Engineers Corps January 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District has prepared a Final Tiered Environmental Impact Statement (FTEIS) and Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP) to analyze dredged material placement for the Port of Baltimore for 20 years of maintenance and new work dredging. USACE is making the document available to the public through a Notice of Availability published in the Federal Register. The overall goal of the DMMP is to develop a plan to maintain, in an economically and environmentally sound manner, channels necessary for navigation for the Port of Baltimore, conduct dredged material placement in the most environmentally sound manner, and maximize the use of dredged material as a beneficial resource. The recommendations which will provide a minimum of 20 years of dredged material placement capacity for the Port of Baltimore are: Continued maintenance dredging of the Virginia channels and use of the existing open-water placement sites in Virginia (Dam Neck Open Water Placement; Rappahannock Shoal Deep Alternate Open Water Placement; and Wolf Trap Alternate Open Water Placement). Continued maintenance dredging of the Maryland channels and use of the existing sites in Maryland including Pooles Island Open Water Site, Hart-Miller Island Dredged Material Containment Facility (HMI DMCF), Cox Creek Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) (+36 ft dike height), and Poplar Island Environmental Restoration Project (PIERP). Multiple confined disposal facilities for harbor material in Patapsco River. PIERP Expansion in Talbot County, Maryland. Large Island Restoration in Middle Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. Wetland Restoration in Dorchester County, Maryland. Continue to pursue opportunities to innovatively use dredged material.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Sacramento District, is preparing a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (SEIS/EIR) to reevaluate the previously authorized plan and other alternatives to reduce flood damages and restore riparian and aquatic habitat in the lower Yuba River Basin, part of the Feather River Basin, and the city of Marysville, in Yuba County, CA. This notice replaces the one previously published in the Federal Register on March 17, 2004 (69 FR 12646). The general reevaluation is needed because recent technical, environmental, and economic studies have indicated that additional refinement and reformulation are needed to determine the feasibility and extent of Federal and non-Federal interest in the project. The basic study authority for the Yuba River Basin study was provided under the Flood Control Act of 1962.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the Westminster watershed ecosystem and look for multipurpose recommendations for how to more effectively manage its natural resources. There is a need for both flood control improvements as well as ecosystem habitat restoration. The study area is located in western Orange County, CA, approximately 25 miles southeast of the City of Los Angeles. The Westminster watershed lies on a flat coastal plain, is approximately 90 square miles in area, and is almost entirely urbanized with residential and commercial development. There are two main channel systems that collect runoff from portions of urbanized areas in the cities of Anaheim, Stanton, Cypress, Orange, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Westminster, Fountain Valley, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, and Huntington Beach. The East Garden Grove-Wintersburg Channel (EGGW), with its principal tributary, the Ocean View Channel (OV), drains into Bolsa Bay. Two retarding basins (Haster and West Street) exist at the upstream reach of the EGGW channel. Bolsa Bay includes the Bolsa Chica Lowlands and Ecological Reserve, and is a major environmental resource in southern California. The Bay has been designated as an area of national significance, and is host to a wide assemblage of resident and migratory waterfowl and marine species including over 30 Federal and/or State listed sensitive species that utilize the wetlands during all or part of their annual cycle. The Bolsa Chica Flood Control Channel (BCFC), with its principal tributaries, the Anaheim-Barber City Channel and Westminster Channel, drains to Huntington Harbour. The BCFC Channel drains the western portion of the study area, with a significant portion of property adjacent to the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station of the U.S. Navy and 1.5 miles runs through and adjacent to the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Training Base. Aside from the military facilities, this portion of the watershed is almost entirely urbanized. Agriculture is still practiced under leases granted by the Navy on portions of their property. The BCFC Channel outlets into Huntington Harbour, but unlike EGGW, does not outlet into Bolsa Bay. The sole ocean outlet for both Bolsa Bay and Huntington Harbour is to the north at Anaheim Bay and the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge. Tidal influence in the lowermost portion of the BCFC and East Garden Grove-Wintersburg Channels extended approximately 2 miles inland.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) intend to prepare a joint project- level integrated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Environmental Impact Report (EIR)/Feasibility Report, hereafter called the Report, to address the potential impacts of the first Interim Feasibility Study component of the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Study, San Francisco Bay, CA. This study is closely interrelated with the ongoing South Bay Salt Ponds Restoration Project, discussed in the Notice of Intent dated November 9, 2004. It will function as a project-level EIS/EIR tiered under that programmatic EIS/EIR and will be issued subsequently to the programmatic document. The California State Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy) will be the lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Federal Lead Agencies Proposed Actions and Related Programmatic EIS/EIR. The Corps, in cooperation with the USFWS, is proposing to study flood protection and ecosystem restoration for the Alviso portion of the South San Francisco Bay (South Bay) Salt Ponds and adjacent areas to determine whether there is a federal interest in constructing a project with flood protection and/or ecosystem restoration components in this area, and if so, to determine the optimum project to recommend to Congress for authorization. The Report will recommend a plan which will provide for long-term restoration for these salt ponds and adjacent areas as well as flood protection and recreation components, if these actions are justified under Federal criteria. The Report and its alternatives will be tiered to the programmatic EIS/EIR for the South Bay Salt Ponds Restoration Project. One public scoping meeting will be held to solicit comments on the environmental effects of the range of potential projects and the appropriate scope of the Report. The public is invited to comment during this meeting on environmental issues to be addressed in the Report.