[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 7, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34672-34674]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12211]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement to the 1995 Amite River and Tributaries, Louisiana, East 
Baton Rouge Parish Watershed Flood Risk Management Project 
Environmental Impact Statement

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

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Mississippi Valley 
Division, New Orleans District (CEMVN), is announcing its intent to 
prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to re-
evaluate impacts associated with the Amite River and Tributaries (ART), 
Louisiana, East Baton Rouge (EBR) Watershed Flood Risk Management 
Project (EBR FRM) in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. The EBR FRM 
project was previously studied in the July 1995 ART, Louisiana, EBR 
Parish Watershed Flood Risk Management Project Feasibility Study and 
EIS. Since the initial 1995 impact assessment was conducted, the 
project area has transitioned from a rural setting with large amounts 
of undeveloped land, to a more densely populated urban setting 
containing subdivisions, buildings, and roadways with greater runoff of 
water during storm events. Due to these changed conditions, the 
proposed work in these waterways will be designed to convey flows that 
occur during more frequent but less intense storm events, compared to 
the storm events that were considered in the original plan addressed in 
the 1995 EIS. These factors lead to requiring a reassessment of 
environmental impacts.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, Attn: 
CEMVN-PDS-N, 7400 Leake Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions and scoping comments 
regarding the proposed action should reference ``East Baton Rouge 
Watershed Flood Control SEIS'' and be directed to Mr. Jason A. Emery by 
mail at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, Attn: 
CEMVN-PDS-N, 7400 Leake Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118; by phone 
at (504) 862-2364; or by email at [email protected]. For 
additional information, including but not limited to a copy of the 1995 
EIS, and other associated documents, please visit the BBA18 
Construction, East Baton Rouge Project website at: https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/About/Projects/BBA-2018/East-Baton-Rouge/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    1. Project Details. The EBR FRM Project is in southeast Louisiana 
situated across several sub-basins in East Baton Rouge Parish. The 
federal authorization is to reduce flooding along 5 sub-basins 
throughout the parish, including Jones Creek, Ward Creek, Bayou 
Fountain, Blackwater Bayou, and Beaver Bayou. This project consists of 
improvements to 50 miles of channels, including clearing and snagging, 
widening, and placement of riprap to reduce the risk of flood damages 
during storm events.
    The EBR FRM Project within the Parish of East Baton Rouge, 
Louisiana was authorized by Section 101(21) of the Water Resources 
Development Act of 1999, Public Law 106-53, as modified by Division D, 
Section 116 of the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution of 2003, 
Public Law 108-7, and Section 3074 of the Water Resources Development 
Act of 2007, Public Law 110-114. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, H. 
R. 1892--13, Title IV, Corps of Engineers--Civil, Department of the 
Army, Investigations, made funds available for the expenses related to 
the completion, or initiation and completion, of certain flood and 
storm damage reduction, including this project.
    The EBR FRM project was originally evaluated in an EIS in July 
1995. The evaluated plan consisted of approximately 25 miles of minimal 
clearing and snagging, 24 miles of earthen channel enlargement, and 17 
miles of concrete lining of channels in 5 sub-basins across East Baton 
Rouge Parish. Recreation features consisted of the construction of 11 
miles of bicycle paths on the Jones Creek basin, which would also 
include plantings of trees. Aesthetic mitigation features consisted of 
tree plantings or tree and shrub plantings along both sides of 29.4 
miles

[[Page 34673]]

