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

The Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hereby cancels its Notice of Intent to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Acme Basin B Discharge Project, as published in Federal Register on Friday, May 24, 2002 (67 FR 36577). The notice is canceled because, during scoping for this project and development of alternatives, it appeared that each of the alternatives would affect the same 410 acres of agricultural lands, converting sugar cane into functional wetlands, resulting in discharge of cleaner water into Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (WCA-1), increasing the spatial extent of Everglades wetlands and reducing freshwater flows into Lake Worth Lagoon. While all of these effects are environmentally beneficial, the relative magnitude of the impacts in the context of greater Everglades's restoration was determined not to be significant. There are not expected to be any adverse impacts on public health and safety; the affected area (Acme Basin B) is not environmentally unique; the significant WCA-1 wetlands will benefit by a relatively small increment, as will Lake Worth Lagoon. No public controversy related to the proposed alternatives developed during scoping for this project, nor are there high levels of uncertainty, unique or unknown risks associated with the study, nor have surveys revealed the presence of any significant wildlife, cultural resource elements or contaminants. An environmental Assessment will be prepared and coordinated for the proposed action. This document is expected to be available in August 2005.

In accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District has prepared a Draft Tiered Environmental Impact statement (TEIS) and Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP) to analyze dredged material placement for the Port of Baltimore for 20 years of maintenance and new work dredging. USACE is making the document available to the public for review and comment through a Notice of Availability published in the Federal Register. The overall goal of the DMMP is to develop a plan to maintain, in an economically and environmentally sound manner, channels necessary for navigation for the Port of Baltimore, conduct dredged material placement in the most environmentally sound manner, and maximize the use of dredged material as a beneficial resource. The recommendations which will provide a minimum of 20 years of dredged material placement capacity for the Port of Baltimore are: Continued use of open water placement in Virginia (Dam Neck Open Water Placement; Rappahannock Shoal Deep Alternate Open Water Placement; and Wolf Trap Alternate Open Water Placement). Optimized use of existing dredged material management sites in Maryland, including Pooles Island Open Water Site, Hart-Miller Island Dredged Material Containment Facility, Cox Creek Confined Disposal Facility and Poplar Island Environmental Restoration Project (PIERP). Multiple confined disposal facilities for harbor material in Patapsco River. Large Island Restoration-Middle Chesapeake Bay. PIERP Expansion. Wetland Restoration-Dorchester County. We are making the Draft TEIS available to the public for a 45-day review and comment period.

Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the Port Authority of Guam and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hereby give notice of intent to prepare a Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for proposed wharf improvements and fill at Apra Harbor, Guam. Under a Federal grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, the Port Authority of Guam is proposing modifications to Apra Harbor for the purpose of improving maritime access and services to the island of Guam. The harbor is in need of improvements to meet anticipated future demands of the island's commercial port operations by providing additional cargo container storage area, and berthing facilities capable of accommodating the newest generation of large deep draft container vessels, and cruise ships. The proposed improvements would also provide contingency berthing facilities for U.S. Navy military vessels. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be the lead agency in preparing the EIS. The EIS will provide an analysis of potential impacts to the environment from the proposed modifications to Apra Harbor, in compliance with NEPA and CEQ regulations.

Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and Public Law 102-484 section 2834, as amended by Public Law 104-106 section 2867, the Department of the Army and the California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC) hereby give notice of intent to prepare a joint Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (SEIS/EIR) for the Hamilton Wetland Restoration Project (HWRP), Marin County, California to consider alternative methods to transfer dredged material collected from various navigational dredging projects within San Francisco Bay to the HWRP site for beneficial re-use in the construction of tidal and seasonal wetlands. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is the lead agency for this project under NEPA. The SCC is the lead agency for this project under CEQA. A pubic scoping meeting will be held to solicit comments on the environmental scope of the project and the appropriate scope of the SEIS/EIR.