Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is proposing to revise several existing danger zone and restricted area regulations and to establish four new restricted areas within the Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) facilities and along the Eglin AFB facility shoreline in Florida. The Eglin AFB and Eglin Reservation span over 724 square miles with over 150 miles of waterway boundary. This amendment to the existing regulation is necessary to update their water boundary security plan to provide adequate protection to Eglin personnel and resources.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Omaha District is announcing a 32-day extension of the public comment period for the Moffat Collection System Project (Moffat Project) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS). The originally announced comment period ends on January 28, 2010, but has been extended until March 1, 2010. The original Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS was published in the Federal Register on Friday, October 30, 2009 (74 FR 56186).

The Alaska District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) intends 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. The Corps is the lead federal agency and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service (NPS) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are participating as cooperating agencies in the DEIS development process. The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be used as a basis for the Corps permit decision and to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Corps will be evaluating a permit application for work under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Because ASAP would require decisions and actions by other federal agencies (such as right-of-way grants and other permits), this DEIS will also fulfill the NEPA responsibilities of those federal agencies.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), Wilmington District, Regulatory Division, has received a request for Department of the Army authorization, pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, from the Town of Nags Head to dredge up to 4.6 million cubic yards of beach-quality sediment from an offshore borrow source, and deposit the material along approximately 10 miles of ocean shoreline in the Town of Nags Head.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published a document in the Federal Register on July 23, 2009 (74 FR 36400), revising the restricted areas at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Patrick Air Force Base (AFB), Florida. The revision included the establishment of a restricted area within the waters of the Atlantic Ocean offshore of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The regulation included information regarding the boundaries of the new restricted area, including a reference to the offshore (eastern) boundary as being 1.5 miles offshore of the mean high water line. The final rule did not reference the type of mile unit to be used for the boundary line of the restricted area. The intent was to use nautical miles as the unit type. Since the use of nautical miles changes the coordinates for the northeast and southeast corner points of the restricted area, we are also correcting those coordinates. This document corrects the final regulation by revising this section.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District (USACE) has received an application for a Department of the Army Permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) from the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) to construct Lower Bois d'Arc Creek Reservoir. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the USACE has determined that issuance of such a permit may have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment and, therefore, requires the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Omaha District has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of a water supply project called the Moffat Collection System Project (Moffat Project) in the City and County of Denver, Adams County, Boulder County, Jefferson County, and Grand County, CO. The purpose of the Proposed Action is to develop 18,000 acre-feet (AF) per year of new, firm yield to the Moffat Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and raw water customers upstream of the Moffat WTP pursuant to the Board of Water Commissioners' commitment to its customers. Denver Water's need for the proposed Moffat Project is

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, Planning Division and Regulatory Division (Corps) have made a Final General Conformity Determination (GCD) and executed a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIS/SEIR) and a ROD for Section 404 Permit under the Clean Water Act for the Port of Los Angeles Channel Deepening Project, Los Angeles, California.

In accordance with Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), announcement is made of the following committee meeting:

On September 22, 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, Regulatory Division (Corps) in coordination with the Los Angeles Harbor Department (LAHD) completed and published the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the San Pedro Waterfront Project (Project) in the Port of Los Angeles. The Corps and LAHD 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 and Appendix D.7), pursuant to Section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act. A general conformity determination is necessary because Project construction would require Federal action (i.e., issuance of a Corps permit for activities proposed in and over navigable waters and 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 Project is being included in the Final EIS/EIR in this case.

East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Inc. (EKPC) has applied for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to authorize unavoidable impacts to jurisdictional waters of the U.S. pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (Section 404) and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act (Section 10). EKPC is proposing to construct and operate a 278 megawatt circulating fluidized bed electric generating unit (CFB) and associated infrastructure at the existing J.K. Smith Power Station (the Smith Site) in southern Clark County, Kentucky (Proposed Action). In addition to the CFB unit, other components of the Proposed Action on the Smith Site include: An approximately one-mile, 345 kV electric transmission line; two (2) beneficial reuse structural fills using coal combustion by-products (CCB); two (2) landfills for the on-site disposal of CCB; an emergency drought water storage reservoir; several soil borrow areas for landfill cover and other site development uses; and a new water intake/outfall structure in the Kentucky River.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore (NAB) and Norfolk (NAO) Districts published a Notice of Intent (NOI) (71 FR 14857) for the Chesapeake Bay Native Oyster Recovery study on March 24, 2006. That NOI announced that the USACE Baltimore and Norfolk Districts would prepare a single, integrated Native Oyster Restoration Master Plan (NORMP) and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for native oyster recovery in the entire Chesapeake Bay (including both Maryland and Virginia). The USACE is undertaking native oyster recovery in the Chesapeake Bay to support efforts to reverse the ongoing decline in oyster resources throughout the Bay.

In accordance with section 105(h) of the Estuary Restoration Act of 2000, as amended (Title I, Pub. L. 106-457), announcement is made of the forthcoming meeting of the Estuary Habitat Restoration Council. The meeting is open to the public.

