[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 27 (Thursday, February 8, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4760-4762]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-2671]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service


LaGrange County, Indiana Sewer District; Draft Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Draft Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement and Notice of Public Meeting.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) 
is issuing a draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) 
related to the LaGrange County, Indiana Sewer District's proposal to 
construct sanitary wastewater collection and treatment facilities for 
residential population centers. The draft PEIS was prepared pursuant to 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et 
seq.) in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) 
regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 
parts 1500-1508) and Farmers Home Administration's procedure (7 CFR 
1940, subpart G, Environmental Program). RUS invites comments on 
analyses performed by and addressed in the DPEIS. 

[[Page 4761]]

    The purpose of this draft PEIS is to evaluate the environmental 
impacts of proposed alternative strategies to provide treatment of 
sanitary wastewaters for residential population centers in LaGrange 
County. Discussion of each alternative's impact on the human 
environment, including risks to public health and safety, and effects 
on the natural environment is presented. The proposed action is 
necessary in order to respond to increased public health concerns and 
the continuation of surface and ground water degradation caused by 
inadequately treated wastewater effluent. This draft PEIS provides a 
planning tool to County officials and citizens to help select the most 
appropriate design and implementation strategy to address LaGrange 
County's wastewater problems.
ADDRESSES/FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information contact 
or for transmittal of written comments send to: Paul Neumann, State 
Environmental Coordinator, USDA--RECD, RUS, 5975 Lakeside Blvd., 
Indianapolis, IN 46278, (219) 290-3109, and FAX (219) 290-3127. Copies 
of the DPEIS will be available for public inspection, during normal 
business hours at the following locations:

LaGrange Town Clerk, 107 S. High Street, LaGrange, IN 46761
Town of Topeka, ATTN: Duane Bontrager, 101 Main Street, Topeka, IN 
46571
Town of Shipshewana, ATTN: Ruth Ann Downey, P.O. Box 486, 345 N. Morton 
Street, Shiphewana, IN 46565
Town of Wolcottville, ATTN: Elizabeth Hodge, P.O. Box 325, 101 W. Race 
Street, Wolcottville, IN 46795

    The draft PEIS will be distributed to various Federal, State, and 
local agencies, and elected officials. A limited number of copies of 
the narrative will be available for distribution at the LaGrange Town 
Clerk Office.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: LaGrange County is a rural county of 30,000 
residents located on the Michigan/Indiana border in northeastern 
Indiana. The largest town in the county is LaGrange, with a population 
of 4,000 residents. Most of the remaining citizens live in eight other 
small towns or in residential developments surrounding many of the 
County's numerous natural lakes. Eighty percent of LaGrange County's 
land is currently used for agriculture. The remaining twenty percent is 
either in use as residential or commercial development or is unsuitable 
for agricultural production.
    The citizens of LaGrange County have had for decades a mounting 
problem being able to achieve effective treatment of their sanitary 
wastewaters. The primary method of treating wastewater has been on-site 
waste disposal systems. These systems are a cost effective and 
efficient treatment method for treating wastewater provided they are 
designed and installed properly and operate under suitable soil 
conditions. However, LaGrange County and indeed, many parts of northern 
Indiana, do not have the types of soils that are suitable for these 
systems and, as a consequence, significant degradation of the County's 
surface and ground water has occurred in the County from the disposal 
of improperly treated wastewater effluent. Documented cases of water 
quality degradation and transmittal of water-borne pathogens have been 
recorded by State and County health officials. The significance of 
potential public health concerns have prompted County officials to 
initiate a resolution of this historic public health dilemma.
    Citizens, in an effort to maintain safe and dependable water 
supplies and to arrest the downward spiral of water quality 
degradation, have requested their elected officials to provide a 
dependable means of treating sanitary wastewaters. In response, elected 
officials and community leaders created the LaGrange County Sewer 
District and appointed a Sewer Board to govern it. The Sewer Board has 
been empowered to make planning decisions and negotiate agreements that 
will ultimately provide a more effective treatment of sanitary 
wastewaters for County residents. The Sewer Board has taken actions to 
organize and prioritize the County's sanitation needs by commissioning 
engineering studies, holding monthly public meetings and interacting 
with state regulatory agencies. After exploring several options to 
finance the construction of the proposed system, the Sewer Board 
formally submitted a request for financial assistance to the United 
States Department of Agriculture, Rural Utilities Service (RUS). The 
RUS, Water and Waste Program provides financial assistance through loan 
and grant programs to rural communities for development of water and 
waste disposal systems and is considering this request as part of these 
programs.
    As part of the preliminary engineering studies commissioned by the 
Sewer District, the County identified and prioritized 29 areas 
according to their need for capital improvements to existing wastewater 
treatment system. From this study the Sewer Board adopted a 
prioritization and planning strategy which divided the County into five 
regions; A through E. Each region was defined by a circle with a three 
mile diameter, the center of which was located so as to encompass the 
maximum number of areas identified as having a need for wastewater 
treatment systems. Potential service areas within each region were 
selected based on the severity of pollution, the number and density of 
potential connections, the potential for regionalization, potential for 
future development, and local support for the project. The following 
regions are the population centers that have been determined to have 
the greatest need for sanitary sewers: Region A--Oliver Lake, Dallas 
Lake, Atwood Lake, Witmer Lake, Messick Lake and Westler Lake; Region 
C--Towns of Howe and Ontario; North Twin Lake, South Twin Lake and 
Cedar Lake; Region D--Shipshewana Lake and Stone Lakes; Region E--Town 
of Mongo; Town of Emma and Emma Lake.
    Once these populations centers were prioritized based on greatest 
need and those which pose the greatest threat to water quality, the 
Sewer Board explored technical and cost options to providing sewer 
service to this areas. After weighing all of the options and project 
alternatives, the County has selected what they feel is their preferred 
technical approach and have been seeking not only financing for their 
project, but regulatory concurrence from the Indiana Department of 
Environmental Management.
    Upon receipt of LaGrange County's request for financial assistance 
and prior to funding the construction of their proposal and in 
compliance with the NEPA, RUS prepared an analysis of the potential 
environmental impacts of the County's proposal. Because of the 
comprehensive nature and magnitude of the project proposal, RUS has 
decided to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze 
the proposal as a whole rather than segment the analysis for each 
individual region as identified by the Sewer Board. At this stage of 
the project no final decisions have been made as to project specifics--
that is, wastewater collection and conveyance systems, treatment 
technologies, or discharge options of treated effluent. For this 
reason, RUS has decided to prepare a broadly scoped programmatic EIS 
(PEIS) where all the important environmental resources have been 
identified in the defined ``service areas'' for the each region. 
Analyses of the direct, indirect and cumulative impacts have been 
performed for all identified resources in each region and are based on 
the project alternatives RUS has decided to evaluate. The results of 
these analyses are presented 

