[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 93 (Friday, May 12, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30573-30574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-12034]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement (DSEIS) for Proposed Changes to the Kentucky Lock 
Addition Project, Marshall and Livingston Counties, Kentucky

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

ACTION: Notice of Intent and Announcement of Meeting

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SUMMARY: The Corps of Engineers, Nashville District, and the Tennessee 
Valley Authority (Cooperating Agency) will prepare a DSEIS to the 1992 
EIS titled Lower Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers Navigation Feasibility 
Report Kentucky Lock Addition, Volume 1 Final EIS. This supplement is 
necessary to provide National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) coverage 
for proposed changes to the design of the project from that described 
in previous NEPA documents, which includes the 1992 EIS and the March 
2000 Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Relocation of the U.S. 
Highway 62 and 641 Crossing of the Tennessee River at Kentucky Lock and 
Dam. A Public Meeting is scheduled to scope for potential issues to be 
evaluated in the SEIS. Further information on the upcoming meeting is 
provided in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION paragraph indicated below.

DATES: Written comments must be received by the Corps of Engineers on 
or before June 12, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on issues to be considered in the SEIS 
shall be mailed to: Tim Higgs, Project Planning Branch, Nashville 
District Corps of Engineers, P.O. Box 1070 (PM-P), Nashville, Tennessee 
37202-1070.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information concerning 
the notice and meeting announcement, please contact Tim Higgs, 
Environmental Analysis Team, (615) 736-7192 or Don Getty, Project 
Manager, (615) 736-2346.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 30574]]

    1. The intent of the Supplemental EIS is to provide National 
Environmental Policy Act coverage for design features of the Kentucky 
Lock Addition project that were unspecified when the original EIS was 
prepared. At the time of the original EIS, it was recognized that 
decisions on several key features could not be made until additional 
hydraulic modeling studies and engineering evaluations were performed. 
This additional evaluation has progressed to the point that the SEIS 
can be completed.
    2. The original EIS for Kentucky Lock Addition was completed in 
1992 and a Record of Decision signed in 1998. An environmental 
assessment (EA) was completed in March 2000 for the relocation of the 
U.S. Highway 62/641 Crossing over the Tennessee River. This EA 
addressed changes to the project from moving the crossing off the 
Kentucky Lock and Dam (river mile 22.4) to a site just downstream of 
the dam (river mile 22.1). The SEIS now proposed will cover all known 
remaining changes to the project from that described in the earlier EIS 
and EA.
    3. Key proposed project features to be evaluated in the SEIS 
include the following:
    a. Training dike(s) on the west bank of the Powerhouse Island to 
improve navigation conditions for barge traffic entering the locks on 
the downstream side.
    b. Fishing enhancement features added as mitigation for 
construction impacts (bank closures):
    (1) three west bank rock jetties below the west bank boat basin;
    (2) expanded west bank boat basin which will be used by contractors 
during construction and available to the public after construction;
    (3) new boat ramp in the west bank boat basin;
    (4) fishing piers on the west bank and off the Powerhouse Island.
    c. Construction of a new Lock Visitor's Center as mitigation for 
loss of Taylor Park Campground.
    d. Fill placement in lower level of now inactive Taylor Park 
Campground.
    e. Mooring buoys at either Tennessee River Mile 19.4 (Left Bank) or 
TRM 20.6L.
    f. Underwater rock excavations in upstream and downstream lock 
approaches.
    g. Wastewater treatment systems for the Lock and Dam facilities.
    h. Widening of Highway 282 at the railroad underpass on the west 
bank.
    i. Guidewall construction in the tailwater.
    4. This notice serves to solicit comments from the public; federal, 
state and local agencies and officials; Indian Tribes; and other 
interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of 
this proposed activity. Any comments received by us will be considered 
to determine whether to perform this work. To make this decision, 
comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic 
properties, water quality, water supply and conservation, economics, 
aesthetics, wetlands, flood hazards, floodplain values, land use, 
navigation, shore erosion and accretion, recreation, energy needs, 
safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, considerations of 
property ownership, general environmental effects, and in general, the 
needs and welfare of the people.
    5. Activities proposed that require a review under the guidelines 
promulgated by the Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA), under authority of Section 404(b)(1) of the Clean Water Act (40 
CFR Part 230) include fill placement for fishing enhancement features 
and riprap temporarily placed in the lower lock approach channel.
    6. Other federal, state and local approvals required for the 
proposed work are as follows:
    a. Water quality certification from the Kentucky Division of Water.
    b. Coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, including 
a Biological Assessment/Opinion for Endangered Species Act and a Fish 
and Wildlife Coordination Act Report.
    7. Significant issues to be analyzed in depth in the draft SEIS 
include impacts to tailwater mussel resources, tailwater fishing 
activities, and commercial and recreational boating activities. The 
Tennessee Valley Authority has agreed to be a Cooperating Agency on the 
SEIS and will be responsible for preparing much of the evaluations of 
significant resources. A draft SEIS should be available in February 
2001.
    8. Public Meeting: A public meeting is scheduled to scope for 
potential issues to be evaluated in the SEIS as follows:
    Date: May 22, 2000.
    Time: 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
    Place: Kentucky Dam Village State Park Convention Center, U.S. 
Highway 641, Gilbertsville, Kentucky.

Peter F. Taylor, Jr.,
Lieutenant Colonel, Corps of Engineers, District Engineer.
[FR Doc. 00-12034 Filed 5-11-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-GF-P