In the July 15, 2009, issue of the Federal Register (74 FR 34311) the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published a proposal to take two actions concerning Nationwide Permit 21, which authorizes discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States for surface coal mining activities. The two proposed actions are to suspend NWP 21 to prohibit its use to authorize surface coal mining activities in the Appalachian region of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, and then to modify NWP 21 to make that prohibition permanent until NWP 21 expires on March 18, 2012. In the July 15, 2009, notice we also offered commenters opportunity to request a public hearing. In the August 13, 2009, issue of the Federal Register (74 FR 40815), we extended the comment period to September 14, 2009. We have received several requests to hold public hearings, and have determined that hearings would afford us the opportunity to gain additional information to assist us in reaching decisions on these two proposed actions. Therefore, we will be holding public hearings in each of the six affected states. Written comments to supplement the hearing records may be submitted until October 26, 2009.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) intends to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA)Louisiana, Modification of Davis Pond Diversion Project. This modification project will be designed to increase wetland restoration outputs. This supplemental EIS will be tiered off of the programmatic final EIS for the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA)Louisiana, Ecosystem Restoration Study, November 2004, and the final EIS for the LCALouisiana, Freshwater Diversion to Barataria and Breton Sound Basins Study, September 1984. The record of decision (ROD) for the programmatic final EIS was signed on November 18, 2005 and the ROD for the freshwater diversion final EIS was signed on July 16, 1987.

Herbert Hoover Dike is the levee and water control system that provides flood protection to communities surrounding Lake Okeechobee. The purpose of this project is to evaluate rehabilitation solutions for Reaches 2 and 3 of the dike so that the authorized level of flood protection can be provided to reduce the risk of a catastrophic failure or breach of the embankment. Reaches 2 and 3 of the HHD extend for approximately 27 miles between an area west of Belle Glade, Palm Beach County to east of Moore Haven, Glades County, FL. 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 1. On September 23, 2005, a Record of Decision was signed adopting the preferred alternative as the Selected Plan for Reach 1.

The U.S. Navy (USN) requested that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) disestablish the restricted area at the former Naval Station Pascagoula in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The restricted area was established on November 9, 1992. The purpose of the restricted area was to reduce safety hazards and security risks and protect persons and property from dangers encountered in the area. As a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act, the Naval Station was closed on June 1, 2007, and the property transferred to the State of Mississippi. In the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of Federal Register, we are publishing the restricted area disestablishment as a direct final rule without prior proposal because we view this as a non-controversial adjustment to our restricted area regulations and anticipate no adverse comment. We have explained our reasons for this approval in the preamble to the direct final rule. If we receive no adverse comment, we will not take further action on this rule and it will go into effect. If we receive adverse comment, we will withdraw the direct final rule

In the July 15, 2009, issue of the Federal Register (74 FR 34311) the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published a proposal to take two actions concerning Nationwide Permit 21, which authorizes discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States for surface coal mining activities. The two proposed actions are to suspend NWP 21 to prohibit its use to authorize surface coal mining activities in the Appalachian region of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, and then to modify NWP 21 to make that prohibition permanent until NWP 21 expires on March 18, 2012. The July 15, 2009, notice stated that public comments and any requests for a public hearing must be received by August 14, 2009. We have received several requests to extend the comment period. We are extending the comment period to September 14, 2009.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg District, in cooperation with the New Orleans District and the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (the non-Federal sponsor), are undertaking studies to develop and evaluate possible alternatives to improve the storm damage reduction capability of the Federal levee system, Plaquemines Parish, LA.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, announces the release of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and the public comment period for the Calhoun Port Authority's (CPA) proposed Matagorda Ship Channel (MSC) Improvement Project.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is amending its restricted area regulations to enlarge an existing restricted area in the Banana River and to establish a new restricted area in the Atlantic Ocean for the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), located on Patrick Air Force Base (AFB), Florida. We are also removing an existing restricted area in the Banana River at CCAFS. CCAFS Command, located at Patrick AFB, Florida, is responding to Department of Defense (DoD) security assessments which have identified a need for CCAFS to have the capability to secure their shoreline. The enhancement of these capabilities is necessary to counter postulated threats to CCAFS.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is issuing this notice to advise the public that a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has been completed and is available for review and comment.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is proposing to take two actions concerning Nationwide Permit (NWP) 21, which authorizes discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States for surface coal mining activities. First, the Corps proposes to modify NWP 21 to prohibit its use to authorize discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States for surface coal mining activities in the Appalachian region of the following states: Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia until it expires on March 18, 2012. The proposed modification would enhance environmental protection of aquatic resources by requiring surface coal mining projects in the affected region to obtain individual permit coverage under the Clean Water Act (CWA), which includes increased public and agency involvement in the permit review process, including an opportunity for public comment on individual projects. The application of NWP 21 to surface coal mining activities in the rest of the United States would not be affected by this proposed modification.

The Vicksburg District, Corps of Engineers, is issuing this notice to advise the public that the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process for the proposed Potable Water Supply Project for Washington Parish, Louisiana, is terminated. The original Notice of Intent for this EIS process was published in the Federal Register on March 28, 2008 (73 FR 16653).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District (Corps) in conjunction with the City of Los Angeles Harbor Department (LAHD) is examining the feasibility of waterside terminal and transportation improvements at Berths 302-306 in the Port of Los Angeles. The Corps is considering the LAHD's application for a Department of the Army permit under section 10 of the River and Harbor Act and potentially section 404 of the Clean Water Act to construct wharf/docking facilities, perform dredging, construct container loading apparatus (i.e., cranes), and other ancillary improvements within 100 feet land side of the waters' edge associated with the Berths 302-306 [American President Lines (APL)] Container Terminal Project (proposed project). Dredging up to 75,000 cubic yards (cy) may be required for the proposed project, and any proposed offshore disposal at the LA-2 disposal site would also trigger review under section 103 of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA).