[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 7, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41211-41212]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-19759]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Intent to Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 
as Part of a Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, Permit Application 
Evaluation for the Proposed South Lawrence Trafficway/K-10 Highway 
Extension Project, in and near the City of Lawrence, in Douglas County, 
Kansas

AGENCY: U.S. Corps of Engineers, DOD.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) 
intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to address 
social, economic, and environmental impacts of the proposed South 
Lawrence Trafficway/K-10 Highway Extension Project located in Douglas 
County Kansas. The Corps is evaluating a permit application or the 
proposed work under the authority of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act 
(33 USC 1344). The EIS will be used as a basis for the permit decision 
and to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA). The permit applicant is the Kansas Department of 
Transportation.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, 
Operations Division, Regulatory Branch, OD-R, 700 Federal Building, 601 
E. 12th Street, Kansas City, Missouri, 64106-2896.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert J. Smith, Regulatory 
Project Manager, (816) 983-3635 or mail to: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    1. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District will 
serve as the lead Federal agency and prepare a Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (DEIS) on the proposed South Lawrence Trafficway/K-10 
Highway Extension Project located in Douglas County, Kansas. The 
proposed highway project would extend from a western terminus at an 
interchange with U.S. 59 (Iowa Street), to an eastern terminus a new 
interchange with existing K-10, for an approximate distance of six 
miles. The Corps will be evaluating a permit application for the work 
under the authority of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 USC 
1344). The EIS will be used as a basis for the permit decision and to 
ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 
The permit applicant is the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). 
A similar project proposed by Douglas County, Kansas, commonly known as 
the South Lawrence Trafficway, where the Federal Highway Administration 
(FHWA) was the lead Federal agency, had an EIS and supplemental EIS 
prepared and evaluated over approximately a ten-year period. The Final 
Supplemental EIS resulted in the No Build alternative being selected in 
the Record of Decision (ROD), dated July 5, 2000. The FHWA is not 
involved in the new proposed project. The new proposed project will 
involve KDOT as the sole applicant. Additional alternatives and a 
revised project purpose and need, will be part of the project.
    2. The Corps study will evaluate the ``No Action'' alternative as 
well as a system traffic management alternative and various alignments 
under the highway construction alternative. Alternative alignments 
currently identified under the highway construction alternative 
included: (1) 31st Street, (2) 32nd Street, (3) 35th Street, (4) 38th 
Street and, (5) 42nd Street. All of the alignments under the highway 
construction alternative would involve the placement of fill material 
in the waters of the United States and would therefore require prior 
authorization, by the Corps, under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. 
In addition, all but one of these alignments could potentially affect 
the Haskell Indian Nations University and/or the Baker Wetlands.
    3. Scoping Process.
    a. A formal public scoping meeting will be held for the project in 
Lawrence, Kansas on August 30, 2001. The exact time and location of the 
scoping meeting will be announced when the details are finalized. 
Additional information meetings and workshops have and will continue be 
held in the study area to engage the local and regional community in 
the decision-making process, to obtain public input and to keep the 
public informed. Coordination meetings will be held as needed with 
affect/concerned local, State, Tribal, and Federal government entities. 
These meetings and workshops, as well as any meetings which were 
previously held regarding this project, will serve as the collective 
scoping process for preparation of the DEIS. Draft documents 
forthcoming from the study will be distributed by the Corps to Federal, 
Tribal, State and local governments/agencies as well as interested 
members of the general public for review and comment. Public notices, 
meeting announcements and NEPA/Section 04 decision documents will also 
be available on the Kansas City District's Regulatory homepage at 
http://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/regulatory/regulatory.htm.
    b. The DEIS will analyze the potential social, economic, and 
environmental impacts to the project are resulting from the proposed 
highway transportation project. Specifically, the following significant 
issues will be analyzed in depth in the DEIS: impacts to the aquatic 
ecosystem; impacts to cultural resources; Native American and Tribal 
interests; impact to fish and wildlife resources; impacts to flood 
control and floodplain values; impacts to transportation systems, 
impacts to recreation; environmental justice; secondary and cumulative 
impacts; and socioeconomoics.
    c. Environmental consultation and review will be conducted in 
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969, as per regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality 
(Code of Federal Regulations parts 40 CFR 1500-1508), and other 
applicable laws, regulations, and guidelines.

[[Page 41212]]

    4. It is anticipated that the DEIS will be made available for 
public review in January of 2002.

Luz D. Ortiz,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 01-19759 Filed 8-6-01; 8:45 am]
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