Notice2023-14279
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Yazoo Backwater Area Water Management Project
Primary source
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Published
July 6, 2023
Issuing agencies
Defense DepartmentEngineers Corps
Abstract
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Vicksburg District, is announcing its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the authorized Yazoo Basin, Yazoo Backwater, Mississippi, Project (Project). The EIS will analyze a new water management solution for the Project. The EIS will also examine measures to avoid, minimize, and mitigate environmental impacts associated with the Proposed Action which is the USACE Preferred Alternative. The EIS process does not foreclose the authorities of other State and Federal agencies to assist those Yazoo Backwater Area communities in risk management, emergency response, and community resilience. State and Federal agencies, with applicable authorities, would be continually engaged as necessary throughout the process.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 128 (Thursday, July 6, 2023)</title>
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<body><pre>[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 128 (Thursday, July 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43101-43104]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14279]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
the Yazoo Backwater Area Water Management Project
AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a draft environmental impact
statement for the Yazoo Backwater Area water management project,
Sharkey, Yazoo, Washington, and Issaquena, and Humphrey Counties,
Mississippi.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Vicksburg District,
is announcing its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) for the authorized Yazoo Basin, Yazoo Backwater, Mississippi,
Project (Project). The EIS will analyze a new water management solution
for the Project. The EIS will also examine measures to avoid, minimize,
and mitigate environmental impacts associated with the Proposed Action
which is the USACE Preferred Alternative. The EIS process does not
foreclose the authorities of other State and Federal agencies to assist
those Yazoo Backwater Area communities in risk management, emergency
response, and community resilience. State and Federal agencies, with
applicable authorities, would be continually engaged as necessary
throughout the process.
DATES: All comments and suggestions must be submitted by August 7,
2023.
ADDRESSES: To ensure the Corps has sufficient time to consider public
input in the preparation of the Draft EIS, scoping comments should be
submitted by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e9b088938686ab888a829e889d8c9ba99c9a888a8cc7889b8490c7848085"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5a033b203535183b39312d3b2e3f281a2f293b393f743b28372374373336">[email protected]</span></a> or by surface mail
to Mike Renacker at U.S. Army Corps of Engineer, Vicksburg District,
ATTN: CEMVK-PPMD, 4155 East Clay Street, Room 248, Vicksburg, MS 39183.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stacey M. Jensen, in writing at the
Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), 108 Army
Pentagon, Washington, DC 20318-0108; by telephone at 703-695-6791; and
by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#530a32293c3c1132303824322736211326203230367d32213e2a7d3e3a3f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9ec7ffe4f1f1dcfffdf5e9ffeafbecdeebedfffdfbb0ffecf3e7b0f3f7f2">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Project Background and Authorization. After the devastating
Mississippi River Flood of 1927, Congress passed the 1928 Flood Control
Act (FCA) which authorized the Mississippi River & Tributaries (MR&T)
project. The Mississippi River Levees (MRL) project, which was
authorized by the 1928 FCA, as amended, is a component of the MR&T
project and prevents inundation of the alluvial valley of the lower
Mississippi River (LMR) which begins at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and
gently slopes to the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River levees
protect major cities and towns, developed industrial areas, valuable
farmlands, and wildlife habitats against the Project Design Flood (PDF)
by confining flow to the leveed channel except where it enters
backwater areas or is diverted purposely into floodway areas. Backwater
areas and floodways were both integral features designed into the
overall MRL project.
Backwater areas are the necessary result of gaps left in the main-
stem Mississippi River levee system at the mouths of major tributaries
that empty into the river. During large flood events, floodwaters from
the Mississippi River back into the gaps and/or block discharges from
the tributary systems from exiting the backwater areas. The MR&T
project is augmented by four backwater areas. The St. Francis River
Backwater Area and the White River Backwater Area in the northern
section of the LMR, the Yazoo River Backwater Area in the middle
section of the LMR, and Red River Backwater Area in the southern
section of the LMR. These backwater areas typically operate through the
use of backwater levees which tie into the MRL system, water control
structures, pumps, and sometimes connecting channels. The St. Francis
River, White River, and Red River backwater areas each have operational
pump stations; the Huxtable pump station was built in 1977, Graham-
Burke pump station was built in 1964, and Tensas-Cocodrie pump station
was built in 1986, respectively.
