[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 135 (Friday, July 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32642-32644]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14972]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Notice of Intent To Prepare Supplement II to the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement, Mississippi River and Tributaries 
(MR&T) Project, Mississippi River Mainline Levees and Channel 
Improvement

AGENCY: Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (``USACE''), Memphis 
District, Vicksburg District, and the New Orleans District, is 
announcing its intent to prepare Supplement II (SEIS II) to the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement, Mississippi River and Tributaries 
(MR&T) Project, Mississippi River Mainline Levees and Channel 
Improvement of 1976 (1976 EIS), as updated and supplemented by 
Supplement No. 1, Mississippi River and Tributaries Project, 
Mississippi River Mainline Levee Enlargement and Seepage Control of 
1998 (SEIS I) to the 1976 EIS, to cover construction of remaining 
authorized work on the Mississippi River mainline levees (MRL) feature. 
Over the past twenty years since the finalization of SEIS I, USACE has 
determined that various sections (reaches) of the mainline levee system 
are deficient in varying amounts, and that certain remedial measures 
need to be undertaken to control seepage and to raise and stabilize the 
deficient sections of the levee to protect the lower Mississippi River 
Valley against the Project Design Flood (PDF) and maintain the 
structural integrity of the MRL system. The Proposed Action of SEIS II 
is to supplement and, as necessary, augment the 1976 EIS and SEIS I 
using the primary MR&T goals of: (1) Providing flood protection from 
the PDF; and (2) developing an environmentally sustainable project; 
formulating alternatives; identifying significant resources; assessing 
the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts to those resources; 
investigating and environmentally assessing potential borrow areas; 
developing mitigation measures; and evaluating and selecting a 
preferred method for the construction of necessary authorized MRL 
Project features, which may include but are not limited to, 
implementing seepage control measures and the construction of various 
remediation measures for deficient levee reaches to bring these reaches 
to the project design grade. SEIS II will evaluate the potential 
direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts for an array of alternatives, 
including a No Action alternative.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Comments and questions about SEIS II 
should be submitted to USACE by email to: [email protected]; or 
by regular mail to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: CEMVN-PDC-UDC, 
167 North Main Street, Room B-202, Memphis, Tennessee 38103-1894. For 
additional information, including but not limited to a copy of SEIS I 
and the 1976 EIS, please visit the Project website at: http://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/MRLSEIS/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    1. Project Background and Authorization. The MR&T Project (and the 
MRL feature) was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1928, as 
amended. The 1976 EIS was filed with the Council of Environmental 
Quality on 8 April 1976. SEIS I, which was prepared to supplement the 
1976 EIS to evaluate the effects of continued construction of the MRL 
levee enlargements, stability berms, seepage control, and erosion 
protection measures, was filed with the Environmental Protection Agency 
on 31 July 1998. SEIS I focused on the levees of the MRL that were the 
most deficient in height and on seepage control measures for levee 
reaches with observable signs of seepage during previous high water 
events.
    The MR&T Project is designed to manage flood risk damages in the 
alluvial valley between Cape Girardeau, Missouri and the Head of 
Passes, Louisiana. The goal of the MR&T Project is to provide an 
environmentally sustainable project for comprehensive flood damage 
control, protection, and risk reduction from the ``Project Design 
Flood'', in the alluvial valley beginning at Cape Girardeau, Missouri 
to the Head of Passes, Louisiana, by means of levees, floodwalls, 
floodways, reservoirs, banks stabilization and channel improvements in 
and along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The mainline levee 
system, comprised of levees, floodwalls, backwater areas, floodways, 
and various control structures, is approximately 1,610 miles long. The 
PDF is a hypothetical flood that was developed to determine the design 
flood to be used in designing the MR&T levee system in the lower 
Mississippi River Basin, and is defined as the ``greatest flood having 
a reasonable probability of occurrence'' when the operable features of 
the entire MR&T Project are considered. The PDF upon which the current 
design for the construction of the mainline levee system and remaining 
unconstructed levees is based, is the ``Refined 1973

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MR&T PDF Flowline.'' The Mississippi River mainline levees protect the 
lower Mississippi River Valley against the PDF by confining flow to the 
leveed channel, except where it enters backwater areas, overflows 
several levees designed to overtop and fill tributary basins, or is 
intentionally diverted into four floodway areas. (A figure which 
depicts the PDF in cubic feet per second for the lower Mississippi 
River and its tributaries as set forth in SEIS I will be available for 
review at the Project website.) The MR&T Project functions as a system 
and provides flood risk reduction across portions of seven states: 
Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and 
Louisiana (a map of the area will be available on the Project website). 
The MR&T System includes an extensive levee system; floodways to divert 
excess flows past critical reaches; channel improvement and 
stabilization features to protect the integrity of flood risk 
management measures and to ensure proper alignment and depth of the 
navigation channel; and a system of reservoirs to regulate flows and 
backwater areas to provide storage during extreme events. The integrity 
of the levee system is also bolstered by control measures such as 
landside berms, drainage trenches, drainage blankets, and relief wells, 
and tributary basin improvements including levees, headwater 
reservoirs, and pumping stations that expand flood risk management 
coverage and improve drainage into adjacent areas within the alluvial 
valley.
    Through evaluation of information and data obtained from levee 
inspections, seepage analyses, research, studies, and engineering 
assessments, USACE has concluded that certain levee reaches are not at 
Project design grade due to effects from various changed conditions, 
including, but not limited to consolidation of levee materials, 
subsidence, and changes in river conditions and in survey datums over 
time. Additionally, advances in geotechnical mapping, data collected 
from recent high water events, and subsequent seepage analyses that 
have taken place since the finalization of SEIS I, have revealed the 
need for additional seepage control measures and the construction of 
other authorized Project features to facilitate structural integrity 
and stability of the MRL feature of the MR&T Project. As a result, in 
October of 2017, USACE completed an engineering risk assessment and 
programmatic review of the MRL based on the 1973 Refined MR&T Flowline 
Study. The assessment showed that the integrity of the MRL levee system 
was at risk because numerous levee reaches are not currently 
constructed to the pass the PDF due to either height or seepage 
deficiencies. Based on the results, USACE has determined that SEIS II 
is necessary to formulate alternatives, identify significant resources, 
assess the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts to the significant 
resources, develop mitigation measures, and evaluate and select a 
recommended plan.
    2. Proposed Action. The Proposed Action is the construction of 
necessary additional authorized MRL Project features (e.g., levee 
enlargements; stability berms, underseepage controls such as berms, 
relief wells, cutoffs, riverside blankets and pit fills; and erosion 
protection such as slope paving), to improve sections of deficient MRL 
levees in order to provide the required PDF protection. The Proposed 
Action, and associated evaluations, does not include reformulation of 
the MRL feature. Measures to manage flood risk reduction along the 
mainline levee system from Cape Girardeau, Missouri to Head of Passes, 
Louisiana, include but are not limited to, raising and widening 
portions of the levee to the authorized design grade and cross-
sections, stabilizing floodwalls, and seepage control (e.g. berms, 
relief wells, and cutoff trenches).
    3. Alternatives. SEIS II will evaluate an array of site specific 
alternatives, including the No-Action alternative, with a focus to 
avoid and minimize reasonably foreseeable adverse effects from 
construction of necessary additional authorized MRL Project features. 
Alternatives will include evaluations of measures, or combination of 
measures, along with evaluation of locations of borrow areas that avoid 
and minimize reasonably foreseeable adverse effects. Potential 
alternatives may include flood risk reduction measures such as raising 
and widening portions of the levee to the authorized design grade and 
cross-sections, installing or stabilizing floodwalls, levee setbacks, 
and various seepage control measures such as, seepage berms, relief 
wells with the associated drainage and/or pumping plants for water 
conveyance, and cutoff trenches. Other alternatives will be developed 
through the scoping period based on public input. Additionally, SEIS II 
will identify measures to avoid, offset, or minimize impacts to 
resources where feasible.