of waterways. Habitat mitigation was combined for the five basins and 
consisted of acquisition and reforesting of a total of 397 acres of 
open lands. The lands were proposed to be near existing parks, as 
practical, within the parish and would be managed as wooded parks.
    The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, signed into law February 9, 
2018, (BBA 2018, Public Law 115-123) funded design updates and 
construction of the EBR FRM Project. The project began pre-construction 
engineering and design (PED) phase in 2019 when CEMVN received the 
allocated funds. Due to changed conditions since completion of the 
study in 1995 (i.e., increased development and completion of portions 
of the project by local governments) and additional level of design 
during PED, the project proposed actions have been refined. The 
proposed actions still meet project objectives to reduce the risk of 
flood damages caused by storm events, but the risk reduction will 
relate to less intense, more frequent storm events. The refinement of 
the proposed action has resulted in a less impactful project to the 
environment. The objective of the updated design is to minimize impacts 
to the developed areas while conveying the equivalent to the volume of 
flows evaluated in 1995. This is important because compared to the 
intensity of storm events that were considered and addressed in the 
original plan and 1995 EIS, the SEIS will evaluate proposed plans that 
consider the reduction of risk of damage arising from less intense 
storm events that occur more frequently.
    Since the 1995 impact assessment was conducted, the project area 
has transitioned from a rural setting with large amounts of undeveloped 
land, to a more densely populated urban setting containing 
subdivisions, buildings, and roadways. Due to these changed conditions, 
the proposed work in these waterways will be designed to convey flows 
that are likely to occur more frequently during less intense storm 
events, compared to the storm events that were considered in the 
original plan addressed in the 1995 EIS. These factors lead to the need 
to re-evaluate the environmental impacts. The SEIS will address impacts 
associated with three channel improvement actions: the widening and 
clearing and snagging of Beaver Bayou; the widening and clearing and 
snagging of Blackwater Bayou and its Tributary; and the widening, 
clearing and snagging, and rip rap lining of Upper Jones Creek and 
Tributaries. The SEIS will also evaluate a no action alternative.
    Project features not included in this SEIS include the clearing and 
snagging of Lower Jones, Lower Bayou Fountain and Lower Ward Creeks in 
EBR Parish, which were separately evaluated in Environmental Assessment 
(EA) #561 (EA #561) titled ``Amite River and Tributaries, Louisiana, 
East Baton Rouge Parish Watershed Flood Risk Management Project. 
Clearing and Snagging of Lower Jones, Lower Bayou Fountain and Lower 
Ward Creeks'' in EBR Parish #561.FONSI: July 7, 2021. EA #561 can be 
found online at New Orleans District > Missions > Environmental > NEPA 
Compliance Documents > Bipartisan Budget Act 2018 (BBA 18) > East Baton 
Rouge Parish Flood Risk Reduction (army.mil).
    Additionally, alternatives to compensate for anticipated and 
unavoidable impacts to 293 Annual Habitat Units of bottomland hardwood 
habitat associated with the construction of the 1995 authorized plan 
for the EBR Flood Risk Management project were evaluated under EA #576, 
titled ``Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) Construction Projects; West Shore 
Lake Pontchartrain (WSLP), Comite River Diversion, and East Baton Rouge 
(EBR) Flood Risk Management, BBA Construction Mitigation (EA #576). 
FONSI: April 13, 2020. EA #576 can be found online at https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/NEPA-Compliance-Documents/Bipartisan-Budget-Act-2018-BBA-18/West-Shore-Lake-Pontchartrain/. The estimated habitat mitigation level for the EBR FRM 
project is being re-evaluated as a part of this SEIS to ensure CEMVN 
mitigates habitat impacts at the appropriate level.
    2. Proposed Action. The EBR FRM project is intended to reduce 
flooding in East Baton Rouge Parish by improving 38.8 miles of channels 
in 5 sub-basins. The channel improvements, which are a part of this 
proposed action, include clearing and snagging, channel widening, and 
rip-rap lining in Beaver Bayou, Blackwater Bayou and its Tributary, and 
Upper Jones Creek and Tributaries.
    Beaver Bayou: The proposed plan consists of 1.6 miles earthen 
channel enlargement and 6.4 miles of clearing and snagging.
    Blackwater Bayou and its Tributary: The proposed plan consists of 
4.1 miles earthen channel enlargement and 10.5 miles of clearing and 
snagging.
    Upper Jones Creek and Tributaries Lively Bayou and Weiner Creek: 
The proposed plan consists of clearing and snagging approximately 11.9 
miles of channel and placement of rip rap for 4.3 miles following 
channel widening.
    The proposed improvements are designed to reduce the risk of flood 
damages caused by out of bank flooding during storm events.
    This SEIS would provide an assessment of the proposed design 
alternatives for the various reaches. When unavoidable impacts occur, 
the CEMVN will offset those impacts through compensatory mitigation by 
replacing the lost habitat's functions and services equally and in-
kind. Compensatory mitigation is required by the Water Resources 
Development Act (WRDA) of 1986, Section 906, as amended and by the 
Clean Water Act Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines.
    3. Scoping. The CEMVN invites all affected federal, state, and 
local agencies, affected Native American Tribes, other interested 
parties, and the general public to participate in the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process during development of the SEIS. 
The purpose of the public scoping process is to provide information to 
the public, narrow the scope of analysis to significant environmental 
issues, serve as a mechanism to solicit agency and public input on 
alternatives and issues of concern, and ensure full and open 
participation in scoping for the draft SEIS. To ensure that all the 
issues related to the proposed plans for Beaver Bayou, Blackwater Bayou 
and its Tributary, and Upper Jones Creek and Tributaries are addressed, 
the CEMVN will conduct virtual public scoping meeting(s) to which 
agencies, organizations, and members of the general public are invited 
to present comments or suggestions with regard to the range of actions, 
alternatives, and potential impacts to be considered in the draft SEIS. 
Project and public scoping meeting information, including information 
as to where, when, and how to participate and submit scoping comments 
as well as other opportunities for public involvement, will be 
available on CEMVN's website at: https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/About/Projects/BBA-2018/East-Baton-Rouge/. Notification of virtual scoping 
meetings will also be available via press releases, special public 
notices, and on CEMVN's social media platforms, at a minimum.
    4. Federal Authority. The SEIS will disclose the context and 
intensity of environmental impacts, including focusing the analysis on 
those effects that are reasonably foreseeable and that have a 
reasonably close causal relationship to the proposed action as required 
under the Council of Environmental Quality's (CEQ) NEPA regulations at 
40 CFR parts 1500-1508 and the Department of the Army's (DA)

