Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 67 / Monday, April 9, 2007 / Notices 17525 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army; Corps of 

Engineers 

Intent To Prepare a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement 

(DEIS) for the Construction of Western 

Wake Regional Wastewater 

Management Facilities, Regional 

Wastewater Pumping, Conveyance, 

Treatment, and Discharge Facilities To 

Serve the Towns of Apex, Cary, Holly 

Springs and Morrisville, as well as the 

Wake County Portion of Research 

Triangle Park (Service Area), NC 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. 

Army Corps of the Engineers, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers (COE), Wilmington District, 

Wilmington Regulatory Division has 

received a request for Department of the 

Army authorization, pursuant to Section 

404 of the Clean Water Act, from 

Western Wake Partners to construct 

Western Wake Regional Wastewater 

Management Facilities. This project will 

be a regional wastewater pumping, 

conveyance, treatment, and discharge 

project to serve the Towns of Apex, 

Cary, Holly Springs and Morrisville, as 

well as the Wake County portion of 

Research Triangle Park (service area), 

NC. 

The project is being proposed by the 

Western Wake Partners to provide 

wastewater service for planned growth 

and development in the project service 

area and to comply with two regulatory 

mandates. One regulatory mandate has 

been issued by the North Carolina 

Environmental Management 

Commission (EMC), and the second 

regulatory mandate has been issued by 

the North Carolina Department of 

Environment and Natural Resources (NC 

DENR). In accordance with the two 

regulatory mandates, the proposed 

Project must be operational and 

discharging effluent to the Cape Fear 

River Basin by January 1, 2011. 

DATES: A public scoping meeting for the 

DEIS will be held at 6 p.m. at the Town 

of Apex Town Hall, April 19, 2007. 

Written comments will be received until 

April 30, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of comments and 

questions regarding scoping of the Draft 

EIS may be addressed to: U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District, 

Regulatory Division. ATTN: File 

Number SAW–200520159–1, P.O. Box 

1890, Wilmington, NC 28402–1890. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Questions about the proposed action 

and DEIS can be directed to Mr. Henry 

Wicker, Regulatory Division, telephone: 

(910) 251–4930. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

proposed project consists of regional 

wastewater pumping, conveyance, 

treatment, and discharge facilities to 

serve the Towns of Apex, Cary, Holly 

Springs and Morrisville, as well as the 

Wake County portion of Research 

Triangle Park (service area), NC. The 

purpose of the project is to provide 

wastewater service for planned growth 

and development in the project service 

area and to comply with two regulatory 

mandates. One regulatory mandate has 

been issued by the North Carolina 

Environmental Management 

Commission (EMC), and the second 

regulatory mandate has been issued by 

the North Carolina Department of 

Environment and Natural Resources (NC 

DENR). In accordance with the two 

regulatory mandates, the proposed 

Project must be operational and 

discharging effluent to the Cape January 

1, 2011. 

Regulatory Mandate No. 1—Interbasin 

Transfer: The Towns of Apex, Cary, and 

Morrisville, as well as Research Triangle 

Park (RTP) South, obtain their drinking 

water from Jordan Lake in the Cape Fear 

River Basis and discharge treated 

effluent to locations in the Neuse River 

Basin. Obtaining water from one basin 

and discharging it to another river basin 

is referred to as an interbasin transfer 

(IBT), which requires a permit from the 

EMC. In July 2001, the EMC granted the 

Towns of Apex, Cary, and Morrisville, 

as well as Wake County (on behalf of 

RTP South), an IBT certificate to 

withdraw water from the Cape Fear 

River Basin and discharge the water to 

the Neuse River Basin. However, as a 

condition of approval, the IBT 

certificate issued by the EMC requires 

the local governments to return 

reclaimed water to the Cape Fear River 

Basin by January 1, 2011. As a result, 

the local governments have initiated 

activities to plan, permit, design, and 

construct wastewater transmission, 

treatment, and disposal facilities in 

order to comply with the terms and 

conditions of the IBT certificate issued 

by the EMC. The facilities that will be 

described and evaluated in the 

environmental impact statement (DEIS) 

are needed to comply with the IBT 

certificate terms and conditions. 

Regulatory Mandate No. 2—Nutrient 

Enrichment for Harris Lake: The Town 

of Holly Springs currently has a 

wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) 

that discharges to Utley Creek, which is 

a tributary to Harris Lake in the Cape 

Fear River Basin. Representatives from 

NCDENR have directed the Town of 

Holly Springs to remove the Town’s 

wastewater discharge from Utley Creek 

due to nutrient enrichment issues in 

Utley Creek and downstream in Harris 

Lake. In addition, NCDENR has 

encouraged Holly Springs to participate 

with Apex, Cary and Morrisville on a 

regional wastewater management 

program that will allow Holly Springs to 

remove the Town’s discharge from Utley 

Creek by January 1, 2011. Thus, Holly 

Springs is participating with Apex, Cary 

and Morrisville in the planning, 

permitting, design and construction of 

regional effluent disposal facilities in 

order to comply with the mandate 

issued by NCDENR to remove its 

discharge from Utley Creek. The 

regional effluent disposal facilities that 

will be described and evaluated in the 

DEIS are needed to comply with the 

NCDENR mandate. 

The proposed project will need to be 

reviewed to address a number of issues 

which includes an alternative analyses, 

direct environmental impacts, 

secondary and cumulative 

environmental impacts, environmental 

justice concerns, endangered species, 

and potential project costs. 

Alternative Analysis: The purpose of 

the alternative analyses is to present a 

discussion of the environmental impacts 

associated with a reasonable number of 

alternatives. The proposed Project and a 

reasonable number of alternatives will 

be evaluated and compared in the DEIS. 

The factors to be considered will be 

similar for each of the alternatives. 

Impacts are expected to differ primarily 

in the degree to which specific factors 

may be affected. 

The alternative analysis will evaluate 

alternative wastewater management 

options. Presently eight wastewater 

management options have been 

identified to be evaluated in the DEIS. 

These eight wastewater management 

alternatives include the following: 

(1) No Action; 

(2) Regional System with Cape Fear 

River Discharge; 

(3) Regional System with Jordan Lake 

Discharge; 

(4) Independent Systems; 

(5) Purchasing Capacity from Other 

Systems; 

(6) Optimum Operation of Existing 

Facilities; 

(7) Regional Land Application 

System; 

(8) Water Reuse System. 

Alternative Discharge Locations: Four 

alternative discharge locations have 

been identified to be evaluated in the 

DEIS. These four alternative discharge 

locations include the following: 

(1) Cape Fear River below Buckhorn 

Dam; 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
17526 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 67 / Monday, April 9, 2007 / Notices 

(2) New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake 

(above Jordan Lake Dam and below US 

64); 

(3) Cape Fear River/Haw River above 

Buckhorn Dam; 

(4) Harris Lake/Utley Creek. 

Alternative Water Reclamation 

Facility Sites: Preliminary investigations 

identified 30 potential locations for the 

Water Reclamation Facility (WRF). The 

DEIS will analyze all 30 potential 

locations to identify the impacts and use 

the information to make an appropriate 

site selection. 

Alternative Raw Wastewater Pumping 

and Conveyance; Alternative raw 

wastewater pump station sites and force 

main routes will be evaluated in the 

DEIS for the preferred WRF site and 

discharge location. 

Alternative Effluent Pumping and 

Conveyance: The effluent pump station 

will be located at the WRF site; 

therefore, selection of an effluent pump 

station site is inherent in the WRF site 

selection process. Alternative effluent 

force main routes will be evaluated in 

the DEIS for the preferred WRF site and 

discharge location. 

Alternative Outfall Configurations at 

Cape Fear River: The DEIS will include 

evaluation of two configuration for the 

outfall structure. The alternatives to be 

evaluated include (a) bank discharge 

structure, and (b) instream diffuser. 

Direct Environmental Impacts: The 

DEIS will identify and discuss the direct 

impacts of the proposed Project and 

feasible alternatives on topography, 

floodplains, soils, land use, wetlands, 

prime farmlands, public lands, historic 

and archaeological resources, air 

quality, noise, water resources, forest 

resources, shellfish and fish, wildlife 

and natural vegetation, the introduction 

of toxic substances, shore erosion and 

accretion, energy needs, safety, food and 

fiber production, mineral needs, and 

property ownership. Geographic 

Information System (GIS) data and 

mapping will be used to evaluate direct 

environmental impacts of the proposed 

Project and alternatives. 

