Engineers Corps April 23, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The action being taken is the preparation of an environmental impact statement/environmental impact report (EIS/EIR) for Phase 3 of Reclamation District No. 17's (RD 17) 100-year Levee Seepage Area Project (LSAP). To implement Phase 3 of the LSAP, RD 17 is requesting permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pursuant to Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 408, referred to as ``Section 408'') for alteration of Federal project levees and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) for placement of fill into jurisdictional waters of the United States. Under Section 408, the Chief of Engineers may grant permission to alter an existing Federal project if it is not injurious to the public interest and does not impair the usefulness of the project. Portions of the RD 17 levee system including the section of levee along the south bank of French Camp Slough, along the east bank of the San Joaquin River, and along the northerly bank of Walthall Slough are Federal project levees. Therefore, Section 408 permission is required for structural improvements to these portions of the RD 17 levee system and would be issued to the Central Valley Flood Protection Board. Under Section 404, the District Engineer permits the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States if the discharge meets the requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency's 404(b)(1) guidelines and is not contrary to the public interest. As the landside levee improvements would result in a discharge of fill material into waters of the United States, permission under Section 404 is needed and would be issued directly to RD 17. RD 17 is located in San Joaquin County, California in the cities of Stockton, Lathrop, and Manteca.