[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 78 (Friday, April 23, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21252-21253]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-9447]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement/
Environmental Impact Report for Phase 3 of Reclamation District No. 17 
100-Year Levee Seepage Area Project, San Joaquin County, 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 an environmental 
impact statement/environmental impact report (EIS/EIR) for Phase 3 of 
Reclamation District No. 17's (RD 17) 100-year Levee Seepage Area 
Project (LSAP). To implement Phase 3 of the LSAP, RD 17 is requesting 
permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pursuant to Section 14 
of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 408, referred to as 
``Section 408'') for alteration of Federal project levees and Section 
404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) for placement of fill into 
jurisdictional waters of the United States. Under Section 408, the 
Chief of Engineers may grant permission to alter an existing Federal 
project if it is not injurious to the public interest and does not 
impair the usefulness of the project. Portions of the RD 17 levee 
system including the section of levee along the south bank of French 
Camp Slough, along the east bank of the San Joaquin River, and along 
the northerly bank of Walthall Slough are Federal project levees. 
Therefore, Section 408 permission is required for structural 
improvements to these portions of the RD 17 levee system and would be 
issued to the Central Valley Flood Protection Board. Under Section 404, 
the District Engineer permits the discharge of dredged or fill material 
into waters of the United States if the discharge meets the 
requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency's 404(b)(1) 
guidelines and is not contrary to the public interest. As the landside 
levee improvements would result in a discharge of fill material into 
waters of the United States, permission under Section 404 is needed and 
would be issued directly to RD 17. RD 17 is located in San Joaquin 
County, California in the cities of Stockton, Lathrop, and Manteca.

DATES: A public scoping meeting will be held on May 11, 2010, from 2 
p.m. until 5 p.m. (see ADDRESSES). Send written comments by May 24, 
2010.

ADDRESSES: Public Scoping Meeting, City Council Chambers, Lathrop City

[[Page 21253]]

Hall, 390 Towne Centre Drive, Lathrop, CA. Send written comments and 
suggestions concerning this study to Ms. Sarah Ross, U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Sacramento District, Attn: Planning Division (CESPK-PD-RA), 
1325 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814-2922. 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 Ms. Sarah Ross at (916) 557-5256, by 
e-mail [email protected], or by mail (see ADDRESSES).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    1. Proposed Action. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing 
an EIS/EIR to analyze the impacts of the work proposed by RD 17 to 
implement Phase 3 of the LSAP. The overall purpose of the LSAP is to 
reduce the risk of flooding by implementing improvements to portions of 
the approximately 19-mile RD 17 levee system to meet applicable Federal 
and State design recommendations for levees protecting urban areas. 
Phase 3 is a component of the LSAP proposed by RD 17 and would 
construct landside improvements to 23 subreaches of 10 levee reaches 
involving approximately 8.4 miles of the RD 17 levee system starting 
near the southern boundary of the city of Stockton, through the city of 
Lathrop, and to the southern boundary of the city of Manteca.
    2. Alternatives. The EIS/EIR will consider several alternatives for 
reducing flood damage. Alternatives analyzed during the investigation 
will consist of a combination of one or more measures to reduce the 
risk of flooding. These measures include installing cutoff walls, 
constructing seepage berms, and constructing setback levees.
    3. Scoping Process.
    a. A public scoping meeting will be held on May 11, 2010, to 
present information to the public and to receive comments from the 
public. This meeting will begin a process to solicit input from the 
public as well as Federal, State, and local agencies concerned with 
Phase 3 of the LSAP.
    b. Significant issues to be analyzed in depth in the EIS/EIR 
include effects on agricultural resources; land use; geology and soils; 
hydrology and hydraulics; water quality; biological resources (i.e., 
fisheries, vegetation and wildlife resources, special-status species, 
and wetlands and other waters of the United States); cultural 
resources; transportation and circulation; air quality; noise; visual 
resources; utilities and service systems; hazards and hazardous 
materials; socioeconomics, population, and housing; and environmental 
justice. The EIS/EIR will also evaluate the cumulative effects of the 
proposed LSAP (including past LSAP Phases 1 and 2) and other related 
projects in the study area.
    c. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is consulting with the State 
Historic Preservation Officer to comply with the National Historic 
Preservation Act; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National 
Marine Fisheries Service to provide a biological opinion; and with the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide a Fish and Wildlife 
Coordination Act report.
    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 scheduled to be available for 
public review and comment in fall 2010.

     Dated: April 15, 2010.
Thomas Chapman,
Colonel, U.S. Army, District Commander.
[FR Doc. 2010-9447 Filed 4-22-10; 8:45 am]
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