Engineers Corps February 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Jacksonville District, intends to prepare an integrated Project Implementation Report/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (PIR/DEIS) for the Everglades National Park (ENP) Seepage Management Project. The study is a cooperative effort between the Corps and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), which is also a cooperating agency for this DEIS. The project seeks to reduce eastward water seepage from the Everglades system for the benefit of wetland communities within ENP. The ENP Seepage Management Project is comprised of three components that were recommended as a part of the Central and Southern Florida (C&SF) Project Comprehensive Review Study Feasibility Report and Integrated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) dated April 1999 (Restudy), and is part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). The project includes an aboveground recharge area, a wetland buffer area, relocation and enhancement of levee L-31N, a sheetflow delivery system, and other features located adjacent to ENP in Miami- Dade County.

Ispat Inland Mining (Ispat) has applied to the St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers (Corps) for a permit to discharge dredged or fill material into wetlands to facilitate the construction and operation of a taconite mine consisting of two conventional open pits in a deposit known as the East Reserve (formerly known as the J&L East Reserve) between Biwabik and McKinley in St. Louis County, MN. The combined area of the two open pits would be 364 acres. The proposed pits contain an estimated 116,000,000 long tons of ore. The ore would be hauled by truck approximately 1.9 miles on a proposed new haul road spur and then an additional 5.5 miles on an existing haul road to Ispat's currently permitted and operating Minorca taconite processing facility north of Virginia, MN. Tailing waste would be disposed of in Ispat's currently permitted and operating Minorca and Upland tailings basins. The mining process would require the construction of overburden, waste rock, and lean ore stockpiles on the north side of the proposed pits. The total stockpile area would cover approximately 375 acres. Project plans call for the mining of an average of just over six million long tons of crude ore per year over the proposed 18-year life of the mine. The project would allow mining operations and taconite processing at the Minorca Plant to continue until 2024. The project would require the discharge of dredged or fill material into approximately 75.7 acres of wetlands. While some of the wetlands may be isolated, the majority of the wetlands are adjacent to an unnamed tributary to the Embarrass River, which is a tributary to the St. Louis River, which is a navigable water of the U.S., or the wetlands are adjacent to an unnamed tributary to the Pike River, which is a navigable water of the United States. Ispat proposes to utilize wetland credits from the existing Ispat Inland wetland mitigation bank in Aitkin County, MN to compensate for the lost wetland functions and values that would be caused by the proposed project. 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 study area is located within the Los Angeles Basin on a broad alluvial plain flanked by the Santa Monica Mountains, to the west, and by the San Gabriel Mountains to the northeast. The Los Angeles River flows from the headwaters of Bell Creek and Calabasas Creek in the San Fernando Valley community of Canoga Park southeast through the San Fernando Valley some 35 miles to downtown Los Angeles. From there it continues in a southerly direction until it empties into the Pacific Ocean at Long Beach. The specific study area comprises the 32 miles of the River within the City of Los Angeles that extends from Owensmouth Avenue, in the upper reaches of northwest San Fernando Valley, to the border of the City of Vernon, at the southern end of Downtown Los Angeles. The study proposes to consider a range of activities to restore riparian and aquatic habitat, and related habitat functions, in and adjacent to the Los Angeles River. Compatible activities to conserve cultural resources, and to provide recreational and interpretive amenities, will also be considered. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify a range of opportunities to improve the general environment of the Los Angeles River through ecosystem restoration and related measures. The study area includes several locations where potential exists for restoring a more natural riverine environment along the Los Angeles River, while maintaining and improving levels of flood protection. Creation of treatment wetlands in and around the river, to treat effluent river flows and to restore missing linkages of fragmented habitat, would also be pursued. Restored areas would provide natural riparian habitat to support indigenous wildlife and avifauna along a corridor transecting most of the San Fernando Valley, and extending into downtown Los Angeles. Other purposes include provision of public access to the river, identification of incidental recreation space, and delineation of trails. Site-specific Environmental Impact Statement-Environment Impact Reports (EIS/EIR) would be prepared in the future to evaluate and document individual projects that may result from this study.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is issuing this notice to advise the public that the Final Supplement II to the Final Environmental Impact Statement has been completed for the City of Marion, Illinois, and is available for review and comment.