Notice2021-17313
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to the 2014 Final Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement for the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction Study, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John the Baptist Parishes
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Published
August 13, 2021
Issuing agencies
Defense DepartmentEngineers Corps
Abstract
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Mississippi Valley Division, New Orleans District (CEMVN), is announcing its intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to reevaluate alternatives to compensate for unavoidable impacts to swamp habitat associated with the construction of the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction Project (hereafter WSLP Project). Compensatory mitigation for impacts due to construction of the WSLP Project was described previously in the 2014 WSLP Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and in Environmental Assessment (EA) 576, which addressed mitigation for habitat impacts associated with each of CEMVN's Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) of 2018 funded risk reduction projects (i.e., the WSLP Project, Comite River Diversion Project, and the East Baton Rouge Parish Watershed Flood Risk Management Project). The Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for EA 576 was signed by the CEMVN District Commander on April 4, 2020. Public comment on EA 576 included requests by the Louisiana's Coastal Protection Restoration Authority (CPRA) and others that the Mississippi River Diversion into Maurepas Swamp Project (hereafter MSP), a proposed ecological restoration project that shares construction features with the WSLP Project, be considered as a mitigation alternative for impacts to swamp habitat associated with the construction of the WSLP Project. Anticipated impacts to swamp habitat as a result of the construction of the MSP, estimated to be approximately 55 Average Annual Habitat Units (AAHU), would be self-mitigated by the operation of the diversion. Impacts to bottom land hardwood (BLH) habitat because of the MSP construction would be approximately 30 AAHU. These BLH impacts would be mitigated in accordance with EA 576.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 154 (Friday, August 13, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 154 (Friday, August 13, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44700-44701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17313]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement to the 2014 Final Integrated Feasibility Report and
Environmental Impact Statement for the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain
Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction Study, St. Charles, St.
James, and St. John the Baptist Parishes
AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Mississippi Valley
Division, New Orleans District (CEMVN), is announcing its intent to
prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to
reevaluate alternatives to compensate for unavoidable impacts to swamp
habitat associated with the construction of the West Shore Lake
Pontchartrain Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction Project
(hereafter WSLP Project). Compensatory mitigation for impacts due to
construction of the WSLP Project was described previously in the 2014
WSLP Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and in Environmental
Assessment (EA) 576, which addressed mitigation for habitat impacts
associated with each of CEMVN's Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) of 2018
funded risk reduction projects (i.e., the WSLP Project, Comite River
Diversion Project, and the East Baton Rouge Parish Watershed Flood Risk
Management Project). The Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for
EA 576 was signed by the CEMVN District Commander on April 4, 2020.
Public comment on EA 576 included requests by the Louisiana's Coastal
Protection Restoration Authority (CPRA) and others that the Mississippi
River Diversion into Maurepas Swamp Project (hereafter MSP), a proposed
ecological restoration project that shares construction features with
the WSLP Project, be considered as a mitigation alternative for impacts
to swamp habitat associated with the construction of the WSLP Project.
Anticipated impacts to swamp habitat as a result of the construction of
the MSP, estimated to be approximately 55 Average Annual Habitat Units
(AAHU), would be self-mitigated by the operation of the diversion.
Impacts to bottom land hardwood (BLH) habitat because of the MSP
construction would be approximately 30 AAHU. These BLH impacts would be
mitigated in accordance with EA 576.
ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, Attn:
CEMVN-PDC-C, 7400 Leake Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70118.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions and scoping comments
regarding the proposed action should be directed to Mr. Landon Parr at
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, Attn: CEMVN-PDC-C,
7400 Leake Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, by phone (504) 862-
1908, or by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#692508070d06074739081b1b291c1a080a0c47081b041047040005"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="90dcf1fef4fffebec0f1e2e2d0e5e3f1f3f5bef1e2fde9befdf9fc">[email protected]</span></a>. For additional
information, including but not limited to a copy of 2014 WSLP EIS, and
other associated documents, please visit the WSLP Project website at:
<a href="https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/NEPA-Compliance-Documents/Bipartisan-Budget-Act-2018-BBA-18/West-Shore-Lake-Pontchartrain/">https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/NEPA-Compliance-Documents/Bipartisan-Budget-Act-2018-BBA-18/West-Shore-Lake-Pontchartrain/</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Project Details. The WSLP Project is located in southeast
Louisiana on the east-bank of the Mississippi River in St. Charles, St.
