32642 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 135 / Friday, July 13, 2018 / Notices 

Drive, Montgomery, AL 36117, (334) 

244–3343. 

Following the scoping meetings, 

individuals who have not already 

submitted their comments should 

submit them by August 15, 2018, by 

either: 

* Email to act-arc@usace.army.mil, or 

* Mail to Mr. Mike Malsom, Inland 

Environment Team, Environment and 

Resources Branch, Planning and 

Environmental Division, USACEMobile, Post Office Box 2288, Mobile, 

AL 36628–0001. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Direct questions about the NEPA 

process to Mr. Mike Malsom by mail at 

Inland Environment Team, Environment 

and Resources Branch, Planning and 

Environmental Division, USACEMobile, Post Office Box 2288, Mobile, 

AL 36628–0001; telephone at (251) 690– 

2023; electronic facsimile at (251) 694– 

3815; or email at ACT-ACR@

usace.army.mil. You can also request to 

be added to the mailing list for public 

distribution of notices, meeting 

announcements, and documents. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Additional information on the ACT 

River Basin study will be posted as it 

becomes available on the Mobile District 

website at http://

www.sam.usace.army.mil/. 

The USACE will hold five public 

scoping meetings during the months of 

July and August as part of its 

preparation to conduct the water supply 

storage reallocation study and update 

the WCMs for the Alabama Power 

Company’s Weiss and Logan Martin 

reservoirs in the ACT River Basin. The 

public is invited to attend the scoping 

meetings, which will provide 

information on the study process and 

afford interested parties the opportunity 

to submit to USACE input about their 

issues and concerns regarding that 

process. Each of the public scoping 

meetings will be presented in an open 

house format, allowing time for 

participants to review specific 

information and to provide comments 

either on forms available at the meeting 

or to a court reporter on-site at the 

meeting. 

Curtis M. Flakes, 

Chief, Planning and Environmental Division. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14975 Filed 7–12–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army, Corps of 

Engineers 

Notice of Intent To Prepare 

Supplement II to the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement, 

Mississippi River and Tributaries 

(MR&T) Project, Mississippi River 

Mainline Levees and Channel 

Improvement 

AGENCY: Army Corps of Engineers, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers (‘‘USACE’’), Memphis 

District, Vicksburg District, and the New 

Orleans District, is announcing its intent 

to prepare Supplement II (SEIS II) to the 

Final Environmental Impact Statement, 

Mississippi River and Tributaries 

(MR&T) Project, Mississippi River 

Mainline Levees and Channel 

Improvement of 1976 (1976 EIS), as 

updated and supplemented by 

Supplement No. 1, Mississippi River 

and Tributaries Project, Mississippi 

River Mainline Levee Enlargement and 

Seepage Control of 1998 (SEIS I) to the 

1976 EIS, to cover construction of 

remaining authorized work on the 

Mississippi River mainline levees (MRL) 

feature. Over the past twenty years since 

the finalization of SEIS I, USACE has 

determined that various sections 

(reaches) of the mainline levee system 

are deficient in varying amounts, and 

that certain remedial measures need to 

be undertaken to control seepage and to 

raise and stabilize the deficient sections 

of the levee to protect the lower 

Mississippi River Valley against the 

Project Design Flood (PDF) and 

maintain the structural integrity of the 

MRL system. The Proposed Action of 

SEIS II is to supplement and, as 

necessary, augment the 1976 EIS and 

SEIS I using the primary MR&T goals of: 

(1) Providing flood protection from the 

PDF; and (2) developing an 

environmentally sustainable project; 

formulating alternatives; identifying 

significant resources; assessing the 

direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts 

to those resources; investigating and 

environmentally assessing potential 

borrow areas; developing mitigation 

measures; and evaluating and selecting 

a preferred method for the construction 

of necessary authorized MRL Project 

features, which may include but are not 

limited to, implementing seepage 

control measures and the construction 

of various remediation measures for 

deficient levee reaches to bring these 

reaches to the project design grade. SEIS 

II will evaluate the potential direct, 

indirect, and cumulative impacts for an 

array of alternatives, including a No 

Action alternative. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Comments and questions about SEIS II 

should be submitted to USACE by email 

to: MRL-EIS-2@usace.army.mil; or by 

regular mail to: U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, ATTN: CEMVN–PDC–UDC, 

167 North Main Street, Room B–202, 

Memphis, Tennessee 38103–1894. For 

additional information, including but 

not limited to a copy of SEIS I and the 

1976 EIS, please visit the Project 

website at: http://

www.mvk.usace.army.mil/MRLSEIS/. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Project Background and 

Authorization. The MR&T Project (and 

the MRL feature) was authorized by the 

Flood Control Act of 1928, as amended. 

