[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 114 (Wednesday, June 14, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34320-34321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-5385]


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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 Pascagoula Harbor Navigation Project in Jackson 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 Pascagoula 
Harbor Navigation Project in Jackson 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 and deepening to the authorized project 
dimensions. Construction of some of the authorized improvements was 
completed in 1999. Remaining authorized elements which will be 
evaluated include widening the Gulf Entrance channel from 450 feet to 
550 feet wide and deepening the Upper Pascagoula channel from 38 feet 
to 42 feet deep.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action 
and the DSEIS should be addressed to Ms. Jenny Jacobson, Coastal 
Environmental Team, Mobile District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, P.O. 
Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628 by telephone (251) 690-2724 or e-mail her at 
[email protected].
    1. The March 1985 Pascagoula Harbor, MS Feasibility Report 
investigated increased widths and depths in the Pascagoula and Bayou 
Casotte navigation channels. Of the plans initially formulated, five 
were selected for detailed study along with the ``No Action'' 
alternative. All plans considered for detailed study included deepening 
all the channels in Mississippi Sound to 42 feet and the Entrance 
channel to 44 feet; widening of the Entrance channel to 550 feet; 
widening of the Bayou Casotte channel to 350 feet; and providing a 
1,400-foot turning diameter turning basin just inside the month of 
Bayou Casotte. The 1985 Feasibility Report recommended deepening and 
widening the Gulf Entrance channel to 44 feet by 550 feet from the 44-
foot depth contour in the Gulf of Mexico to the bend at the southern 
end of Horn Island Pass, deepening and widening Horn Island Pass to 44 
feet by 600 feet between the bends at the southern and northern ends of 
that pass, for a distance of about 4 and \1/2\ miles; reconfiguring the 
impoundment basin in Horn Island Pass to provide a section within the 
channel limits 1,500 feet long with a total depth of 56 feet to 
facilitate maintenance by hopper dredge, and allowing for future 
realignment of the Horn Island Pass reach as natural conditions 
warrant. In addition, deepening the Lower Pascagoula channel to 42 feet 
from the bend at the north end of Horn Island Pass, through Mississippi 
Sound and into the Pascagoula River, and terminating about 500 feet 
south of the grain elevator for a total distance of about 10 miles; 
widening the bend at the junction with the Bayou Casotte channel from 
the present 150 feet to 250 feet to provide a total width at the bend 
of 600 feet and widening the bend at the mouth of Pascagoula River by 
280 feet to provide a total width at the bend of 630 feet. Finally, 
widening and

[[Page 34321]]

deepening the Bayou Casotte channel to 42 feet by 350 feet from the 
junction with of the main channel to the mouth of Bayou Casotte, a 
distance of about 3 and \1/2\ miles; with additional widening at the 
mouth to provide a turning basin with a total turning diameter of 1,150 
feet, including the channel width; relieving the northern portion of 
the area between the junction wtih the main ship channel from the 
present 500 feet to 1,000 feet, and widening the bend at the mouth of 
Bayou Casotte from the present 50 feet to 100 feet to provide a total 
width at the bend of 450 feet. A Final EIS for the Designation of an 
Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site (ODMDS) located offshore 
Pascagoula, MS was prepared in July 1991. Construction of all phases of 
the improvements, except for the Entrance channel being widened to 550 
feet and the Pascagoula Upper channel being deepened to 42 feet, were 
completed in 1999.
    2. Alternative scenarios to be considered include the ``No action'' 
alternative and deepening and widening the federally authorized project 
to 42 feet deep in the Upper Pascagoula channel and 550 feet wide in 
the Gulf Entrance channel, respectively. In addition, an array of 
disposal options are also being evaluated for the new work as well as 
for the maintenance material including littoral zone disposal, 
beneficial use, disposal in the existing Pascagoula ODMDS, and disposal 
in existing open-water disposal sites.
    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 DEIS will analyze the potential social, economic, and 
environmental impacts to the local area resulting from 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, 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. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, 
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Mississippi Department 
of Marine Resources, Jackson County Port Authority, City of Pascagoula, 
and State Historic Preservation Officer.
    4. It is anticipated that the first scoping meeting will be held in 
the July 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 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 December 2006.

Curtis M. Flakes,
Chief, Planning and Environmental Division.
[FR Doc. 06-5385 Filed 6-13-05; 8:45 am]
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