[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 135 (Wednesday, July 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41489-41490]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-17355]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army Corps of Engineers


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
Commercial Dredging of Construction Aggregate From the Kansas River in 
the State of Kansas

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

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) is preparing an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the direct, indirect, 
and cumulative effects of commercial dredging of sand and gravel from 
the Kansas River in the State of Kansas. The proposed dredging will 
occur within portions of the river between the mouth of the Kansas 
River and river mile 170 at the confluence of the Kansas, Republican 
and Smokey Hill Rivers. Department of the Army (DA) authorization under 
Section 10 of the River and Harbors Act is required for the work to 
obtain sand and gravel materials from the Kansas River by hydraulic 
suction dredging operations. Commercial dredging in the Kansas River 
has occurred for more than 100 years but the quantity of sand and 
gravel materials annually withdrawn from the river has increased over 
time. The existing permits for dredging, last issued in 2007, allowed 
for a potential annual total of 3,150,000 tons of materials to be 
extracted from the Kansas River. The current DA permits originally 
scheduled to expire on December 31, 2012 were indefinitely extended 
until after completion of an EIS. Five applicants are currently 
requesting to extract 1,900,000 tons of material per year from the 
river at eight locations.

DATES: A scoping meeting will be held: August 4, 2015, 4:00 to 7:00 
p.m. in Lawrence, Kansas.

ADDRESSES: The scoping meeting location is: Lawrence Public Library 
Auditorium, 707 Vermont Street, Lawrence, Kansas.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions and comments regarding the 
proposed action and EIS should be addressed to Mr. Brian Donahue, 
Regulatory Project Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 601 East 12th 
Street, Room 402, Kansas City, MO 64106; (816) 389-3703; 
[email protected]. For special needs (visual or hearing 
impaired, Spanish translation, etc.) requests during the scoping 
meetings, please call Brian Donahue by July 20, 2015.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The COE will be conducting a public scoping 
meeting at the location above to describe the proposed activity, 
preliminary alternatives, the National Environmental Policy Act process 
and to solicit input on the issues and alternatives to be evaluated and 
other related matters. Written comments for scoping will be accepted 
until September 15, 2015. The COE has prepared a scoping announcement 
to familiarize agencies, the public and interested organizations with 
the proposed Project and potential environmental issues that may be 
involved. The scoping announcement includes a list of the dredgers' 
requested annual extraction tonnage and the requested dredging reaches. 
Copies of the scoping announcement will be available at the public 
scoping meetings or can be requested by mail.
    The permit applicants include the four following currently 
authorized dredgers: Holliday Sand and Gravel Company, LLC, (Lenexa, 
Kansas); Masters Dredging, (Lawrence, Kansas); Kaw Valley Companies, 
Inc. (Kansas City, Kansas); and Builders Choice Aggregates, (Topeka, 
Kansas). One permit applicant not currently authorized to dredge but 
seeking a permit is LBB, LLC (Topeka, Kansas). The final EIS would also 
apply to future applications for similar dredging operations on the 
Kansas River.
    The COE has documented degradation or down-cutting of the river bed 
in some areas where dredging activity has been concentrated. Bed 
degradation may affect water intake structures, initiate tributary head 
cuts, promote bank erosion or levee instability, undermine

[[Page 41490]]

pipelines and bridge piers, increase encroachment of the high bank, 
affect aquatic habitat and create navigation hazards.
    The EIS will be prepared according to the COE's procedures for 
implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, 
42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(c), and consistent with the COE's policy to 
facilitate public understanding and review of agency proposals. As part 
of the EIS process, a full range of reasonable alternatives including 
the proposed dredging and no dredging will be evaluated.
    The COE will invite the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geologic Survey, the Kansas 
Department of Health and Environment, the Kansas State Historical 
Society, the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism and the 
Kansas Geologic Survey to be contributing agencies in the formulation 
of the EIS.

Brian Donahue,
Regulatory Project Manager, Regulatory Branch.
[FR Doc. 2015-17355 Filed 7-14-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3720-58-P