[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 62 (Friday, March 31, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16294-16296]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-3146]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare a Draft Supplement to the Environmental Impact 
Statement To Evaluate Construction of Authorized Improvements to the 
Federal Gulfport Harbor Navigation Project in Harrison County, MS

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

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Mobile District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), 
intends to prepare a Draft Supplement to the Environmental Impact 
Statement (DSEIS) to address the potential impacts associated with 
construction of authorized improvements to the Federal Gulfport Harbor 
Navigation Project in Harrison County, MS. The DSEIS will be used as a 
basis for ensuring compliance with the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) and evaluating the following two alternative plans: ``No 
Action'' and widening to the authorized project dimensions. Gulfport 
Harbor is authorized to (a) A channel 38 feet deep by 400 feet wide and 
about 8 miles long across Ship Island Bar; (b) a channel 36 feet deep 
by 300 feet wide and about 12 miles long through Mississippi Sound; and 
(c) a stepped anchorage basin at Gulfport Harbor 32 to 36 feet deep by 
1,120 feet wide and 2,640 feet long.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action 
and the DSEIS should be addressed to Dr. Susan Ivester Rees, Coastal 
Environment Team, Mobile District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, P.O. 
Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628 by telephone (251) 694-4141 or e-mail her at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    1. Gulfport Harbor is located in Harrison County, MS, on 
Mississippi Sound about equidistant (80 miles) from New Orleans, LA, 
and Mobile, AL. The existing project was adopted by the River and 
Harbor Act approved July 3, 1930 (House Document Number 692, 69th. 
Congress, 2nd. Session) and the