Floodways are intended to safely divert excess floodwaters past
critical reaches in the levee system to prevent the PDF from exceeding
levee design elevations. The original MR&T project provided for five
floodways which were the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway in the
northern section of the LMR, the Boeuf/Eudora floodway in the middle
section of the LMR, and the West Atchafalaya, Morganza, and Bonnet
Carre floodways in the southern section of the LMR. The Boeuf/Eudora
floodway, which would have diverted water from the middle section of
the LMR, from the mouth of the Arkansas River to Old River, during a
PDF, was the only authorized floodway that was never implemented and
was eventually removed as an authorized component of the MR&T project.
The Boeuf/Eudora floodway would have removed approximately 700,000
cubic feet per second (cfs) of floodwater flow from the Mississippi
River during the PDF. Without the Boeuf/Eudora floodway, it became
necessary to confine the PDF between higher and stronger levees along
the Mississippi River. Prior to the 1941 FCA and in an attempt to
reduce the necessity of the Boeuf/Eudora Floodway, the cutoff and
channel realignment component of the MR&T was initiated in 1932 for the
middle section of the LMR. The cutoff and channel realignment component
was intended to eventually increase the carrying capacity of the
channel and lower flood stages. Legal action was initiated in 1929 from
landowners over the use of the Boeuf/Eudora floodway. By 1941, with the
legal conflicts still unresolved, the Mississippi River Commission re-
examined the MR&T project but made no formal recommendation on the
floodway issue. The 1941 FCA formally abandoned all components of the
Boeuf/Eudora floodway and authorized an increase in the height of the
Mississippi River levees, a plan developed by the Mississippi River
Commission to provide flood protection to the Yazoo Backwater Area.
The Project was authorized by the FCA of 1941 (Public Law (Pub. L.)
77-228) and amended by the FCA of 1965 (Pub. L. 89-298). Section 103 of
the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1986 established cost
sharing for flood control projects, or separable elements thereof, on
which construction was initiated after April 30, 1986. This provision
would have required a local cost share to implement the Project. WRDA
of 1996 later amended section 103 of WRDA 1986 to define physical
construction as the date of the award of a construction contract, which
restored full Federal responsibility for the Project. The FCA of 1941
authorized flood protection to the Yazoo Backwater Area through a
combination of levees, associated drainage channels, water control
structures, and a pump station. By 1942 the cutoff and channel
realignment program was completed, and flood stages were lowered on the
Mississippi River at Vicksburg. However, more recent hydrologic studies
have revealed that these benefits have largely been
[[Page 43102]]
reversed, and peak stages on the Mississippi River at the Vicksburg
gage are increasing. To date, the levee, three water control
structures, and the connecting channel have been completed as part of
the authorized project. The levee, known as the Yazoo Backwater Levee,
is an extension of the Mississippi River east bank levee, generally
along the west bank of the Yazoo River to a connection with the Will M.
Whittington (Lower) Auxiliary Channel Levee in the vicinity of the
mouth of the Big Sunflower River. The Yazoo Backwater levee was
completed in 1978. The authorized water control structures include the
Steele Bayou, Little Sunflower River, and Muddy Bayou structures which
were completed in 1969, 1975, and 1978, respectively. These water
control structures allow for gravity flow drainage. The connecting
channel between the Little Sunflower and Steele Bayou water control
structures was completed in 1978. The Yazoo Backwater Area is the only
major backwater area in the MR&T project that has an authorized yet
unconstructed pump station to evacuate impounded water.