The 1976 EIS was filed with the Council 

of Environmental Quality on 8 April 

1976. SEIS I, which was prepared to 

supplement the 1976 EIS to evaluate the 

effects of continued construction of the 

MRL levee enlargements, stability 

berms, seepage control, and erosion 

protection measures, was filed with the 

Environmental Protection Agency on 31 

July 1998. SEIS I focused on the levees 

of the MRL that were the most deficient 

in height and on seepage control 

measures for levee reaches with 

observable signs of seepage during 

previous high water events. 

The MR&T Project is designed to 

manage flood risk damages in the 

alluvial valley between Cape Girardeau, 

Missouri and the Head of Passes, 

Louisiana. The goal of the MR&T Project 

is to provide an environmentally 

sustainable project for comprehensive 

flood damage control, protection, and 

risk reduction from the ‘‘Project Design 

Flood’’, in the alluvial valley beginning 

at Cape Girardeau, Missouri to the Head 

of Passes, Louisiana, by means of levees, 

floodwalls, floodways, reservoirs, banks 

stabilization and channel improvements 

in and along the Mississippi River and 

its tributaries. The mainline levee 

system, comprised of levees, floodwalls, 

backwater areas, floodways, and various 

control structures, is approximately 

1,610 miles long. The PDF is a 

hypothetical flood that was developed 

to determine the design flood to be used 

in designing the MR&T levee system in 

the lower Mississippi River Basin, and 

is defined as the ‘‘greatest flood having 

a reasonable probability of occurrence’’ 

when the operable features of the entire 

MR&T Project are considered. The PDF 

upon which the current design for the 

construction of the mainline levee 

system and remaining unconstructed 

levees is based, is the ‘‘Refined 1973 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 135 / Friday, July 13, 2018 / Notices 32643 

MR&T PDF Flowline.’’ The Mississippi 

River mainline levees protect the lower 

Mississippi River Valley against the PDF 

by confining flow to the leveed channel, 

except where it enters backwater areas, 

overflows several levees designed to 

overtop and fill tributary basins, or is 

intentionally diverted into four 

floodway areas. (A figure which depicts 

the PDF in cubic feet per second for the 

lower Mississippi River and its 

tributaries as set forth in SEIS I will be 

available for review at the Project 

website.) The MR&T Project functions as 

a system and provides flood risk 

reduction across portions of seven 

states: Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, 

Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and 

Louisiana (a map of the area will be 

available on the Project website). The 

MR&T System includes an extensive 

levee system; floodways to divert excess 

flows past critical reaches; channel 

improvement and stabilization features 

to protect the integrity of flood risk 

management measures and to ensure 

proper alignment and depth of the 

navigation channel; and a system of 

reservoirs to regulate flows and 

backwater areas to provide storage 

during extreme events. The integrity of 

the levee system is also bolstered by 

control measures such as landside 

berms, drainage trenches, drainage 

blankets, and relief wells, and tributary 

basin improvements including levees, 

headwater reservoirs, and pumping 

stations that expand flood risk 

management coverage and improve 

drainage into adjacent areas within the 

alluvial valley. 

Through evaluation of information 

and data obtained from levee 

inspections, seepage analyses, research, 

studies, and engineering assessments, 

USACE has concluded that certain levee 

reaches are not at Project design grade 

due to effects from various changed 

conditions, including, but not limited to 

consolidation of levee materials, 

subsidence, and changes in river 

conditions and in survey datums over 

time. Additionally, advances in 

geotechnical mapping, data collected 

from recent high water events, and 

subsequent seepage analyses that have 

taken place since the finalization of 

SEIS I, have revealed the need for 

additional seepage control measures and 

the construction of other authorized 

Project features to facilitate structural 

integrity and stability of the MRL 

feature of the MR&T Project. As a result, 

in October of 2017, USACE completed 

an engineering risk assessment and 

programmatic review of the MRL based 

on the 1973 Refined MR&T Flowline 

Study. The assessment showed that the 

integrity of the MRL levee system was 

at risk because numerous levee reaches 

are not currently constructed to the pass 

the PDF due to either height or seepage 

deficiencies. Based on the results, 

USACE has determined that SEIS II is 

necessary to formulate alternatives, 

identify significant resources, assess the 

direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts 

to the significant resources, develop 

mitigation measures, and evaluate and 

select a recommended plan. 

