[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 28, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 77744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-28331]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the 
Proposed Hackensack Meadowlands Ecosystem Restoration Project, 
Hackensack Meadowlands District, Bergen and Hudson Counties, NJ: 
Feasibility Phase

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

ACTION:  Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), the New York District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
(Corps) is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 
accordance with Council on Environmental Quality regulations as defined 
and amended in 40 CFR parts 1500-1508 (promulgated pursuant to NEPA); 
Corps' principles and guidelines as defined in Engineering Regulations 
(ER) 1105-2-100, Planning Guidance Notebook, and ER 200-2-2, Procedures 
for Implementing NEPA; and other applicable Federal and State 
environmental laws for the proposed ecosystem restoration project in 
the Hackensack Meadowlands District, Bergen and Hudson Counties, New 
Jersey.
    The study area, known as the Hackensack Meadowlands District, is 
located approximately five miles west of New York City in northern New 
Jersey, and comprises 30.4 square miles in portions of 14 
municipalities in two counties; Carlstadt, East Rutherford, Little 
Ferry, Lyndhurst, Moonachie, North Arlington, Ridgefield, Rutherford, 
South Hackensack, and Teterboro in Bergen County and Jersey City, 
Kearny, North Bergen, and Secaucus in Hudson County. The District is 
bisected by the Hackensack River and the western spur of the NJ 
Turnpike (US Interstate 95) and approximately bordered to the north by 
State Route 46; to the east by US routes 1 and 9 (Tonnelle Avenue) and 
the freight railroad owned by Norfolk Southern and CSX Corporation (the 
former Conrail main line); to the south by the Port Authority Trans 
Hudson (PATH) railroad and the Pulaski Skyway; and to the west by the 
Pascack Valley and (former) Kingsland railroads and State Route 17.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, 26 Federal 
Plaza, New York, NY, 10278-0090.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Bill Shadel, Project Biologist and 
NEPA Coordinator, Planning Division, Environmental Analysis Branch; 
(212) 264-0570; or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 1. The Hackensack Meadowlands Ecosystem 
Restoration Study is being carried out under the Corps' General 
Investigations Program. The study was authorized under the 
authorization of the Hudson-Raritan Estuary Feasibility Study in a 
resolution of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 
U.S. House of Representatives, dated April 15, 1999, which reads:

    Resolved by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
of the United States House of Representatives, That, the Secretary 
of the Army is requested to review the reports of the Chief of 
Engineers on the New York and New Jersey Channels, published as 
House Document 133, 74th Congress, 1st Session; the New York and New 
Jersey Harbor Entrance Channels and Anchorage Areas, published as 
Senate Document 45, 84th Congress, 1st Session; and the New York 
Harbor, NY Anchorage Channel, published as House Document 18, 71st 
Congress, 2nd Session, as well as other related reports with a view 
to determining the feasibility of environmental restoration and 
protection relating to water resources and sediment quality within 
the New York and New Jersey Port District, including but not limited 
to creation, enhancement, and restoration of aquatic, wetland, and 
adjacent upland habitats.

    Section 324 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1992, 
as amended by Section 550 of the WRDA of 1996, authorized the Secretary 
of the Army to provide design and construction assistance to the New 
Jersey Meadowlands Commission of the State of New Jersey for the 
development of an environmental Improvement Program within the 
Hackensack Meadowlands District.
    2. To advance the restoration of specific sites during the 
preparation of the EIS, separate Environmental Assessments will be 
completed for Anderson Creek in Secaucus and other sites throughout the 
Hackensack Meadowlands District.
    3. Federal agencies interested in participating as a Cooperating 
Agency are requested to submit a letter of intent to Colonel Richard J. 
Polo, Jr., District Engineer (see ADDRESSES).
    4. It is estimated that a draft EIS will be completed by April 
2007, subject to availability of funds.

Leonard Houston,
Chief, Environmental Analysis Branch, Planning Division.
[FR Doc. 04-28331 Filed 12-27-04; 8:45 am]
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