The Yazoo Backwater Levee was designed to reduce flood risks from
overbank flooding of the Yazoo River, which is a major tributary that
empties into the Mississippi River. Water control structures were
incorporated into the Yazoo Backwater Levee to facilitate the release
of water from the landside to the riverside of the levee, which is
dependent on the elevation of the Mississippi River, and subsequently
the Yazoo River. For instance, when the Yazoo River stage is lower than
the landside stage at the Steele Bayou water control structure, the
structure remains open to allow for the gravity flow release of
precipitation driven headwaters from within the Yazoo Basin. Likewise,
when the Yazoo River stage is higher than the landside stage at the
Steele Bayou water control structure, the structure is closed to
prevent Yazoo River floodwaters from entering or backing into the Yazoo
Backwater Area (typically referred to as backwater flooding). Closure
of the Steele Bayou water control structure also impounds any surface
water and precipitation from the 4,093 square mile (2.62 million acres)
drainage area of the Yazoo Basin. Once these waters become trapped, due
to closure of the structure and no drainage potential into the Yazoo
River, the flooding becomes known as a backwater flood event. When
these conditions are met, and the continued accumulation from local
rainfall events within the Yazoo Basin continue to drain southward, the
backwater flooding is increased. A pump station would evacuate
impounded backwater when the water control structures are closed.
The recurring backwater flooding has demonstrated the need to
complete the remaining flood damage reduction feature of the Yazoo
Basin, Yazoo Backwater, Mississippi, Project. In the twenty-first
century alone, the Yazoo Backwater area has experienced some degree of
backwater-induced flooding 19 out of the 23 years. The historic 2019
flood inundated over a half million acres of the Yazoo Backwater Area
from February to August. Another backwater flood occurred in February
of 2020 and devastated the already flood-ravaged area. The 2020
floodwaters peaked only 2 ft lower than in 2019 and flooded over
450,000 acres of land. More volume of water passed through the
Mississippi River at Vicksburg during 2019 than ever before in our
period of record (1927-2022). During 2020 the second-most volume of
water passed through the Mississippi River at Vicksburg. The volume of
water passing through in 2019 was more than twice the amount of volume
that Lake Erie can hold.
During backwater flood events, stagnant water conditions can
remain, often for extended periods of time, until the Yazoo River stage
is lower than the landside stage at the Steele Bayou water control
structure, at which time the structure can be opened to allow for
gravity flow out of the interior Yazoo Basin Area, reducing the
landside stages of a given flood event. During prolonged backwater
flood events, stagnant conditions create low dissolved oxygen in the
water column which impact aquatic species. The backwater flooding also
affects terrestrial areas with significant depths of water, restricting
usable habitat and available food for terrestrial species. Therefore,
these species must leave the flood zone or face mortality. The human
population of the Yazoo Backwater Area also suffers significantly.
During the 2019 flood, hundreds were displaced from their flooded homes
for over six months. Farmers lost their entire 2019 crop season in the
affected area.
2. Joint Agency Collaboration Effort. In January 2023, the U.S.
Department of the Army (Civil Works) and the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) signed a Joint Memorandum of Collaboration stating that
the agencies are committed to a collaborative and expeditious path
forward to establish flood risk reduction in the Yazoo Backwater Area
that would be compliant with the Clean Water Act (CWA) and all other
applicable laws and regulations. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) was also included in the collaborative effort. The Joint
Memorandum identified activities ``to enable the Army to deliver a
preferred approach on flood risk reduction solution(s) for the YBA by
June 2023.'' The close collaboration between all three agencies
throughout the process would serve the Federal Government in meeting
flood risk management objectives, ensuring appropriate consideration of
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and CWA section 404
requirements, addressing the needs of the affected communities, and
addressing fish and wildlife issues. Since the issuance of the Joint
Memorandum, the USACE, EPA, and USFWS have organized interagency
technical and engagement teams to identify issues of concern and
develop a draft water management solution. The USACE, EPA, and USFWS
also jointly conducted public engagement sessions to allow the public
to provide comments on preliminary options under consideration by USACE
for a Project. All comments received were cooperatively reviewed by the
interagency teams and considered in the development of the USACE
Preferred Alternative.
