Engineers Corps June 18, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District (Regulatory Division), in coordination with the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), has completed a Final Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the Newhall Ranch Resource Management and Development Plan and Spineflower Conservation Plan. The project proponent and landowner, The Newhall Land and Farming Company, requires a long-term Section 404 permit from the Corps of Engineers for permanent impacts to approximately 93.3 acres of waters of the United States, including, 20.5 acres of wetlands, for the construction of various facilities in waters of the United States associated with the development of a new community composed of a broad range of residential, mixed-use and nonresidential land uses in the 12,000-acre project area located in Santa Clarita, Los Angeles County, California. The Corps considered all comments received in preparing the Final EIS/EIR, which is available for a 30-day review. The Final EIS/ EIR includes a draft general conformity determination (see Section 3.2, Section 4.7 and Appendix D.7), pursuant to Section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act. A general conformity determination is necessary because construction of the proposed project would require Federal action (i.e., issuance of a Corps permit for activities proposed in waters of the U.S.) and not all the Federal action's direct and indirect emissions would be below specified de minimis thresholds (40 CFR 93.153(b)). Pursuant to the general conformity regulations (40 CFR part 93 Subpart B), general conformity determinations do not have to be included in the EIS and can be separately noticed, but the draft general conformity determination for the Federal action associated with the proposed project is being included in the Final EIS/EIR in this case.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is immediately suspending Nationwide Permit (NWP) 21, which authorizes discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States for surface coal mining activities, in the Appalachian region of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. This suspension is an interim measure to protect the aquatic environment while we evaluate modification of NWP 21 or until NWP 21 expires in 2012. While the suspension is in effect, individuals who seek authorization for discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States for surface coal mining projects in the affected region will have to obtain Department of the Army authorization under the Clean Water Act (CWA), through the individual permit process. Individual permits will result in increased public involvement in the permit evaluation process, including an opportunity for public comment on individual projects. NWP 21 activities that have been verified by District Engineers prior to the effective date of this suspension in the affected region continue to be authorized by that NWP until it expires on March 18, 2012, unless the District Engineer takes action to modify, suspend or revoke a particular NWP authorization on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the procedures at 33 CFR 330.5(d). District engineers may not modify previously issued NWP 21 verifications in this region to authorize additional discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States; such discharges must be applied for and evaluated under the individual permit process. This suspension of NWP 21 does not apply to other regions of the United States. The suspension will remain in effect until the Corps takes further action on NWP 21 or until NWP 21 expires on March 18, 2012. The Corps will publish its decision concerning the proposed NWP 21 modification in a future Federal Register notice.