Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 126 / Friday, June 29, 2018 / Notices 30705 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

Households; Business or other for-profit. 

Annual Burden Hours: 7,333. 

Number of Respondents: 44,000. 

Responses per Respondent: 1. 

Annual Responses: 44,000. 

Average Burden per Response: 10 

minutes. 

Frequency: On Occasion. 

Dated: June 26, 2018. 

Aaron T. Siegel, 

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison 

Officer, Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14076 Filed 6–28–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army, Corps of 

Engineers 

Intent To Prepare a Draft NEPA 

Document for the Upper St. Anthony 

Falls Lock and Dam, Lower St. 

Anthony Falls Lock and Dam, and Lock 

and Dam 1 Disposition Study, 

Hennepin and Ramsey Counties, 

Minnesota 

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to initiate 

public scoping and prepare an 

Environmental Assessment (EA). 

SUMMARY: The St. Paul District, Army 

Corps of Engineers (MVP) is conducting 

a study regarding the disposition of the 

Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam, 

Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam, 

and Lock and Dam 1 located in the 

Upper Mississippi River, Hennepin and 

Ramsey Counties, Minnesota. The study 

will include an environmental 

assessment and consider opportunities 

regarding deauthorization and disposal 

of any or all of the three lock and dam 

sites. The study will evaluate two 

primary alternatives: (1) No action; and, 

(2) deauthorization by Congress of the 

Federal missions at the sites and 

disposal according to Federal law. 

Deauthorization would include portions 

of the Mississippi River 9-foot 

navigation channel and the lands and 

structures associated with each lock and 

dam site. It is anticipated that a draft 

report of the integrated Disposition 

Study and Environmental Assessment 

(EA) will be available for a 30-day 

public comment period in the Spring of 

2019. The St. Paul District of the Army 

Corps of Engineers is soliciting public 

comments on the proposed study, 

potential interest in future ownership if 

disposal of the properties is warranted, 

and substantive issues that should be 

analyzed in the EA. 

DATES: 

Scoping Meetings: MVP will hold 

public scoping meetings at the following 

times and locations during the scoping 

period: 

D Monday, July 16th from 6:00 p.m. to 

8:00 p.m. at the Mill City Museum, 704 

South Second Street, Minneapolis, 

Minnesota 55401. 

D Tuesday, July 17th from 6:00 p.m. 

to 8:00 p.m. at the Highland Park Senior 

High School Auditorium, 1015 Snelling 

Avenue South, St. Paul, Minnesota, 

55116. 

At the scoping meetings, the public is 

encouraged to submit resource 

information, and identify topics to be 

considered in the development of the 

EA. Written and oral comments will be 

accepted at each meeting. 

Comments: MVP will accept 

comments received or postmarked on or 

before August 20, 2018. Any comments 

that we receive after the closing date 

may not be considered. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted by one of the following 

methods: 

Email—Written comments should be 

sent to: MplsLocksDisposition@

usace.army.mil. 

Mail/Courier—Written comments 

should be sent to: District Engineer, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers St. Paul 

District, ATTN: Regional Planning and 

Environment Division North, 180 Fifth 

Street East, Suite 700, St. Paul, 

Minnesota 55101–1678. 

Comment Card—Comment cards 

provided as part of the public meetings 

will be collected at the end of the 

meeting or can be mailed to the address 

in the MAIL/COURIER section above. 

If submitting comments by email, the 

following should be included in the 

subject line or first line of the message: 

‘‘USAF, LSAF, L/D 1 Disposition Study 

Comments’’. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

have your name added to a mailing list 

for notices related to the draft report and 

EA or additional public meetings, 

submit an email request to 

MplsLocksDisposition@usace.army.mil. 

General questions about the study may 

be directed to Nan Bischoff, Project 

Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

St. Paul District, 180 Fifth Street East, 

Suite 700, St. Paul, MN 55101–1678; 

telephone (651) 290–5426; email: 

Nanette.m.bischoff@usace.army.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The St. 

Paul District, Army Corps of Engineers 

(MVP) operates the Upper St. Anthony 

Falls Lock and Dam (USAF), Lower St. 

Anthony Falls Lock and Dam (LSAF), 

and Lock and Dam No. 1 (L/D 1), 

located on the Mississippi River in 

Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. 