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River and Harbor Act approved June 30, 1948 (House Document Number 112, 
81st. Congress, 1st Session). Construction of the existing federal 
project commenced in 1932, and was completed in 1950. The River and 
Harbor Act approved July 3, 1958 (Senate Document Number 123, 84th. 
Congress, 2nd. Session) adopted the small boat harbor as part of the 
existing federal project. Deepening improvements to the existing 
Federal project at Gulfport Harbor was authorized in the Supplemental 
Appropriations Act of 1985 (Pub. L. 99-88), which was approved on 
August 15, 1985. The project was also authorized in the Water Resources 
Development Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 99-662), which was approved November 
17, 1986, and provided for development to deepen and widen the existing 
ship channel 36 by 300 feet in Mississippi Sound, and 38 by 400 feet 
across the bar, with changes in the channel alignment and entrance to 
the anchorage basin for safe and unrestricted navigation.
    The 1976 Feasibility Report considered a number of improvement 
plans, such as widening the Mississippi Sound channel to 300 feet at 
the existing 30-foot depth and deepening the channel in 2-foot 
increments to a maximum depth of 36 feet. In addition, widening the 
channel across the bar into the Gulf of Mexico to 400 feet at the 
existing 32-foot depth and deepening the channel in 2-foot increments 
to a maximum depth of 38 feet were also evaluated. The Corps analyzed 
realignment of the Ship Island channel, adjustment of the turning 
basin's width, and enlargement of the channel entrance into the turning 
basin. A number of disposal options were considered including: open-
water alongside of the channels, island creation within Mississippi 
Sound, and use of specially designed equipment to transport the dredged 
material to sites within the Gulf of Mexico. The 1976 Feasibility 
Report recommended enlarging the Bar channel to 38 feet by 400 feet 
from the 38-foot depth contour in the Gulf of Mexico for a distance of 
about 9.1 miles to a point in Mississippi Sound near the western end of 
Ship Island; enlarging the channel through Mississippi Sound near the 
western end of Ship Island; and enlarging the Mississippi Sound channel 
to 36 feet by 300 feet for a distance of about 11.8 miles between the 
inner end of the Gulf Entrance channel and the turning basin at 
Gulfport; realigning the Bar channel through Ship Island Pass to a 
location generally parallel to and about 1,000 feet west of that 
presently authorized, with a deposition basin for littoral drift 38 
feet deep, 300 feet wide and 2,000 feet long adjacent to the east side 
of the channel at the west end of Ship Island; and enlarging and 
adjusting the dimensions of the turning basin and channel entrance by 
extending the southern limits of the basin seaward about 1,180 feet 
along the west pier and 2,300 feet along the west side of the Ship 
channel, decreasing the width of the turning basin from 1,320 feet, as 
presently authorized, to 1,120 feet, and deepening the basin and 
adjusted channel approach to 36 feet. Improvements of the Gulfport 
Harbor navigation project was initially authorized by the Fiscal Year 
1985 Supplemental Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 99-88) in accordance with 
the 1976 Feasibility Report. As a result of this authorization, studies 
were initiated relative to the island construction within the Sound and 
the impacts of thin-layer disposal of new work material. This initial 
authorization was subsequently modified by the Water Resources 
Development Act (WRDA) of 1986. A revised Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS), circulated in 1988, considered widening and deepening 
the existing Gulfport Harbor navigation channel to the authorized 
dimensions. In addition, five alignments for the channel segment 
through Ship Island Pass were also considered. Material from the 
construction and maintenance of the project were to be disposed of in 
the ocean sites. The WRDA of 1988 further modified the authorized 
project to include disposing of construction material via thin-layer 
disposal in Mississippi Sound under a demonstration program. The 
maintenance material would be disposed of in Mississippi Sound under a 
plan developed by the Secretary and approved by the Administrator of 
the Environmental Project Agency. The Corps published an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) in June 1989 evaluating deepening and widening 
Gulfport Harbor with subsequent placement via thin-layer and ocean 
disposal. The proposed Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement (DSEIS) uses the 1989 EIS as a reference during its 
evaluation of constructing Gulfport Harbor to authorized project 
dimensions. The DSEIS will evaluate any new conditions that were not 
previously addressed in the 1989 EIS.
    2. Alternative scenarios to be considered include the ``No action'' 
alternative and widening to the federally authorized dimension of 300 
feet in the Mississippi Sound channel and 400 feet in the Bar channel. 
In addition, an array of disposal options are also being evaluated for 
the new work as well as for the maintenance material including island 
creation, littoral zone disposal, disposal in the existing Ocean 
Dredged Material Disposal Site (ODMDS), and disposal in a new ODMDS. 
Currently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing 
an EIS for the ``Designation of a New Gulfport Harbor Offshore ODMDS.''
    3. Scoping: a. The Corps invites full public participation to 
promote open communication on the issues surrounding the proposal. All 
Federal, State, and local agencies, and other persons or organizations 
that have an interest are urged to participate in the NEPA scoping 
process. Public meetings will be held to help identify significant 
issues and to receive public input and comment.
    b. The DSEIS will analyze the potential social, economic, and 
environmental impacts to the local area resulting form construction of 
authorized improvements. Specifically, the following major issues will 
be analyzed in depth in the DSEIS: Hydrologic and hydraulic regimes, 
threatened and endangered species, essential fish habitat and other 
marine habitat, air quality, cultural resources, wastewater treatment 
capacities and discharges, drainage discharges, transportation systems, 
alternatives, secondary and cumulative impacts, socioeconomic impacts, 
environmental justice (effect on minorities and low-income groups) 
(Executive Order 12898), and protection of children (Executive Order 
13045).
    c. The Corps will serve as the lead Federal agency in the 
preparation of the DSEIS. It is anticipated that the following agencies 
will be invited and will accept cooperating agency status for the 
preparation of the DSEIS: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. 
Department of the Interior--Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, U.S. Department of Commerce--
National Marine Fisheries Service, Mississippi Department of 
Environmental Quality, Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, 
Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport, City of Gulfport, and 
State Historic Preservation Officer.
    4. It is anticipated that the first scoping meeting will be held in 
the April 2006 time frame in the local area. Actual time and place for 
the meeting and subsequent meetings or workshops will be announced by 
the Corps by

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issuance of a public notice and/or notices in the local media.
    5. It is anticipated that the DSEIS will be made available for 
public review in May 2006.

Curtis M. Flakes,
Chief, Planning and Environmental Division.
[FR Doc. 06-3146 Filed 3-30-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-CR-M