A total of four public engagement sessions were held on February
15, 2023, and a total of four public engagement sessions were held on
May 4 and 5, 2023, at the USACE Vicksburg District office. The February
2023 sessions were held to receive input from the communities on their
needs and on development of a draft preferred approach, and the May
2023 sessions were held to receive input from the communities on the
draft preferred approach. In addition, roundtable sessions were held on
February 16, 2023, with various individuals, groups, and organizations,
including a session for community leaders, local elected officials,
agricultural interests, and environmental organizations. The input
gathered throughout these early engagement sessions and on the draft
preferred approach was used to inform the development of the USACE
Preferred Alternative in this NOI. Transcripts from the May 2023
sessions can be found on the Yazoo Backwater Area Project web page.\1\
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\1\ <a href="https://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/Missions/Programs-and-Project-Management/Yazoo-Backwater/">https://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/Missions/Programs-and-Project-Management/Yazoo-Backwater/</a> (last accessed June 28, 2023).
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Commenters spoke on a variety of topics regarding their concerns
about, and lived experiences during, flood events, from lack of access
to their homes and families, damages to their
[[Page 43103]]
homes, lack of access to emergency services and education, lack of
access to roads and loss of infrastructure, loss of agricultural crops
and inability to plant crops, loss of ability to receive payment from
crop insurance, economic losses and business hardships with the
community being supported generally by agricultural production, loss of
recreational values, loss of wetlands through long duration of
inundation, as well as trees and other flora, loss of environmental
values and harms caused to fish and wildlife, environmental justice
concerns, lack of community growth and development opportunities, and
impacts to both physical and mental health. The majority of commenters
supported a solution that included a structural component. A few
commenters stated that only a fully non-structural or nature-based
solution should be put forth for any proposed action.
The USACE used the information provided by engagements and comments
and the joint agency collaborative efforts to develop its Preferred
Alternative for purposes of NEPA compliance. The USACE used information
received, such as information related to crop season dates, to modify
what the agencies presented to the public in May 2023.
Through this collaborative process, the USACE developed a Preferred
Alternative and must go through the NEPA process to identify a final
selected alternative for the Project and will fully consider the
alternatives described below in the EIS process. To be clear, USACE has
not made any irreversible or irretrievable commitment of resources
regarding USACE's Preferred Alternative and seeks public input on all
alternatives proposed for their ability to provide a community-driven
flood risk reduction solution to the Yazoo Backwater Area.
3. The USACE Preferred Alternative. The USACE Preferred Alternative
is a water management solution to reduce flood risk in the Yazoo
Backwater Area, resulting from high stages of the Mississippi River,
and consists of structural and nonstructural components. The Preferred
Alternative provides flood risk reduction for communities and the local
economy. Flood risk reduction will target primary residences (and roads
isolating them), schools, infrastructure, commercial properties, and
prime farmland while minimizing environmental losses.
The structural component consists of a 25,000 cfs pump operated to
manage backwater flooding seasonally. The proposed location for the
pump station would be on Steele Bayou adjacent to the water control
structure in Issaquena County, Mississippi. The backwater will be
managed at 90.0 feet (ft), National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD
throughout) at the Steele Bayou gage, during the crop season of March
16th through October 15th and will be managed at 93.0 ft at the Steele
Bayou gage during the non-crop season of October 16th through March
15th. These elevations are close to the elevations for the 2- (89.3 ft)
and 5-year (92.0 ft) floodplains. Including a buffer on the extent of
the 2- and 5-year floodplains will help to protect wetlands across the
entire 2- and 5-year floodplains, particularly those riverine backwater
wetlands located at the outer extent of the floodplains, receive
sufficient backwater flood inundation to maintain ecological
functioning. Managing water to any specific elevation requires the
pumps to be initiated at a lower elevation and managing to 93.0 ft in
the non-crop season will allow backwater flooding to benefit more
wetlands before pumping is initiated. Similarly, managing to 90.0 ft
during the crop season will allow backwater flooding to benefit more
wetlands before pumping is initiated. Lastly, there are fewer wetlands
anticipated to be impacted between the 90.0-93.0 ft elevations than
between the 89.3-92.0 ft elevations, which translates to fewer wetlands
to assess for impacts and likely less compensatory mitigation needs.