[[Page 34674]]

NEPA regulations at 33 CFR part 325, Appendix B. A reasonable range of 
alternatives will be determined and significant issues related to the 
proposed action will be identified during agency and public scoping.
    The following agencies are being invited as Cooperating Agencies on 
the SEIS: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of the 
Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Department of 
Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Advisory 
Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), Louisiana's Historic 
Preservation Office (LA SHPO), and Louisiana's Department of Natural 
Resources (LA-DNR).
    5. Alternatives. The SEIS will address a reasonable range of 
alternatives based on the proposed project's purpose and need and in 
view of its previous authorization. The SEIS will compare the proposed 
channel improvements of Beaver Bayou, Blackwater Bayou and Tributary, 
and Upper Jones Creek and Tributaries against the No Action Alternative 
(Future without the Project). The proposed project and the resulting 
analysis will be presented in the SEIS.
    6. Potentially Significant Issues. The SEIS will analyze the 
potential impacts on the human and natural environment resulting from 
the proposed Project. 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 to be evaluated in the SEIS could include, but are 
not limited to, the reasonably foreseeable effects on wetlands and 
other waters of the U.S.; aquatic resources; commercial and 
recreational fisheries; wildlife resources; essential fish habitat; 
water quality; cultural resources; geology and soils; hydrology and 
hydraulics; air quality; marine mammals; threatened and endangered 
species and their critical habitats; navigation and navigable waters; 
induced flooding; employment and incomes; land use; property values; 
tax revenues; population and housing; community and regional growth; 
environmental justice; community cohesion; public services; recreation; 
transportation and traffic; utilities and community service systems; 
and cumulative effects of related projects in the study area.
    7. Environmental Consultation and Review Authorizations. The 
proposed Action is being coordinated with federal, state, regional, and 
local agencies. In accordance with relevant environmental laws and 
regulations, CEMVN will consult with the following agencies: USFWS 
under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act; USFWS under the 
Endangered Species Act; NMFS under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act; Louisiana Department of Environmental 
Quality for Water Quality Certification; and, the ACHP, Louisiana SHPO, 
and the appropriate Tribal Historic Preservation Officers under the 
National Historic Preservation Act and integrated NHPA/EIS process.
    8. Availability. The draft SEIS is presently scheduled to be 
available for public review and comment in September 2022. A Final SEIS 
is tentatively scheduled for release in January 2023. All comments 
received throughout the review process will become part of the project 
file for the proposed Project and will be subject to public release.

Edward E. Belk, Jr.,
Programs Director, Mississippi Valley Division, U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers.
[FR Doc. 2022-12211 Filed 6-6-22; 8:45 am]
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