17038 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 57 / Friday, March 23, 2012 / Notices 

River sediment in shallow coastal areas 

and restore delta growth and wetland 

sustainability will be identified and 

evaluated. A series of hydrodynamic 

models will be used to evaluate 

Mississippi River sediment and water 

resources including: Hydraulics and the 

relationship of flow conditions to 

sediment transport, salinity intrusion, 

the flux of key nutrients, deposition and 

erosion, and the net results of these 

processes in river channel and 

distributary morphology over more than 

300 miles of the river (Old River to the 

Gulf of Mexico). These models will be 

used for this study and future LCA 

Program studies and projects. Largescale river diversions and outfall 

management measures that optimize the 

river sediment and freshwater resources 

to provide long-term restoration and 

sustainability of the Delta Plain, 

including the sediment-starved barrier 

shorelines, will be considered. Possible 

navigation alternative scenarios could 

include consideration of new navigation 

channels to the east or west of the 

current Mississippi River alignment. 

Navigation channel analysis would be 

limited to preliminary screening as any 

navigation channel re-alignment 

scenarios would require, at a minimum, 

re-scoping the present study. 

The Mississippi River Hydrodynamic 

and Delta Management Study will 

evaluate potential benefits and impacts 

to both the natural and human 

environments. This study will provide 

methods for quantifying effects and 

developing large-scale management 

strategies and projects that balance the 

interests of ecosystem restoration, flood 

control, and navigation purposes for 

Louisiana and the Nation. 

3. Public Involvement. Public 

involvement, an essential part of the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) process, is integral to assessing 

the environmental consequences of the 

proposed action and improving the 

quality of the environmental decision 

making. The public includes affected 

and interested Federal, state, and local 

agencies, Indian tribes, concerned 

citizens, stakeholders, and other 

interested parties. Public participation 

in the EIS process will be strongly 

encouraged, both formally and 

informally, to enhance the probability of 

a more technically accurate, 

economically feasible, and socially 

acceptable EIS. Public involvement will 

include, but is not limited to: 

Information dissemination; 

identification of problems, needs and 

opportunities; idea generation; public 

education; problem solving; providing 

feedback on proposals; evaluation of 

alternatives; public and scoping notices 

and meetings; public, stakeholder and 

advisory groups consultation and 

meetings; and making the EIS and 

supporting information readily available 

in conveniently located places, such as 

libraries and on the world wide web. 

4. Scoping. Scoping, an early and 

open process for identifying the scope of 

significant issues related to the 

proposed action to be addressed in the 

EIS, will be used to: (a) Identify the 

affected public and agency concerns; (b) 

facilitate an efficient EIS preparation 

process; (c) define the issues and 

alternatives that will be examined in 

detail in the EIS; and (d) save time in 

the overall process by helping to ensure 

that the draft EIS adequately addresses 

relevant issues. The USACE will host 

six (6) NEPA public scoping meetings at 

the following locations on the dates 

indicated between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.: 

Tuesday, April 10, 2012: Louisiana 

Department of Natural Resources, 

LaBelle Room-1st Floor, 617 North 3rd 

Street Baton Rouge, LA. 

Thursday, April 12, 2012: Port of New 

Orleans, Auditorium 1st Floor, 1350 

Port Of New Orleans Place New 

Orleans, LA. 

Tuesday, April 17, 2012: Larose Civic 

Center, 307 East 5th Street, Cuttoff, LA. 

Thursday, April 19, 2012: Boothville 

Elementary, #1 Oiler Drive Boothville, 

LA. 

Tuesday, April 24, 2012: Waveland 

Civic Center, 335 Coleman Avenue 

Waveland, MS. 

Thursday, April 26, 2012: St. Bernard 

Parish Council Chambers, 8201 W. 

Judge Perez Drive Chalmette, LA. 

A Scoping Meeting Notice 

announcing the specific locations, 

driving directions, dates and times for 

scoping meetings is anticipated to be 

mailed to interested parties in March 

2012. 

