[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 153 (Thursday, August 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64897-64898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17632]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Withdrawal of Notice of Intent (NOI) To Prepare a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Amite River and Tributaries-East 
of the Mississippi River, Louisiana, Flood Risk Management Feasibility 
Study

AGENCY: Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, Department of 
Defense.

ACTION: Notice of intent; withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is issuing this 
notice to advise Federal, State, and local governmental agencies and 
the public that USACE is withdrawing the notice of intent for the 
preparation of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the 
Amite River and Tributaries-East of the Mississippi River, Louisiana, 
Flood Risk Management Feasibility Study, which was published in the 
Federal Register on April 2, 2019. Since publication of the NOI, the 
USACE released a Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental 
Impact Statement (DIFR/EIS) associated with this study on November 26, 
2019 for concurrent public, technical, legal, and policy review. The 
USACE, after further evaluation of potential impacts, determined the 
revised (and current) TSP is not likely to result in significant 
impacts requiring the preparation of an EIS. The USACE therefore 
prepared the Supplemental Second Draft Integrated Feasibility Report 
with Environmental Assessment #600 (SSDIFR/EA) that was made available 
for a 45-day public review starting on December 15, 2023.

DATES: The notice of intent to prepare an EIS published in the Federal 
Register on April 4, 2019 (84 FR 12602), is withdrawn as of August 8, 
2024.

ADDRESSES: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New 
Orleans District, 7400 Leake Avenue New Orleans, LA 70118-3651.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the withdrawal of the 
Notice of Intent can be directed to Jordan Logarbo, at (504) 862-1158 
or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The study's purpose is to investigate flood 
risk reduction alternatives to reduce flood damages from rainfall in 
the Amite River Basin (ARB). The study is authorized by the Resolution 
of the Committee on Public Works of the United States Senate, adopted 
on April 14, 1967. The report is funded through Public Law 115-123 (the 
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018).
    A DIFR/EIS for this study was released on November 26, 2019, for 
concurrent public, technical, legal, and policy review. It evaluated 
four alternatives as a part of its final array, which included two 
dams, and a nonstructural plan in its final array. The TSP of the 2019 
DIFR/EIS was an estimated $2.3 billion-dollar new large-scale dry dam 
with a nonstructural component to address residual risk over a 2200 
mi\2\ study area. During review, the TSP was identified to have 
extensive technical and policy concerns, which found the dam was 
constrained by site conditions that made it in-feasible as designed and 
potentially increased life safety risk.
    Due to these concerns the USACE re-evaluated critical tasks to 
inform the decision on the revised tentatively selected plan, a 
nonstructural-only plan for voluntary elevation of eligible residential 
structures and floodproofing of eligible nonresidential structures. The 
USACE does not anticipate that this revised TSP would have impacts 
requiring the preparation of an EIS. This was documented in the SSDIFR/
EA. The

[[Page 64898]]

SSDIFR/EA was made available on the Amite River and Tributaries 
Feasibility Study website (https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Amite-River-and-Tributaries/) for a 45-day public review and comment period 
beginning on December 15, 2023 and ending on January 29, 2024.

James A. Bodron,
Programs Director, Mississippi Valley Division.
[FR Doc. 2024-17632 Filed 8-7-24; 8:45 am]
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