5768 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 23 / Thursday, February 4, 2010 / Notices 

Supporting documentation may also be 

included as needed to establish the 

appropriate historical context and to 

provide any necessary background 

information. 

Individuals submitting a written 

statement may submit their statement to 

the Board at 801 N. Quincy Street, Suite 

600, Arlington, VA 22203, at any time. 

However, if a written statement is not 

received at least 10 calendar days prior 

to the meeting, which is the subject of 

this notice, then it may not be provided 

to or considered by the Veterans’ 

Advisory Board on Dose Reconstruction 

until its next open meeting. 

The Chairperson will review all 

timely submissions with the Designated 

Federal Officer, and ensure they are 

provided to members of the Veterans’ 

Advisory Board on Dose Reconstruction 

before the meeting that is the subject of 

this notice. After reviewing the written 

comments, the Chairperson and the 

Designated Federal Officer may choose 

to invite the submitter of the comments 

to orally present their issue during an 

open portion of this meeting or at a 

future meeting. 

Public Comments 

The March 4, 2010, meeting is open 

to the public. One, approximately halfhour session will be reserved for public 

comments on issues related to the tasks 

of the Veterans’ Advisory Board on Dose 

Reconstruction. Speaking time will be 

assigned on a first-come, first-served 

basis. The amount of time per speaker 

will be determined by the number of 

requests received, but is nominally five 

minutes each. All persons who wish to 

speak at the meeting must sign in 

legibly at the registration desk. Speakers 

who wish to expand on their oral 

statements are invited to submit a 

written statement to the Veterans’ 

Advisory Board on Dose Reconstruction 

at 801 N. Quincy Street, Suite 600, 

Arlington, VA 22203. 

Dated: February 1, 2010. 

Mitchell S. Bryman, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 2010–2368 Filed 2–3–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army; Corps of 

Engineers 

Intent To Prepare a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement To 

Evaluate Improvements to the Federal 

Deep-Draft Pascagoula Harbor 

Navigation Channel in Jackson 

County, MS 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, DOD. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

SUMMARY: The Mobile District, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) 

intends to prepare a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 

to address the potential impacts 

associated with improving the Federal 

Pascagoula Harbor Navigation Channel 

Project in Jackson County, MS. The 

DEIS will be used as a basis for ensuring 

compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 

evaluating alternative plans including 

the ‘‘No Action’’. Alternatives which 

will be evaluated include widening the 

Lower Pascagoula Channel and Bayou 

Casotte Channel by 50-foot increments 

to a total width of 150 feet on one side 

or both sides of the channel. 

DATES: A public scoping meeting will be 

held on Thursday, February 25, 2010 

from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The scoping meeting will be 

held at the Pascagoula Public Library, 

3214 Pascagoula Street, Pascagoula, MS 

39567. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Questions about the DEIS should be 

addressed to Ms. Jennifer Jacobson, 

Coastal Environment Team, Mobile 

District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628 by 

telephone (251) 690–2724 or e-mail her 

at jennifer.l.jacobson@usace.army.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. The March 1985 Pascagoula Harbor, 

MS Feasibility Report investigated 

increased widths and depths in the 

Pascagoula and Bayou Casotte 

navigation channels. Of the plans 

initially formulated, five were selected 

for detailed study along with the ‘‘No 

Action’’ alternative. All plans 

considered for detailed study included 

deepening all the channels in 

Mississippi Sound to 42 feet and the 

Entrance channel to 44 feet; widening of 

the Entrance channel to 550 feet; 

