[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 68 (Thursday, April 8, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18552-18554]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-7967]


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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 Near-Term Ecosystem Restoration Plan for the 
Louisiana Coastal Area

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, New Orleans District (Corps) 
intends to refocus and modify the Draft Programmatic Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (Draft PSEIS) for the Louisiana Coastal 
Area--Louisiana Comprehensive Coastwide Ecosystem Restoration 
Feasibility Study (LCA Comprehensive Study) and prepare a Draft 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Draft PEIS) for a Near-
Term Ecosystem Restoration Plan for the Louisiana Coastal Area. This is 
a modification of the notice of intent published in the Federal 
Register (67 FR 169093). The intent of this notice is to describe the 
rationale for revising the purpose and need for action, the scope of 
the analysis, and intent to prepare a Draft PEIS for the Near-Term 
Ecosystem Restoration Plan for the Louisiana Coastal Area.
    On April 4, 2002, the Corps announced in the Federal Register (67 
FR 169093) its intention to prepare a Draft PSEIS for the LCA 
Comprehensive Study. The original proposed scope of the Draft PSEIS 
analysis was threefold: (1) Supplement previous Louisiana coastal 
restoration NEPA-compliance studies; (2) utilize the ``lessons 
learned'' from previous Louisiana coastal wetlands restoration efforts; 
and (3) determine the feasibility of developing the existing Coast 2050 
restoration strategies into projects for the creation of a 
comprehensive coastwide ecosystem restoration plan. Six public scoping 
meetings regarding preparation of the Draft PSEIS and the feasibility 
of comprehensive coastwide ecosystem restoration of coastal Louisiana 
were held at various locations throughout Louisiana in late April 2002. 
The scoping report was provided to scoping participants and published 
on the Coast 2050 Web site (Coast2050.gov) in August 2002.
    The President's FY05 Budget, released on February 2, 2004 
(http:www.whithouse.gov/omb/budget/fyw005/corps.html), contained 
specific language that refocuses and advances planning, scientific, and 
restoration efforts that are already underway:

    In 2004, the Corps will work to issue a draft report that 
identifies the most critical ecological needs and proposes a near-
term program of highly cost-effective projects to address them. The 
report will also highlight the key long-term scientific 
uncertainties and engineering challenges facing the effort to 
protect and restore the ecosystem, and propose demonstration 
projects and studies to help answer these questions. The report will 
focus on the specific coastal areas that require the most immediate 
attention and on the best way to sequence the proposed work over the 
next 10 or so years, as we learn what works best. In 2004, the Corps 
will begin developing studies of potentially promising, long-term 
ecosystem restoration concepts, with the objective of determining 
whether they would provide a cost-effective way to create coastal 
wetlands. An existing Federal-State Task Force established under 
1990 legislation will increase its efforts to build and evaluate 
highly cost-effective fresh-water and sediment diversion projects. 
This coordinated approach to restoration combines a commitment to 
address the highest priority needs with a search for innovative 
solutions. It also ensures that the coastal Louisiana restoration 
effort will, in the long-term, be able to adapt and evolve as 
needed, based on the best available science.


[[Page 18553]]


    The Corps believes these events and activities have influenced the 
purpose and need for action and the scope of the analysis of the LCA 
Comprehensive Study. Hence, the Corps proposes to prepare a Draft PEIS 
for the Near-Term Ecosystem Restoration Plan for the Louisiana Coastal 
Area.

DATES: Scoping meetings will be held in May 2004. Written scoping 
comments will be accepted from the date of this notice until May 20, 
2004.

