Engineers Corps 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has proposed improvements to the transportation system starting at Military Cutoff Road in New Hanover County and extending to a point north of Hampstead along U.S. 17, in Pender County, NC (TIP Projects U-4751 and R-3300). The NCDOT is currently considering alternatives for this project that will require authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and/or Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbor Act). The USACE,Wilmington District, Regulatory Division and the NCDOT intend to prepare a joint environmental impact statement in accordance with regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to evaluate and compare alternatives and to assess associated impacts.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Jacksonville District, has received a permit application for a Department of the Army permit under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act from the St. Lucie County Erosion Control District (County) to construct a beach nourishment and dune restoration project along St. Lucie County. As part of the permit process, the Corps is evaluating the environmental effects associated with beach nourishment and dune restoration.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is announcing its intent to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Mississippi River and Tributaries, St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, intends to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for evaluation of the feasibility of providing hurricane and storm damage reduction (HSDR), and related purposes to the shores of St. Johns County, Florida. In cooperation with St. Johns County, the study will evaluate alternatives that will maximize HSDR while minimizing environmental impacts within three reaches designated critically eroded by Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP): (1) South Ponte Vedra Beach (R84-R110/5 miles), (2) Vilano Beach (R110-R122/2.5 miles) and (3) Summer Haven Beach (R197-R209/2.3 miles).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to amend its regulations for the restricted area established in the waters of Puget Sound adjacent to Naval Station Everett, Everett, Snohomish County, Washington. The amendments will enable the affected units of the United States military to enhance safety and security around an active military establishment. The regulations are necessary to safeguard military vessels and United States government facilities from sabotage and other subversive acts, accidents, or incidents of similar nature. The regulations are also necessary to protect the public from potentially hazardous conditions that may exist as a result of military use of the area.

In Accordance with 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), announcement is made of the forthcoming meeting.

In April 2009, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, Regulatory Division (Corps) in coordination with the Port of Long Beach (POLB) completed and published a joint Final Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project (Project) in the POLB, including a Draft General Conformity Determination, for the Federal action associated with the Project. Comments were received on the Final EIS and Draft General Conformity Determination until May 3, 2009. A General Conformity Determination was required because Project construction would require Federal action (i.e., issuance of a Corps permit for work and structures in and over navigable waters and discharges of fill into waters of the U.S.) and not all the Federal action's direct and indirect air emissions would be below specified de minimis thresholds (40 CFR 93.153(b)). On February 23, 2010, the Corps completed its environmental review and made a Final General Conformity Determination, executed the Record of Decision (ROD), and issued a Standard Individual Permit for the Federal action associated with the Project, pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the River and Harbor Act. The Corps considered and responded to all comments received in making the Final General Conformity Determination, executing the ROD, and issuing the Corps permit. The public can request copies of the Final General Conformity Determination document or the

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is proposing to revise its regulations to establish a new restricted area in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. The KSC is the main launch facility for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and they need to have the capability to secure their shoreline at KSC. This amendment to the existing regulations is necessary to enhance KSC's ability to secure their shoreline to counter postulated threats to their facilities and to provide for safe launch operations.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District (USACE) intends to prepare a joint environmental impact statement/environmental impact report (EIS/EIR) for the Lower Walnut Creek General Reevaluation Report (LWCGRR). USACE will serve as lead agency for compliance with NEPA, and the Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (CCCFCWCD) will serve as lead agency for compliance with CEQA. The LWCGRR will evaluate alternatives, including a locally preferred plan, for providing flood risk management and ecosystem restoration along the northern portion of the Walnut Creek watershed in the Central Coast of California. The approximate drainage area of the proposed action and analysis is 180 square miles.

In December 4, 2009, issue of the Federal Register (74 FR 63736), the Alaska District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), published a Notice of Intent to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to identify and analyze the potential impacts associated with the construction of the proposed Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline (ASAP) natural gas transportation pipeline. In that notice, the Alaska District stated that the scoping period would end on February 5, 2010. In response to several requests, the Alaska District has decided to extend the scoping period to March 8, 2010.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is proposing to update its current process for requesting a variance from vegetation standards for levees and floodwalls to reflect organizational changes and incorporate current agency-wide review processes.

The Mobile District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) intends to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to

In accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) Wilmington District, Wilmington Regulatory Field Office announces the availability of a Regulatory Program Final EIS for the North Topsail Beach Shoreline Protection Project. The applicant, The Town of North Topsail Beach, is requesting Department of the Army authorization, pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbor Act, to protect residential homes and town infrastructures by nourishing approximately 11.1 miles of beachfront via repositioning the New River Inlet channel, implementing an inlet management plan to control the positioning of the new inlet channel, and utilizing an offshore borrow area. The new channel will be centrally located and the proposal will be to maintain that position, which essentially will be located perpendicular to the adjacent shorelines of North Topsail Beach and Onslow Beach. The proposed sources of the material for the beach nourishment will come from the repositioning of the inlet and an identified offshore borrow area. The projected amount of material needed to initially nourish the oceanfront shoreline is approximately 3.11 million cubic yards. The placement of beach fill along the Town's shoreline would result in the initial widening of the beach by 50 to 100 feet. The widened beach would be maintained through a program of periodic beach nourishment events with the material extracted from the maintenance of the newly relocated channel. All work will be accomplished using a hydraulic cutterhead dredge. The proposed project construction will be conducted in a five phase approach to correspond with the Town's anticipated annual generation of funds.

The action being taken is the preparation of a joint environmental impact statement/environmental impact report (EIS/EIR) for the Lower San Joaquin River Feasibility Study (LSJRFS). The EIS/EIR will be prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will serve as lead agency for compliance with NEPA, and the San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency (SJAFCA) will serve as lead agency for compliance with CEQA. The LSJRFS will evaluate alternatives, including a locally preferred plan, for providing flood damage reduction and ecosystem restoration along the lower (northern) portion of the San Joaquin River system in the Central Valley of California. The approximate area of the proposed action and analysis is identified in Figure 1.

The comment period for the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed construction of the Western Wake Regional Wastewater Management Facilities, in Wake and Chatham Counties, NC published in the Federal Register on Friday, December 18, 2009 (74 FR 67180), required comments be submitted 33 days (January 19, 2010) following publication in the Federal Register. The comment period has been extended to 54 days (February 9, 2010). This is because the initial Web version of the Final Environmental Impact Statement had problems with the Web links. The web version was corrected on December 28, 2009.