widening of the Bayou Casotte channel 

to 350 feet; and providing a 1,400-foot 

diameter turning basin just inside the 

mouth of Bayou Casotte. The 1985 

Feasibility Report recommended 

deepening and widening the Gulf 

Entrance channel to 44 feet by 550 feet 

from the 44-foot depth contour in the 

Gulf of Mexico to the bend at the 

southern end of Horn Island Pass, 

deepening and widening Horn Island 

Pass to 44 feet by 600 feet between the 

bends at the southern and northern ends 

of that pass, for a distance of about 4 

and 1⁄2; miles; reconfiguring the 

impoundment basin in Horn Island Pass 

to provide a section within the channel 

limits 1,500 feet long with a total depth 

of 56 feet to facilitate maintenance by 

hopper dredge, and allowing for future 

realignment of the Horn Island Pass 

reach as natural conditions warrant. In 

addition, deepening the Lower 

Pascagoula channel to 42 feet from the 

bend at the north end of Horn Island 

Pass, through Mississippi Sound and 

into the Pascagoula River, and 

terminating about 500 feet south of the 

grain elevator for a total distance of 

about 10 miles; widening the bend at 

the junction with the Bayou Casotte 

channel from the present 150 feet to 250 

feet to provide a total width at the bend 

of 600 feet and widening the bend at the 

mouth of Pascagoula River by 280 feet 

to provide a total width at the bend of 

630 feet. Finally, widening and 

deepening the Bayou Casotte channel to 

42 feet by 350 feet from the junction 

with the main channel to the mouth of 

Bayou Casotte, a distance of about 3 and 

c miles; with additional widening at the 

mouth to provide a turning basin with 

a total turning diameter of 1,150 feet, 

including the channel width; relieving 

the northern portion of the area between 

the junction with the main ship channel 

from the present 500 feet to 1,000 feet, 

and widening the bend at the mouth of 

Bayou Casotte from the present 50 feet 

to 100 feet to provide a total width at 

the bend of 450 feet. A Final 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for the Designation of an Ocean Dredged 

Material Disposal Site (ODMDS) located 

offshore Pascagoula, MS was prepared 

in July 1991. Construction of all phases 

of the improvements, except for the 

Entrance channel being widened to 550 

feet, reconfiguring the Horn Island Pass 

impoundment basin, and the Pascagoula 

Upper channel being deepened to 42 

feet, were completed in 1999. A Final 

Supplemental EIS entitled Pascagoula 

Harbor Navigation Channel is scheduled 

to be released for public comment this 

year. This Final Supplemental EIS 

addresses construction of all those 

unconstructed navigational features. 

The project is conducted under the 

authority of Public Law 84–99, Flood 

and Coastal Storm Emergencies (33 

U.S.C.701n) (69 Stat. 186). 

Appropriations for construction of the 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 23 / Thursday, February 4, 2010 / Notices 5769 

project was received by Public Law 

109–359, making Appropriations for the 

Department of Defense for the Fiscal 

Year Ending September 30, 2006, and 

for Other Purposes (December 18, 2005). 

The original Final EIS was reviewed and 

any new conditions that were not 

addressed in the 1989 Final EIS were 

evaluated as part of the Final 

Supplemental EIS to ensure compliance 

with all environmental laws and 

regulations. 

2. Alternative scenarios to be 

considered in the DEIS include the ‘‘No 

action’’ alternative and an array of 50- 

foot wide increment alternatives to 

widen the Federal Lower Pascagoula 

Channel and Bayou Casotte Channel up 

to a total width of 150 feet on either one 

side or both sides of the Channel(s). In 

addition, an array of disposal options 

are also being evaluated for the new 

work as well as for the maintenance 

material including upland disposal 

site(s), littoral zone disposal, beneficial 

use, disposal in the existing Pascagoula 

ODMDS, and disposal in existing openwater disposal sites. 

3. Scoping: a. The Corps invites full 

public participation to promote open 

communication on the issues 

surrounding the proposal. All Federal, 

State, and local agencies, and other 

persons or organizations that have an 

interest are urged to participate in the 

NEPA scoping process. Public meetings 

will be held to help identify significant 

issues and to receive public input and 

comment. 

b. The DEIS will analyze the potential 

social, economic, and environmental 

impacts to the local area resulting from 

improvements to the Federal Pascagoula 

Harbor Navigation Project. Specifically, 

the following major issues will be 

analyzed in depth in the DEIS: 

Hydrologic and hydraulic regimes, 

threatened and endangered species, 

essential fish habitat and other marine 

habitat, air quality, cultural resources, 

transportation systems, alternatives, 

secondary and cumulative impacts, 

socioeconomic impacts, environmental 

justice (effect on minorities and lowincome groups) (Executive Order 

12898), and protection of children 

(Executive Order 13045). 

c. The Corps will serve as the lead 

Federal agency in the preparation of the 

DEIS. It is anticipated that the following 

agencies will be invited and will accept 

cooperating agency status for the 

preparation of the DEIS: U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, Mississippi 

Department of Environmental Quality, 

Mississippi Department of Marine 

Resources, Jackson County Port 

Authority, Mississippi Secretary of 

State, National Park Service, Minerals 

Management Service, Mississippi 

Museum of Natural Science, and 

Mississippi Department of Archives and 

History. 