    4. Scoping. Scoping is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
process utilized for determining the range of alternatives and 
significant issues to be addressed in SEIS II. USACE invites full 
public participation to promote open communication on the issues 
surrounding the Proposed Action. The public will be involved in the 
scoping and evaluation process through advertisements, notices, and 
other means. Project information will also be available on the Project 
website at: http://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/MRLSEIS/. All individuals, 
organizations, NGOs, affected Indian tribes, and local, state, and 
Federal agencies that have an interest are urged to participate in the 
scoping process. The purpose of this Notice is to obtain suggestions 
and information that may inform the scope of the issues and range of 
alternatives to be evaluated in SEIS II, as well as to provide notice 
and request public input on the reasonably foreseeable effects to 
natural and cultural resources.
    This Notice of Intent commences the formal public scoping comment 
period which shall continue through October 1, 2018. Scoping is the 
NEPA process utilized for seeking public involvement in determining the 
range of alternatives and significant issues to be addressed in SEIS 
II. USACE invites full public participation to promote open 
communication in the public scoping phase and invites interested 
parties to identify potential issues, concerns, and reasonable 
alternatives that should be considered in SEIS II.
    In order for public comments to be recorded for inclusion in the 
Administrative Record and be considered in the SEIS II development 
process, members of the public, interested persons and entities must 
submit their comments to USACE by mail, email, or verbally at the 
Scoping Meeting(s). Written comments submitted for consideration are 
due no later than October 1, 2018. Written comments may be submitted: 
(1) To USACE at public scoping meetings; (2) by regular U.S. Mail 
mailed to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: CEMVN-PDC-UDC, 167 North 
Main Street, Room B-202, Memphis, Tennessee 38103-1894; and (3) by 
email to: [email protected]. Please include your name and 
return address on the first page of your written comments.
    All personally identifiable information (for example, name, 
address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by a commenter may be publicly 
accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information. All timely received 
comment letters will be accessible on the Project website at http://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/MRLSEIS/.

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    5. Public Scoping Meetings: Public scoping meeting(s) will be held 
at various locations within the Project Area during approximately July 
or August of 2018 to present information to the public and to receive 
comments from the public. The date(s), time(s), and location(s) of the 
scoping meeting(s) will be publicly announced in advance by USACE on 
the Project website at: http://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/MRLSEIS/, and in 
any other forms deemed appropriate once those dates, times, and 
locations are determined by USACE. Notices of the public scoping 
meetings will also be sent by USACE through email distribution lists, 
posted on the Project website, and mailed to public libraries, 
government agencies, and interested groups and individuals. Scoping 
meeting dates and locations will also be advertised in local 
newspapers. Interested parties unable to attend the scoping meetings 
can access additional information on SEIS II at: http://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/MRLSEIS/.
    6. Potentially Significant Issues. SEIS II will analyze the 
reasonably foreseeable impacts on the human and natural environment 
resulting from the Proposed Action. The scoping, public involvement, 
and interagency coordination processes will help identify and define 
the range of potential significant issues that will be considered. 
Important resources and issues evaluated in SEIS II could include, but 
are not limited to, the direct, indirect, and cumulative effects on 
aquatic resources; bottomland hardwoods; wetlands; waterfowl; wildlife 
resources; water quality; cultural resources; geology and soils 
including agricultural land and prime and unique farmland; hydrology 
and hydraulics; air quality; threatened and endangered species and 
their critical habitat; socioeconomics; environmental justice; 
recreation; and cumulative effects of related projects along the MRL. 
USACE will also consider issues identified and comments made throughout 
scoping, public involvement, and interagency coordination. USACE 
expects to better define the issues of concern and the methods that 
will be used to evaluate those issues through the scoping process.
    7. Availability. The current SEIS II development schedule 
anticipates the release of the draft of SEIS II by USACE for public 
review and comment in 2020. After it is published, USACE will hold 
public comment meetings to present the results of studies and 
identification of a recommended plan, to receive comments, and to 
address questions concerning the draft SEIS II.

    Dated: June 27, 2018.
Michael C. Derosier,
Colonel, U.S. Army, Commander and District Engineer.
[FR Doc. 2018-14972 Filed 7-12-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3720-58-P