[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 240 (Friday, December 13, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76732-76733]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-31452]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers Comprehensive 
Plan

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) is preparing a Draft 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Upper 
Mississippi River Comprehensive Plan to identify problems, 
opportunities, and potential measures to reduce flood damages in the 
floodplains of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. A 
Programmatic EIS will be prepared to address potential effects of any 
recommendations for further action resulting from this study effort, 
and to provide a broad review of general issues for incorporation by 
reference in subsequent National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
documents, if future actions are undertaken as a result of 
recommendations in the Comprehensive Plan.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action 
and Draft Programmatic EIS can be answered by: David R. Gates, U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District (CEMVS-PM-F), 1222 Spruce 
Street, St. Louis, MO 63103, telephone (314) 331-8478, or by Charlene 
Carmack, U.S. Army Corps of Engineeers, Rock Island District (CEMVR-PM-
A), Clock Tower Building, P.O. Box 2004, Rock Island, IL 61204-2004, 
telephone (309) 794-5570.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 1. Section 459 of the Water Resources 
Development Act of 1999 directed the Secretary of the Army to develop a 
plan to address water resource and related land resource problems in 
the study area in the interest of systemic flood damage reduction. 
Section 459 also directed the Secretary to submit a report to Congress 
detailing the results of this planning effort and addressing 
recommendations for authorization of further Federal actions or follow-
on studies concerning systemic flood control.
    The Comprehensive Plan will be developed as a collaborative effort 
among three Corps Districts (St. Paul, Rock Island, and St. Louis); 
other Federal agencies (including the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency [FEMA], the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS], the Natural 
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency [USEPA], the U.S. Geological Survey [USGS], and the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA]); the States of Illinois, Iowa, 
Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin; and appropriate non-Federal 
organizations. The plan will identify future management actions and 
make recommendations for systemic improvements that provide flood 
damage reduction and associated environmental benefits.
    The Comprehensive Plan will include recommendations addressing: (1) 
Construction of a systemic multipurpose water resources and flood 
management/damage reduction project; (2) floodplain management 
alternatives; and (3) follow-on design and construction

[[Page 76733]]

requirements. This plan will include overall systemic recommendations, 
not optimized recommendations for specific sites. Follow-on 
implementation studies, including NEPA documentation, would be 
necessary at specific sites where additional analysis is required to 
develop the National Economic Development (NED) plan. Site-specific 
NEPA documentation would be tiered from the Programmatic EIS currently 
in preparation and would be developed in association with follow-on 
implementation studies, preconstruction engineering and design (PED).
    2. Alternatives, including both structural and nonstructural 
measures, will be identified and investigated for their potential to 
accomplish systemic flood damage reduction. It is anticipated that 
between three to five systemic flood damage reduction alternatives will 
be formated and evaluated for their potential to contribute to National 
Ecosystem Development.
    3. Scoping: This notice solicits input and assistance from the 
interested public and invites participation by affected Federal and 
State agencies having special jurisdiction and/or expertise.
    An initial set of public meetings (open house format) was held 
September 9-12 in St. Louis, MO; Quincy, IL; Peoria, IL; and Dubuque, 
IA. These meetings were announced in mailed newsletters (also posted on 
the study Web site http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/UMRCP/) as scoping 
meetings intended to help fulfill the scoping requirements of the NEPA, 
as well as overall study scoping requirements.
    4. The scoping process is expected to continue through December 
2002 to facilitate early input to the NEPA process and identify 
significant issues to be evaluated in depth in the Programmatic EIS.
    5. Based on current study schedules, the Draft Programmatic EIS is 
anticipated to be available for public review late in the first quarter 
of Calendar Year 2004.

    Dated: October 25, 2002.
William J. Bayles,
Colonel, EN, Commanding.
[FR Doc. 02-31452 Filed 12-12-02; 8:45 am]
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