4. A public scoping meeting will be 

held (see DATES AND ADDRESSES). Actual 

time(s) and place(s) for subsequent 

meetings or workshops will be 

announced by the Corps by issuance of 

a public notice and/or notices in the 

local media. 

5. It is anticipated that the DEIS will 

be made available for public review in 

November 2012. 

Curtis M. Flakes, 

Chief, Planning and Environmental Division. 

[FR Doc. 2010–2392 Filed 2–3–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army 

Inland Waterways Users Board; 

Request for Nominations 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DOD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Section 302 of Public Law 99– 

662 established the Inland Waterways 

Users Board. The Board is an 

independent Federal advisory 

committee. The Secretary of the Army 

appoints its 11 members. This notice is 

to solicit nominations for appointments 

or reappointments to two-year terms 

that will begin after July 1, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Headquarters, U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers, Civil Works 

Directorate, Attention: Inland 

Waterways Users Board Nominations 

Committee, Mr. Mark Pointon, 441 G 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20314– 

1000. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, Civil Works Directorate, 

(202) 761–4691. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

selection, service, and appointment of 

Board members are covered by 

provisions of Section 302 of Public Law 

99–662. The substance of those 

provisions is as follows: 

a. Selection. Members are to be 

selected from the spectrum of 

commercial carriers and shippers using 

the inland and intracoastal waterways, 

to represent geographical regions, and to 

be representative of waterborne 

commerce as determined by commodity 

ton-miles statistics. 

b. Service. The Board is required to 

meet at least semi-annually to develop 

and make recommendations to the 

Secretary of the Army on waterways 

construction and rehabilitation 

priorities and spending levels for 

commercial navigation improvements, 

and report its recommendations 

annually to the Secretary and Congress. 

c. Appointment. The operation of the 

Board and appointment of its members 

are subject to the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–463, as 

amended) and departmental 

implementing regulations. Members 

serve without compensation, but their 

expenses due to Board activities are 

reimbursable. The considerations 

specified in Section 302 for the 

selection of the Board members, and 

certain terms used therein, have been 

interpreted, supplemented, or otherwise 

clarified as follows: 

(1) Carriers and Shippers. The law 

uses the terms ‘‘primary users and 

shippers.’’ Primary users have been 

interpreted to mean the providers of 

transportation services on inland 

waterways such as barge or towboat 

operators. Shippers have been 

interpreted to mean the purchasers of 

such services for the movement of 

commodities they own or control. 

Individuals are appointed to the Board, 

but they must be either a carrier or 

shipper, or represent a firm that is a 

carrier or shipper. For that purpose a 

trade or regional association is neither a 

shipper nor primary user. 

(2) Geographical Representation. The 

law specifies ‘‘various’’ regions. For the 

purpose of selecting Board members, the 

waterways subjected to fuel taxes and 

described in Public Law 95–502, as 

amended, have been aggregated into six 

regions. They are (1) the Upper 

Mississippi River and its tributaries 

above the mouth of the Ohio; (2) the 

Lower Mississippi River and its 

tributaries below the mouth of the Ohio 

and above Baton Rouge; (3) the Ohio 

River and its tributaries; (4) the Gulf 

Intracoastal Waterway in Louisiana and 

Texas; (5) the Gulf Intracoastal 

Waterway east of New Orleans and 

associated fuel-taxed waterways 

including the Tennessee-Tombigbee, 

plus the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway 

below Norfolk; and (6) the ColumbiaSnake Rivers System and Upper 

Willamette. The intent is that each 

region shall be represented by at least 

one Board member, with that 

representation determined by the 

regional concentration of the 

individual’s traffic on the waterways. 

(3) Commodity Representation. 

Waterway commerce has been 

aggregated into six commodity 

categories based on ‘‘inland’’ ton-miles 

shown in Waterborne Commerce of the 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES