[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 110 (Thursday, June 6, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48418-48419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12362]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Tiered Environmental Impact 
Statement (TEIS) for Long-Term Sediment Management of the Federal 
Navigation Channel at or Near the Confluence of the Lower Snake and 
Clearwater Rivers in Asotin, Whitman, and Garfield Counties, State of 
Washington, and Nez Perce County, State of Idaho

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

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District 
(USACE), intends to prepare a Tiered Environmental Impact Statement 
(TEIS), in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), for long-term sediment management of the federal navigation 
channel at or near the confluence of the lower Snake and Clearwater 
Rivers (Confluence), in support of the commercial navigation project 
purpose within the Lower Snake River Projects (LSRP). The TEIS would be 
tiered from, and prepared in accordance with, the 2014 Lower Snake 
River Programmatic Sediment Management Plan, Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (PSMP FEIS). Per the PSMP, the triggers for development of a 
long-term solution have been met. TEIS alternatives will be formulated 
based on the PSMP's eight (8) measures applicable to Future Forecast 
Need Actions for Navigation and will be analyzed to determine the most 
cost-effective, technically acceptable, and environmentally acceptable 
action(s) to manage the sediment depositing at the Confluence.

DATES: This Federal Register notice initiates the formal TEIS 
development process.
    USACE invites federal and state agencies, Native American Tribes, 
and local governments to submit any relevant scoping comments by July 
8,

[[Page 48419]]

2024, that are relevant to the long-term sediment management at the 
Confluence for Navigation, which may include information, analysis, and 
ideas regarding formulation of the eight (8) measures to create the 
reasonable range of alternatives to be analyzed listed in the 
``Supplementary Information'' section below. Comments not relevant to 
these criteria will not be considered.
    USACE expects to publish a notice of availability (NOA) and request 
public comments on the draft TEIS in August 2025 and the final TEIS to 
be available to the public in February 2026. A Record of Decision (ROD) 
will be completed no sooner than 30 days after the final TEIS is 
released, in accordance with 40 CFR 1506.11.

ADDRESSES: Requests to be placed on the TEIS mailing list, requests for 
information, and written comments should be submitted either 
electronically or in hardcopy. Electronic submittals may be provided 
using ``Navigation Channel Maintenance TEIS'' in the address line at 
https://www.nww.usace.army.mil/EnvironmentalComplianceComment/ or via 
email to [email protected]. Hardcopy submittals may be sent to 
Walla Walla District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CENWW-PPL-C, 
Navigation Channel Maintenance TEIS, 201 North Third Avenue, Walla 
Walla, WA 99362-1876.
    All comments and materials received, including names and addresses, 
would become part of the administrative record, and may be released to 
the public. Interested parties should not submit confidential business 
or otherwise sensitive or protected information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the project and TEIS 
can be answered by Ms. Kathryn Wenger, Project Manager, Walla Walla 
District, Corps of Engineers, CENWW-PPL-P, 201 North Third Avenue, 
Walla Walla, WA 99362-1876, phone (509) 527-7294; or Ms. Michele 
Palmer, NEPA Coordinator, Walla Walla District, Corps of Engineers, 
CENWW-PPL-C, 201 North Third Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362-1876, phone 
(509) 975-9659; or via email to [email protected] and inserting 
``Navigation Channel Maintenance TEIS'' in the subject line.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The lower Snake River navigation channel 
passes four dams and ends near Lewiston, Idaho. USACE operates and 
maintains the navigation system on the lower Snake and Clearwater 
Rivers, up to the Port of Lewiston on the Clearwater River in Idaho. In 
2014, the PSMP FEIS (https://www.nww.usace.army.mil/missions/projects/programmatic-sediment-management-plan/) analyzed broad programs for 
managing sediments in the LSRP. A 2014 record of decision (ROD) 
selected the Comprehensive (Full System and Sediment Management 
Measures) Alternative that provides a suite of all potentially 
available dredging, system management, and structural sediment 
management measures for use to address sediments that interfere with 
the existing authorized project purposes of the LSRP. Due to the broad 
nature of the PSMP FEIS analysis, it was expected that any Future 
Forecast Need Actions for Navigation triggered by certain criteria 
would require project-specific environmental reviews, including 
preparation of appropriate NEPA documents ``tiered off'' from the 
programmatic PSMP FEIS.
    While there are recurring sediment deposition problems at other 
locations in the lower Snake River, sediment deposition at the 
Confluence has satisfied the PSMP's definition of a Future Forecast 
Need Actions for Navigation (i.e., occurring more frequently than once 
every five (5) years), which warrants the initiation of a tiered NEPA 
analysis of a long-term (future forecast action) sediment management 
solution/plan at this location. USACE intends to use a 50-year 
management period for evaluation of long-term sediment management 
options at the Confluence.
    Public scoping was accomplished previously as part of the 2014 PSMP 
FEIS. The selected alternative narrowed the reasonable measures for 
consideration in subsequent site-specific projects to eight (8), which 
are listed below and further detailed in the PSMP FEIS.
    Prior to publication of this Notice of Intent, USACE provided 
letters to federal and state agencies, Native American Tribes, and 
local governments inviting their participation in a minimum of one and 
up to two scoping discussion(s) to be held in late spring 2024 
regarding an overview of the tiered NEPA process and to solicit 
information pertaining to the eight (8) site-specific sediment 
management measures under consideration in the TEIS.
    The following (8) sediment management measures were selected in the 
2014 PSMP ROD for potential future use in problem sediment areas 
affecting the navigation project purpose:

a. Dredging
b. Disposal
c. Bendway weirs
d. Dikes/Dike fields
e. Sediment traps
f. Reservoir drawdown to flush sediment
g. Reconfigure affected (federal) facilities
h. Relocate affected (federal) facilities

    Alternatives formulated from the eight (8) navigation-specific 
measures identified above, must (either alone or in combination) 
provide a complete long-term sediment management solution/plan for the 
federal channel at the Confluence consistent with the framework of the 
PSMP FEIS. Also, alternatives considered must not:
     Increase the need for removing problem sediment 
(navigation or flow conveyance).
     Decrease flow conveyance at or near the Confluence during 
flood/high water events.
     Eliminate or unreasonably affect other project purposes 
(e.g., recreation).
    The TEIS will analyze a full range of reasonable alternatives 
formulated from these eight (8) measures. Analyses will identify the 
reasonably foreseeable direct, indirect and cumulative effects to 
resources that may be affected by the alternatives including aquatic 
and terrestrial resources; recreation; cultural resources; 
socioeconomics and environmental justice; water quality and sediment 
quality; hydrology and sediment; hazardous, toxic, and radioactive 
waste; air quality and greenhouse gas emissions; noise; and aesthetics.
    Anticipated permits and authorizations will depend on the specific 
alternative selected. Applicable federal laws include the Endangered 
Species Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Clean Water Act, and 
Rivers and Harbors Act. USACE will consult with the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to ensure 
that the selected alternative complies with the Endangered Species Act. 
USACE will also consult with the State Historic Preservation Officer 
and Native American Tribes to ensure compliance with the National 
Historic Preservation Act. USACE will coordinate with the Washington 
State Department of Ecology and the Idaho Department of Environmental 
Quality to meet the compliance requirements associated with section 401 
of the Clean Water Act.

Jeffrey D. Hall,
Colonel, Corps of Engineers, Deputy Division Commander.
[FR Doc. 2024-12362 Filed 6-5-24; 8:45 am]
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