[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 47 (Friday, March 11, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12207-12208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-4819]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Withdrawal of Notice for Preparation of a Draft Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement to the July 2002 Final Dredged Material 
Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement, McNary Reservoir 
and Lower Snake River Reservoirs, in the States of Oregon, Washington, 
and Idaho

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Walla Walla District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
(Corps) is withdrawing its intent to prepare a Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to the July 2002 Final Dredged 
Material Management Plan (DMMP) and Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS): McNary Reservoir and Lower Snake River Reservoirs (DMMP/EIS). 
The Notice of Intent was for the SEIS published in the Federal Register 
on June 5, 2003 (68 FR 33684). The Corps is now re-evaluating channel 
maintenance needs and has determined that an SIES is not appropriate at 
this time.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jack Sands, Program Manager, Walla 
Walla District, Corps of Engineers, CENWW-PM-PPM, 201 North Third 
Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362, phone (509) 527-7287, or Ms. Sandra 
Simmons, Environmental Coordinator, Walla Walla District, Corps of 
Engineers, CENWW-PD-EC, 201 North Third Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362, 
phone (509) 527-7265.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DMMP/EIS defined the programmatic 
approach the Corps planned to follow for the next 20 years for 
maintaining the congressionally authorized navigation channel by 
managing sediment deposition, dredging, and disposing of dredged 
material removed from those reaches of the Columbia, Snake, and 
Clearwater Rivers that make up that portion of the Columbia/Snake 
Rivers Inland Navigation Waterway within the Walla Walla District 
boundaries. The DMMP/EIS also addressed the need to provide flow 
conveyance at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers at 
Lewiston, Idaho, as dredging has been used to maintain adequate flow 
conveyance in this area. The DMMP/EIS considered four alternatives: (1) 
No Action (No Change), Maintenance Dredging with In-Water Disposal; (2) 
Maintenance Dredging with In-Water Disposal to Create Fish Habitat and 
a 3-Foot levee Raise; (3) Maintenance Dredging with Upland Disposal and 
a 3-Foot Levee Raise; and (4) Maintenance Dredging with Beneficial Use 
of Dredged Material and a 3-Foot Levee Raise. This supplement was to 
reorganize and clarify information already included in the DMMP/EIS, 
expand the discussions and evaluations of measures considered in the 
DMMP/EIS, incorporate new information and data collected subsequent to 
the issuance of the DMMP/EIS, and modify alternatives, including the 
preferred alternative. When completed and approved, this SEIS, along 
with the DMMP/EIS, was to constitute the Corps' long-term programmatic 
plan for maintaining the congressionally-authorized navigation channel 
within the Walla Walla District.
    The DMMP/EIS and additional environmental compliance documentation 
addressing navigation channel maintenance were challenged in court. 
Preliminary injunctions resulting from these challenges halted planned 
maintenance activities. The Corps is currently reviewing the previous 
documentation and will issue a new Notice of Intent, if applicable, 
announcing future environmental compliance that addresses navigation

[[Page 12208]]

channel and sediment management in the Walla Walla District.

Randy L. Glaeser,
LTC, EN, Commanding.
[FR Doc. 05-4819 Filed 3-10-05; 8:45 am]
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