5. Coordination. The USACE and the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) 

have formally committed to work 

together to conserve, protect, and restore 

fish and wildlife resources while 

ensuring environmental sustainability of 

our Nation’s water resources under the 

January 22, 2003, Partnership 

Agreement for Water Resources and 

Fish and Wildlife. The USFWS will 

provide a Fish and Wildlife 

Coordination Act Report. Coordination 

will be maintained with the USFWS and 

the National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) regarding threatened and 

endangered species under their 

respective jurisdictional 

responsibilities. Coordination will be 

maintained with the NMFS regarding 

essential fish habitat. Coordination will 

be maintained with the Natural 

Resources Conservation Service 

regarding prime and unique farmlands. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will 

be consulted regarding the 

‘‘Swampbuster’’ provisions of the Food 

Security Act. Coordination will be 

maintained with the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency concerning 

compliance with Executive Order 

12898, ‘‘Federal Action to Address 

Environmental Justice in Minority 

Populations and Low-Income 

Populations.’’ Coordination will be 

maintained with the Advisory Counsel 

on Historic Preservation and the State 

Historic Preservation Officer. The 

Louisiana Department of Natural 

Resources will be consulted regarding 

consistency with the Coastal Zone 

Management Act. The Louisiana 

Department of Wildlife and Fisheries 

will be consulted concerning potential 

impacts to Natural and Scenic Rivers. 

6. Availability of Draft EIS. The 

earliest that the draft EIS will be 

available for public review would be in 

2016. The draft EIS or a notice of 

availability will be distributed to 

affected Federal, state, and local 

agencies, Indian tribes, and other 

interested parties. 

Dated: March 13, 2012. 

Edward R. Fleming, 

Colonel, U.S. Army, District Commander. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7038 Filed 3–22–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Navy 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement/ 

Overseas Environmental Impact 

Statement for Military Readiness 

Activities in the Northwest Training 

and Testing Study Area and To 

Announce Public Scoping Meetings; 

Correction 

AGENCY: Department of Navy, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice; correction. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the Navy 

published a document in the Federal 

Register (77 FR 11497) on February 27, 

2012, concerning public scoping 

meetings to support the development of 

an Environmental Impact Statement/ 

Overseas Environmental Impact 

Statement for the Northwest Training 

and Testing Study Area. The document 

contained an incorrect comment period 

closing date. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Kimberly Kler, Naval Facilities 

Engineering Command, Northwest, 1101 

Tautog Circle, Suite 203, Silverdale, 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 57 / Friday, March 23, 2012 / Notices 17039 

Washington 98315–1101, Attention: 

NWTT EIS/OEIS Project Manager. 

Correction: In the Federal Register (77 

FR 11497) of February 27, 2012, on page 

11498, in the third column, last 

paragraph, correct the comment period 

date to read: 

Written comments must be 

postmarked no later than April 27, 2012, 

and should be mailed to: Ms. Kimberly 

Kler, Naval Facilities Engineering 

Command, Northwest, 1101 Tautog 

Circle, Suite 203, Silverdale, 

Washington 98315–1101, Attention: 

NWTT EIS/OEIS Project Manager. 

Dated: March 16, 2012. 

J.M. Beal, 

Lieutenant Commander, Office of the Judge 

Advocate, U.S. Navy, Federal Register Liaison 

Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7018 Filed 3–22–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3810–FF–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Application for New Awards; Training 

for Realtime Writers Program 

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary 

Education, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Notice. 

Overview Information 

Training for Realtime Writers Program 

Notice inviting applications for new 

awards for fiscal year (FY) 2012. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) Number: 84.116K. 

DATES: 

Applications Available: March 23, 

2012. 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: May 7, 2012. 

Deadline for Intergovernmental 

Review: July 6, 2012. 

Full Text of Announcement 

I. Funding Opportunity Description 

Purpose of Program: The objective of 

this program is to provide grants to 

institutions of higher education (IHEs) 

that meet certain qualifications, to 

promote training and placement of 

individuals, including individuals who 

have completed a court reporting 

training program, as realtime writers in 

order to meet the requirements for 

closed captioning of video programming 

set forth in section 713 of the 

Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

613) and the regulations prescribed 

thereunder. 

