[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 27, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4741-4743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-1678]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement/
Environmental Impact Report for the West Sacramento Levee Improvements 
Program, West Sacramento, CA

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

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The action being taken is the preparation of a programmatic 
and project-specific Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental 
Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the West Sacramento Levee Improvements 
Program (WSLIP) in Yolo County and Solano County, CA. Under 33 U.S.C. 
408, the Chief of Engineers grants permission to alter an existing 
flood control structure if it is not injurious to the public interest 
and does not impair the usefulness of such work. Under Section 404 of 
the Clean Water Act, the District Engineer permits the discharge of 
dredged or fill material into waters of the United States if the 
discharge meets the requirements for the Environmental Protection 
Agency's 404(b)(1) guidelines and is not contrary to the public 
interest. The U.S Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) will consider 
granting both 408 permission to the Central Valley Flood Protection 
Board (CVFPB) and 404 permit to West Sacramento Area Flood Control 
Agency (WSAFCA) for their work on the WSLIP. The CVFPB and WSAFCA are 
requesting this permission and permit in order to reduce flood risk the 
City of West Sacramento by meeting the following objectives for the 
project:
     Achieve a minimum of a 200-year level (an event that has a 
0.5% chance of occurring in any given year) of flood protection for the 
entire City by improving approximately 50 miles of levees that protect 
it;
     Construct levee improvements as soon as possible to reduce 
flood risk as quickly as possible; and,
     Provide recreational and open space elements for the City 
that are compatible with flood improvement actions.

DATES: A public scoping meeting will be held on February 12, 2009 at 
3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at the West Sacramento City Hall (see 
ADDRESSES). Send written

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comments by February 26, 2009 to (see ADDRESSES).

