65684 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 240 / Monday, December 15, 1997 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of

Engineers

Intent To Prepare a Draft

Environmental Impact Statement

(DEIS), Grand Forks, ND—East Grand

Forks, MN, Flood Control

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,

DoD.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

SUMMARY: Under the authority of the

Flood Control Acts of June 30, 1948,

May 17, 1950, and December 31, 1970,

a General Reevaluation Report for Flood

Control at East Grand Forks, Minnesota,

is being prepared. In order to provide

effective flood control, the city of Grand

Forks, North Dakota, has been included

in the investigation.

The cities of Grand Forks, North

Dakota, and East Grand Forks,

Minnesota, were extensively damaged

by flooding of the Red River of the

North and the Red Lake River in the

spring of 1997. The cities form one

urban area separated by the river.

Because of the flat topography of the

Red River of the North, any proposed

flood protection must include both

communities to be effective. Emergency

flood protection and recovery efforts

required significant expenditures. Longterm protection would require the

construction of flood control measures

sized to accommodate a flood equal to,

or greater than, the flood of 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions concerning the DEIS can be

directed to: Colonel J. M. Wonsik,

District Engineer, St. Paul District,

Corps of Engineers, ATTN: Mr. Robert

Whiting, 190 Fifth Street East, St. Paul,

Minnesota 55101–1638.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DEIS

will assess impacts, identify areas of

potential impact, identify mitigation

features, discuss monitoring activities,

and identify future activities associated

with flood control at the cities of Grand

Forks, North Dakota, and East Grand

Forks, Minnesota. Structural measures

being considered include levees or a

combination of levees and a diversion.

Significant issues and resources to be

identified in the DEIS will be

determined through coordination with

responsible Federal, State, and local

agencies; the general public; interested

private organizations and parties; and

affected Native Americans. Anyone who

has an interest in participating in

development of the DEIS is invited to

contact the St. Paul District, Corps of

Engineers.

Significant issues identified to date

for discussion in the DEIS are as

follows:

1. Natural resources including:

fishery, wildlife, vegetation, wetlands,

and riparian areas;

2. Cultural resources;

3. Water quality, groundwater,

erosion, and sedimentation; and

4. Social and economic resources.

Additional issues of significance may

be identified through public and agency

meetings. A notice of those meetings

will be provided to interested parties

and to the local news media.

The construction of flood control

features in the two cities would be

considered major in scope and could

result in significant impacts. Our

environmental review will be conducted

according to the requirements of the

National Environmental Policy Act of

1969, National Historic Preservation Act

of 1966, Council on Environmental

Quality Regulations, Endangered

Species Act of 1973, Section 404 of the

Clean Water Act, and applicable laws

and regulations.

We anticipate that the DEIS will be

available to the public in the summer of

1998.

Dated: November 12, 1997.

William J. Breyfogle,

Lieutenant Colonel, EN Acting District

Engineer.

[FR Doc. 97–32616 Filed 12–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3710–08–M

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of

Engineers

Intent To Prepare a Draft Environment

Impact Statement (EIS) for the

Monarch-Chesterfield Feasibility

Study, St. Louis County, MO

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,

DOD.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public

that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

intends to prepare a Draft

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

for the Monarch-Chesterfield Feasibility

Study, St. Louis County, Missouri. A

description of the proposed project,

location and environmental issues to be

addressed in the draft EIS are provided

below (Supplementary Information).

This notice is published in accordance

with the National Environmental Policy

Act regulations found in 40 CFR 1501.7.

The purpose of this notice is to solicit

suggestions and information from other

agencies and the public on the scope of

the feasibility study and issues to be

addressed in the draft EIS. Comments

and participation in this process are

encouraged.

The proposed action is to provide

flood protection by raising the MonarchChesterfield levee system which is

located along the right bank of the

Missouri River between river miles 46.0

and 38.5. The length of the levee system

is 11.5 miles and protects approximately

4,240 acres.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions about the proposed action

and draft EIS can be answered by: Mr.

Dennis Woodruff, (314) 331–8485, or Dr.

Ronald Yarbrough, (314) 331–8460,

Planning Division, U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers, St. Louis District, 1222

Spruce Street, St. Louis, Missouri

63103–2833.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. The study was authorized by the

study resolution of the Committee on

Public Works and Transportation of the

United States House of Representatives:

Chesterfield, Missouri—Docket 2421.

‘‘Resolved by the Committee on Public

Works and Transportation of the United

States House of Representatives, That,

the Secretary of the Army, acting

through the Chief of Engineers on the

Mississippi River between Coon Rapids

Dam, Minnesota, and the mouth of the

Ohio River, published as House

Document 669, Seventy-sixth Congress,

Third Session, and other pertinent

reports, to determine whether

modifications of the recommendations

contained therein are advisable at the

present time, in the interest of flood

control and related purposes along the

Mississippi River and its Tributaries

with particular reference to

communities located along or affected

by the Mississippi River and its

Tributaries in the area of St. Louis,

Missouri, including the Counties of St.

Louis, Jefferson, and Ste. Genevieve.’’

The objective of the MonarchChesterfield Feasibility Study, St. Louis

County, Missouri, is to reduce flood

damages and flood related costs. The

study investigates the engineering,

economic, and environmental feasibility

of increasing the levee’s present level of

flood protection sufficient to protect

against a 500-year recurrence interval

flood.

2. Reasonable alternatives will be

considered in the Monarch-Chesterfield

Feasibility Study. These include no

action, increasing the reliability of the

existing levee system, or raising the

existing levee to provide a level of

protection between 200-year and 500-

year recurrence interval. Other levee

alignments were evaluated in the