[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 68 (Thursday, April 8, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18551-18552]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-7968]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) 
for the Relocation of Bogue Inlet Channel Between Emerald Isle and 
Hammocks Beach State Park, and the Placement of the Dredged Material 
Onto Emerald Isle Beach, in Carteret County, NC

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

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) 
Wilmington District, Wilmington Regulatory Field Office announces the 
availability of a Regulatory Program Final EIS for the Bogue Inlet 
Channel Erosion Response Project. The applicant, The Town of Emerald 
Isle, is requesting Department of the Army authorization, pursuant to 
section 404 of the Clean Water Act and section 10 of the Rivers and 
Harbor Act, for the relocation of Bogue Inlet Channel to protect 
residential homes and town infrastructures, and to place the dredged 
material on approximately 5.0 miles of beach for nourishment. As 
required by NEPA, the Final EIS describes the Applicant's preferred 
alternative and other alternatives, which were evaluated during the 
scoping process, to provide shoreline protection to residents along the 
inlet. The preferred alternative proposes to move the main ebb channel 
in Bogue Inlet to a more central location between the west end of Bogue 
Banks and the east end of Bear Island (Hammocks Beach State Park). The 
main ebb channel through Bogue Inlet presently occupies a position 
juxtaposed to the west end of the town of Emerald Isle and is causing 
severe erosion that threatens development in the subdivision known as 
The Pointe. The relocation of the main ebb channel to a central 
location would restore the channel to a position it occupied in the 
late 1970's and eliminate the erosive impact of tidal currents on the 
east shoulder of the inlet. A portion of the material removed to 
relocate the main ebb channel would be used to close the existing 
channel with the balance of the material used to nourish the shoreline 
on the west end of the Town of Emerald Isle.

DATES: The Public commenting period on the FEIS will end on May 4, 
2004. Written comments must be received at the address listed below no 
later than 5 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Copies of comments and questions regarding the FEIS may be 
addressed to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District, 
Regulatory Division, Attn: File Number 2001-00632, Post Office Box 
1890, Wilmington, NC 28402-1890.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action 
and the FEIS can be directed to Mr. Mickey Sugg, Wilmington Regulatory 
Field Office, telephone: (910) 251-4811, facsimile (910) 251-4025, or 
e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FEIS examines potential impacts to 
Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), Threatened and Endangered Species 
(specifically the Piping Plover and Piping Plover Critical Habitat), 
and includes a comprehensive mitigation and monitoring plan to minimize 
these potential impacts and to evaluate unforeseen effects of the 
projects. Such mitigation includes the securing of newly formed lands 
or spits and prohibiting development on these properties and the 
implementation of a comprehensive bird management plan that is expected 
to reduce the potential impacts to newly formed bird forage, resting, 
feeding, and nesting areas. In addition, aerial photography will be 
taken for three years after completion of the project in order to 
assess any project effects and to evaluate unknown risk of shoreline 
erosion to the oceanfront of Emerald Isle and the inlet shoreline of 
Bear Island.
     The primary purpose of the channel relocation project is to create 
a stable channel that will divert tidal flow away from the Pointe area 
of Emerald Isle. Therefore, the design focus is on developing channel 
dimensions that will capture the majority of the ebb tidal flow through 
the inlet. An added feature of the overall design would be the closure 
of the existing channel by constructing a sand dike across the existing 
channel in the vicinity of the Pointe. The dimensions of the relocated 
channel will be based on characteristics of the existing ebb tide 
channel, numerical model studies of tides and currents in the inlet, 
and channel stability criteria. The numerical model will also be used 
to evaluate the need for and impacts of closing the existing channel as 
well as assess the impacts of the repositioned channel on salinity 
intrusion and flow patterns throughout the entire inlet/estuary 
complex.
     Apart from the channel dimensions, the new channel must be 
positioned so that it does not cause adverse impacts on the adjacent 
shorelines or result in unacceptable loss of estuarine habitat. The 
selection of a channel location is being based on detailed geomorphic 
analysis of the inlet and adjacent shorelines, conducted by Dr. William 
J. Cleary, University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The geomorphic 
analysis will utilize an assortment of aerial photographs of the inlet 
covering the period from 1938 to 2001. However the primary emphasis 
will be on changes in the inlet and the adjacent shorelines between 
1973 and 2001. The geomorphic analysis consists of an evaluation of the 
following: (a) Location of the channel midpoint relative to the Pointe, 
(b) the orientation of the inlet's ebb tide delta channel, (c) the 
configuration of the ebb tide delta, i.e., the percent of the ebb tide 
delta east and west of the main ebb channel, (d) inlet shoulder changes 
(the Pointe shoreline and the west tip of Bear Island), (e) changes in 
the ocean shoreline on the west end of Bogue Banks and the east end of 
Bear Island (Hammocks Beach State Park), and (f) changes in the 
interior marsh islands (primarily Dudley Island and Island 2). The 
measured changes the adjacent shorelines, inlet shoulders, and the 
interior marshes will be related to changes in the physical make up of 
the inlet including the position and orientation of the ebb tide

[[Page 18552]]

delta channel and the configuration of the ebb tide delta.
    Geomorphic analysis indicates that the cumulative shoreline changes 
on each island were averaged over 3,500 feet of shoreline immediately 
adjacent to the inlet. When the percent of the ebb tide delta on the 
Bogue Banks side is small, as it was between 1984 and 2001, the bar 
channel was located close to Bogue Banks and the portion of the delta 
on the Bogue Banks side was providing some degree of wave sheltering 
for the west end of the island. The particular ebb tide delta 
configuration resulted in a considerable amount of accretion along the 
3,500-foot shoreline immediately east of the inlet while Bear Island 
experienced an almost mirror image response on its ocean shoreline, 
i.e., erosion. Even though the present ebb tide delta configuration is 
favorable for the extreme west end of Emerald Isle, the eastward 
migration of the inlet channel that led to the existing inlet 
configuration also caused the inlet shoreline of Bogue Banks (the 
Pointe shoreline) to erode. Not only has the Bogue Banks inlet 
shoreline eroded in response to the eastward movement of the channel, 
so has the Bear Island ocean and inlet shorelines. Based on these and 
numerous other comparisons, the preliminary results of the geomorphic 
analysis indicates that a centrally located channel, approximating the 
position and orientation of the channel in 1978, may be beneficial to 
the inlet shoreline on Bogue Banks (the Pointe shoreline) and the east 
end of Bear Island.
    Copies of the Final EIS will also be available on our regulatory 
home page at http://www.saw.usace.army.mil/WETLANDS/, and click on 
Emerald Isle Bogue Inlet Channel Relocation Project heading at the top 
right corner under Fast Track.

    Dated: April 1, 2004.
Charles R. Alexander, Jr.,
Colonel, U.S. Army, District Engineer.
[FR Doc. 04-7968 Filed 4-7-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-GN-M