Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers February 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is amending its restricted area/danger zone regulations to establish a new restricted area in the waters surrounding U.S. Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville facilities at Station Mayport, Jacksonville, Florida (Station Mayport). Station Mayport is situated on the south side of the St. Johns River which, as the primary federal navigable channel entering the Port of Jacksonville, is heavily transited by commercial and recreational vessels. This United States Coast Guard (USCG) facility maintains a high operational tempo for both routine and emergency operations. This amendment to the existing regulations is necessary to enhance the USCG's ability to counter postulated threats against their personnel, equipment, cutters and facilities by providing a stand-off buffer encompassing the waters immediately contiguous to the Station Mayport. The amendment will also serve to protect the general public from injury or property damage during routine and emergency USCG operations and provide an explosive safety arc buffer during periodic transfer of ammunitions between units, including cutters.

The Department of the Army is publishing this notice to announce the following Federal advisory committee meeting of the Board on Coastal Engineering Research. This meeting is open to the public.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of the Army (Army) are announcing the withdrawal of an interpretive document addressing the exemption from permitting provided under section 404(f)(1)(A) of the Clean Water Act (CWA).

On February 1, 2006, the Omaha District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) published a Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to jointly analyze the direct, indirect and cumulative effects of two water supply projects that were proposed collectively as the Halligan-Seaman Water Management Project. USACE has determined that the two projects will be separated and independently evaluated as the Halligan Water Supply Project EIS and the Seaman Water Supply Project EIS. Constructing the proposed Projects would impact jurisdictional waters of the United States, thereby requiring Clean Water Act Section 404 permits. The Cities of Fort Collins and Greeley (Cities) have proposed the Projects to meet existing and future water demands during droughts, more efficiently manage the Cities' existing or future water rights, provide some operational redundancy, and possibly enhance river functions. The proposed Projects involve enlarging two existing reservoirs, Halligan Reservoir and Milton Seamen Reservoir (Seaman Reservoir), which would provide approximately 56,125 acre-feet of additional storage capacity in the Cache la Poudre River Basin. The Halligan and Seaman Water Supply Projects would both be non-federal projects constructed, owned and operated by the Cities.

The Congressional response to the devastation in the wake of Hurricane Sandy included a mandate to collaborate with federal, state, tribal and local government agencies to regionally address the vulnerability of coastal populations at risk within the boundaries of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) North Atlantic Division. The goals of the North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study (NACCS), authorized under the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, Public Law 113-2, were to: (1) Provide a risk management framework, consistent with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/USACE Infrastructure Systems Rebuilding Principles; and (2) support resilient coastal communities and robust, sustainable coastal landscape systems, considering future sea level and climate change scenarios, to manage risk to vulnerable populations, property, ecosystems, and infrastructure. In addition, the NACCS evaluated institutional and other barriers to providing comprehensive coastal storm risk management, along with other activities warranting additional analysis. NACCS draft analyses were made available to stakeholders for review and validation in March 2014. Throughout the study process several additional opportunities for stakeholder input were made available, including a webinar collaboration series, agency and public engagements, and a feedback link on the NACCS Web page. Full NEPA and other environmental compliance would be required as part of future detailed evaluations and/or feasibility studies before any actions could be implemented. The final report was submitted to Congress and all associated documents and tools are now accessible on the NACCS Web page at: https://www.nad.usace.army.mil/compstudy.