This seasonal water management solution will ensure flood risk
reduction for the primary residences and vital infrastructure,
preserving primary economic drivers in the community, while avoiding or
minimizing adverse impacts to fish, wildlife, and wetland values.
During the seasonal water management at the 93.0 ft elevation, minimal
functional losses of aquatic resources are anticipated, while some
functional losses, such as fish spawning and rearing habitat, are
anticipated during the seasonal water management at the 90.0 ft
elevation. However, the USACE Preferred Alternative is not anticipated
to convert any wetlands to non-wetlands during operation of the water
management solution.
The nonstructural component consists of various features to reduce
future flood impacts. One nonstructural feature is modification of the
operation of the Steele Bayou water control structure to minimize
impacts. Currently the structure is operated to maintain water levels
in the Yazoo Backwater Area between 68.5 and 70.0 ft. The Preferred
Alternative will modify operation of the structure to maintain water
levels in the Yazoo Backwater Area at approximately 75.0 ft. This
feature would allow for more exchange of water between the riverside
and landside of the Yazoo Backwater Levee, mimicking more natural flood
pulses and therefore benefiting the aquatic environment. Water levels
would be maintained below top bank of the stream channels and therefore
will not result in an increase in flood risk. Modifications to the
Steele Bayou water control structure operation manual would be
completed as a joint effort between USACE, EPA, and the USFWS. The
remaining nonstructural features consist of acquisition (i.e., property
buyouts) or floodproofing of properties. Floodproofing of properties
includes additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce
or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property,
water and sanitary facilities, and structures and their contents.
Floodproofing options may include, but are not limited to, construction
of ring levees, elevating homes, septic and sewer protection, and
raising road elevations. Any floodproofing option outside of USACE
authority will be coordinated with the appropriate State and/or Federal
agency. A mitigation plan will be developed to fully compensate for all
unavoidable environmental impacts and would be approved by USACE, EPA,
and USFWS. In addition to the mitigation plan, a comprehensive
monitoring and adaptive management plan will be developed as a joint
effort between USACE, EPA, and USFWS. This plan will provide monitoring
guidelines throughout the construction and operation of the Preferred
Alternative and describe practical solutions to an array of potential
environmental challenges in the Yazoo Backwater Area, as well as the
Yazoo Basin, potentially associated with the USACE Preferred
Alternative.
4. Other Alternatives to be Considered. The EIS will evaluate the
USACE Preferred Alternative water management solution described above.
As a result of the early joint agency public engagement in the pre-
scoping process, three additional reasonable alternatives were
developed for consideration in the EIS: the No Action Alternative;
variations of the Preferred Alternative providing variations on the
crop season dates; an alternative to not exceed the 90.0 ft elevation
in water management year round (i.e., no seasonal water management);
and, a fully non-structural solution alternative (i.e., without
structural pumps) using the non-structural methods described above in
the Preferred Alternative but more extensive to provide flood risk
reduction for all primary residences
[[Page 43104]]
impacted in the Yazoo Backwater Area. Impacts and environmental
consequences of the alternatives on the affected environment will be
evaluated and compared for the future with project and future without
project conditions.
5. Scoping. The USACE invites all affected Federal agencies, Tribal
Nations, State and local agencies, community members with environmental
justice concerns implicated by the project, other interested parties,
and the general public to participate in the NEPA scoping process
during development of the EIS. 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 EIS.
As previously described, the USACE has already provided a number of
public opportunities for input that helped inform the development of
the USACE Preferred Alternative including robust early engagement and
pre-scoping meetings and a written comment period. The engagement
process continues in the scoping process described in this NOI. The
USACE requests input from interested parties regarding any potential
mitigation alternatives and information and analyses relevant to
impacts associated with the alternatives, including the USACE Preferred
Alternative. Project information can be found on the USACE project
website.\2\ Comments can be submitted via the methods in the ADDRESSES
section above. All personally identifiable information (for example,
name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by a commenter may be
publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or
otherwise sensitive or protected information.