Priorities: This notice contains one 

absolute priority and three competitive 

preference priorities. In accordance with 

34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(iv), the absolute 

priority is from section 872(a)(3) of the 

Higher Education Act of 1965, as 

amended (HEA), 20 U.S.C. 1161s(a)(3). 

The competitive preference priorities 

are from the notice of final 

supplemental priorities and definitions 

for discretionary grant programs 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 15, 2010 (75 FR 78486), and 

corrected on May 12, 2011 (76 FR 

27637). 

Absolute Priority: For FY 2012 and 

any subsequent year in which we make 

awards from the list of unfunded 

applicants from this competition, this 

priority is an absolute priority. Under 34 

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

applications that meet this priority. 

Applicants must: (1) Demonstrate 

they possess the most substantial 

capability to increase their capacity to 

train realtime writers; (2) demonstrate 

the most promising collaboration with 

educational institutions, businesses, 

labor organizations, or other community 

groups having the potential to train or 

provide job placement assistance to 

realtime writers; or (3) propose the most 

promising and innovative approaches 

for initiating or expanding training or 

job placement assistance efforts with 

respect to realtime writers. 

An eligible entity receiving a grant 

must use the grant funds for purposes 

relating to the recruitment, training and 

assistance, and job placement of 

individuals, including individuals who 

have completed a court reporting 

training program, as realtime writers, 

including: (1) Recruitment; (2) the 

provision of scholarships (subject to the 

requirements in section 872(c)(2) of the 

HEA); (3) distance learning; (4) further 

developing and implementing both 

English and Spanish curricula to more 

effectively train individuals in realtime 

writing skills, and education in the 

knowledge necessary for the delivery of 

high quality closed captioning services; 

(5) mentoring students to ensure 

successful completion of the realtime 

training and providing assistance in job 

placement; (6) encouraging individuals 

with disabilities to pursue a career in 

realtime writing; and (7) the 

employment and payment of personnel 

for the purposes described. 

Competitive Preference Priorities: 

Within this absolute priority, we give 

competitive preference to applications 

that address the following priorities. 

There are three competitive 

preference priorities: Competitive 

Preference Priority 1—Improving 

Productivity; Competitive Preference 

Priority 2—Enabling More Data-Based 

Decision-Making; and Competitive 

Preference Priority 3—Technology. 

Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), we 

award one additional point for each 

competitive priority that an application 

meets. The maximum competitive 

preference points an application can 

receive under this competition is three. 

Note: Applicants must include in the onepage abstract submitted with the application 

a statement indicating which competitive 

preference priority or priorities they are 

addressing. 

These priorities are: 

Competitive Preference Priority 1— 

Improving Productivity (1 Additional 

Point) 

Projects that are designed to 

significantly increase efficiency in the 

use of time, staff, money, or other 

resources while improving student 

learning or other educational outcomes 

(i.e., outcome per unit of resource). 

Such projects may include innovative 

and sustainable uses of technology, 

modification of school schedules and 

teacher compensation systems, use of 

open educational resources (as defined 

in this notice), or other strategies. 

Competitive Preference Priority 2— 

Enabling More Data-Based DecisionMaking (1 Additional Point) 

Projects that are designed to collect 

(or obtain), analyze, and use highquality and timely data, including data 

on program participant outcomes, in 

accordance with privacy requirements 

(as defined in this notice), in one or 

more of the following priority areas: 

(a) Improving postsecondary student 

outcomes relating to enrollment, 

persistence, and completion and leading 

to career success; and 

(b) Providing reliable and 

comprehensive information on the 

implementation of Department of 

Education programs, and participant 

outcomes in these programs, by using 

data from State longitudinal data 

systems or by obtaining data from 

reliable third-party sources. 

Competitive Preference Priority 3— 

Technology (1 Additional Point) 

Projects that are designed to improve 

student achievement (as defined in this 

notice) or teacher effectiveness through 

the use of high-quality digital tools or 

materials, which may include preparing 

teachers to use the technology to 

improve instruction, as well as 

developing, implementing, or evaluating 

digital tools or materials. 

Definitions 

These definitions are from the notice 

of final supplemental priorities and 

definitions for discretionary grant 

programs, published in the Federal 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES