[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 57 (Monday, March 27, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15194-15195]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05874]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Availability of the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Lower Bois d'Arc Creek Reservoir Project, Fannin County, TX

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 (USACE) Tulsa District has 
prepared a Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement (RDEIS) to 
analyze the direct, indirect and cumulative effects of the construction 
of the proposed Lower Bois d'Arc Creek Reservoir (LBCR) and related 
actions proposed by the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) in 
Fannin County, Texas. The Proposed Action is a regional water supply 
project intended to provide up to 175,000 acre-feet/year (AFY), with an 
estimated firm yield of 120,665 AFY, of new water for NTMWD's member 
cities and direct customers in all or portions of nine counties in 
northern Texas--Collin, Dallas, Denton, Fannin, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, 
Rains and Rockwall. Construction of the reservoir and related 
facilities would result in permanent impacts to approximately 5,874 
acres of wetlands and 651,140 linear feet of streams, and 78 acres of 
open waters. This action requires authorization from the USACE under 
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Section 404 of the CWA 
permit applicant is the NTMWD.
    The RDEIS was prepared in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, and the USACE's 
regulations for NEPA implementation (33 Code of Federal Regulations 
[CFR] parts 230 and 325 (with associated Appendices B and C). The 
USACE, Tulsa District, Regulatory Office is the lead federal agency 
responsible for the RDEIS and information contained in the EIS will 
serve as the basis for a decision whether or not to issue a Section 404 
of the CWA permit. It also provides information for Federal, State and 
local agencies having jurisdictional responsibility for affected 
resources.

DATES: Written comments on the RDEIS will be accepted on or before May 
11, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments regarding the RDEIS to Mr. Andrew R. 
Commer, Regulatory Office Chief, USACE Tulsa District (CESWT-RO), 1645 
South 101st East Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74128-4609, or via email:

[[Page 15195]]

[email protected]. Comments submitted by email must include 
``RDEIS Lower Bois d'Arc Creek Reservoir'' in the subject line. 
Requests to be placed on or removed from the mailing list should also 
be sent to this address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Andrew R. Commer, USACE, Tulsa 
District Regulatory Office, at 918-669-7400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USACE has determined that the basic 
project purpose in the present case is to develop an additional, 
reliable water supply for the applicant (NTMWD) and its member cities 
and customers.
    The purpose of the RDEIS is to provide decision-makers and the 
public with information pertaining to the Proposed Action and 
alternatives, and to disclose environmental impacts and identify 
mitigation measures to reduce impacts. NTMWD proposes to build the LBCR 
with a total storage capacity of approximately 367,609 AF. A dam 
approximately 10,400 feet (about two miles) long and up to 90 feet high 
would be constructed, and much of the reservoir footprint would be 
cleared of trees and built structures. NTMWD also proposes to construct 
several related facilities or connected actions. These include a raw 
water intake pump station and electrical substation at the reservoir 
site, as well as a 90-96 inch diameter buried pipeline to carry raw 
water from the new reservoir approximately 35 miles in a southwesterly 
direction to a new water treatment plant and terminal storage reservoir 
that would be located west of the City of Leonard, also in Fannin 
County, Texas. A number of rural roads within the footprint and in the 
vicinity of the proposed reservoir would have to be closed or 
relocated; the most significant of these is FM 1396, which would be 
relocated to cross the reservoir in a different alignment on an 
entirely new bridge that would need to be constructed.
    An aquatic resources mitigation plan has been prepared by the 
applicant to comply with the federal policy of ``no overall net loss of 
wetlands'' and to provide compensatory mitigation, to the extent 
practicable, for impacts to other waters of the U.S. that would be 
impacted by construction of the proposed reservoir. NTMWD has purchased 
a 14,960-acre parcel of land known as the Riverby Ranch, which borders 
the Red River. This working ranch is located downstream of the proposed 
project within both the same watershed (Bois d'Arc Creek) and the same 
county (Fannin). NTMWD acquired the Riverby Ranch specifically because 
its biophysical features have the potential to provide a portion of the 
appropriate mitigation for the proposed project. Additional mitigation 
is proposed within a 1,900-acre upstream site and within the proposed 
reservoir itself. Though not part of the proposed mitigation plan, Bois 
d'Arc Creek downstream of the reservoir will receive environmental flow 
releases as a result of an operations plan and flow regime established 
in consultation with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality 
(TCEQ), and stipulated in the Water Right Permit issued by TCEQ to 
NTMWD.
    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region VI, U.S. Forest 
Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Texas Parks and 
Wildlife Department (TPWD) participated as cooperating agencies in the 
formulation of the Draft EIS.
    1. On December 8, 2009, the USACE held a NEPA EIS public scoping 
meeting in Bonham, Texas. On March 24, 2015, the USACE held a public 
meeting during the comment period on the previous DEIS. The revision 
and publication of this RDEIS is informed by public and agency comment 
on the original DEIS and changes have been made to address commented 
issues. No public meeting is planned during this comment period. Copies 
of the RDEIS will be available for review during the comment period at 
the USACE Tulsa District Office, the permit applicant's office in Wylie 
Texas, and at five locations in the project area in Fannin County, 
Texas, addresses of each as follows.
    2. Bonham Public Library, 305 East 5th Street, Bonham, TX 75418; 
(903) 583-3128.
    3. Sam Rayburn Library, 800 West Sam Rayburn Drive, Bonham, TX 
75418; (903) 583-2455.
    4. Bertha Voyer Memorial Library, 500 6th Street, Honey Grove, TX 
75446; (903) 378-2206.
    5. Leonard Public Library, 102 South Main Street, Leonard, TX 
75452; (903) 587-2391.
    6. North Texas Municipal Water District headquarters, 505 East 
Brown Street, Wylie, TX 75098.
    7. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District, Regulatory Office, 
1645 South 101st East Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74128-4609.
    Electronic copies of the Draft EIS may be obtained from the USACE 
Tulsa District, Regulatory Office or its Web site at http://www.swt.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Tulsa-District-Environmental-Impact-Statements/.

Brenda S. Bowen,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-05874 Filed 3-24-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3720-58-P