John the Baptist, and St. James Parishes. Part of the Water
Infrastructure Improvement for the Nation Act (WIIN Act, Pub. L. 114-
322) in 2016 authorized construction of the WSLP Project. The BBA of
2018 (BBA 2018, Pub. L. 115-123) funded construction of the WSLP
Project. The WSLP Project is described in the 2014 WSLP EIS; West Shore
Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction Structural
Alignment Surveys and Borings Investigations St. Charles and St. John
the Baptist Parishes, Louisiana Supplemental Environmental Assessment
(SEA) 570; and West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane and Storm Damage
Risk Reduction Levee System, St. Charles and St. John the Baptist
Parishes, Louisiana SEA 571. The WSLP Project is approximately 19 miles
in length and includes approximately 18 miles of levee, one mile of T-
wall, six pumping stations with associated drainage structures, one
gated road crossing, two gated railroad crossings, and approximately 35
utility relocations.
The Record of Decision (ROD) for the 2014 WSLP EIS was signed by
the Assistant Secretary of the Army, Civil Works on September 14, 2016.
SEA 570 investigated levee alignment shifts as well as the addition of
five stockpile/staging areas for construction related activities. The
FONSI associated with SEA 570 was signed by the CEMVN District
Commander on May 13, 2019. SEA 571 evaluated additional changes to the
WSLP levee alignment, the addition of four borrow areas, widening of
the levee alignment, minor modifications to previously assessed access
roads, and the addition of three access roads. The FONSI associated
with SEA 571 was signed by the CEMVN District Commander on June 29,
2020.
Based on the changes to date, the WSLP Project could impact
approximately 10,895 acres of swamp and 4,880 acres of wetland
bottomland hardwoods (BLH-Wet) in the Louisiana (LA) Coastal Zone (CZ).
This equates to a compensatory mitigation need of approximately 1,010
AAHU of CZ swamp (if the MSP is selected) [including direct impacts to
swamp associated with construction of the MSP (~55 AAHU), and direct
(~600 AAHU) and indirect (~355 AAHU) impacts to swamp associated with
the construction of WSLP] and approximately 295 AAHU of CZ BLH-Wet (BLH
habitat impacted by the construction of the WSLP Project would be
mitigated in accordance with EA 576).
This Supplemental EIS would provide an assessment of proposed
alternative projects to compensate for the WSLP Project's swamp impacts
and it would identify the Tentatively Selected Alternative. When
unavoidable impacts occur, the CEMVN is required to offset those
impacts through compensatory mitigation by replacing the lost habitat's
functions and services equally and in-kind. Compensatory mitigation is
required by the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1986, Section
906, as amended, and by the Clean Water Act Section 404(b)(1)
Guidelines. The MSP is a freshwater diversion that would reconnect the
[[Page 44701]]
Mississippi River to the Maurepas Swamp, strategically delivering
nutrient-laden river water to restore a degraded Cypress-Tupelo swamp.
The proposed diversion has a 2,000 cubic foot per second (cfs) design
flow. The freshwater intake structure and conveyance channel are
located on the east bank of the Mississippi River in St. John the
Baptist Parish, immediately west of Garyville, Louisiana, at River Mile
144 Above Head of Passes. The construction corridor for the conveyance
channel extends from LA 44 (River Road) northward for 5\1/2\ miles,
terminating at the outfall structure, which is approximately 1,000 ft
north of Interstate 10.
2. Scoping Process. The CEMVN invites all affected federal, state,
and local agencies, affected Native American Tribes, other interested
parties, and the general public to participate in the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) scoping process during development of
the SEIS. The purpose of the public scoping process is to provide
information to the public, narrow the scope of analysis to significant
environmental issues, serve as a mechanism to solicit agency and public
input on potential alternatives and issues of concern, and ensure full
and open participation in scoping for the SEIS. CEMVN requests input
from interested parties regarding potential WSLP mitigation
alternatives and information and analyses relevant to the proposed MSP.
