[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 133 (Thursday, July 12, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 38069]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-3393]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare a Draft Supplemental 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 availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice of availability announces the public release of 
the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) to 
evaluate construction of authorized improvements to the Federal 
Pascagoula Harbor Navigation Project in Jackson County, MS. The Mobile 
District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published in the Federal 
Register, June 14, 2006, (71 FR 34320) a Notice of Intent to Prepare a 
DSEIS to address the potential impacts associated with construction of 
authorized improvements to the Federal Pascagoula Harbor Navigation 
Project in Jackson County, MS. The DSIES was used as a basis to ensure 
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and for 
evaluating the following two alternative plans: ``No Action'' and 
deepening the federally authorized project from 38 feet to 42 feet deep 
in the Upper Pascagoula channel, deepening the Horn Island Impoundment 
Basin from 44 feet to 56 feet, and widening the Gulf Entrance Channel 
from 450 feet to 550 feet wide. Pascagoula Harbor is authorized to (a) 
An entrance channel 44 deep and 550 feet wide from the Gulf of Mexico 
to Horn Island Pass, a channel 44 feet deep and 600 feet wide through 
Horn Island Pass, including a sediment trap situated on the east side 
of the channel 1,500 feet long, 56 feet deep, and 175 feet wide; (b) A 
channel 42 feet deep and 350 feet wide in Mississippi Sound and the 
Pascagoula River to the railroad bridge at Pascagoula, including a 
turning basin 2,000 feet long and 950 feet wide (including the channel 
area) on the west side of the river below the railroad bridge; (c) A 
channel 42 feet deep throughout and 350 feet wide from the ship channel 
in Mississippi Sound to the 1,150-foot turning basin at the mouth of 
Bayou Casotte, then 350 feet wide for about one mile to the northern 
turning basin, 900 feet wide and 1,750 feet long; (d) A channel 22 feet 
deep and 150 feet wide up Pascagoula River from the railroad bridge to 
the mouth of Escatawpa River (Dog River), thence up the Escatawpa River 
to the Highway 613 Bridge; (e) A channel 12 feet deep and 125 feet wide 
from the Highway 613 Bridge, via Robertson and Bounds Lakes to mile 6.0 
on the Escatawpa River; and (f) A channel 12 feet deep by 80 feet 
extending from deep water in the Pascagoula River to a turning basin in 
Krebs Lake a distance of about 1,500 feet, then along the south bank of 
the lake a channel 10 feet deep and 60 feet wide, terminating at a 
second turning basin, a distance of 2,700 feet from the first. The 
tentatively recommended alternative includes construction of the 
authorized project dimensions.

DATES: The public comment period for the DSEIS will extend through 
August 27, 2007.

ADDRESSES: To receive a copy of the DSEIS, or to submit comments, 
contact U.S. Army of Engineers, Mobile District, Coastal Environment 
Team, P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-0001. A copy of the full document 
may also be viewed in the Mobile Public Library (Main Branch) or in the 
Mobile District.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action 
and the DSEIS should be addressed to Ms. Jennifer L. Jacobson, Chief, 
Coastal Environment Team, phone (251) 690-2724, Mobile District, U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers, P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628 or e-mail 
address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public comments can be submitted through a 
variety of methods. Written comments may be submitted to the Corps by 
mail, facsimile, or electronic methods. Additional comments (written or 
oral) may be presented at the public hearing on August 7, 2007 at the 
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College at the Jackson County Campus, 
Administration Building, 2300 Highway 90, Gautier, MS. Additional 
information on the public hearing will be mailed in a public notice to 
the agencies and public and announced in news releases.

    Dated: June 29, 2007.
Curtis M. Flakes,
Chief, Planning and Environmental Division.
[FR Doc. 07-3393 Filed 7-11-07; 8:45 am]
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