2. Proposed Action. The Proposed 

Action is the construction of necessary 

additional authorized MRL Project 

features (e.g., levee enlargements; 

stability berms, underseepage controls 

such as berms, relief wells, cutoffs, 

riverside blankets and pit fills; and 

erosion protection such as slope 

paving), to improve sections of deficient 

MRL levees in order to provide the 

required PDF protection. The Proposed 

Action, and associated evaluations, does 

not include reformulation of the MRL 

feature. Measures to manage flood risk 

reduction along the mainline levee 

system from Cape Girardeau, Missouri 

to Head of Passes, Louisiana, include 

but are not limited to, raising and 

widening portions of the levee to the 

authorized design grade and crosssections, stabilizing floodwalls, and 

seepage control (e.g. berms, relief wells, 

and cutoff trenches). 

3. Alternatives. SEIS II will evaluate 

an array of site specific alternatives, 

including the No-Action alternative, 

with a focus to avoid and minimize 

reasonably foreseeable adverse effects 

from construction of necessary 

additional authorized MRL Project 

features. Alternatives will include 

evaluations of measures, or combination 

of measures, along with evaluation of 

locations of borrow areas that avoid and 

minimize reasonably foreseeable 

adverse effects. Potential alternatives 

may include flood risk reduction 

measures such as raising and widening 

portions of the levee to the authorized 

design grade and cross-sections, 

installing or stabilizing floodwalls, levee 

setbacks, and various seepage control 

measures such as, seepage berms, relief 

wells with the associated drainage and/ 

or pumping plants for water 

conveyance, and cutoff trenches. Other 

alternatives will be developed through 

the scoping period based on public 

input. Additionally, SEIS II will identify 

measures to avoid, offset, or minimize 

impacts to resources where feasible. 

4. Scoping. Scoping is the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

process utilized for determining the 

range of alternatives and significant 

issues to be addressed in SEIS II. 

USACE invites full public participation 

to promote open communication on the 

issues surrounding the Proposed Action. 

The public will be involved in the 

scoping and evaluation process through 

advertisements, notices, and other 

means. Project information will also be 

available on the Project website at: 

http://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/ 

MRLSEIS/. All individuals, 

organizations, NGOs, affected Indian 

tribes, and local, state, and Federal 

agencies that have an interest are urged 

to participate in the scoping process. 

The purpose of this Notice is to obtain 

suggestions and information that may 

inform the scope of the issues and range 

of alternatives to be evaluated in SEIS 

II, as well as to provide notice and 

request public input on the reasonably 

foreseeable effects to natural and 

cultural resources. 

This Notice of Intent commences the 

formal public scoping comment period 

which shall continue through October 1, 

2018. Scoping is the NEPA process 

utilized for seeking public involvement 

in determining the range of alternatives 

and significant issues to be addressed in 

SEIS II. USACE invites full public 

participation to promote open 

communication in the public scoping 

phase and invites interested parties to 

identify potential issues, concerns, and 

reasonable alternatives that should be 

considered in SEIS II. 

In order for public comments to be 

recorded for inclusion in the 

Administrative Record and be 

considered in the SEIS II development 

process, members of the public, 

interested persons and entities must 

submit their comments to USACE by 

mail, email, or verbally at the Scoping 

Meeting(s). Written comments 

submitted for consideration are due no 

later than October 1, 2018. Written 

comments may be submitted: (1) To 

USACE at public scoping meetings; (2) 

by regular U.S. Mail mailed to: U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: 

CEMVN–PDC–UDC, 167 North Main 

Street, Room B–202, Memphis, 

Tennessee 38103–1894; and (3) by email 

to: MRL-SEIS-2@usace.army.mil. Please 

include your name and return address 

on the first page of your written 

comments. 

All personally identifiable 

information (for example, name, 

address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by a 

commenter may be publicly accessible. 

Do not submit confidential business 

information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. All timely 

received comment letters will be 

accessible on the Project website at 

http://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/ 

MRLSEIS/. 


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32644 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 135 / Friday, July 13, 2018 / Notices 

5. Public Scoping Meetings: Public 

scoping meeting(s) will be held at 

various locations within the Project 

Area during approximately July or 

August of 2018 to present information to 

the public and to receive comments 

from the public. The date(s), time(s), 

and location(s) of the scoping meeting(s) 

will be publicly announced in advance 

by USACE on the Project website at: 

http://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/ 

MRLSEIS/, and in any other forms 

deemed appropriate once those dates, 

times, and locations are determined by 

USACE. Notices of the public scoping 

meetings will also be sent by USACE 

through email distribution lists, posted 

on the Project website, and mailed to 

public libraries, government agencies, 

and interested groups and individuals. 

Scoping meeting dates and locations 

will also be advertised in local 

newspapers. Interested parties unable to 

attend the scoping meetings can access 

additional information on SEIS II at: 

http://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/ 

MRLSEIS/. 

