[Federal Register: December 13, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 240)]
[Notices]
[Page 76732-76733]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13de02-45]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers
Intent To Prepare a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement for the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers Comprehensive
Plan
AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is preparing a Draft
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Upper
Mississippi River Comprehensive Plan to identify problems,
opportunities, and potential measures to reduce flood damages in the
floodplains of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. A
Programmatic EIS will be prepared to address potential effects of any
recommendations for further action resulting from this study effort,
and to provide a broad review of general issues for incorporation by
reference in subsequent National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
documents, if future actions are undertaken as a result of
recommendations in the Comprehensive Plan.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action
and Draft Programmatic EIS can be answered by: David R. Gates, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District (CEMVS-PM-F), 1222 Spruce
Street, St. Louis, MO 63103, telephone (314) 331-8478, or by Charlene
Carmack, U.S. Army Corps of Engineeers, Rock Island District (CEMVR-PM-
A), Clock Tower Building, P.O. Box 2004, Rock Island, IL 61204-2004,
telephone (309) 794-5570.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 1. Section 459 of the Water Resources
Development Act of 1999 directed the Secretary of the Army to develop a
plan to address water resource and related land resource problems in
the study area in the interest of systemic flood damage reduction.
Section 459 also directed the Secretary to submit a report to Congress
detailing the results of this planning effort and addressing
recommendations for authorization of further Federal actions or follow-
on studies concerning systemic flood control.
The Comprehensive Plan will be developed as a collaborative effort
among three Corps Districts (St. Paul, Rock Island, and St. Louis);
other Federal agencies (including the Federal Emergency Management
Agency [FEMA], the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS], the Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency [USEPA], the U.S. Geological Survey [USGS], and the
U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA]); the States of Illinois, Iowa,
Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin; and appropriate non-Federal
organizations. The plan will identify future management actions and
make recommendations for systemic improvements that provide flood
damage reduction and associated environmental benefits.
The Comprehensive Plan will include recommendations addressing: (1)
Construction of a systemic multipurpose water resources and flood
management/damage reduction project; (2) floodplain management
alternatives; and (3) follow-on design and construction
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requirements. This plan will include overall systemic recommendations,
not optimized recommendations for specific sites. Follow-on
implementation studies, including NEPA documentation, would be
necessary at specific sites where additional analysis is required to
develop the National Economic Development (NED) plan. Site-specific
NEPA documentation would be tiered from the Programmatic EIS currently
in preparation and would be developed in association with follow-on
implementation studies, preconstruction engineering and design (PED).
2. Alternatives, including both structural and nonstructural
measures, will be identified and investigated for their potential to
accomplish systemic flood damage reduction. It is anticipated that
between three to five systemic flood damage reduction alternatives will
be formated and evaluated for their potential to contribute to National
Ecosystem Development.
3. Scoping: This notice solicits input and assistance from the
interested public and invites participation by affected Federal and
State agencies having special jurisdiction and/or expertise.
An initial set of public meetings (open house format) was held
September 9-12 in St. Louis, MO; Quincy, IL; Peoria, IL; and Dubuque,
IA. These meetings were announced in mailed newsletters (also posted on
the study Web site http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/UMRCP/) as scoping
meetings intended to help fulfill the scoping requirements of the NEPA,
as well as overall study scoping requirements.
4. The scoping process is expected to continue through December
2002 to facilitate early input to the NEPA process and identify
significant issues to be evaluated in depth in the Programmatic EIS.
5. Based on current study schedules, the Draft Programmatic EIS is
anticipated to be available for public review late in the first quarter
of Calendar Year 2004.
Dated: October 25, 2002.
William J. Bayles,
Colonel, EN, Commanding.
[FR Doc. 02-31452 Filed 12-12-02; 8:45 am]