Corps will forward recommendations to Congress authorized by the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2006 (Pub. L. 109-148) dated December 30, 2005. The EIS will be used as a basis for ensuring compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District announces its decision to maintenance dredge the following Federal navigation channels in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts: the Main Ship Channel upstream of Spectacle Island to the Inner Confluence, the upper Reserved Channel, the approach to the Navy Dry Dock, a portion of the Mystic River, and a portion of the Chelsea River (previously permitted). Maintenance dredging of the navigation channels landward of Spectacle Island is needed to remove shoals and restore the Federal navigation channels to their authorized depths. Dredged material suitable for unconfined open water disposal will be disposed at the Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site; material not suitable for unconfined open water disposal will be disposed in confined aquatic disposal (CAD) cell(s) located within the navigation channels. Major navigation channel improvements (deepening) were made in 1999 through 2001 in the Reserved Channel, the Mystic River, Inner Confluence, and the Chelsea River. A Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prepared in June 1995 for this previous navigation improvement project (Boston Harbor Navigation Improvement ProjectBHNIP) identified selected use of CAD cells in the Mystic River, Inner Confluence, and Chelsea River for disposal. A Supplemental Draft and Final EIS was prepared for this maintenance dredging project and built on the lessons learned from the previous improvement project. A new CAD cell for the proposed maintenance project will be constructed in the Mystic River (previously permitted) and in the Main Ship Channel just below the Inner Confluence.

This announces the availability of the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for an airspace proposal in the Ft. Campbell, KY area. The airspace proposal is required for the establishment of Helicopter Aerial Refueling routes utilizing United States Army helicopters and United States Air Force and/or Marine Corp airplanes to conduct air-to- air refueling training. In order to use these routes on a recurring basis they are required to be published in the Department of Defense publication system therefore requiring an environmental study. The EA assesses the potential environmental impacts of all areas that underlie the flight routes. There are six routes in the proposal which will be utilized by an U.S. Army tenant unit of Ft. Campbell, KY.