Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers November 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District, Wilmington Regulatory Division and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District, Charleston Regulatory Division (collectively COE) are issuing this notice to advise the public that a State (North Carolina Department of Transportation [NCDOT] and South Carolina Department of Transportation [SCDOT]) funded Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) will no longer be prepared by the COE, while acting as lead federal agency, for improvements to SC 31 starting near Little River, Horry County, South Carolina and running northeast to US 17, in an area between Calabash and Shallotte, Brunswick County, North Carolina. On July 6, 2017 the COE issued a Notice of Intent to prepare a DEIS for the ``Carolina Bays Parkway Extension'', NCDOT Project 44604 and SCDOT Project P029554. Recent commitment of federal funds has altered various aspects of this project, including the designation of the lead federal agency. Due to these developments, the COE will no longer act in this capacity, but rather as a cooperating agency throughout the evaluation of the project. At the appropriate time, a separate notice will be issued within the Federal Register identifying the lead agency, describing the project, and detailing the evaluation process.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Rock Island and Chicago Districts, have developed ``The Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS)Brandon Road Integrated Feasibility Study and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)Will County, Illinois,'' (Final GLMRIS-Brandon Road Report & EIS). The Final GLMRIS- Brandon Road Report & EIS presents a plan that could prevent aquatic nuisance species (ANS) transfer from the Mississippi River Basin to the Great Lakes Basin through an aquatic connection in the Chicago Area Waterway System. The purpose of this Study was to evaluate structural and nonstructural options and technologies near the Brandon Road Lock and Dam to prevent the upstream transfer of ANS while minimizing impacts to existing waterways uses and users. USACE analyzed and evaluated available controls to address ANS of concern and formulated alternatives specifically for the Brandon Road site.

The notice of an open meeting scheduled for November 28, 2018 published in the Federal Register on October 26, 2018 has a new date. The meeting will be held on November 29, 2018.

In accordance with all applicable laws and regulations, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) plans to prepare a General Reevaluation Study (GRR) with an integrated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate environmental impacts from reasonable project alternatives and to determine the potential for significant impacts related to the improvement of the anchorages included in the Federal navigation project to take into account changed conditions and/or assumptions since the original feasibility study was completed in 2000. The GRR will address the need for anchorage areas capable of safely accommodating the vessels navigating the anchorages at present and reasonably projected to be navigating them in the future; or find that no plan is currently justified.