[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 154 (Friday, August 9, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48658-48659]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19297]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Notice of Amendment to the Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Missouri River Recovery 
Management Plan, Missouri River, United States

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

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA), as amended, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Kansas 
City and Omaha Districts, intend to prepare the Missouri River Recovery 
Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This Notice 
of Intent amends the notice published in the Federal Register on 
January 18, 2013 (78 FR 4136) to provide additional and updated public 
scoping information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or 
questions about the proposed Plan, please contact Mr. Mark Harberg, 
Project Manager, by telephone: (402) 995-2554, by mail: 1616 Capitol 
Avenue, Omaha, NE 68102-4901, or by email: [email protected]. 
For inquiries from the media, please contact the Corps' Kansas City 
District Public Affairs Officer, Mr. David Kolarik by telephone: (816) 
389-3486, by mail: 601 E. 12th Street Kansas City, MO 64106, or by 
email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Through preparation of the Management Plan 
and EIS, USACE will develop a range of alternatives for the purposes of 
Missouri River recovery and mitigation. This federal action includes 
activities on the Missouri River and is designed to assist in the 
recovery of Missouri River species protected under the Federal 
Endangered Species Act (ESA). Mitigation actions address USACE's 
requirements pursuant to the 1958 Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act 
(PL 85-624), section 601(a) of the Water Resources Development Act 
(WRDA) of 1986, and section 334(a) and (b) of the WRDA of 1999, and 
Section 3176 of the WRDA 2007.
    Section 3176 of WRDA 2007 expanded the USACE's authority to include 
recovery and mitigation activities on the Missouri River in the upper 
basin states of Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The 
combination of recovery and mitigation activities is commonly referred 
to as the Missouri River Recovery Program.
    In accordance with 40 CFR 1502.4 (c), this EIS will evaluate all 
proposals or parts of proposals similar in nature such that, in effect, 
they represent a single course of action. The Missouri River Recovery 
Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement will assess and, 
where appropriate, supplement or update prior analysis made pursuant to 
the requirements listed above. The EIS will assess the programmatic 
impacts, cumulative effects and alternatives to accomplish the purposes 
of the ESA, the 1958 Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (PL 85-624), 
section 601(a) of the Water

[[Page 48659]]

Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1986, and section 334(a) and (b) of 
the WRDA of 1999, and Section 3176 of the WRDA 2007. The federal 
actions which implement those authorities have been combined into one 
program and are being assessed together to effectively and efficiently 
carry out the multiple goals associated with the authorizations. 
Additionally to be addressed in this EIS, the USACE has received a 
proposal from the Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee, 
recommending the agency perform an effects analysis and adaptive 
management of potential management actions on ESA listed species. 
Addressing this proposal will result in an analysis of management 
alternatives and adaptive management actions to benefit these species, 
and thus requires supporting environmental effects analyses which will 
be included in this Environmental Impact Statement.
    The Missouri River Recovery Management Plan and EIS will be 
narrower than the scope and purpose of the study from section 5018(a) 
of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (Missouri River 
Ecosystem Restoration Plan). That study included the additional purpose 
of ecosystem restoration and was inclusive of the entire Missouri River 
watershed, including tributaries, while this plan and EIS will focus 
exclusively on the purposes of recovery and mitigation and be limited 
primarily to the areas and objectives prescribed in the authorities 
listed above.
    Scoping. To provide the public with an opportunity to provide input 
on the scope of issues to be addressed and to identify issues related 
to the proposed action, public scoping is being conducted through 
October 18, 2013. To facilitate the scoping process, live scoping 
webinars will be conducted on September 11, 2013 and September 18, 2013 
from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central Daylight Savings time. The webinars 
can be accessed at https://connect.dco.dod.mil/mngtplan. The webinars 
may also be viewed at the following public locations:

Montana

 Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Fort Peck State Fish Hatchery, 
277 Hwy 117, Fort Peck, MT 59223

Wyoming

 State Engineer's Office, 122 West 25th Street, Herschler 
Building, Fourth Floor East Wing, Cheyenne, WY 82002
 Natural Resources Conservation Service, Douglas Service 
Center, 911 South Wind River Drive, Douglas, WY 82633

North Dakota

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, North Dakota Field Office, 
3425 Miriam Avenue, Bismarck, ND 58501

South Dakota

 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/National Park Service, Lewis and 
Clark Visitor Center, adjacent to Gavins Point Dam in Yankton SD 
located on the south side of the Missouri River, 55245 Nebraska Highway 
121, Crofton, NE 68730

Nebraska

 Papio-Missouri River NRD/Chalco Hills-Wehrspann Lake, 8901 S. 
154th Street, Omaha, NE 68138

Iowa

     Natural Resources Conservation Service, 3539 Southern 
Hills Dr, Suite 3, Sioux City, IA 51106

Kansas

 Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7, 11201 Renner Blvd., 
Lenexa, KS 66219

Missouri

 Natural Resources Conservation Service, Parkade Center, Suite 
232, 601 Business Loop 70 West, Columbia, MO 65203

    The webinars will consist of a 30-minute background presentation, a 
30-minute question and answer period, and 30 minutes for comment 
submission. Written comments can be submitted through October 18, 2013 
at the National Park Service Planning, Environment & Public Comment 
(PEPC) Web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/MRRMP or by mail to U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, c/o CENWK-PM-PR 
(Management Plan), 601 E. 12th Street Kansas City, MO 64106. All 
comments will become part of a public record and may be included as an 
appendix to the Final Management Plan and Environmental Impact 
Statement.
    Additional information concerning the Management Plan and 
Environmental Impact Statement can be found at http://moriverrecovery.usace.army.mil.

    Dated: August 2, 2013.
Randy Sellers,
Environmental Resources Specialist.
[FR Doc. 2013-19297 Filed 8-8-13; 8:45 am]
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