[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 150 (Wednesday, August 5, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41807-41808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-20863]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Walla 
Walla District Dredged Material Management Study, Columbia, Snake, and 
Clearwater Rivers, Oregon, Washington and Idaho

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Walla Walla 
District, intends to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS) for dredging, dredged material disposal activities, and measures 
to reduce dredging requirements within the navigable waterways of the 
Walla Walla District. This EIS will cover a twenty year period that 
will being upon completion and approval of the final EIS and the 
Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP). The study reach considered 
includes Lake Wallula above McNary Dam on the Columbia River in Oregon 
and Washington; the four lower Snake River reservoirs extending from 
the mouth of the Snake River upstream to the communities of Lewistown, 
Idaho, and Clarkston, Washington; and the lower 2 miles of the 
Clearwater River from its confluence with the Snake River at Lewiston 
upstream to the U.S. Highway 12 Bridge. The DEIS will evaluate the 
environmental effects of dredging and dredged material disposal 
activities in addition to measures proposed to reduce dredging 
requirements within the study reach over the twenty-year period. 
Specific disposal sites will be identified and initial environmental 
compliance actions, including characterization of the material to be 
dredged, will be performed in an effort to reduce lead time required 
prior to actual dredging activity. Beneficial uses of dredged material 
will be considered and the environmental effects evaluated.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact Mr. Jack Sands, Study 
Manager, Walla Walla District Corps of Engineers, CENWW-PD-EP, 201 
North Third Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362, phone (509) 527-7287 or Ms. 
Sandra Simmons, NEPA Coordinator, Walla Walla District Corps of 
Engineers, CENWW-PD-EC, 201 North Third Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362, 
phone (509) 527-7265.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By memorandum dated June 5, 1995, form Corps 
Headquarters, Corps District offices were directed to prepare a Dredged 
Material Management Plan (DMMP) for all navigation projects including 
components of the inland waterway system. The DMMP will define the 
procedure for the next twenty-year period for disposing of dredged 
material removed for those reaches of the Columbia, Snake and 
Clearwater Rivers that make up that portion of the Columbia/Snake 
Rivers Inland Navigation Waterway withing the Walla Walla District 
Boundaries.

    The DEIS developed during the planning study to define the DMMP 
will include the following within its range of alternatives:

I. Upland Disposal of Dredged Material
II. In-Water Disposal of Dredged Material
III. Various Beneficial Uses of Dredged Material
    A. Land Fill
    B. Beach Replenishment
    C. Fish and Wildlife Habitat Creation and Restoration
    D. Recreation
IV. Measures to Reduce Dredging Requirements
    A. In-Stream Structural Components to Redirect Flow & Increase 
Stream Velocities
    B. Upland Land Treatment Programs
    C. Modification of Project Pool Elevations and/or Flow Releases 
During Severe Runoff Events
    D. Modification of the Height of the Levees at Lewiston, Idaho
V. No Action


[[Page 41808]]


    The Corps plans to have formal public scoping meetings in med- to 
late-September 1998 with times and exact dates yet to be determined. 
The Corps currently plans to have meetings in Lewiston, Idaho at the 
upstream end of the study reach, and in Pasco, Washington, near the 
downstream end of the study reach.
    The DEIS should be avaialbe for public review in September or 
October 1999.
William E. Bulen, Jr.,
Commanding.
[FR Doc. 98-20863 Filed 8-4-98; 8:45 am]
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