MVP also maintains the navigation 

channel in proximity to these dams 

which involves periodic dredging. 

Section 2010 of the Water Resources 

Reform and Development Act of 2014 

(WRRDA 2014), dated 10 June 2014, 

directed that USAF be closed within 

one year of the date of enactment of the 

Act, but did not deauthorize USAF. 

Prior to the closure of USAF, the three 

locks operated as a system to support 

navigation on the upper reaches of the 

Mississippi River 9-foot navigation 

channel. With the lock at USAF now 

closed to navigation, the demand for 

both commercial and recreational 

lockage has decreased due to the 

navigational disconnect in the 

Mississippi River at USAF. 

Deauthorization and disposal of one or 

more of the three sites may be warranted 

if the sites are deemed to not be 

fulfilling their authorized purposes. 

Deauthorization would also preclude 

maintenance activities of the navigation 

channel in proximity to these dams. The 

current authorized purposes are 

navigation and recreation. 

Section 216 of the Flood Control Act 

of 1970 authorizes the Secretary of the 

Army to review operations of completed 

projects, when found advisable due to 

changed physical, economic, or 

environmental conditions. Disposition 

studies are a specific type of Section 216 

study with the intent to determine 

whether a water resources development 

project operated and maintained by the 

Corps of Engineers should be 

deauthorized and the associated real 

property and Government-owned 

improvements disposed of. An Initial 

Appraisal (IA) was conducted by the 

Corps in 2015 to determine if conditions 

exist which may warrant further 

analysis on a completed project as 

authorized by Section 216. The IA 

recommended investigation under this 

authority regarding the future use or 

disposition of USAF, LSAF, and L/D 1. 

The purpose of the Disposition Study 

is to determine what federal interest 

exists to retain USAF, LSAF, and/or 

L/D 1 for its authorized purpose(s) 

based on an evaluation and comparison 

of the benefits, costs, and impacts 

(positive and negative) of continued 

operation, maintenance, repair, 

replacement, and rehabilitation, 

compared to the deauthorization and 

disposal of the associated real 

properties. The Disposition Study ends 

when the final report is transmitted to 

the Corps of Engineers’ Headquarters 

Office for review and processing of 

recommendations. Deauthorization 

would require Congressional Approval. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
30706 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 126 / Friday, June 29, 2018 / Notices 

In accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA), an Environmental Assessment 

(EA) for this study is anticipated and 

will be prepared by MVP. The study 

will broadly evaluate two primary 

alternatives: (1) The no action; and, (2) 

deauthorization by Congress of the 

Federal navigation-related missions at 

the sites and disposal of the properties 

according to Federal law. 

Deauthorization would include portions 

of the Mississippi River 9-foot 

navigation channel associated with each 

lock and dam site. MVP is soliciting 

public comments on the scope of the EA 

and significant issues that should be 

addressed. MVP will also accept 

comments related to potential new 

ownership and management measures. 

Two public scoping meetings are 

planned as discussed in the DATES

section above. The primary purpose of 

these meetings is to provide a general 

understanding of the background of the 

proposed action and to solicit 

suggestions and information on the 

scope of issues to consider in the EA. 

Written and oral comments will be 

accepted at the meetings. Comments can 

also be submitted by the methods listed 

in the ADDRESSES section. Once the draft 

EA is complete and made available for 

review, there will be additional 

opportunity for public comment. 

Persons needing reasonable 

accommodations in order to attend and 

participate in the public scoping 

meetings should contact the person 

listed under the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section as soon as 

possible. In order to allow sufficient 

time to process requests, please make 

contact no later than one week before 

the public meeting. 

Written comments, including email 

comments, should be sent to MVP at the 

address given in the ADDRESSES section 

of this Notice. Comments should be 

specific and pertain only to the issues 

relating to the action and the anticipated 

EA. MVP will include all comments in 

the project record. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—will 

be publicly available. While you can ask 

in your comment to have your personal 

identifying information withheld from 

public review, MVP cannot guarantee 

that we will be able to do so. 

All submissions from organizations or 

businesses and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses will be 

available for public review to the extent 

consistent with applicable law. 

Dated: June 13, 2018. 

