[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 240 (Monday, December 15, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65684-65685]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-32618]


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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.

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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 
Monarch-Chesterfield 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 Monarch-Chesterfield 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

[[Page 65685]]

reconnaissance study phase but were eliminated from consideration based 
upon economic justification. Non-structural plans were also 
investigated but were not considered practical because of the current 
level of protection and the vast amount of commercial development 
within the protected area.
    3. Significant issues identified by reviewers during the Recon 
phase of the study include riparian and aquatic habitats, aquatic 
wildlife, fisheries, water quality, endangered species, cultural 
resources, socioeconomic conditions, commercial and industrial 
development in the floodplain and increased flood heights upstream of 
the project for higher water levels than the 100-year recurrence 
interval flood.
    4. Public meetings on this study were held 12 September 1994 and 7 
November 1995. A third public meeting is scheduled for February 1999.
    5. The Draft EIS will be made available to the public in January 
1999.
Emmett L. Wood,
Major, U.S. Army Deputy Commander.
[FR Doc. 97-32618 Filed 12-12-97; 8:45 am]
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