ADDRESSES: Scoping comments regarding the Draft PEIS for the LCA Near-
Term Plan may be sent to Dr. William P. Klein, Jr., CEMVN-PM-RS, P.O. 
Box 60267, New Orleans, LA 70160-0267. Comments may also be made via 
facsimile (fax) at 504-862-1892. Comments will not be accepted if 
submitted by e-mail or Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Major Jason A. Kirk, Senior Project 
Manager, CEMVN-PM-Coastal Restoration, P.O. Box 60267, New Orleans, LA 
70160-0267, telephone: 504-862-1222; fax: 504-862-1892; and e-mail: 
[email protected], or Mr. Howard H. Gonzales, 
Project Manager, CEMVN-PM-Coastal Restoration, P.O. Box 60267, New 
Orleans, LA 70160-0267, telephone: 504-862-1672; fax 504-862-1892; and 
e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    1. Scoping Process. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) 
regulations implementing the NEPA process directs federal agencies that 
have made a decision to prepare an environmental impact statement to 
engage in a public scoping process. The scoping process is designed to 
provide an early and open means of determining the scope of issues 
(problems, needs, and opportunities) to be identified and addressed in 
the draft environmental impact assessment, which in this case is a 
Draft PEIS. Scoping is the process used to: (a) Identify the affected 
public and agency concerns; (b) facilitate an efficient PEIS 
preparation process; (c) define the issues and alternatives that will 
be examined in detail in the PEIS; and (d) save time in the overall 
process by helping to ensure that the draft statements adequately 
address relevant issues. Scoping is a process, not an event or a 
meeting. It continues throughout the planning for a PEIS and may 
involve meetings, telephone conversations, and/or written comments. 
(Council on Environmental Quality, Memorandum for General Counsel, 
April 30, 1981).
    2. Request for Scoping Comments. In May 2004, the Corps will 
conduct scoping meetings. Notices will be mailed to the affected and 
interested public once the dates and locations of the scoping meetings 
have been established. The Corps invites scoping input in writing, or 
in person, concerning the following scoping questions: Question 
1: What are the critical natural and human ecological needs 
that should be addressed in the PEIS? For example, critical natural and 
human ecological needs may include: deltaic processes, sustainability, 
hurricane and flood protection, protection of human infrastructure, and 
others. Question 2: What are the significant resources that 
should be considered in the PEIS for the LCA Near-Term Ecosystem 
Restoration Plan? For example, significant resources may include: gulf 
hypoxia, barrier islands, offshore sand resources, water quality, and 
others.
    The Corps also requests comments regarding the following nine LCA 
Near-Term Plan Identification Criteria. (1) Prevents future land loss 
where predicted to occur: one of the most fundamental measures of 
ecosystem degradation in coastal Louisiana has been the conversion of 
land (mostly emergent vegetated habitat) to open water. Thus, the 
projection of the future condition of the ecosystem must be based upon 
the determination of future patterns of land and water. Based on the 
U.S. Geological Survey open file report 03-334 ``Historical and 
Predicted Coastal Louisiana Land Changes: 1978-2050'', do proposed 
projects prevent or reduce future land loss or restore areas of past 
loss where scientists have documented these losses to occur. (2) 
Sustainability--restores or mimics fundamentally impaired deltaic 
process: this criterion refers primarily to projects or opportunities 
to restore or mimic natural connections between the river and the 
basins (or estuaries) and includes distributary flows, crevasses, and 
over-bank flow. Activities that mechanically move sediment from river 
to basins are also viewed as mimicking deltaic processes, especially if 
nourished by a small diversion. (3) Sustainability--restores endangered 
or critical ecological structure: this criterion refers to projects or 
opportunities to restore or maintain geomorphic features that are 
essential to maintaining the integrity of coastal ecosystems; includes 
natural features such as barrier islands, distributary ridges, 
cheniers, and beach and lake rims. (4) Engineering and design complete 
and construction started within 10 years. (5) Protects vital local, 
regional, and national community and socioeconomic resources: this 
criterion would identify the local, regional, and national social, 
economic, and cultural resources that are affected by the proposed 
opportunities and/or projects. These existing resources include, but 
are not limited to, noise, population, esthetics, housing, cultural, 
leisure opportunities, community cohesion and growth, public facilities 
and services, employment, business and industry, agriculture, and flood 
protection. Effects include both beneficial and detrimental impacts to 
human culture and their economic activities. (6) Public acceptability 
based on scoping and public meeting comments. (7) Based upon sufficient 
scientific and engineering understanding of processes. (8) Capitalizes 
on existing structure, resources, etc.: this criterion would identify 
the proposed project elements (i.e. freshwater diversions, sediment 
delivery via pipeline, march creation, etc.) that capitalize on 
existing infrastructure and resources to achieve the objective of the 
element. Existing infrastructure may include, but is not limited to, 
diversion structures that are in place but require modification and/or 
improvements; diversion structures that are in place and operating but 
potentially not at full capacity (e.g. Davis Pond Freshwater Diversion 
Structure). Existing resources may include, but are not limited to, 
sediment deposition areas that are adjacent to or near proposed march 
creation elements or shoreline restoration elements; sediment-rich 
waterways that may be tapped for influence in disconnected and degraded 
coastal regions. (9) Construction does not preclude other options and/
or projects.
    Scoping comments will be compiled, analyzed, and utilized in the 
plan formulation process. A Scoping Report, summarizing the comments, 
will be made available to all scoping participants and published on the 
Louisiana Coastal Area Web site (LCA.gov). Scoping comments will be 
accepted throughout the scoping comment period (see DATES).
    3. Public Involvement. Scoping is a critical component of the 
overall public involvement program. An intensive public involvement 
program will continue throughout the study to solicit input from 
affected Federal, State, and local agencies, Indian tribes, and other 
interested parties.
    4. Interagency Coordination. The Department of Interior, U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service (USFWS), will provide a Fish and Wildlife 
Coordination Act Report. Coordination will be maintained with the USFWS 
and the NOAA Fisheries regarding threatened and

[[Page 18554]]

endangered species under their respective jurisdictional 
responsibilities. Coordination will be maintained with the Natural 
Resources Conservation Service regarding prime and unique farmlands. 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will be consulted regarding the 
``Swampbuster'' provisions of the Food Security Act. Coordination will 
be maintained with the Advisory Counsel on Historic Preservation and 
the State Historic Preservation Officer. The Louisiana Department of 
Natural Resources will be consulted regarding consistency with the 
Coastal Zone Management Act. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and 
Fisheries will be contacted concerning potential impacts to Natural and 
Scenic Streams.
    5. Availability of Draft PEIS. It is anticipated that the Draft 
PEIS will be available for public review during the summer of 2004. A 
45-day review period will be provided so that all interested agencies, 
groups and individuals will have an opportunity to comment on the Draft 
PEIS. In addition, public meetings will be held during the review 
period to receive comments and address questions concerning the Draft 
PEIS.

Brenda S. Bowen,
Alternate Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-7967 Filed 4-7-04; 8:45 am]
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