6. Potentially Significant Issues. SEIS 

II will analyze the reasonably 

foreseeable impacts on the human and 

natural environment resulting from the 

Proposed Action. The scoping, public 

involvement, and interagency 

coordination processes will help 

identify and define the range of 

potential significant issues that will be 

considered. Important resources and 

issues evaluated in SEIS II could 

include, but are not limited to, the 

direct, indirect, and cumulative effects 

on aquatic resources; bottomland 

hardwoods; wetlands; waterfowl; 

wildlife resources; water quality; 

cultural resources; geology and soils 

including agricultural land and prime 

and unique farmland; hydrology and 

hydraulics; air quality; threatened and 

endangered species and their critical 

habitat; socioeconomics; environmental 

justice; recreation; and cumulative 

effects of related projects along the 

MRL. USACE will also consider issues 

identified and comments made 

throughout scoping, public 

involvement, and interagency 

coordination. USACE expects to better 

define the issues of concern and the 

methods that will be used to evaluate 

those issues through the scoping 

process. 

7. Availability. The current SEIS II 

development schedule anticipates the 

release of the draft of SEIS II by USACE 

for public review and comment in 2020. 

After it is published, USACE will hold 

public comment meetings to present the 

results of studies and identification of a 

recommended plan, to receive 

comments, and to address questions 

concerning the draft SEIS II. 

Dated: June 27, 2018. 

Michael C. Derosier, 

Colonel, U.S. Army, Commander and District 

Engineer. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14972 Filed 7–12–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Applications for New Awards; 

Personnel Development To Improve 

Services and Results for Children With 

Disabilities—Associate Degree 

Preservice Program Improvement 

Grants To Support Personnel Working 

With Young Children With Disabilities 

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services, Department of 

Education. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Education 

is issuing a notice inviting applications 

for new awards for fiscal year (FY) 2018 

for Personnel Development to Improve 

Services and Results for Children with 

Disabilities—Associate Degree 

Preservice Program Improvement Grants 

to Support Personnel Working with 

Young Children with Disabilities, 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) number 84.325N. 

DATES: 

Applications Available: July 13, 2018. 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: August 13, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: For the addresses for 

obtaining and submitting an 

application, please refer to our Common 

Instructions for Applicants to 

Department of Education Discretionary 

Grant Programs, published in the 

Federal Register on February 12, 2018 

(83 FR 6003) and available at 

www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-02-12/ 

pdf/2018-02558.pdf. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia 

Martin Eile, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, 

Room 5175, Potomac Center Plaza, 

Washington, DC 20202–5076. 

Telephone: (202) 245–7431. Email: 

Julia.Martin.Eile@ed.gov. 

If you use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 

telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay 

Service (FRS), toll free, at 1–800–877– 

8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Full Text of Announcement 

I. Funding Opportunity Description 

Purpose of Program: The purposes of 

this program are to (1) help address 

State-identified needs for personnel in 

special education, early intervention, 

related services, and regular education 

to work with children, including infants 

and toddlers, with disabilities; and (2) 

ensure that those personnel have the 

necessary skills and knowledge, derived 

from practices that have been 

determined through scientifically based 

research and experience, to be 

successful in serving those children. 

Priorities: In accordance with 34 CFR 

75.105(b)(2)(v), the absolute and 

competitive preference priorities are 

from allowable activities specified in 

the statute (see sections 662 and 681 of 

the Individuals with Disabilities 

Education Act (IDEA); 20 U.S.C. 1462 

and 1481). 

Absolute Priority: For FY 2018 and 

any subsequent year in which we make 

awards from the list of unfunded 

applications from this competition, this 

priority is an absolute priority. Under 34 

CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only 

applications that meet this priority. 

This priority is: 

Associate Degree Preservice Program 

Improvement Grants To Support 

Personnel Working With Young 

Children With Disabilities 

Background 

The mission of the Office of Special 

Education and Rehabilitative Services 

(OSERS) is to improve early childhood, 

educational, and employment outcomes 

and raise expectations for all people 

with disabilities, their families, their 

communities, and the Nation. 

The purpose of this priority is to fund 

eight Associate Degree Preservice 

Improvement Grants and improve the 

quality of existing associate degree 

programs so that associate degree-level 

personnel are well prepared to work 

with infants, toddlers, preschool, and 

early elementary school children ages 

birth through 8 (young children) with 

disabilities and their families in 

inclusive early childhood programs and 

elementary schools. Associate degreelevel personnel play critical roles in the 

development and learning of all young 

children, including young children with 

disabilities, as child care providers, 

preschool teachers, assistant teachers, 

and paraprofessionals. In these roles, 

associate degree-level personnel can use 

evidence-based (as defined in this 

notice) practices (EBPs) to meaningfully 

include young children with disabilities 

in early childhood programs and 

classrooms, individualize interventions 

and accommodations, collect data to 

monitor progress, and collaborate with 

other professionals. In elementary 

schools, paraprofessionals are often 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES