[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 67 (Friday, April 6, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18230-18231]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-8554]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare a Revised Draft Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement (DSEIS) for the St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid 
Floodway Project, Missouri, First Phase

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

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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[[Page 18231]]

SUMMARY: Development of environmentally sustainable flood protection 
alternatives for the St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway basins is 
the purpose of the proposed reevaluation. A Notice of Availability for 
the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) on the 
St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway, Missouri, First Phase, 
Supplement to the 1982 St. Johns Bayou-New Madrid Floodway Final 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and the Mississippi River 
and Tributaries Project, Mississippi River Levees and Channel 
Improvement 1976 Final Environmental Impact Statement was published in 
the Federal Register on September 8, 2000. The FSEIS was distributed to 
Federal and State agencies and the public. The FSEIS evaluated plans 
that provide flood protection in the St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid 
Floodway Basins in southeast Missouri. Substantive comments promulgated 
by the Department of the Interior, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA), and the State of Missouri concerning the FSEIS array of 
alternatives resulted in the Corps of Engineers decision to prepare a 
revised DSEIS to evaluate alternative levee closure alignments and 
relevant mitigation options.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Larry Sharpe, telephone (901) 544-
3476, CEMVM-PM-P, 167 North Main street, B-202, Memphis, TN 38103-1894. 
Questions or comments regarding the revised DSEIS (including scoping 
input) may be directed to Mr. David L. Reece, Chief, Environmental and 
Economic Analysis Branch, telephone (901) 544-3970, CEMVM-PM-E, or Mr. 
John Rumancik, telephone (901) 544-3975, CEMVM-PM-E.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The St. Johns Bayou Basin and New Madrid 
Floodway are located in the Bootheel region of southeast Missouri, and 
include all or portions of New Madrid, Scott, and Mississippi counties. 
The basins are adjacent to the Mississippi River, and subject to both 
backwater and interior headwater flooding. Congress authorized the 
Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) Project in the Flood Control 
Act of 1928, to construct the mainline Mississippi River levees. The 
Birds Point--New Madrid Floodway was a portion of the 1928 Flood 
Control Act. A levee closure and outlet structure at New Madrid, 
Missouri, were authorized in the Flood Control Act of 1954 (Pub. L. 
780-83), but not constructed. The St. Johns Bayou Basin levee closure, 
with drainage structure, was authorized in the Flood Control Act of 
July 24, 1946, and subsequently constructed. An EIS for the MR&T and 
Channel Improvement was filed with the Council on Environmental Quality 
on July 2, 1976, which addressed the New Madrid Floodway levee closure. 
The St. Johns Bayou/New Madrid Floodway Project Final Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) was filed with the EPA on July 
23, 1982. The current project was authorized for construction by the 
Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 99-662), section 
401(a). The authorized project is based on the Report of the Chief of 
Engineers, dated January 4, 1983, which is part of the Phase I General 
Design Memorandum (GDM) documents prepared in response to section 
101(a) of the Water Resources Development Act of 1976 (Pub. L. 94-587). 
This revised DSEIS is being prepared to supplement the 1976 MR&T EIS 
and the 1982 St. Johns Bayou/New Madrid Floodway Project Final SEIS.

1. Proposed Action

    The recommended plan of improvement for the First Phase work, as 
evaluated in the September 2000 FSEIS, includes about 23 miles of 
channel modification, a 1,000 cfs pumping station for the St. Johns 
Bayou Basin area, a 1,500 cfs pumping station for the New Madrid 
Floodway area, and a 1,500 foot closure levee and gravity outlet 
structure at the southern end of the New Madrid Floodway. The revised 
DSEIS will address and evaluate the environmental and economic impacts 
of alternative levee closure locations, develop and discuss the 
locations of potential compensatory mitigation sites, and further 
address concerns from Federal and State resource agencies.

2. Alternatives

    Several flood reduction alternatives, including mitigation, were 
evaluated in the previous EIS(s). In addition to the recommended plan, 
the September 2000 FSEIS included a reevaluation of the 1986 authorized 
plan for flood protection and NO Action alternative. The revised DSEIS 
will analyze other alternative levee closure alignments and options 
inside the New Madrid Floodway. Each alternative levee closure 
alignment would result in different amounts of cropland and wooded land 
available for periodic Mississippi River backwater flooding to provide 
fishery spawning and rearing habitats.

3. Scoping Process

    An intensive public involvement program has been ongoing. There 
have been additional interagency environmental and project sponsor 
meetings since the September 2000 FSEIS was produced. Interagency 
environmental meetings will continue to be held as needed. Significant 
issues to be addressed in the revised DSEIS will include alternative 
levee closure locations for the New Madrid Floodway, related impacts, 
and fish and wildlife mitigation alternatives. This NOI will serve as a 
request for scoping input. Interested parties are invited to provide 
comments or concerns to the above address. It is anticipated that the 
revised DSEIS will be available for public review in the Fall of 2001.

Luz D. Ortiz,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 01-8554 Filed 4-5-01; 8:45 am]
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