[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 203 (Thursday, October 21, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65005-65006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-26493]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement (SEIS), Mississippi Barrier Island Restoration, Mississippi 
Coastal Improvements Program (MsCIP) for Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson 
Counties, MS

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

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Mobile District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), 
intends to prepare a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 
(DSEIS) to the MsCIP Comprehensive Plan and Integrated Programmatic 
EIS, prepared in June 2009, which evaluated comprehensive water 
resource improvements associated with hurricane and storm damage risk 
reduction, shoreline erosion, salt water intrusion and fish and 
wildlife preservation in three coastal counties of Mississippi. As 
described in the Comprehensive Plan, the SEIS will address potential 
impacts associated with the comprehensive restoration of the 
Mississippi barrier islands. These actions are related to the 
consequences of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005 and will be 
used as a basis for ensuring compliance with the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA).

ADDRESSES: Questions about the proposed action and the DSEIS should be 
addressed to Mr. Larry Parson, or Dr. Susan Ivester Rees, Planning and 
Environmental Division, Mobile District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Larry Parson, (251) 694-3139 or e-
mail at [email protected] or Dr. Susan Ivester Rees, (251) 
694-414, or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    1. Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Mississippi on August 29, 
2005 causing catastrophic damage to lives, property, and natural 
resources throughout coastal Mississippi. In response, the U.S. 
Congress directed the Secretary of the Army through the Corps of 
Engineers (the Corps) to conduct an

[[Page 65006]]

analysis and design for comprehensive improvements or modifications to 
existing improvements in the coastal area of Mississippi in the 
interest of hurricane and storm damage reduction, prevention of 
saltwater intrusion, preservation of fish and wildlife, prevention of 
erosion, barrier island restoration, and other related water resources 
purposes. Further, the Corps was directed to provide interim 
recommendations for near term improvements by June 30, 2006, with final 
recommendations provided by December 30, 2007. Environmental impacts 
associated with implementation of 15 interim projects were addressed in 
an Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact 
signed on June 29, 2006.
    2. The MsCIP Comprehensive Plan evaluated an array of measures to 
promote the recovery of coastal Mississippi from the hurricanes of 2005 
and to provide for a coast resilient to future storm events. The 
Integrated Programmatic EIS evaluated multiple natural and engineered 
alternatives to provide various measures for various levels of risk 
reduction and restoration for the Mississippi coast. Formulation of the 
comprehensive plan involved identifying potential ``Lines of Defense'' 
moving from offshore to nearshore, shoreline, and along existing 
natural features inland, to possibly reduce damage from hurricane and 
storm events. This analysis included restoration of the barrier 
islands, nearshore features such as rubble and movable wall 
breakwaters, beachfront measures such as dunes, berms, and seawalls, 
coastal roadways and beach front property barriers such as elevation of 
roadways and property, and various other inland features such as 
installation of levees, elevated highway-topped levee systems, and 
surge protection gates, for potential inclusion in the overall damage 
reduction system. Consideration of ``non-structural measures'', such as 
acquisition and relocation of structures, hurricane evaluation, 
floodplain management, building codes and other event planning 
activities also serve as important hurricane and storm damage reduction 
planning features. Other alternatives considered restoration of storm 
damaged habitats such as coastal marshes, beaches, forests, oyster 
reefs, and submerged aquatic vegetation in Mississippi Sound and on the 
Mississippi mainland; restoration of historical water flows to coastal 
watersheds including freshwater diversion from Louisiana; and watershed 
based drainage modifications for flood damage reduction. The EIS 
identified, screened, evaluated, prioritized, and optimized an array of 
alternatives.
    3. The Draft SEIS. As discussed in the Integrated Programmatic EIS, 
a supplement would be prepared to address the borrow sources and 
placement areas for the Mississippi Barrier Islands Restoration. This 
is phase II of the plan described in the Programmatic EIS. Under phase 
I, the general plan of the barrier islands restoration was addressed; 
however the final design was not completed because the borrow sources 
were not identified.
    The Comprehensive Barrier Island Restoration consists of the 
placement of approximately 22 million cubic yards of sand within the 
National Park Service's Gulf Islands National Seashore, Mississippi 
unit. Between 13-16 million cubic yards of sand would be used to close 
Camille Cut between East Ship Island and West Ship Island, which 
originally was opened by Hurricane Camille, through the construction of 
a low level dune system. The remaining sand would be placed in the 
littoral zones at the eastern ends of Ship and Petit Bois Islands. This 
would result in the restoration of 1,150 acres of critical coastal zone 
habitats and improvement to the water quality of the Mississippi Sound 
and provide incidental protection to two cultural sites on Ship Island 
listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, the 
project would include the restoration of Cat Island using 1-2 million 
cubic yards of sand which are not included in the 22 million cubic 
yards of sand.
    4. Public Involvement: a. The Corps has conducted extensive public 
involvement during the Comprehensive Plan and Integrated Programmatic 
EIS of June 2009. Since April 2006, the Corps Mobile District has 
hosted over 90 public involvement events, including 12 formal public 
and agency meetings, a 2-day Regional coordination meeting, a Public 
Scoping workshop, 3 online meetings, a Public Hearing workshop, and 
numerous internal meetings, which the agencies were invited to 
participate. The Corps also launched a project website enabling user 
downloads, project team collaboration, and communication among agencies 
and the public. This Web site will be updated with information on the 
SEIS for the Mississippi Barrier Island Restoration Project throughout 
the NEPA process: http://www.mscip.usace.army.mil.
    b. The SEIS will analyze potential environmental impacts and 
benefits associated with proposed borrow and placement sites. 
Specifically, the following major issues will be analyzed in the SEIS: 
Water quality, threatened and endangered species, essential fish 
habitat and other marine habitat, cultural resources, parks and 
protected lands, wetlands, and cumulative impacts.
    c. The Corps will serve as the lead Federal agency during 
preparation of the SEIS. The following agencies have been invited to 
participate as cooperating agencies: U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency; U.S. Department of the Interior--Fish and Wildlife Service, 
National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of 
Transportation--Federal Highway Administration; U.S. Department of 
Commerce--National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the 
National Marine Fisheries Service; U.S. Department of Homeland 
Security--Federal Emergency Management Agency; U.S. Department of 
Agriculture--Natural Resources Conservation Service; Mississippi 
Department of Marine Resources; Mississippi Department of Environmental 
Quality, and Mississippi Department of Archives and History; 
Mississippi Museum of Natural Science; Mississippi Department of 
Transportation; Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Gulf 
Regional Planning Commission. Participation from other agencies, 
interest groups, and individual citizens is being encouraged and 
sought.
    5. It is anticipated that the SEIS will be made available for 
public review in December 2010.

Curtis M. Flakes,
Chief, Planning and Environmental Division.
[FR Doc. 2010-26493 Filed 10-20-10; 8:45 am]
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