Secondary and Cumulative 

Environmental Impacts: The Western 

Wake Partners have developed 

Secondary and Cumulative Impacts 

Master Mitigation Plans to address 

secondary and cumulative impacts that 

are expected to result from the Western 

Wake Regional Wastewater Management 

Facilities project as well as other 

infrastructure projects that will be 

implemented in the Partners’

jurisdictions in the future. Additional 

secondary and cumulative impacts will 

be addressed in the DEIS as 

recommended by the United States 

Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). GIS 

data and mapping will be used to 

evaluate and quantify secondary and 

cumulative impacts of the proposed 

Project to stream and wetland resources. 

Environmental Justice: In accordance 

with Executive Order 12898, the DEIS 

will include an evaluation of the 

proposed Project’s impact on minority 

and low-income populations. US 

Census Bureau data and GIS mapping 

will be used to determine the existence 

of all minority and low-income 

populations in the Projects service area 

and in the affected area for the preferred 

WRF site. 

Endangered Species: A biological 

assessment will be included as an 

appendix to the document for the 

preferred alternative in accordance with 

the Endangered Species Act. 

Project Costs: Project costs will be 

evaluated based on a 20 year presentworth costs and Phase 1 capital costs. 

20-year present-worth costs allow for a 

direct comparison of long-term costeffectiveness, and Phase 1 capital costs 

allow for a direct comparison of shortterm capital requirements which have 

an immediate impact on sewer rates, 

fees, and charges. Mitigation costs for 

direct impacts to streams and wetlands 

will be estimated based on the 

Ecosystem Enhancement Program’s 

schedule of fees. 

NEPA/SEPA Preparation and 

Permitting: Because the proposed 

Western Wake Regional Wastewater 

Management Facilities Project requires 

approvals from federal and state 

agencies under both the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 

the State Environmental Policy Act 

(SEPA), a joint Federal and State 

Environmental Document will be 

prepared. The US Army Corps of 

Engineers will serve as the lead agency 

for the Federal process. 

Based on the size and complexity of 

the proposed Project, the applicant has 

been encouraged by US Army Corps of 

Engineers and NCDENR staff to identify 

and address the environmental impacts 

of the proposed Project through the 

DEIS process. Within the DEIS, the 

applicant will conduct a thorough 

environmental review, including an 

evaluation of reasonable, feasible, and 

financially responsible alternatives. 

After review of the DEIS and final EIS, 

a Record of Decision (ROD) will be 

issued for the EIS document. The ROD 

will document the completion of the EIS 

and serve as a basis for further 

permitting decisions by federal and state 

agencies. 

Scoping Process: A public scoping 

meeting (see DATES) will be held to 

receive public comment and assess 

public concerns regarding the 

appropriate scope and preparation of 

the DEIS. Participation in the public 

meeting by federal, state, and local 

agencies and other interested 

organizations and persons is 

encouraged. The Corps will also be 

consulting with the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service under the Endangered 

Species Act and the Fish and Wildlife 

coordination Act. Additionally, the 

DEIS will assess the potential water 

quality impacts pursuant to Section 401 

of the Clean Water Act. The corps will 

work closely with the NC DENR to 

ensure the process complies with all 

State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) 

requirements. It is the Corps and 

NCDENR’s intentions to consolidate 

both NEPA and SEPA processes to 

eliminate duplications. 

Availability of the DEIS: The DEIS is 

expected to be published and circulated 

sometime in early 2008, and a public 

hearing will be held after the 

publication of the DEIS. 

Patrick E. Tilque, 

LTC U.S. Army, Deputy District Commander. 

[FR Doc. 07–1741 Filed 4–6–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3710–GN–M 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Notice of Proposed Information 

Collection Requests 

AGENCY: Department of Education. 

SUMMARY: The IC Clearance Official, 

Regulatory Information Management 

Services, Office of Management, invites 

comments on the proposed information 

collection requests as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before June 8, 

2007. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) provide interested 

Federal agencies and the public an early 

opportunity to comment on information 

collection requests. OMB may amend or 

waive the requirement for public 

consultation to the extent that public 

participation in the approval process 

would defeat the purpose of the 

information collection, violate State or 

Federal law, or substantially interfere 

with any agency’s ability to perform its 

statutory obligations. The IC Clearance 

Official, Regulatory Information 

Management Services, Office of 

Management, publishes that notice 

containing proposed information 

collection requests prior to submission 

of these requests to OMB. Each 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES