[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 15, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17455-17456]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-8614]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Notice of Availability of a Final Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement/Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIS/SEIR), 
Draft Air Quality Conformity Determination (CD), and Section 404 Clean 
Water Act for the Port of Los Angeles Channel Deepening Project, Los 
Angeles, CA

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District (Corps) 
and the Los Angeles Harbor Department (LAHD) have prepared a joint 
Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Report (SEIS/SEIR) for the Port of Los Angeles 
Channel Deepening Project, Los Angeles County, California. The Corps 
and the LAHD have reviewed the written and oral comments received 
during the August 6, 2008 public hearing and during the public comment 
period for the Draft SEIS/SEIR. The Corps is publishing a Notice of 
Availability for the Final SEIS/EIR and Draft CD in the Federal 
Register for public review. The document will also be placed at public 
libraries in the vicinity of the project area and distributed to the 
concerned resource agencies and the public who has provided comment on 
the Draft SEIS/SEIR.

DATES: Submit comments on or before May 17, 2009.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, CESPL-
PD-RN, c/o Joy Jaiswal, P.O. Box 532711, Los Angeles, CA 90053-2325.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Joy Jaiswal, Chief, Ecosystem 
Planning Section, at (213) 452-3851 (voice), (213) 452-4204 (fax), or 
by e-mail at [email protected]. You may also contact Ms. 
Megan Wong, Project Environmental Coordinator, at (213) 452-3859 
(voice) or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Final SEIS/SEIR and the Draft CD have 
been filed with the Environmental Protection Agency to be published in 
the Federal Register and is available for a thirty-day (30) public 
review period. Review period for the Final SEIS/EIR and Draft CD will 
begin from the date of publishing the Notice of Availability in the 
Federal Register, which is on April 17, 2009. Please forward your 
comments on the Final SEIS/SEIR and/or the Draft CD by mail, e-mail, or 
fax to the contacts listed below by May 17, 2009.
    (A) Notice for Final SEIS/EIR: The Corps and Port have reviewed all 
the comments received during 45-day public review period and Public 
Hearing on the Draft SEIS/EIR. Based on public comments, eelgrass 
habitat area has been eliminated as one of the disposal sites from 
Alternatives 1 and 2. Alternative 1, Port Development and Environmental 
Enhancement, was developed with a focus on beneficial use of dredge 
material for port development and environmental enhancement and 
disposal sites analyzed in the Final SEIS/EIR are: Berths 243-245, the 
Northwest Slip, CSWH Expansion, and LA-2. Alternative 2, Environmental 
Enhancement and Ocean Disposal, was developed with a focus on 
environmental enhancement related uses of the remaining material and 
does not include any disposal options associated with port development. 
Under Alternative 2, dredge material would be disposed at the CSWH 
Expansion, LA-2, LA-3 and the Anchorage Road Soil Storage Site. Under 
Alternative 3, the No Action Alternative, no further dredging would 
take place and the Channel Deepening Project would not be completed.
    (B) A Draft Conformity Determination (CD) has been prepared for the 
Proposed Action, which is located in Appendix M of the Final SEIS/EIR. 
This notice also serves as review of the Draft CD. The Corps is 
publishing a Notice of Availability for the Final SEIS/EIR and

[[Page 17456]]

Draft CD in the Federal Register for public review. The document will 
also be placed at public libraries in the vicinity of the project area 
and distributed to the concerned resource agencies and the public who 
has provided comment on the Draft SEIS/SEIR. Revisions to the text made 
in the Final SEIS/SEIR are marked with underline and the deleted text 
is marked with strikeout.
    This Final SEIS/SEIR describes the affected resources and evaluates 
the potential impacts to those resources as a result of the Proposed 
Action and alternatives. The purpose of the Proposed Action is to 
dispose of up to 3.0 million cubic yards of dredge material required to 
complete the Channel Deepening Project and to beneficially reuse the 
dredge material within the Port of Los Angeles (Port).
    (C) This announcement also serves as the Public Notice/Notice of 
Availability for the Section 404 Permit under the Clean Water Act 
(CWA). An application has been received for a Department of the Army 
permit for the activity described herein. The Corps is considering an 
application submitted by the LAHD for a permit, in accordance with 
Section 404 of the CWA, Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, and 
Section 103 of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act, to 
complete dredging activities outside of the Federal Channel and 
placement of the dredge material in waters of the United States in the 
Port of Los Angeles and at designated ocean disposal sites (LA-2 and 
LA-3).
    This SEIS/SEIR will be used by the Corps as part of their 
application review process. The Corps and the LAHD independently 
determined under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the 
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), respectively, that there 
were potential significant environmental impacts associated with the 
proposed action, and an Environmental Impact Statement and 
Environmental Impact Report was required.

1. Authorization

    By Water Resources Development Act of (WRDA) 2000, the Port of Los 
Angeles Channel Deepening Project was authorized for construction. The 
project is a continuation of the navigation channel optimization that 
began with the 1994 Deep Draft Navigation Improvement (DDNI) project.

2. Background

    The proposed project area is located at the Port of Los Angeles, 
California. This SEIS/SEIR is a supplement to the 2000 SEIS/SEIR that 
was prepared for the Channel Deepening Project, which was a supplement 
to the 1998 Channel Deepening Project EIR and the 1992 Deep Draft 
Navigation Improvements Project EIS/EIR the modifications required to 
complete disposal of dredged material from the authorized project. This 
SEIS/SEIR addresses impacts associated with providing additional 
disposal capacity of approximately 3 mcy required to complete the 
Channel Deepening Project. Additional disposal capacity is required to 
complete the deepening of the navigation channel and berthing areas to 
-53 feet Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) at container terminals along the 
deepened channel and the removal of dredge material that was 
temporarily used as surcharge at the Southwest Slip. This project meets 
a public need for safe and efficient commercial navigation.

3. Availability of the Final SEIS/SEIR and Draft CD

    The Final SEIS/SEIR and the Draft CD for the Proposed Action are 
being distributed directly to agencies, organizations, and interested 
groups and persons for comment during the 30-day formal review period 
in accordance with Section 1506.10 of the Council on Environmental 
Quality NEPA Regulations and Section 176 of the Clean Air Act for CD, 
and Section 404 of Clean Water Act. During the 30-day public review 
period, which begins on April 17, 2009 and ends on May 17, 2009, the 
Final SEIS/SEIR is available for general public review at the following 
locations:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, Environmental 
Resources Branch, 915 Wilshire Blvd., 14th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90053
Los Angeles Public Library, San Pedro Branch, 921 South Gaffey Street, 
San Pedro, CA 90731
Los Angeles Public Library, Central Branch, 630 West 5th Street, Los 
Angeles, CA 90071
Port of Los Angeles, Environmental Management Division, 425 South Palos 
Verdes Street, San Pedro, CA 90731
Los Angeles Public Library, Wilmington Branch, 1300 North Avalon 
Boulevard, Wilmington, CA 90744

    Dated: April 1, 2009.
Thomas H. Magness,
Colonel, U.S. Army, District Commander.
[FR Doc. E9-8614 Filed 4-14-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-KF-P