[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 14 (Friday, January 22, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3491-3492]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-1452]



[[Page 3491]]

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 
for the East St. Louis and Vicinity, Illinois, Interior Flood Control 
and Ecosystem Restoration Project General Reevaluation Report

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

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The St. Louis District of the Corps of Engineers is preparing 
an integrated Draft Environmental Impact Statement and General 
Reevaluation Report for proposed measures to provide interior food 
control and ecosystem restoration for East Louis and Vicinity, Madison 
and St. Clair Counties, Illinois. The interior drainage system 
currently does not have sufficient capacity to handle local and upland 
runoff from rainfall events greater than 5-year storms, and sediment 
from upland tributaries not only reduces the channel capacity of the 
drainage system but causes environmental degradation. The purpose of 
the reevaluation study is to investigate measures that blend flood 
control with ecosystem restoration. Measures to be investigated will be 
designed to restore and enhance natural habitats, with a focus on 
wetlands as temporary storage areas for stormwater. The goal will be to 
develop strategies for the control of various storm events, with 
emphasis on the 100-year event. Likewise, strategies will be 
investigated to significantly reduce sedimentation within the drainage 
system and environmentally sensitive areas.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action 
and DEIS can be addressed to Ms. Deborah Roush, (314) 331-8033, or Mr. 
Timothy George, (314) 331-8459; Planning, Programs, and Project 
Management Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District, 
1222 Spruce Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2833.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    1. Authorization. The reevaluation study is being conducted under 
the authorities of Section 204 of the Flood Control Act of 1965 and 
Section 137 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1976 (Public Law 
94-587).
    2. General Information. a. Location and Land Use of the Study Area. 
The study area is in southwestern Illinois in Madison and St. Clair 
Counties, and lies within the Metro East St. Louis area along the east 
bank of the Mississippi River. It encompasses about 106,000 acres (166 
square miles). About 55,000 acres are bottomland on the Mississippi 
River floodplain (locally called the American Bottoms), and upland 
watersheds that drain into these bottoms comprise the remaining 51,000 
acres of the study areas. After New Orleans, the American Bottoms is 
the second largest concentration of residential, commercial, and 
industrial land use on the Mississippi River floodplain. Agriculture is 
also a significant land use in the bottoms. The floodplain is scarred 
with ox-bow lakes and marshes that are remnants of former meanders of 
the Mississippi River. An urban design levee protects the bottoms from 
Mississippi River flooding. Runoff from the upland or hill areas 
reaches the bottoms through numerous individual streams and ditches, 
and traverses the relatively flat floodplan through an old agricultural 
ditch system built at the turn of the century. The American Bottoms was 
a heartland of the prehistoric Mississippian culture, which today is 
represented most dramatically by the Cahokia Mounds World Heritage 
Site.
    b. Interior Flooding. The floodplain of the Mississippi River in 
the Metro East St. Louis area has experienced interior flooding from 
hillside runoff and local rainfall for many years. The interior 
drainage ditch system is inadequate to handle more than minor rainfall 
events. Past efforts by the Corps to develop an economically justified 
project in this area have been unsuccessful. The benefits required to 
justify improvements could not be achieved because of the low value of 
flood-damaged housing and business structures within this economically 
depressed area. Areas of frequent flooding contains a large community 
of minority citizens and low-income citizens. For four consecutive 
years (1993 through 1996), the project area received a National 
Disaster Declaration due to flooding. Flooding during the 1995 and 1996 
closed transportation routes, including interstate highway ramps. The 
Federal Emergency Management Agency is estimated to have expended in 
excess of $60 million for disaster relief over this four-year period.
    c. Sedimentation. Upland watersheds adjacent to the bottoms are 
experiencing rapid residential and commercial development. Land 
clearing and other factors have led to high rates of soil loss from the 
uplands, more intense upland runoff, and more frequent overtopping of 
drainage ditches in the bottoms. High rates of sedimentation have also 
caused a significant drain on scarce budgets of the local communities 
to operate and maintain the drainage system. Sedimentation over the 
years has also extinguished or degraded many existing wetlands and 
natural water bodies in the bottoms and currently threatens additional 
harm. Further, the historical loss of swamps, marshes, and wet prairies 
located in topographic depressions in the bottoms--places that 
previously acted as temporary storage areas for local rainfall and 
upland runoff--to drainage improvements, agricultural conversion, and 
development appears to have been extensive.
    3. Proposed Alternatives. Alternatives to be considered will 
address both bottomlands and uplands. Within the bottoms, measures will 
be investigated to divert and temporarily store stormwater from the 
interior drainage system for enhancement of existing wetlands and 
restoration of historic wetlands. These measures will address the 10-, 
25-, 50-, 100-, and 500-year rainfall events. Bottomland sediment 
detention basins will also be investigated to capture sediment from 
upland runoff and minimize its deposition within the interior drainage 
system and existing as well as proposed wetlands for temporary storage 
of stormwater. Typical structures used to achieve these goals are 
detention basins, dikes, and berms. Upland sediment control measures 
will also be investigated to reduce erosion at its source.
    4. Significant Issues and Resources. Significant issues and 
resources identified to date for discussion in the DEIS are (1) 
erosion, sedimentation, and interior flooding; (2) natural resources 
including fisheries, wildlife, vegetation, wetlands, and riparian 
areas; (3) cultural resources; (4) water quality and groundwater; and 
(5) social and economic resources. Additional issues and resources of 
significance may be identified through public and agency meetings.
    5. Environmental Review and Consultation. Our environmental review 
will be conducted according to the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, National Historic Preservation Act of 
1966, Council on Environmental Quality Regulations, Endangered Species 
Act of 1973, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and other applicable 
laws and regulations.
    6. Scoping Process. The purpose of this notice is to solicit 
suggestions and information from Federal, State, and local agencies; 
the general public; interested private organizations and

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parties on the scope of the reevaluation study and the alternatives, 
issues, and resources to be addressed in the DEIS. Comments and 
participation in this process are encouraged. An informal scoping 
workshop will be held on Monday, February 1, 1999, from 1 PM until 8 PM 
within the project area at the State of Illinois Building (Illinois 
Department of Transportation) located at 1100 Eastport Plaza Drive in 
Collinsville, Illinois (telephone 618-346-3100). A notice of this 
meeting will be provided to interested parties and to the local news 
media.
    7. Availability The Draft EIS is scheduled to be available for 
public review in late 1999.

    Dated: January 12, 1999.
Thomas J. Hodgini,
COL, EN, Commanding.
[FR Doc. 99-1452 Filed 1-21-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-55-M