[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 101 (Friday, May 24, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36579-36580]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-13044]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare an Integrated Draft Project Implementation 
Report/Environmental Impact Statement for the Southern Golden Gate 
Estates Hydrologic Restoration

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

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Jacksonville District 
intends to prepare an integrated Draft Project Implementation Report/
Environmental Impact Statement (DPIR/EIS) for the Southern Golden Gate 
Estates Hydrologic Restoration (SGGEHR). This DPIR/EIS is a cooperative 
effort between the Corps and the South Florida Water Management 
District (SFWMD). The SGGEHR planning process is authorized

[[Page 36580]]

under Section 601 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2000 
as part of the Central and Southern Florida (C&SF) Comprehensive 
Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). The objective of this project is to 
restore the hydrology of Southern Golden Gate Estates (SGGE) to that 
which existed prior to the 1960's real estate subdivision. Development 
of SGGE created approximately 20,000 separate parcels of land, 70 miles 
of drainage canals, and 290 miles of roads. Elimination of the home 
sites, plugging of the canals, reduction in the number of miles of 
roadway, and the reestablishment of a more natural hydrology are 
expected to restore native plant communities and improve habitat for 
fish and wildlife resources.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Kremer, U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Planning Division, Environmental Branch, PO Box 4970, 
Jacksonville, FL, 32232-0019, by e-mail [email protected], 
or by telephone at 904-232-3551.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    a. Authorization: The Southern Golden Gate Estates Hydrologic 
Restoration PMP and PIR planning process is authorized under Section 
601 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2000 as part of 
the Central and Southern Florida (C&SF) Comprehensive Everglades 
Restoration Plan (CERP).
    b. Study Area: Southern Golden Gate Estates encompasses an area of 
approximately 94 square miles (60,160 acres) in southwestern Collier 
County, Florida. It is located between Interstate 75 and U.S. Highway 
41. SGGE is located southwest of the Florida Panther National Wildlife 
Refuge, north of the Ten Thousand Islands Aquatic Preserve and the Ten 
Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, east of the Belle Meade 
State Conservation and Recreation Lands Project Area, and west of the 
Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve. In combination with the Belle Meade 
tract SGGE will be managed as the Picayune Strand State Forest. 
Northern Golden Gate Estates (NGGE) lies across Interstate 75 to the 
north of SGGE.
    c. Project Scope: Implementation of this project would restore a 
more natural hydrology in Southern Golden Gate Estates by reintroducing 
sheet flow, reestablishing historic flow ways, reducing runoff through 
increased evaporation and groundwater recharge, and by replacing point 
source discharges from the Faka Union Canal with distributed flow to 
tidal coastal marshes along U.S. highway 41. The proposed project would 
plug the canals, reduce the number of miles of roadway, and reestablish 
a more natural hydrology. Accomplishment of these objectives is 
expected to restore historic native plant communities and improve 
habitat for fish and wildlife resources.
    d. Preliminary Alternatives: The DPIR/EIS will evaluate alternative 
structural and non-structural measures to modify the existing water 
management system of SGGE to accomplish the following objectives: 
Establish more uniform freshwater flows to estuaries, restore historic 
hydro patterns, restore wetland and upland communities, reduce habitat 
for invasive non-native species, increase aquifer recharge, restore 
ecological connectivity among public lands, restore habitat for listed 
species, increase fish and wildlife resources, restore the natural fire 
regime, remediate or remove chemical contaminants, maintain existing 
level of flood protection, and maintain appropriate access for managing 
agencies and public users of the state forest.
    e. Issues: The integrated DPIR/EIS will address the following 
issues: restoration of wetlands and upland ecosystems; water flows; 
future environmental and urban water demand and supply; socio-economic 
resources; aquifer recharge; water quality; impacts to the estuaries; 
flood protection; aesthetics and recreation; fish and wildlife 
resources, state and federal protected species; cultural resources; and 
other impacts identified through further scoping, public involvement, 
and interagency coordination.
    f. Scoping: The SGGE project has had a long history of public and 
interagency involvement dating back to the 1978 Congressional 
authorization for the Corps to prepare a Golden Gate Estates (GGE) 
Feasibility Study. The Corps published the GGE Feasibility Study in 
1986. In February of 1996 the Big Cypress Basin/South Florida Water 
Management District submitted the ``Hydrologic Restoration of Southern 
Golden Gate Estates--Conceptual Plan'' to the Governor of Florida. In 
January 1997 the Interagency Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) 
convened with respresetatives from the Corps, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, U.S. Geological Survey, FDEP, Florida Game and Fresh Water 
Fish Commission and others, to provide input and assistance for the 
Cooperative Watershed Planning Assistance Study led by USDA-NRCS and 
SFWMD. NRCS published this study in September 2001. In September 2000, 
utilizing the expertise of the ITAC, the Corps and SFWMD jointly 
initiated the development of a Project Management Plan (PMP) for the 
SGGE restoration project. The PMP was presented to the Big Cypress 
Basin Board of Directors at a public meeting in February of 2001. 
During the past 24 years local and state agencies have held numerous 
meetings to gather input on issues and opportunities involving the 
restoration of SGGE.
    g. DPIR/EIS Preparation: The integrated DPIR/EIS is scheduled for 
publication in June 2005.

    Dated: May 8, 2002.
George M. Strain,
Acting Chief, Planning Division.
[FR Doc. 02-13044 Filed 5-23-02; 8:45 am]
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