Terry J. Birkenstock, 

Deputy Chief, Regional Planning and 

Environment Division North. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14070 Filed 6–28–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army, Corps of 

Engineers 

Notice of Intent To Adopt U.S. Bureau 

of Reclamation’s December 2015 Final 

Environmental Impact Report/ 

Environmental Impact Statement/ 

Environmental Impact Statement, 

Prepare Corps Record of Decision, and 

Reimburse the Sponsor for the Upper 

Truckee River and Marsh Restoration 

Project, City of South Lake Tahoe, El 

Dorado County, CA 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers (Corps), Sacramento District, 

intends to adopt the Bureau of 

Reclamation’s (BOR) December 2015 

Final Environment Impact Report 

(FEIR)/Final Environmental Impact 

Statement (FEIS)/Final Environmental 

Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Upper 

Truckee River and Marsh Restoration 

Project and prepare its own Record of 

Decision (ROD) after the public review 

period for this Notice of Intent ends. 

The Corps will use its Tahoe Section 

108 program authorization for 

participation in the restoration activities 

by reimbursing the California Tahoe 

Conservancy (CTC), the local sponsor, 

for final design, construction, and other 

applicable activities falling under the 

authorization. During final design and 

construction, the Corps will serve as the 

lead Federal agency for compliance with 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA), and CTC will serve as the lead 

agency for compliance with the 

California Environmental Quality Act 

(CEQA) during the final design and 

construction activities if designs need to 

be modified or the river moves from its 

current alignment prior to design and 

construction. In the December 2015 

Final EIR/EIS/EIS, the analysis for this 

ecosystem restoration project evaluated 

five alternatives to restore aquatic and 

riparian values and functions on the 

Upper Truckee River’s marsh area near 

its terminus at Lake Tahoe, South Lake 

Tahoe in El Dorado County, CA with 

selection of a preferred alternative to be 

constructed. The Corps has reviewed 

the draft and Final EIR/EIS/EIS to 

ensure that all NEPA requirements have 

been met. 

DATES: Written comments regarding the 

scope of the Corps adoption of the 

BOR’s FEIR/FEIS/FEIS, preparation of 

the Corps ROD, and reimbursement to 

CTC should be received by the Corps on 

or before July 30, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments and 

suggestions to Mr. Mario Parker, 

Biological Sciences Study Manager, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento 

District, 1325 J Street, Sacramento, CA 

95814, or email him at mario.g.parker@

usace.army.mil, or telephone (916) 557– 

6701, or fax (916) 557–7856. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Proposed Action. The Corps in 

cooperation with the non-Federal 

sponsor, the CTC, proposes to adopt the 

BOR’s December 2015 FEIR/FEIS/FEIS, 

prepare its own ROD, and reimburse 

CTC on the final design and 

construction of the restoration features 

at the Upper Truckee River and Marsh 

Restoration Project in South Lake 

Tahoe, in Eldorado County, CA. 

Reimbursement for the construction of 

the ecosystem restoration project is 

authorized by the Tahoe 108 program 

authority, which is Section 108 of the 

Energy and Water Development 

Appropriations Act, 2005 (Division C of 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

Pub. L. 108–447). The relevant authority 

from the 2005 Consolidated 

Appropriations Act excerpted is stated 

below: 

Sec. 108. Lake Tahoe Basin 

Restoration, Nevada and California. (a) 

Definition.—In this section, the term 

‘‘Lake Tahoe Basin’’ means the entire 

watershed drainage of Lake Tahoe 

including that portion of the Truckee 

River 1,000 feet downstream from the 

United States Bureau of Reclamation 

dam in Tahoe City, California. 

(b) Establishment of Program.—The 

Secretary [of the Army] may establish a 

program for providing environmental 

assistance to non-Federal interests in 

Lake Tahoe Basin. 

(c) Form of Assistance.—Assistance 

under this section may be in the form 

of planning, design, and construction 

assistance for water-related 

environmental infrastructure and 

resource protection and development 

projects in Lake Tahoe Basin, which 

could include the following: 

(1) Urban stormwater conveyance, 

treatment and related facilities; 

(2) watershed planning, science and 

research; 

(3) environmental restoration; and 

(4) surface water resource protection 

and development. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES