[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 224 (Thursday, November 20, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65451-65452]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-29007]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement for Coastal Erosion Protection and Community Relocation, 
Shishmaref, AK

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 Engineer District, Alaska, intends to prepare a 
Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to evaluate 
the feasibility of constructing erosion protection alternatives and 
community relocation alternatives at Shishmaref, Alaska. Shishmaref, 
population 562, is on a barrier island on the Chukchi Sea on the 
northwestern coast of Alaska. The shoreline at the community is being 
rapidly eroded by storm waves possibly because the ice pack has been 
forming later in the autumn than in the past, allowing more of the 
force of late season storm energy to reach the shore. The programmatic 
DEIS will determine whether Federal action is warranted, and if so, and 
community relocation is selected, site alternatives will be addressed 
in more detail in a second tier of the EIS process.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lizette Boyer (907) 753-2637, Alaska 
District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Resources Section 
(CEPOA-EN-CW-ER), P.O. Box 6898, Elmendorf AFB, AK 99506-6898. E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This study is authorized under Section 203, 
33 U.S.C. Tribal Partnership Program. The community of Shishmaref has 
existed on Sherichef Island for centuries. The four-mile-long island, 
formed by littoral drift, is steadily eroding along the Chucki Sea. As 
early as the 1950's the community began taking steps to fight the 
annual erosion problem. Strong wave and current action cause massive 
scouring and erosion of the fine sand embankment. Bank revetment 
structures (gabions filled with sand and concrete mattresses) were 
installed but failed to stop the erosion for long. Severe fall storms 
in 1989, 1990, and 1997 undermined the protective structures and caused 
buildings to be moved or abandoned. The late formation of the shorefast 
ice pack in recent years aggravates erosion damage during fall storms. 
Without shore protection structures and continued maintenance of them, 
all the community infrastructure is in jeopardy.
    The programmatic DEIS will consider alternatives including the 
continuation of erosion protection structures to prevent land and 
property losses. The community has obtained funding for efforts to 
protect a stretch of the beach to the west of the school property where 
a Bureau of Indian Affairs road is at risk. The Corps of Engineers 
currently is conducting an emergency bank protection study to protect 
the school. Longer term protection for the

[[Page 65452]]

community would require that erosion protection be extended past the 
school property and to adjacent roads along the shoreline. The 
feasibility of further and more extensive bank protection would be 
analyzed and compared with relocation alternatives. Relocation would 
mean the abandonment of the Shishmaref community on the island. 
Relocation alternatives include moving the people of Shishmaref to a 
larger hub community such as Nome or Kotzebue where they would be 
incorporated into the fabric of that community; moving the population 
to a smaller, closer community such as Wales or Deering, which would 
involve developing additional infrastructure in those locations, and 
constructing a new town site on the mainland. The last alternative 
would be based on engineering criteria, historical tribal area 
boundaries, and corridors to subsistence sites.
    Issues: The programmatic DEIS will consider the need of Shishmaref 
to preserve its community identity and the potential impacts of the 
alternatives on the cultural resources and infrastructure of the 
community. In addition, the programmatic DEIS will address the 
importance of maintaining the community's traditional subsistence 
lifestyles, while providing modern infrastructure and housing. Issues 
associated with relocation to an existing community include property 
and business losses, impacts of social/cultural changes, and impacts on 
the infrastructure capacity of the receiving location. Issues 
associated with relocation and construction of a new town site includes 
engineering constructability criteria and environmental suitability. 
Constructability criteria include geologic stability, availability of 
fill material, and potable water sources. Environmental issues include 
effects to endangered species and wildlife habitat, and justifiable and 
practicable mitigation measures. Other resources and concerns will be 
identified through scoping, public involvement, and interagency 
coordination.
    Scoping: A copy of this notice and additional public information 
will be sent to interested parties to initiate scoping. All parties are 
invited to participate in the scoping process by identifying any 
additional concerns, issues, studies, and alternatives that should be 
considered. A scoping meeting will be held in Shishmaref, Alaska, in 
early 2004 at a place and time to be announced. The programmatic DEIS 
is scheduled for release in 2005 or 2006.

Guy R. McConnell,
Chief, Environmental Resources Section.
[FR Doc. 03-29007 Filed 11-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-NL-M