[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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