ADDRESSES: Public Scoping meeting, West Sacramento City Hall, 1110 West 
Capitol Avenue, West Sacramento, CA. Send written comments and 
suggestions concerning this study to Mr. Brian Buttazoni, U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District, Attn: Planning Division 
(CESPK-PD-RA), 1325 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 or to Mr. John 
Powderly, City of West Sacramento, 1110 West Capitol, Sacramento, CA 
95691. Requests to be placed on the mailing list should also be sent to 
this address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action 
and EIS/EIR should be addressed to Brian Buttazoni at (916) 557-6956, 
e-mail [email protected] or John Powderly at (916) 617-
4674, e-mail [email protected] or by mail (see ADDRESSES).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    1. Proposed Action. The Corps and WSAFCA are preparing an EIS/EIR 
to analyze the impacts of the work proposed in WSLIP. The Corps will 
serve as the lead agency under the provisions of NEPA and WSAFCA will 
serve as the lead agency under the provisions of the California 
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
    Several studies have been conducted since 1989 by the Corps, 
California Department of Water Resources (DWR), and WSAFCA to evaluate 
the condition of the various levees protecting the City of West 
Sacramento. These studies have indicated that the levee system is 
deficient and that the consequences of levee failure from a major flood 
event would be significant.
    Since the early 1990s, WSAFCA and its partners have undertaken 
several levee repair projects to address urgent levee deficiencies that 
pose serious flood risk. Many of these repair projects were the result 
of deficiencies noted during routine operations and maintenance 
inspections and repairs were performed on a case-by-case basis.
    In July 2006, in response to new Corps design standards and the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Flood Insurance Rate Map 
modernization program, the City, as part of WSAFCA, determined that it 
was necessary to perform a comprehensive evaluation of all of the 
levees protecting the City to more definitely determine its current 
level of flood protection, determine the magnitude and severity of any 
deficiencies, and develop recommended strategies for improvement. For 
this most recent comprehensive evaluation, the levees were evaluated 
according to the latest Corps criteria for stability, seepage, erosion, 
geometry, and levee height. Data collected from the evaluation showed 
that much of the existing system does not provide protection from a 
100-year flood event (an event having a 1% chance of occurring in any 
given year), the commonly accepted minimum level of flood protection.
    WSAFCA has identified the primary deficiencies of the levee system, 
which include: Inadequate levee height, through-seepage and under-
seepage, slope stability, seismic vulnerability, erosion, and non-
compliant vegetation. The study area of the WSLIP includes the entire 
WSAFCA boundaries (over 50 miles of levees) which encompasses portions 
of the Sacramento River, the Yolo Bypass, the Sacramento Bypass, and 
the Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel (DWSC). The study area has been 
subdivided into the following sub-reaches: Sacramento River Levee 
North, Sacramento River Levee South, Port North Levee, Port South 
Levee, South Cross Levee, Deep Water Ship Channel Levee East, Deep 
Water Ship Channel Levee West, Yolo Bypass Levee, and Sacramento Bypass 
Levee.
    2. Alternatives. The EIS/EIR will address an array of flood control 
improvement alternatives at the program level. Alternatives analyzed 
during the investigation will include a combination of one or more 
flood protection measures. These measures include raising the existing 
levee; constructing an adjacent setback levee, cutoff walls, seepage 
berms, stability berms, internal drains, relief wells, or sheet-pile 
walls; slope flattening; placing stone protection; and vegetation 
removal.
    Measures may be applied individually or combined to address 
deficiencies. For example, a seepage deficiency may be addressed by 
utilizing a seepage berm or a relief well, or a combination of both. 
Because each reach has a specific set of levee deficiencies and each 
levee deficiency has a number of different measures that could be 
utilized to improve the levee, WSAFCA is proposing to develop a range 
of alternatives on a reach-by-reach basis rather than basin-wide to 
provide greater flexibility. Constraints that would be considered 
during the development of alternatives for each reach could include 
land use (i.e., development immediately adjacent to the levee), 
available area for various types of construction activities necessary 
to construct improvements, and other environmental effects. Future 
actions analyzed at the program level may or may not require additional 
analysis under a separate tiered environmental document(s). A No-Action 
Alternative will be analyzed at the program level.
    Three sites have been identified that would be analyzed at the 
project level and included within the EIS/EIR. Also known as ``Early 
Implementation Projects,'' these sites are known as CHP Academy, The 
Rivers, and the Sac Bank Extension Site. Analysis for the sites 
considered at the project level will include the analysis of No Action, 
a Preferred Alternative, and any other alternatives considered.
     CHP Academy Site. This site includes 4,500 feet of the 
Sacramento Bypass Levee and the northern 2,000 feet of the Sacramento 
River West North Levee, for a total length of 6,500 feet. Deficiencies 
include through-seepage and geometry. Under-seepage and stability 
deficiencies are also present in smaller pockets within this reach.
     The Rivers Site. This site is located just north of the 
confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers, incorporating part of 
The Rivers residential development. The site extends from station 70+00 
to station 115+00 on the Sacramento River, for a total length of 
approximately 4,500 feet. The site exhibits geometry, stability, and 
under-seepage deficiencies.
     Sac Bank Extension Site. This site is located just south 
of the barge canal on the Sacramento River and is the northern most end 
of the Sacramento River West South Levee. The site extends from station 
270+00 to 332+50 for a total length of 6,250 feet. The site generally 
exhibits under-seepage, stability, and geometry deficiencies. There are 
a few locations which have erosion and levee height deficiencies as 
well. This site adjoins, complements, and extends a separate Corps 
project under the Sacramento River Bank Protection Project.
    3. Scoping Process. a. Public scoping meetings will be held on 
February 12, 2009 to present information and to receive comments from 
the public. The Corps, with WSAFCA, has initiated a process to involve 
concerned individuals, and local, State, and Federal agencies.
    b. Significant issues to be analyzed in depth in the EIS/EIR 
include effects on aesthetics, biological resources, hazards and 
hazardous materials, mineral resources, public services, utilities/
service systems, agricultural resources, cultural resources, hydrology/
water quality, noise, recreation, air quality, geology/soils, land use/
planning, population/housing, transportation/traffic, and cumulative 
effects of related projects in the study area.

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    c. The Corps will consult with the State Historic Preservation 
Officer to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act, the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration Fisheries Service to comply with the Endangered Species 
Act and the FWS to provide a Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act Report 
as an appendix to the EIS/EIR. Coordination will also be carried out 
with Native American and tribal groups. Consultation will be carried 
out on the three project level sites analyzed in the document. Those 
reaches considered at the program level would be fully analyzed in the 
future under separate tiered environmental document(s) and consultation 
would be carried out at that time.
    d. A 45-day public review period will be provided for individuals 
and agencies to review and comment on the draft EIS/EIR. All interested 
parties are encouraged to respond to this notice and provide a current 
address if they wish to be notified of the draft EIS/EIR circulation.
    4. Availability. The draft EIS/EIR is anticipated to be available 
for public review and comment in mid 2009.

    Dated: January 13, 2009.
Thomas C. Chapman,
COL, EN Commanding.
 [FR Doc. E9-1678 Filed 1-26-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P