To ensure that all the issues related to the proposed MSP are
addressed, the CEMVN will conduct virtual and, if permissible, in-
person public scoping meeting(s) to which agencies, organizations, and
members of the general public are invited to present comments or
suggestions with regard to the range of actions, alternatives, and
potential impacts to be considered in the SEIS. Project and public
scoping meeting information, including information as to where, when,
and how to participate and submit scoping comments as well as other
opportunities for public involvement, will be available on CEMVN's
website at: <a href="https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/NEPA-Compliance-Documents/Bipartisan-Budget-Act-2018-BBA-18/West-Shore-Lake-Pontchartrain/">https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/NEPA-Compliance-Documents/Bipartisan-Budget-Act-2018-BBA-18/West-Shore-Lake-Pontchartrain/</a>.
Notification of public scoping meetings will also be available via
press releases, special public notices, and on CEMVN's social media
platforms.
3. Federal Authority. The SEIS will disclose the context and
intensity of environmental impacts, including focusing the analysis on
those effects that are reasonably foreseeable and that have a
reasonably close causal relationship to the proposed action as required
under the Council of Environmental Quality's (CEQ) NEPA regulations at
40 CFR parts 1500-1508 and the Department of the Army's NEPA
regulations at 33 CFR part 230. A reasonable range of alternatives will
be determined, and significant issues related to the proposed action
will be identified during public scoping.
The following agencies are being invited to participate as
Cooperating Agencies on the SEIS: United States Environmental
Protection Agency; United States Department of the Interior, Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS); United States Department of Commerce,
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS); United States Department of
Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service; Advisory Council
on Historic Preservation (ACHP); State of Louisiana, Historic
Preservation Office (SHPO), State of Louisiana Department of Natural
Resources (LDNR), State of Louisiana Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries (LDWF), and State of Louisiana, Coastal Protection and
Restoration Authority (CPRA).
4. Alternatives. The SEIS will address a reasonable range of
alternatives based on the proposed Project's purpose and need. The SEIS
will compare, at a minimum, the previously identified BBA Alternative
for the WSLP Project in EA 576 to Alternative 1 (MSP-1: Public and
Private Lands) and Alternative 2 (MSP-2: Public Land Only) by using the
Alternatives Evaluation and Comparison (AEC) process. The results of
the AEC process would be presented in the SEIS. The BBA Alternative
would compensate for the WSLP Project impacts of 955 AAHU of CZ swamp.
The MSP Alternative would compensate for WSLP Project impacts of
approximately 1,010 AAHU of CZ swamp.
5. Potentially Significant Issues. The SEIS will analyze the
potential impacts on the human and natural environment resulting from
the Project. The scoping, public involvement, and interagency
coordination processes will help identify and define the range of
potential significant issues that will be considered. Important
resources and issues to be evaluated in the SEIS could include, but are
not limited to, the reasonably foreseeable effects on tidal wetlands
and other waters of the U.S.; aquatic resources; commercial and
recreational fisheries; wildlife resources; essential fish habitat;
water quality; cultural resources; geology and soils; hydrology and
hydraulics; air quality; marine mammals; threatened and endangered
species and their critical habitats; navigation and navigable waters;
induced flooding; employment and incomes; land use; property values;
tax revenues; population and housing; community and regional growth;
environmental justice; community cohesion; public services; recreation;
transportation and traffic; utilities and community service systems.
6. Environmental Consultation and Review and Authorizations. The
proposed action is being coordinated with a number of federal, state,
regional, and local agencies. In accordance with relevant environmental
laws and regulations, CEMVN will consult with the following agencies:
USFWS under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act; USFWS and NMFS
under the Endangered Species Act; NMFS under the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act; LDNR for Coastal Zone
Consistency determination concurrence; and LDEQ for Clean Water Act,
Section 401 Water Quality Certification; and, the ACHP, Louisiana SHPO,
and the appropriate Tribal Historic Preservation Officers under the
National Historic Preservation Act using an integrated NHPA Section
106/NEPA EIS process.
7. Availability. The SEIS is presently scheduled to be available
for public review and comment in October 2021. A Final SEIS is
scheduled for release in January 2022. A decision regarding
implementation of the MSP is expected in 2022. All comments received
throughout the review process will become part of the project file for
the proposed Project and will be subject to public release.
Edward E. Belk, Jr.,
Programs Director, Mississippi Valley Division, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers.
[FR Doc. 2021-17313 Filed 8-12-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P
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