Engineers Corps March 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is conducting a study to evaluate the long-term (20-year) dredged material placement needs and opportunities for Morehead City Harbor, NC. The study area encompasses Morehead City Harbor and the Ocean Bar approach channels extending seaward to deep water through Beaufort Inlet in Carteret County, near Morehead City, NC. The study will include the preparation of an integrated (combined) Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP) and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and will identify, evaluate, screen, prioritize, and ultimately optimize placement alternatives resulting in the recommendation of a plan for the placement of dredged materials for at least the next 20 years.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published a document in the Federal Register on September 12, 2008 (73 FR 52926), revising the restricted areas at Naval Support Activity (NSA), Panama City (PC), Florida. The latitude of the shared point for the southeast point of restricted area BA-1 (Sec. 334.761(a)(2)) and the southwest point of restricted area BA-2 (Sec. 334.761(a)(3)) should have been provided as 30[deg]10'32'' N. This document corrects the final regulation by revising these actions.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), Wilmington District, Regulatory Division has been reviewing the request for Department of the Army authorization, pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act from the Town of Cary, acting as the lead for the Western Wake Regional Wastewater Management Facilities Project Partners (Western Wake Partners), to construct Regional Wastewater Management Facility. The proposed project consists of regional wastewater pumping, conveyance, treatment, and discharge facilities to serve the Towns of Apex, Cary, Holly Springs and Morrisville, as well as the Wake County portion of Research Triangle Park (RTP South), NC. The project is being proposed by the Western Wake Partners to provide wastewater service for planned growth and development in the project service area and to comply with two regulatory mandates. One regulatory mandate has been issued by the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC), and the second regulatory mandate has been issued by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR).

The purpose of the project is to reconstruct and rehabilitate Reach 1A of the Herbert Hoover Dike to prevent catastrophic failure of the system to retain the waters of Lake Okeechobee. On July 8 2005, the Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) issued a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) for the Major Rehabilitation actions proposed for Herbert Hoover Dike (HHD), Reach One. Herbert Hoover Dike is the levee that completely surrounds Lake Okeechobee. On September 23, 2005, a Record of Decision was signed adopting the preferred alternative as the Selected Plan for Reach One. As plans and specifications were developed for Reach 1, it became apparent that the cut-off wall with seepage berm alternative would not work for all of Reach 1. The alternative for Reach 1A will be a combination of one or more of the following features dependent on the geology and adjacent land factors with the cut-off wall: Seepage Berm, Relief Trench, Soil Replacement Wedge, Relief Wells, Drainage Feature and Sand Columns. Reach 1A of the HHD extends for approximately 4.6 miles within Martin and Palm Beach Counties, from the St. Lucie Canal at Port Mayaca, south to the 10A culvert. The final full design of the cutoff wall and landside rehabilitation feature will include lands outside of the existing ROW. Therefore it is necessary to update the July 2005 SEIS for Reach 1A to include these new landside rehabilitation features and any impacts to lands outside of the existing ROW. Two separate draft and final SEIS's will be developed for the four Subreaches: An SEIS for Subreach 1A will be completed first and a second SEIS for Subreaches 1B, 1C, and 1D will be completed when designs (anticipated late 2009) are available. This study is a cooperative effort between the Corps and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD).