[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 125 (Wednesday, June 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42337-42338]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15310]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


The Release of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) 
for the Figure Eight Island Shoreline Management Project, on Figure 
Eight Island, New Hanover County, NC

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

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), Wilmington District, 
Wilmington Regulatory Field Office has received a permit application 
for Department of the Army authorization, pursuant to Section 404 of 
the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, from 
Figure Eight Beach Homeowners' Association Inc. (HOA) to install a 
terminal groin structure along Rich Inlet and to conduct a supplemental 
beach nourishment on approximately 4,500 linear feet of oceanfront 
beach and 1,400 linear feet of back barrier shoreline to protect 
residential homes and infrastructures along the central and northern 
sections of Figure Eight Island. The terminal groin structure will be 
placed perpendicular on the northern tip of the island along the 
shoulder of Rich Inlet; and the proposed source of the material for the 
nourishment will be dredged from an area within Nixon Channel, a back 
barrier channel, that has been previously used for past beach 
nourishment projects. In case the quantity of material from Nixon 
Channel is not sufficient, material pumped from (3) nearby upland 
disposal islands will be used to supplement the nourishment needs. The 
majority of the material will be disposed within the fillet area, or 
down shore, of the groin. Pending storm events and shoreline changes, 
proposed maintenance, or periodic nourishment, of the beach is once 
every five years, or potentially 6 separate events over the 30-year 
study period. Nixon Channel and the upland disposal islands are the 
proposed material sources for the periodic maintenance, or 
renourishment, events.

DATES: Written comments on the FEIS must be received at (see ADDRESSES 
below) no later than 5 p.m. on August 1, 2016.
    Next Action: No less than 30 days from the release date of the 
FEIS, the COE will prepare a Record of Decision (ROD), which will 
reflect an issuance or denial of the permit request for the applicant's 
preferred alternative. The preferred alternative is described in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. A public notice will be 
released upon completion and signature of the ROD.

ADDRESSES: Copies of comments and questions regarding the FEIS may be 
addressed to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District, 
Regulatory Division. ATTN: File Number 2006-41158, 69 Darlington 
Avenue, Wilmington, NC 28403. Copies of the FEIS can be reviewed on the 
Corps homepage at, http://www.saw.usace.army.mil/Missions/RegulatoryPermitProgram/MajorProjects.aspx, under Figure Eight Island 
Terminal Groin: Corps ID #SAW-2006-41158.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action 
and FEIS and/or to requests receive a CD or written copies of the FEIS 
can be directed to Mr. Mickey Sugg, Wilmington Regulatory Field Office, 
telephone: (910) 251-4811 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    1. Project Purpose and Need. Over the past several decades, the 
Figure Eight Beach HOA has taken action to address the continuing 
oceanfront erosion problems associated with Rich Inlet and Nixon 
Channel erosion hot-spot on the estuarine side of the island. Past 
actions to protect the shorelines have provided some protection, 
however they are seeking a longer term solution to handle shoreline 
erosion in order to protect the island's $907,352,900 (based on the 
2012 reappraisal) assessed property tax value. The HOAs stated needs of 
the project continue to be the following: (1) Reduce erosion along 
approximately 2.3 miles of oceanfront and 0.34 mile of back barrier 
shorelines, (2) Provide reasonable short-term protection to residential 
structures to any unpredicted shoreline change over the next five 
years, (3) Provide long-term protection to homes and infrastructure 
over the next 30 years, (4) Maintain the tax value of homes, 
properties, and infrastructure, (5) Use beach compatible material, (6) 
Maintain navigation conditions within Rich Inlet and Nixon Channel, (7) 
Maintain recreational resources, and (8) Balance the needs of the human 
environment with the protection of existing natural resources.
    2. Proposed Action. Within the Town's preferred alternative, known 
as Alternative 5D, the installation of the terminal groin is the main 
component in the protection of the oceanfront shoreline. The proposed 
structure would be located just north of the existing homes along the 
southern

[[Page 42338]]

shoulder of Rich Inlet. Its total length would be approximately 1,500 
feet, which approximately 505 feet would project seaward of the 2007 
mean high water shoreline. The landward 995-foot anchor section would 
extend across the island and terminate near the Nixon Channel 
Shoreline. This section would be constructed of 14,000 to 18,000 square 
feet of sheet pile with the last approximate 100 feet of the anchor 
portion wrapped with rock. Although engineering design plans are not 
finalized, basic construction design of the seaward 505-foot part of 
the structure will be in the form of a typical rubble (rock) mound 
feature supported by a 1.5-foot thick stone foundation blanket. Crest 
height or elevation of this section is estimated to be +6.0 feet NAVD 
for the first 400 feet and would slope to a top elevation of +3.0 feet 
NAVD on the seaward end. Approximately 16,000 tons of stone would be 
used to construct the terminal groin. The concept design of the 
structure is intended to allow littoral sand transport to move over, 
around, and through the groin once the accretion fillet has completely 
filled in.
    Construction of the terminal groin would be kept within a corridor 
varying in width from 50 feet to 200 feet. Within this corridor, a 40-
70 foot wide trench would be excavated to a depth of -2.5 feet NAVD in 
order to construct the foundation of the landward section. The 
approximate 6,000 cubic yards of excavated material would be replaced 
on and around the structure once it's in place. Material used to build 
the groin would be barged down the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway 
(AIWW), through Nixon Channel, and either offloaded onto a temporary 
loading dock or directly onto shore. It would then be transported, via 
dump trucks, within the designated corridor to the construction site.
    Material used for nourishment would be dredged, using a hydraulic 
cutterhead plant, from a designated borrow site within Nixon Channel, 
which has been previously used for beach fill needs. The proposed 
dredging footprint in the channel area is approximately 30 acres in 
size and the target depth of dredging is -11.4 feet NAVD. Approximately 
294,500 cubic yards would be required for both the oceanfront (237,500 
cubic yards) and the Nixon Channel shoreline (57,000 cubic yards) fill 
areas under the 2006 and 2012 shoreline study conditions. Beach 
compatible material from (3) upland disposal islands would serve as a 
contingency sediment source.
    Engineer modeling results have shown that periodic nourishment 
would be required approximately once every five years to maintain the 
beach and Nixon Channel shorelines. The combined 5-year estimated 
maintenance needs for both areas are 320,000 cubic yards of material 
under the 2006 condition and 255,000 cubic yards of material under 2012 
condition, equivalent to approximately 58,000 and 45,000 cubic yards 
per year respectively. This material would come from the designated 
Nixon Channel borrow site and the (3) upland disposal areas.
    3. Alternatives. Several alternatives have been identified and 
evaluated through the scoping process, and further detailed description 
of all alternatives is disclosed in Section 3.0 of the FEIS.
    4. Scoping Process. To date, a public scoping meeting was held on 
March 1, 2007; several Project Delivery Team (PDT) meetings have been 
held, which were comprised of local, state, and federal government 
officials, local residents and nonprofit organizations; the Draft EIS 
was released for public comments on May 18, 2012; a Public Hearing was 
conducted on June 7, 2012; a Supplemental EIS was released for public 
comments on July 10, 2015; and a second Public Hearing was held on 
September 2, 2015.
    The COE is currently consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service Protected Resources 
Division under the Endangered Species Act; with U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, and have concluded 
consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service Habitat 
Conservation Division under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Additionally, the 
FEIS assesses the potential water quality impacts pursuant to Section 
401 of the Clean Water Act, and is coordinated with the North Carolina 
Division of Coastal Management (DCM) to insure consistency with the 
Coastal Zone Management Act. The COE has coordinated closely with DCM 
in the development of the FEIS to ensure the process complies with the 
requirements of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), as well as 
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The FEIS has been 
designed to consolidate both NEPA and SEPA processes to eliminate 
duplications.

    Dated: June 22, 2016.
Scott McLendon,
Regulatory Division Chief, Wilmington District.
[FR Doc. 2016-15310 Filed 6-28-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3720-58-P