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\2\ <a href="https://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/Missions/Programs-and-Project-Management/Yazoo-Backwater/">https://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/Missions/Programs-and-Project-Management/Yazoo-Backwater/</a> (last accessed on June 29,
2023).
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6. Potentially Significant Issues. The EIS will provide data and
analyses on, but is not limited to, the following resources: bottomland
hardwood wetlands and other wetland resources, endangered species,
waterfowl, fisheries, water quality, downstream effects, cultural
resources, environmental justice, recreation, and where appropriate
consideration of ongoing and projected effects of climate change and
greenhouse gas emissions. Wetlands, downstream effects, aquatics, and
environmental justice are discussed briefly below.
Wetlands: The USACE Preferred Alternative will be designed to avoid
and minimize wetland impacts. Aside from the minimal unavoidable
wetland losses associated with construction of an expanded footprint of
the pump station facility, the USACE's Preferred Alternative is
designed to result in no conversion of wetlands to non-wetlands. Some
wetland functional loss is anticipated to occur during the crop season
water management period. The USACE will collaborate with EPA and USFWS
to estimate wetland impacts and identify compensatory mitigation
methods to offset unavoidable impacts.
Downstream Effects: Recent studies have shown the additional water
from 25,000 cfs pumps, operating at full capacity, is approximately 1%
of the Mississippi River highwater flow, representing a nearly
immeasurable contribution to the outflow at the Vicksburg Gage. The
additional flow would minimally increase the water surface stage, which
would have no appreciable effect to downstream flooding. Water quality
impacts are anticipated to be insignificant because the total load of
nutrients and organic carbon that will be exported downstream would not
be altered because of pump operation. The overall contribution of
nutrients downstream, resultant from pump operation, will only affect
the timing of nutrient delivery, but not the overall appreciable
loading downstream in the Mississippi River.
Aquatics: The USACE Preferred Alternative is anticipated to result
in some loss of spawning and rearing habitat, primarily during the crop
season. The USACE will collaborate with EPA and USFWS to estimate
impacts to fish and other aquatic species and identify compensatory
mitigation methods to offset any impacts. Current data shows hypoxia
occurs during major backwater flood events and this hypoxia negatively
affects certain fish species and other aquatic organisms. Flood-induced
hypoxia during the spring and early summer likely impacts successful
spawning and rearing regardless of the amount of aquatic habitat
available. The EIS will analyze environmental and adaptive management
plans to reduce the spatial extent and duration of hypoxia.
Environmental Justice: Backwater flooding events cause severe
economic damages to all populations in the Yazoo Backwater Area by
destroying homes, farmland, wildlife resources, community
infrastructure, and access routes used by residences and the public
safety system. The majority of the Yazoo Backwater Area is home to low-
income or minority communities which meet the threshold criteria of at
least 20 percent or more of households having incomes below poverty
levels or an area having a majority of residents identifying as a
minority. The Yazoo Backwater Area is also designated as disadvantaged
by the Council on Environmental Quality's Climate and Economic Justice
Screening Tool.\3\ Backwater flooding events create disproportionately
high adverse human health and environmental effects to these minority,
low-income, and underserved communities. Meaningful outreach to
communities with environmental justice concerns will be conducted and
the EIS will compare the current backwater flood conditions with the
future flood conditions across the alternatives and analyze the impacts
to each of the communities with environmental justice concerns.\4\
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\3\ <a href="https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en">https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en</a> (last accessed June
25, 2023).
\4\ The EIS will also consider Executive Order 14096,
Revitalizing Our Nation's Commitment to Environmental Justice For
All, issued on April 26, 2023.
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7. Anticipated NEPA Schedule. The current schedule anticipates the
release of the draft EIS by the USACE for public review and comment in
December 2023. After it is published, the USACE will hold a public
meeting(s) to present the results of the analysis, to receive comments,
and to address questions concerning the Preferred Alternative.
Approved by:
Michael L. Connor,
Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works).
[FR Doc. 2023-14279 Filed 7-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P
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