[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 64813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-27346]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Withdrawal of the Notice of Intent To Prepare a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Dam Safety Modification Study 
Report for Center Hill Dam, DeKalb County, Tennessee

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

ACTION: Notice of Intent; withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville District (USACE), 
is issuing this notice to inform Federal, State, local governmental 
agencies, and the public that USACE is withdrawing the Notice of Intent 
(NOI) to prepare a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to 
support the Dam Safety Modification Study Report (DSMSR) for Center 
Hill Dam.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville District, 110 9th 
Avenue South, RM 405A, Nashville, Tennessee 37203-3817.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joy Broach, Aquatic Biologist, (615) 
736-7956; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: USACE published an NOI in the Federal 
Register on Friday, April 20, 2018 (77 FR 17541) to prepare a draft EIS 
pursuant to the National Environmental policy Act (NEPA) for the DSMSR. 
A scoping letter was circulated to federal, state, and local agencies, 
political officials, and the public on April 20, 2018. A public scoping 
meeting was held on May 3, 2018 to solicit public comments regarding 
environmental concerns for seven potential alternatives to lower risk 
at Center Hill Dam. Since the public meeting on May 3, 2018, and after 
additional engineering studies, the proposed alternatives have been 
evaluated. Several measures considered structural changes to existing 
spillway gate machinery to maximize spillway flow for extreme flood 
events. One measure considered adding spillway gates near the saddle 
dam and one measure considered changing the emergency operating 
schedule for spillway gate operations. The dam safety modification dam 
safety study recommended plan is maintenance rehabilitation of the 
electrical system, gate machinery and brakes to increase reliability, 
along with adding capability to remotely operate the gates from the top 
of the dam during an extreme flood event. The recommended plan does not 
include relocation or long-term road closure of Highway 96. The 
measures addressing spillway gate maintenance to increase gate 
reliability, are being recommended as a result of the dam safety 
modification study. These measures are considered routine operation and 
maintenance of the existing dam structure; they are categorically 
excluded from NEPA documentation and do not require an EIS. Therefore, 
the NOI to prepare an EIS is withdrawn with this notice.

    Dated: December 11, 2018.
Timothy A. Higgs,
Environmental Section Chief, Project Planning Branch, U.S. Army Corps 
of Engineers, Nashville District.
[FR Doc. 2018-27346 Filed 12-17-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3720-58-P