[[Page 4762]]
in the appropriate section of the draft PEIS.
    The preferred alternative is a decentralized wastewater collection 
and treatment system for population centers using an engineered 
wetlands treatment process. This alternative involves the use of 
pressure or gravity collection systems to convey wastewater to multiple 
engineered wetland treatment facilities. Collection and conveyance 
technologies considered for this option will be the same as those 
analyzed for the centralized treatment facility option. Treatment 
alternatives for the engineered wetland treatment process option will 
include land application (spray irrigation) of treated effluent 
followed by surface water discharges into a receiving stream or 
discharge into subsurface absorption basins.
    Other project alternatives were identified in feasibility studies 
conducted for LaGrange County Sewer District. These alternatives, 
although viable, were not chosen as the preferred alternative. The 
alternatives are: (1) No Action Alternative. This alternative continues 
the use of on-site water disposal systems. This option would not 
address the present public health concerns or the continued degradation 
of the County's surface and ground water. (2) Centralized Wastewater 
Collection and Treatment for all County Residents Using Conventional 
Wastewater Treatment. This option would use either pressure or gravity 
collection systems to convey wastewater to a centralized treatment 
facility. Collection and conveyance alternatives analyzed for this 
option include: small diameter gravity systems; small diameter pressure 
systems using single connection effluent grinder pumps; and 
conventional gravity collector lines connected to pressure lines. 
Activated sludge process alternatives considered for this option 
included: Oxidation ditches and extended aeration. This option, by far, 
has the highest unit cost. (3) Centralized Wastewater Collection and 
Treatment for All County Residents Except for Residents in Remote 
Locations Using Conventional Activated Sludge Waste Treatment 
Processes. This alternative involves providing sewage collection and 
treatment services for all LaGrange County residents except those 
located in isolated regions. This option would use the same collection 
and treatment technologies as the option providing wastewater treatment 
for all of LaGrange County. Cost savings over serving the entire county 
would be realized because of the high unit cost of serving remote 
residences.

Public Meeting

    A public meeting to solicit review comments will be held on 
February 23, 1996 at the LaGrange County Office Building, 114 West 
Michigan Street, LaGrange, IN 46761 at 7:30 pm. The meeting will be 
conducted by the RUS and the LaGrange County Sewer Board. All Federal 
and State agencies and other interested parties are invited to 
participate in the meeting and to offer comments on the DPEIS. Oral 
statements will be heard and transcribed by a stenographer; however, to 
ensure accuracy of the record all statements should be submitted in 
writing. All statements, both oral and in writing, will become part of 
the public record on this study. All written comments must be 
postmarked by no later than April 8, 1996 to become part of the public 
record.

    Dated: February 1, 1996.
Wally Beyer,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-2671 Filed 2-7-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-15-P