[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4818-4819]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-01456]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Withdrawal of the Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Mississippi River Hatchie/Loosahatchie, MS 
River Mile 775-736, Tennessee and Arkansas, Ecosystem Restoration 
Feasibility Study

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 (USACE), Memphis District is 
terminating preparation of a Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and 
Environmental Impact Statement (DIFR-EIS) for the Hatchie-Loosahatchie 
Mississippi River Ecosystem Restoration Study. A Notice of Intent to 
prepare the DIFR-EIS was published in the November 4, 2022, issue of 
the Federal Register. The USACE has since determined that a Draft 
Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Assessment (DIFR-EA) 
rather than an EIS is the appropriate level of environmental 
documentation for the study.

DATES: The DIFR-EA is presently scheduled to be available for public 
review and comment in early 2023. A final IFR-EA is tentatively 
scheduled for release in May 2024.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Memphis District, Attn: CEMVN-
PDC-UDC, 167 North Main St., Room B-202, Memphis, Tennessee 38103.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Thron, U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Memphis District; phone 901-544-0708; email [email protected]. For additional information about the 
study, please visit the project website at: https://www.mvm.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental-Stewardship/Hatchie-Loosahatchie-Mississippi-River-Ecosystem-Restoration-Study/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Hatchie-Loosahatchie Mississippi River 
Ecosystem Restoration Study seeks to examine restoring ecological 
structure and function to the mosaic of habitats along the lower 
Mississippi River (LMR) and its floodplain between River Miles 775 and 
736 including secondary channels and other floodplain aquatic habitats; 
floodplain forests; and several scarce vegetative communities such as, 
wetlands, rivercane, riverfront forests, and bottomland hardwood 
forests. The

[[Page 4819]]

study was originally scoped as an EIS. A notice of intent to prepare an 
EIS was published in the Federal Register on November 4, 2022 (87 FR 
66681). The scoping comment period ended on December 5, 2022. During 
scoping, a project website was prepared, press releases and 
notifications were sent to affected agencies and interested parties, 
and one virtual public meeting and three in-person public meetings were 
conducted in Henning, Tennessee, Millington, Tennessee, and Marion, 
Arkansas, respectively. No adverse comments were received, and all 
comments were generally supportive of the proposed activities. 
Additionally, the plan formulation process resulted in a reduced number 
of measures in the current array of alternatives being considered since 
the initiation of the study.
    The USACE will notify the public in advance of the availability of 
the draft and final IFR-EAs through press releases, special public 
notices, and USACE-Memphis District social media platforms. All public 
review and project related information will continue to be made 
available at: https://www.mvm.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental-Stewardship/Hatchie-Loosahatchie-Mississippi-River-Ecosystem-Restoration-Study/.

James Bodron,
Acting Programs Director, Mississippi Valley Division.
[FR Doc. 2023-01456 Filed 1-24-23; 8:45 am]
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