[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 20, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5062-5063]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-02803]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Withdrawal of the Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement for the New Jersey Back Bay Coastal Storm Risk 
Management Feasibility Study

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

ACTION: Notice of Intent; withdrawal.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District, 
Planning Division is notifying interested parties that it has withdrawn 
the Notice of Intent (NOI) to develop an EIS for the proposed New 
Jersey Back Bay (NJBB) Coastal Storm Risk Management (CSRM) Feasibility 
Study. The original NOI to Prepare an EIS was published in the Federal 
Register on Wednesday, December 27, 2017.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District, 
Environmental Resources Branch, (CENAP-PL-E), 100 Penn Square East, 
Wanamaker Building, Philadelphia, PA 19107-3390.

[[Page 5063]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding the withdrawal of 
this NOI should be addressed to Mr. Steven D. Allen, 215-656-6559, or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 20, 2018, the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued 
an OMB/CEQ Memorandum for Heads of Federal Departments and Agencies 
titled ``One Federal Decision Framework for the Environmental Review 
and Authorization Process for Major Infrastructure Projects under 
Executive Order [E.O.] 13807.'' Additionally, twelve federal agencies, 
including Department of the Army, signed a Memorandum of Understanding 
(MOU) as an appendix to the OMB/CEQ Memorandum. The MOU is titled 
``Memorandum of Understanding Implementing One Federal Decision Under 
Executive Order 13807'' and was effective on April 10, 2018. E.O. 13807 
sets a goal for agencies by reducing the time for completing 
environmental reviews and authorization decisions to an agency average 
of not more than two years from publication of a NOI to prepare an EIS.
    Subsequent to the publication of the NOI, the NJBB CSRM Feasibility 
Study was granted an exemption from the requirement to complete the 
feasibility study within 3 years, as required in Section 1001(a) of the 
Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014. This exemption was 
granted on October 31, 2018 on an interim basis, and allows for an 
additional 17 months to complete the Agency Decision Milestone. 
Therefore, in order to align the revised study schedule with E.O. 
13807, it is necessary to withdraw the existing NOI to develop and re-
scope a NEPA coordination/review schedule with the appropriate Federal 
and state resource agencies that have statutory jurisdiction over the 
review process for any action being contemplated in the course of the 
feasibility study and development of an environmental impact statement. 
Public, agency and stakeholder comments and feedback will continue to 
be accepted during the re-scoping of the NEPA review schedule.

    Dated: February 5, 2019.
Peter R. Blum,
Chief, Planning Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia 
District.
[FR Doc. 2019-02803 Filed 2-19-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3720-58-P