Notice2025-18619
Notice of Final Federal Agency Action on the Authorization for the Port of Corpus Christi Authority Harbor Island Desalination Project
Primary source
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Published
September 25, 2025
Issuing agencies
Defense DepartmentEngineers Corps
Abstract
Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 4370m-6(a)(1)(A), publication of this notice in the Federal Register initiates a 2-year period for any claim seeking judicial review of the USACE final agency action. USACE announces final agency action on the USACE authorization for the proposed construction of the Port of Corpus Christi Authority Harbor Island Desalination Project (HIDP) located in and affecting the existing Corpus Christi Ship Channel (CCSC), Aransas Channel, Lydia Ann Channel, and Gulf of America (Gulf). USACE has issued a permit authorizing the construction of the HIDP under sections 10 and 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (RHA) and section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The HIDP Project is a "covered project" under Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 184 (Thursday, September 25, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 184 (Thursday, September 25, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46186-46187]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-18619]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers
[Permit No. SWG-2025-00112 and Section 408 Request ID No. 408-SWG-2025-
0031.]
Notice of Final Federal Agency Action on the Authorization for
the Port of Corpus Christi Authority Harbor Island Desalination Project
AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of limitation on claims for judicial review of actions
by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 4370m-6(a)(1)(A), publication of this
notice in
[[Page 46187]]
the Federal Register initiates a 2-year period for any claim seeking
judicial review of the USACE final agency action. USACE announces final
agency action on the USACE authorization for the proposed construction
of the Port of Corpus Christi Authority Harbor Island Desalination
Project (HIDP) located in and affecting the existing Corpus Christi
Ship Channel (CCSC), Aransas Channel, Lydia Ann Channel, and Gulf of
America (Gulf). USACE has issued a permit authorizing the construction
of the HIDP under sections 10 and 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of
1899 (RHA) and section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The HIDP
Project is a ``covered project'' under Title 41 of the Fixing America's
Surface Transportation Act.
DATES: Claims for judicial review must be filed within 2 years of
publication. After that date, such claims are barred by statute. If the
Federal law that allows for judicial review of the USACE authorization
specifies a shorter time period for filing such a claim, then that
shorter time period will apply.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Mannie, Regulatory Project
Manager, Regulatory Division, USACE, Galveston District, 2000 Fort
Point Road, Galveston, Texas 77550, (409)-766-3016, or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7c3f392f2b3b514e4c4e49514c4c4d4d4e3c090f1d1f19521d0e110552111510"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2a696f797d6d07181a181f071a1a1b1b186a5f594b494f044b58475304474346">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that USACE has taken
final agency action on its authorization for the proposed HIDP Project
by issuing a permit authorizing construction of the Project under
section 10 and 14 of the RHA and section 404 of the CWA.
The HIDP project proposes to excavate approximately 1,000 cubic
yards (CY) of unvegetated water bottom, and discharge approximately
15,800 CY of rock/stone, and install one (1) seawater intake and two
(2) outfall diffuser structures associated with the construction of a
100-million gallon per day (MGD) seawater desalination facility on
Harbor Island near Port Aransas, Nueces County, Texas. The intake
structure, which will impact approximately 11,300 square feet (SF) of
unvegetated Gulf of America (Gulf) water bottom, will be located 1.3
miles offshore southeast of San Jose Island in the Gulf at a depth of
approximately minus (-) 35 feet mean lower low water (MLLW). The intake
structure will connect to Harbor Island and be installed via a tunnel
boring machine (TBM) or similar technology. A Gulf high-rate outfall
diffuser structure, impacting approximately 55,000 SF, will be located
approximately 1.8 miles offshore of San Jose Island and 0.5 miles
further southeast from the intake. The Gulf outfall diffuser will
connect to Harbor Island via a 14-foot-outer-diameter discharge pipe
installed via TBM or similar technology. The Gulf intake and outfall
pipe route and alignment will follow the alignment of the authorized
``Bluewater Texas Terminal'' project. A second approximate 100-foot-
long high-rate outfall diffuser structure will be located adjacent and
parallel to the Corpus Christi Ship Channel (CCSC) southeast of Harbor
Island at a depth of approximately (-) 64 feet MLLW. Muck soils removed
during tunneling will be maintained onsite in uplands during
construction and dewatered similarly to dredge material, with a
dewatering outfall structure into Redfish Bay adjacent to Aransas
Channel. Once sufficient dewatering has occurred the material will be
used onsite as upland grading material. The facility will include
marine life protection screens and a return channel.
The finished water pipelines will include two parallel pipes of
48--52'' diameter installed by upland open trenching and micro
tunneling and/or horizontal directional drilling (HDD) below marine
wetlands, open water, and sand/mud flats. The finished water pipeline
will connect to existing onsite Aransas Pass, Texas, water distribution
infrastructure.
The USACE's decision to issue a permit, and the laws under which
the action was taken, are described in the Department of the Army
Environmental Assessment and Statement of Findings for Standard
Individual Permit Application combined decision memorandum for record
(MFR) for SWG-2025-00112, dated September 8, 2025. Copies of the MFR,
permit, and other documents can be requested via the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) described on the USACE website at <a href="https://www.swg.usace.army.mil/Business-With-Us/Office-of-Counsel/Freedom-of-Information-Act/">https://www.swg.usace.army.mil/Business-With-Us/Office-of-Counsel/Freedom-of-Information-Act/</a>.
This notice applies to all Federal agency decisions that are final
as of the issuance date of this notice and all laws under which such
actions were taken, including but not limited to:
1. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 42 U.S.C. 4321-4351
2. Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act 33 U.S.C. 403
3. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act 33 U.S.C. 1344
4. Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act 33 U.S.C. 408
5. Clean Air Act 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671
6. Endangered Species Act of 1973 16 U.S.C. 1531-1544
7. Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act 16 U.S.C. 661-667
8. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Public Law
94-265
9. Coastal Zone Management Act 16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq
10. Migratory Bird Treaty Act 16 U.S.C. 703-712
11. Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as
amended 54 U.S.C. 306108
12. Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1977 54 U.S.C. 312501-
312508
13. Section 401 of the Clean Water Act 33 U.S.C. 1341
14. Executive Order 11990 Protection of Wetlands
15. E.O. 11988 Floodplain Management
16. E.O. 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice
17. EP 1100-2-1 Procedures to Evaluate Sea Level Change: Impacts,
Responses, and Adaptation
George H. Walter,
Brigadier General, Commanding, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
[FR Doc. 2025-18619 Filed 9-24-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P
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