[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 123 (Tuesday, June 26, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33952-33953]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-16130]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Intent To Hold Public Meetings To Solicit Citizen Input Into 
Cumulative Effects Assessment of Navigation Investment Strategies Along 
the Ohio River Main Stem

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

ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

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SUMMARY: The Corps of Engineers will conduct public scoping meetings at 
six locations along the main stem of the Ohio River to solicit input 
for a Cumulative Effects Analysis (CEA). This document will be a major 
component of the Ohio River Main Stem Systems Study's Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) described in the ``Notice Of 
Intent to Prepare an EIS'' published in the Federal Register on October 
21, 1998, and amended in the Federal Register on June 9, 2000. 
Representatives of the Corps of Engineers will provide an oversight 
presentation on the study,the EIS process, and cumulative effects 
assessment. The public will then be invited to provide comments or ask 
questions relevant to the study.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions or comments regarding this 
Notice and the CEA can be answered by Ms. Veronica Rife, U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, P.O. Box 59, Louisville, Kentucky, 40201-0059, 
Telephone: (502) 315-6785, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Great Lakes & Ohio River Division of the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is evaluating alternative investment 
strategies for commercial navigation infrastructure on the Ohio River 
System for the next 60 years. The study is being conducted under the 
authority of the United States Senate, Committee on Public Works 
resolution dated May 16, 1955; and the United States House of 
Representatives, Committee on Public Works and Transportation 
resolution dated March 11, 1982. The Corps of Engineers is preparing a 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) including a 
Cumulative Effects Analysis (CEA) appendix concurrent with a System 
Investment Plan (SIP) as primary products of the study. The SIP will 
identify where and approximately when site-specific navigation 
infrastructure improvements should be made along the Ohio River and 
will be used by the Corps of Engineers for future planning and 
budgeting purposes. The SIP will not recommend any specific projects 
for Congressional authorization. A PEIS will be prepared concurrent 
with the SIP to assess the system-wide environmental effects of any and 
all projected infrastructure improvements. A major component of the 
PEIS is the CEA that will focus on evaluating the cumulative impacts to 
certain environmental resources in and along the mainstem of the Ohio 
River.
    The Corps of Engineers published two previous Notices of Intent 
(NOI) to Prepare NEPA documents for this study. The first Notice, 
``Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the 
Ohio River Main Stem Systems Study,'' was published in Federal 
Register, volume 63, number 203 page 56165 on Wednesday, October 21, 
1998. In that Notice, the Corps stated its intention to prepare one or 
more EISs for the study and it's intention to produce an interim report 
with a feasibility-level EIS for Greenup Locks & Dam, near Greenup, 
Kentucky, and John T. Myers Locks & Dam, near Mount Vernon, Indiana. 
The interim report and feasibility-level EIS were completed in 2000. 
The Corps of Engineers published a second Notice, ``Notice of Intent to 
Prepare an Environmental Assessment for Proposed Authorization of an 
Ohio River Ecosystem Restoration Program,'' in the Federal Register, 
volume 65, number 112 page 36674 on Friday, June 9, 2000. The Corps of 
Engineers subsequently produced an Integrated Decision Document and 
Environmental Assessment recommending authorization of an Ohio River 
Ecosystem Restoration Program. Greenup and J.T. Myers Locks Improvement 
Projects, and the Ohio River Ecosystem Restoration Program were 
authorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 2000.
    As part of the initial PEIS scoping process, three public scoping 
workshops were held in November 1998 at Evansville, IN, Hunting, WV, 
and Pittsburgh, PA as stated in the October 1998 NOI.
    The scoping process to be followed for the remainder of the study 
will include: continuation of interagency environmental team meetings, 
a press release announcing the CEA scoping process and inviting 
comments, a mailing to all addressees on the ORMSS mailing list 
(approximately 2,500), advertisements in local newspapers, and a series 
of six sets of meetings (one set in each state) along the Ohio River. 
Each set of meetings will consist of a daytime meeting with 
governmental agencies and an evening meeting open to the public. This 
process emphasizes the Corps' desire for participation by all 
interested parties.
    The primary issue to be analyzed in depth in the PEIS will be 
cumulative effects of SIP recommendations in the context of past, 
present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions by the Corps of 
Engineers and others in and along the Ohio River. The impacts analysis 
will include biological resources, cultural resources and socioeconomic 
effects, air quality, noise impacts, and recreational resources.
    Meetings are scheduled as follows:
    Date: July 10, 2001.
    Time: 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
    Place: Banterra Bank--Large Conference Room, 101 West Eighth St., 
Metropolis, IL 62960.

    Date: July 12, 2001.
    Time: 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
    Place: Victory Theatre--5th Floor Banquet Room, 600 Main St., 
Evansville, IN 47708.

    Date: July 31, 2001.
    Time: 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
    Place: Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Council--Large Conference Room, 531 
Market St., Parkersburg, WV 26101.

    Date: August 1, 2001.
    Time: 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
    Place: Community College of Beaver Co.--Library Resource Center, 
Conference Room 103 (Near Parking Lot 2), 1 Campus Dr., Monaca, PA 
15061.

    Date: August 6, 2001.
    Time: 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
    Place: Kenton Co. Public Library--Large Meeting Room, 505 Scott 
Blvd., Covington, KY 41011.

    Date: August 7, 2001.
    Time: 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
    Place: Shawnee State University--University Center, 940 Second St., 
Portsmouth, OH 45662.
    Interested parties will be encouraged to provide oral comments 
relevant to issues to be addressed in the CEA or Programmatic EIS at 
any of these public forums. Otherwise, the Corps of Engineers requests 
written comments or requests for information be directed to the 
following study contact: Ms. Veronica Rife, Project Manager, Ohio River 
Mainstem Systems Study, P.O. Box 59, Louisville, KY 40201-0059, 502-
315-6785, Email: [email protected].
    All comments should be received by the Corps of Engineers by August 
31, 2001.


[[Page 33953]]


    Dated: June 19, 2001.
Paul D. Robinson,
Director of Civil Works and Management.
[FR Doc. 01-16130 Filed 6-25-01; 8:45 am]
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