[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 6, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17393-17394]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7720]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the 
``Flood Control, Mississippi River & Tributaries, St. Johns Bayou and 
New Madrid Floodway, Missouri, First Phase'' (SJNM) Project

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a DEIS.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is announcing its intent to 
prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the 
Mississippi River and Tributaries, St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid 
Floodway, MO Project. The DEIS is being prepared to address and 
evaluate the environmental, economic and social impacts of alternative 
plans to provide flood control and develop and discuss locations and 
methodologies of potential compensatory mitigation. This DEIS will 
address previous project history, independent external peer reviews, 
State/Federal agency concerns and will formulate alternatives that 
manage flood risks in the project area.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Gregg Williams, telephone (901) 
544-3852, CEMVM-PB-E, 167 North Main Street B-202, Memphis, TN 38103-
1894, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The St. Johns Bayou Basin and New Madrid 
Floodway are located in the Bootheel region of southeast Missouri and 
include all or portions of the New Madrid, Scott and Mississippi 
Counties. The basin and floodway are adjacent to the Mississippi River, 
extending from the vicinity of Commerce, Missouri to New Madrid, 
Missouri. The basin and floodway are subject to both backwater and 
interior headwater flooding. Congress authorized the Mississippi River 
and Tributaries (MR&T) Project to construct the mainline Mississippi 
River levees. The Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway was part of the 1928 
Flood Control Act. A levee closure and outlet structure at New Madrid, 
Missouri were authorized in the Flood Control Act of 1954 (Pub. L. 780-
83) but not constructed. The St. Johns Bayou Basin levee closure, with 
drainage structure, was authorized in the Flood Control Act of 1946, 
and subsequently constructed. An EIS for the MR&T and Channel 
Improvement was filed with the Council on Environmental Quality in July 
1976, which addressed the New Madrid Floodway levee closure. The St. 
Johns Bayou/New Madrid Floodway Project Final Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) was filed with the EPA in July 
1982. The current project was authorized for construction by the Water 
Resources Development Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 99-662), section 401(a). The 
authorized project is based on the Report of the Chief of Engineers, 
dated January 4, 1983, which is part of the Phase I General Design 
Memorandum (GDM) documents prepared in response to section 101(a) of 
the Water Resources Development Act of 1976 (Pub. L. 94-587). A Revised 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (RSEIS) was filed in June 
2002. The Revised Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 2 
(RSEIS2) was prepared to clarify the record and address concerns 
related to the calculation of compensatory mitigation for mid-season 
fishery impacts, hypoxia, cost-benefit analysis, Swampbuster and the 
applicable discount rate in the economics analysis. The RSEIS2 was 
filed in March 2006.
    The Corps has determined that a new EIS is required to incorporate 
additional scientific and engineering data; include the results of 
intensive independent external peer review of the previous project 
document, plans and studies; clarify project objectives and plans; and 
address points raised in the course of legal action.
    1. Proposed Action: The authorized project for the St. Johns Bayou 
and New Madrid Floodway Project consists of channel enlargement and 
improvement in the St. Johns Bayou Basin along the lower 4.5 miles of 
the St. Johns Bayou, beginning at New Madrid, Missouri, then continuing 
8.1 miles along the Birds Point-New Madrid Setback Levee Ditch and 
ending with 10.8 miles along the St. James Ditch. The first item of 
work, consisting of selective clearing and snagging, has already been 
completed along a 4.3-mile reach of the Setback Levee Ditch beginning 
at the confluence with the St. James Ditch.
    The authorized project also includes a 1,000-cubic-foot-per-second 
(CFS) pumping station for the St. Johns Bayou Basin area, a 1,500-CFS 
pumping station for the New Madrid Floodway area and a 1,500-foot-
closure levee at the southern end of the New Madrid Floodway. The 
channel enlargement work and both pumping stations are features of the 
St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway Project and the levee closure 
is a feature of the Mississippi River Levee Project.
    2. Alternatives: Alternatives to manage flood risks in the project 
area will be considered. Comparisons will be made among the alternative 
plans, including the ``no action'' alternative.
    3. Scoping Process: An intensive public involvement program has 
been set up to (1) solicit input from individuals and interested 
parties so that problems, needs and opportunities within the project 
area can be properly identified and addressed and (2) provide status 
updates to concerned organizations and the public. Significant issues 
being analyzed include potential project impacts (negative and 
positive) to fisheries, water quality, wetlands, waterfowl, shorebirds, 
endangered species and cultural resources.
    Meetings with the local sponsor, public coordination meetings, 
interagency environmental meetings and public project briefings/
presentations will be conducted throughout this process. This notice is 
being circulated to Federal, State and local environmental resource and 
regulatory agencies; Indian Tribes; non-governmental organizations; and 
the general public. This notice of intent (NOI) will serve as a request 
for scoping input. All interested parties are encouraged to participate 
in the scoping process. A public scoping meeting will be held on May 
11, 2010, at 7 p.m. in the East Prairie Church of God, 322 N. 
Washington St., East Prairie, MO 63845. It is anticipated that the DEIS 
will be available for public review during spring 2012. A public 
meeting will be held during the review period to receive

[[Page 17394]]

comments and address questions concerning the draft report.

Thomas P. Smith,
Colonel, Corps of Engineers, District Commander.
[FR Doc. 2010-7720 Filed 4-5-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P