[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 153 (Friday, August 8, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47298-47299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20226]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Notice of Availability, Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS)

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

[[Page 47299]]


ACTION: Announcement of DEIS Availability, King Cove Access Project, 
and Notice of Public Hearings.

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SUMMARY: The King Cove Health and Safety Act (Section 353) of the 
Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act of 
1999 (Public Law 105-277) provided the Aleutians East Borough (AEB) 
with $20 million to construct a year-round marine-road transportation 
system between the Cities of King Cove and Cold Bay, Alaska, on the 
Alaska Peninsula. AEB proposes a 152-acre project consisting of a 17.2-
mile access road, two hovercraft ramps, and terminals located on the 
Northeast Corner of Cold Bay and Cross Wind Cove, on the west side of 
Cold Bay, and a hovercraft. The Corps of Engineers, Alaska District, 
has evaluated the AEB's permit application under the authority of 
Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act and Section 404 of the Clean 
Air Act. The EIS describes five alternatives that satisfy the purpose 
and needs for the proposed project. The alternatives are: (1) Northeast 
Corner Cold Bay--Hovercraft; (3) Lenard Harbor--Hovercraft; (4) Lenard 
Harbor--Ferry; (5) Lenard Harbor--Helicopter; and (6) the Isthmus Road 
alternative. Alternative 2 is the No-Action Alternative. Alternative 6 
is included for comparison purposes only and cannot be selected for 
authorization by the decision-maker. Alternatives 1, 3, 4, and 5 would 
be constructed primarily on King Cove Corporation surface lands. 
Alternative 1 requires a USFWS compatibility determination on Native 
corporation owned lands within the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, 
and no construction or operations would occur within the 
Congressionally designated Wilderness Area. Currently, Alternatives 3 
and 4 are designated as the Environmentally Preferable Alternatives. 
The Corps of Engineers will use the EIS, public review process and 
consideration of comments received as a basis for the permit decision.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska 
District, is the lead Federal agency with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service (USFWS) as a cooperating agency for this DEIS. During the 
Scoping process (February 16 to June 22, 2001) over 12,331 comments 
were received, with over 12,000 comments and opinions provided by e-
mail. Many of these scoping comments expressed an objection to a road 
through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness Area. Twenty-
eight alternatives were preliminarily considered during the scoping and 
the alternative development phase of the EIS process. Six alternatives 
were selected for further evaluation. The proposed action (Alternative 
1, Northeast Corner Cold Bay / Hovercraft) and two alternatives 
(Alternative 3, Lenard Harbor / Hovercraft; and Alternative 4, Lenard 
Harbor / Ferry) were selected for detailed evaluation that incorporates 
a marine-road link design in compliance with Section 353 cited above. 
The required ``no action'' alternative is presented as Alternative 2. 
The two remaining alternatives are not in compliance with section 353; 
hence, the $20 million Federal appropriations would not be available 
for project construction. These are an air-road link alternative 
(Alternative 5, Lenard Harbor / Helicopter) and an all-road alternative 
(Alternative 6, Isthmus Road). The all-road alternative (Alternative 6) 
is not a practicable alternative for evaluation under the Section 
404(b)(1) Guidelines (40 CFR 230) for the Clean Water Act and cannot be 
authorized by the District Engineer. If an application is received by 
the USFWS under Title XI of ANCSA, a separate EIS would be required, 
with approval required by the Secretary of Interior, The President, and 
Congress. No significant adverse impacts were identified for 
Alternatives 1, 3, 4, and 5. Significant beneficial impacts were noted 
for each action alternative centering on human and social resources 
with the ability to enhance safe, reliable, and efficient emergency 
medical transport for King Cove residents and seasonal workers. For 
Alternatives 1, 3, 4, and 5 with the incorporation and implementation 
of mitigation measure, impacts to threatened and endangered or listed 
species (Steller's eider, Steller sea lion, and Northern sea otter) 
were preliminarily determined not likely to adversely affect these 
species. For the same alternatives and incorporation of mitigation 
measures, determinations of ``would not likely impact Essential Fish 
Habitat'', and Habitats of Particular Concern were concluded.
    Public Workshops and Public Hearings: August 25, 2003, Cold Bay, 
Alaska, Community Building. Public Workshop: 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Public 
Hearing: 8 p.m. to 9 p.m
    August 26, 2003; King Cove, Alaska, Community Center. Public 
Workshop: 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Public Hearing: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
    September 9, 2003; Anchorage, Alaska University of Alaska, Commons 
Room 107, 3700 Sharon Gagnon Lane. Public Workshop: 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. 
Public Hearing: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m
    Comment Period: Comments should be received by the Corps of 
Engineers, Alaska District (address above) by September 23, 2003, or 45 
days from the publication date within the Federal Register, whichever 
is later.

David S. Hobbie,
Assistant Branch Chief, Regulatory Branch, Alaska District.
[FR Doc. 03-20226 Filed 8-7-03; 8:45 am]
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