[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 22, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62949-62950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-25213]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation Service


Withdrawal of Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Manoa Watershed, Honolulu County, HI

AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service, Department of 
Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of Intent (Withdrawal).

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SUMMARY: Withdraw from publication the Notice of Intent dated Thursday, 
March 22, 2007, Federal Register/Vol. 72. No. 55, the Natural Resources 
Conservation Service (NRCS) announced its intention to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act for the Manoa Watershed Plan to mitigate 
residential and commercial flooding in Manoa Valley, City and County of 
Honolulu, Hawaii. The Manoa Watershed Plan and joint EIS would be 
prepared by NRCS, State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural 
Resources, and the City and County of Honolulu. The federal authority 
for the project was the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act 
(Pub. L. 83-566, as amended). The EIS would evaluate the full range of 
alternatives to mitigate flooding of the magnitude experienced on 
October 30, 2004, when an intense rainstorm hit the upper Manoa Valley, 
causing nearly $100 million in flood damage to residences, businesses, 
and facilities at the University of Hawaii. The Manoa Watershed project 
has not received funding in the 2007 and 2008 fiscal years. The Manoa 
Watershed area will be incorporated into the Ala Wai Canal Project, 
administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers which will continue to 
pursue a flood protection plan for Manoa Valley. The U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers published a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Ala Wai Canal

[[Page 62950]]

Project in the Federal Register on October 2, 2008. Therefore, NRCS is 
withdrawing its Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lawrence T. Yamamoto, Director, 
Pacific Islands Area, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 300 Ala 
Moana Blvd., Room 4-118, P.O. Box 50004, Honolulu, HI 96850; Telephone: 
(808) 541-2600, ext. 105.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NRCS has provided technical and financial 
assistance for planning and implementation of water resources projects 
to state and county sponsors in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands through 
the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act, as amended, since 
1964. Funding for the Manoa Watershed project was authorized in Section 
726 of the 2006 Agricultural Appropriations Act. The funds have 
produced significant planning products for the Manoa Watershed, 
including community and public planning events, topographic mapping, 
hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, initial environmental and historic 
assessments, and formulation of measures to reduce flood damage. These 
planning products will be documented in technical reports to be 
completed by September 30, 2008, instead of a preliminary EIS. The 
technical reports will be utilized for the Manoa Subwatershed phase of 
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Ala Wai Canal Watershed Project. A 
public meeting was conducted on July 22, 2008, to report on the 
termination of the Manoa Watershed project by NRCS, review the planning 
products, and discuss the transition of the Manoa Watershed into a 
phase of the Ala Wai Canal Project.

(This activity is listed in the catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance under No. 10.904--Watershed Protection and Flood 
Prevention--and is subject to the provisions of Executive Order 
12372 which requires intergovernmental consultation with State and 
local officials.)

    Dated: October 7, 2008.
Lawrence T. Yamamoto,
Director, Pacific Islands Area, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
[FR Doc. E8-25213 Filed 10-22-08; 8:45 am]
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