[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 146 (Tuesday, August 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50131-50133]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16257]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

[Docket ID: COE-2023-0009]
Z-RIN 0710-ZA19


Water Resources Development Act 2020, Section 128 Harmful Algal 
Bloom Demonstration Program Draft Environmental Assessment

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

ACTION: Notice of availability; request comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Army is publishing this notice to 
solicit comment on an environmental assessment of implementation of 
section 128 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 which 
directs the Secretary of the Army to implement a demonstration program 
to determine the causes of, and implement measures to effectively 
detect, prevent, treat, and eliminate, harmful algal blooms associated 
with water resources development projects.

DATES: Comments must be received by August 31, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number COE-
2023-0009, using any of these methods:
    1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments.
    2. Email: [email protected] 
and include the docket number, COE-2023-0009, in the subject line of 
the message.
    3. Mail: HQ, U.S. Army Office of the Assistant secretary of the 
Army, ATTN: Mr. Gib Owen, at U.S. Army, 108 Army Pentagon, Washington, 
DC 20310-0108.
    4. Hand Delivery/Courier: Due to security requirements, we cannot 
receive comments by hand delivery or courier.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to docket number COE-2023-0009. 
The public docket will include all comments exactly as submitted and 
without change and may be made available on-line at http://www.regulations.gov. This will include any personal information 
provided, unless the commenter indicates that the comment includes 
information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or 
other information where disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not 
submit information that you consider to be CBI, or otherwise protected, 
through regulations.gov or email. The regulations.gov website is an 
anonymous access system, which means we will not know your identity or 
contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. 
If you send an email directly to the U.S. Army without going through 
regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically captured and 
included as part of the comment placed in the public docket and made 
available on the internet. If you submit an electronic comment, we 
recommend that you include your name and other contact information in 
the body of your comment. No alternative media thumb drive or CD-ROM 
can be submitted. If we cannot read your comment because of technical 
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, we may not be 
able to consider your comment. Electronic comments should avoid the use 
of any special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any 
defects or viruses.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov. All documents in 
the docket are listed. Although listed in the index, some information 
is not publicly available, such as CBI or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as 
copyrighted material, is not placed on the internet and will be 
publicly available only in hard copy form.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Gib Owen at [email protected] or 571-274-1929.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of the Army is publishing 
this notice to solicit comment on an environmental assessment prepared 
to support the implementation of a demonstration program to determine 
the causes of, and implement measures to effectively detect, prevent, 
treat, and eliminate, harmful algal blooms associated with water 
resources development projects. Section 128 requires the Secretary to 
consult with and leverage data from Federal and State agencies, and 
leverage activities of the Secretary carried out through the Engineer 
Research and Development Center pursuant to section 1109 of the Water 
Resources Development Act of 2018 (33 U.S.C. 610 note). The Secretary 
is directed to undertake program activities in the Great Lakes, tidal 
and inland waters of New Jersey, coastal and tidal waters of Louisiana, 
waterways of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in California, Allegheny 
Reservoir Watershed in New York, and Lake Okeechobee, Florida. Section 
128 directs the Secretary to undertake

[[Page 50132]]

program activities related to harmful algal blooms at any Federal 
reservoir located in the Upper Missouri River Basin or the North Platte 
River Basin, at the request and expense of another Federal agency. A 
copy of the draft environmental assessment can be found at: https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Water-Resources-Development-Act/.
    The contents of the documents do not have the force and effect of 
law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This document is 
intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing 
requirements under the law or departmental policies.

Procedural Requirements

    a. Review under the National Environmental Policy Act. As required 
by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Department of Army 
prepares appropriate environmental analysis for its activities 
affecting the quality of the human environment. We have preliminarily 
determined that this proposed Section 128 Harmful Algal Bloom 
Demonstration Program if finalized, would not constitute a major 
Federal Action significantly affecting the quality of the human 
environment because actions, while temporary in nature, will be taken, 
during the implementation of the program to avoid and minimize any 
adverse impacts that could occur as a result of the implementation of 
the recommended plan. The preliminary determination that an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will not be required for the 
issuance of this significant guidance will be reviewed in consideration 
of the comments received.
    b. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 
does not apply to the Section 128 Harmful Algal Bloom Demonstration 
Program because the guidance associated with this action provides 
policy for the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
to conduct a Harmful Algal Bloom Demonstration Program at 100% Federal 
expense. The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works has found 
that small governments will not be significantly and uniquely affected 
by this guidance.
    c. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act. This Section 
128 Harmful Algal Bloom Demonstration Program does not involve 
technical standards and as such there are no anticipated requirements 
under this Act.
    d. Executive Order 12866. Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, 
October 4, 1993), defines ``significant regulatory action'' as one that 
is likely to result in a rule that may:
    (1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $200 million or more or 
adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the 
economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public 
health or safety, or State, Tribal, or local governments or 
communities;
    (2) Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an 
action taken or planned by another agency;
    (3) Materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, 
user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients 
thereof; or
    (4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal 
mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in 
the Executive Order.
    In addition, per 32 CFR 339.7 (85 FR 32299), the same tests for 
significance also apply to guidance documents. This proposed Section 
128 Harmful Algal Bloom Demonstration Program has been found not to be 
a significant guidance action.
    e. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). The 
proposed Section 128 Harmful Algal Bloom Demonstration Program does not 
impose any information collection requirements for which Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act 
is required.
    f. Executive Order 13132: Federalism. This proposed Section 128 
Harmful Algal Bloom Demonstration Program will not have substantial 
direct effects on the states, the relationship between the national 
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities among the various levels of government.
    g. Regulatory Flexibility Act. The Regulatory Flexibility Act 
(RFA), as amended (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) generally requires an agency 
to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to 
notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative 
Procedure Act or any other statute unless the agency certifies that the 
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses, 
small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions. For purposes 
of assessing the impacts of the proposed rule on small entities, a 
small entity is defined as: (1) A small business based on SBA size 
standards; (2) a small governmental jurisdiction that is a government 
of a city, county, town, school district, or special district with a 
population of less than 50,000; and (3) a small organization that is 
any not-for-profit enterprise which is independently owned and operated 
and is not dominant in its field. Although this is not a rulemaking 
action, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works nonetheless 
certifies that this proposed Section 128 Harmful Algal Bloom 
Demonstration Program does not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities. The proposed Section 128 Harmful 
Algal Bloom Demonstration Program does not place any regulatory burdens 
on small entities or have a significant economic impact on such 
entities.
    h. Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.). Pursuant to the 
Congressional Review Act, this proposed Section 128 Harmful Algal Bloom 
Demonstration Program has not been designated a major rule, as defined 
by 5 U.S.C. 804(2), as it is not a rulemaking action. However, 
analyzing the same parameters for this proposed significant guidance, 
the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works has determined that 
this proposed Section 128 Harmful Algal Bloom Demonstration Program is 
not considered ``major'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2), because it is 
not likely to result in: (1) An annual effect on the economy of 
$200,000,000 or more; (2) a major increase in costs or prices for 
consumers, individual industries, Federal, state, or local government 
agencies, or geographic regions; or (3) significant adverse effects on 
competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or on 
the ability of the United States-based enterprises to compete with 
foreign-based enterprises in domestic and export markets.
    i. Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination With Indian 
Tribal Governments. Under Executive Order 13175, the Federal Government 
may not issue a regulation that has substantial, direct effects on one 
or more Tribal Nation, on the relationship between the Federal 
Government and Tribal Nation, or on the distribution of powers and 
responsibilities between the Federal Government and Tribal Nations, and 
imposes substantial direct compliance costs on those communities, and 
that is not required by statute, unless the Federal Government provides 
the funds necessary to pay the direct compliance cost incurred by the 
Tribal Nation governments, or we consult with those

[[Page 50133]]

governments. If complying by consulting, Executive Order 13175 requires 
us to provide the Office of Management and Budget, in a separately 
identified section of the preamble to the rule, a description of the 
extent of prior consultation with representatives of affected Tribal 
Nation governments, a summary of the nature of Tribal Nation concerns, 
and a statement supporting the need to issue the regulation. In 
addition, Executive Order 13175 requires that agencies develop an 
effective process permitting elected officials and other 
representatives of Tribal Nation governments an opportunity to provide 
timely input in the development of regulatory policies on matters that 
significantly or uniquely affect their communities. This proposed 
Section 128 Harmful Algal Bloom Demonstration Program does not impose 
significant compliance costs on any Tribal Nation or otherwise have 
substantial direct effects on the same. The proposed Section 128 
Harmful Algal Bloom Demonstration Program would not have any adverse 
physical impacts to human environment as the expected result of the 
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works actions will be the 
implementation of temporary harmful algal bloom demonstration projects. 
In the event that any Tribal Nations may have concerns with the 
proposed Section 128 Harmful Algal Bloom Demonstration Program, the 
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works encourages them to 
submit comments through the public comment process and/or to request 
government-to-government consultation.

Michael L. Connor,
Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works).
[FR Doc. 2023-16257 Filed 7-31-23; 8:45 am]
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