Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 19 / Thursday, January 29, 2015 / Notices 4911 

estimated ton-miles of each commodity 

carried or shipped on the inland 

waterways system in a recent year (or 

years), using the waterway regions and 

commodity categories previously listed. 

(2) State the region(s) to be 

represented. 

(3) State whether the nominated 

representative organization is a carrier, 

shipper or both. 

(4) Provide the name of an individual 

to be the principle person representing 

the organization and information 

pertaining to their personal 

qualifications, to include a bio or a 

resume. 

Previous nominations received in 

response to notices published in the 

Federal Register in prior years will not 

be retained for consideration. 

Renomination of representative 

organizations is required. 

e. Deadline for Nominations. All 

nominations must be received at (see 

ADDRESSES) no later than February 20, 

2015. 

Brenda S. Bowen, 

Army Federal Register Liaison Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01712 Filed 1–28–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army; Corps of 

Engineers 

Intent To Prepare a Draft Supplemental 

Environmental Impact Statement 

(Supplement 2) for the Mississippi 

River, Baton Rouge to the Gulf of 

Mexico, Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, 

Louisiana, New Industrial Canal Lock 

and Connecting Channels Project, New 

Orleans, LA 

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), New Orleans District 

intends to prepare a Draft Supplemental 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), 

integrated with a General Reevaluation 

Report, for the Mississippi River, Baton 

Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico Mississippi 

River-Gulf Outlet, Louisiana New 

Industrial Canal Lock and Connecting 

Channels Project, hereinafter referred to 

as ‘‘the Project’’. This project is 

sometimes referred to as the Inner 

Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC) Lock 

Replacement Project. This will be the 

second supplemental EIS prepared for 

this project. 

DATES: A public scoping meeting is 

scheduled for Wednesday, February 4, 

2015. An open house will be held at 

6:00 p.m. followed by the scoping 

meeting at 6:30 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The scoping meeting will be 

held at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

Charter School for Science and 

Technology, 1617 Caffin Avenue, New 

Orleans, LA. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Questions about the Project and the 

supplemental EIS should be addressed 

to: Mr. Richard Boe or Mr. Mark Lahare, 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

Environmental Compliance Branch, P.O. 

Box 60267, New Orleans, LA 70160– 

0267, by email to Richard.e.boe@

usace.army.mil or Mark.h.lahare@

usace.army.mil, or by telephone at (504) 

862–1505 or (504) 862–1344. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Project Background and 

Authorization. The existing Industrial 

Canal Lock, hereinafter referred to as the 

‘‘existing lock’’, located in Orleans 

Parish, Louisiana, connects the 

Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain, 

the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), 

and the remaining authorized six miles 

of the Mississippi River—Gulf Outlet 

(MRGO) between the Industrial Canal 

and the Michoud Slip. The existing 

lock, located between the St. Claude and 

Claiborne Avenue (Judge Seeber) 

Bridges in New Orleans, was 

commissioned and constructed by nonfederal interests in 1923 to allow vessel 

traffic from the Mississippi River to 

Lake Pontchartrain and to permit 

industrial development away from the 

river. The federal government 

purchased the existing lock at a later 

date. 

The Project was authorized by an act 

of Congress entitled ‘‘AN ACT to 

authorize construction of the 

Mississippi River-Gulf outlet [sic]’’, 

approved on March 29, 1956, as Chapter 

112 of Public Law 455, of the 84th 

Congress as an amendment to the 

existing Mississippi River, Baton Rouge 

to the Gulf of Mexico to provide for the 

construction of the Mississippi RiverGulf Outlet substantially in accordance 

with the report and recommendation of 

the Chief of Engineers in House 

Document No. 245 of the 82nd 

Congress, and to authorize the Chief of 

Engineers, when economically justified 

by the obsolescence of the existing 

industrial canal lock or by increased 

traffic, to replace the existing lock or an 

additional lock in the vicinity of 

Meraux, Louisiana, together with 

suitable connecting channels, said 

replacement lock and connecting 

channels to be constructed in 

accordance with the type, dimensions, 

and cost estimates approved by the 

Chief of Engineers. The 1956 

authorization was later amended by 

Section 844 of the Water Resources 

Development Act of 1986, Public Law 

99–662, and Section 326 of the Water 

Resources Development Act of 1996, 

Public Law 104–303. 

The original EIS and project 

evaluation report for the Project was 

finalized in March 1998. A Record of 

Decision was signed on December 18, 

1998, selecting a construction method 

and location for a replacement lock 

north of the Claiborne Avenue Bridge, 

replacement of the St. Claude Avenue 

Bridge, modification of the Claiborne 

Avenue Bridge, extension of the 

Mississippi River flood protection 

levees and floodwalls, a community 

impact mitigation plan, and a fish and 

wildlife mitigation plan. 

In 2003, the Corps’ decision to 

construct a new lock was challenged in 

United States District Court, Eastern 

District of Louisiana (Case No. 2:03–cv– 

00370). In October 2006, the Court 

enjoined the Corps from continuing 

with the Project until additional 

compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was 

completed. 

In accordance with the provisions of 

Section 7013 of the Water Resources 

Development Act of 2007, Public Law 

110–114, that portion of the MRGO from 

Mile 60 on the southern bank of the Gulf 

Intracoastal Waterway to the Gulf of 

Mexico was deauthorized effective upon 

the June 5, 2008 submittal by the 

Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil 

Works) to Congress of the Report of the 

Chief of Engineers dated January 29, 

2008 recommending partial 

deauthorization of the MRGO. In July 

2009, in accordance with the 2008 

MRGO Chief’s Report, the Corps 

completed construction of a rock 

closure structure on the MRGO at Bayou 

LaLoutre. Aids to navigation have been 

removed. 

In 2007, the Corps initiated 

preparation of a Supplemental 

Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) 

for the Project to address changes in the 

existing conditions after Hurricane 

Katrina, further analyze anticipated 

impacts associated with construction of 

the new lock and determine if any 

significant changes to the previouslyrecommended plan were necessary. The 

final SEIS considered three deep-draft 

lock alternatives and the no-action 

alternative (i.e., continued operation 

and maintenance of the existing lock), 

two dredging alternatives for the 

excavation that would be necessary for 

the construction of a new deep-draft 

lock, and three disposal alternatives for 

the dredged sediment. On May 20, 2009, 

a Record of Decision was signed, 

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4912 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 19 / Thursday, January 29, 2015 / Notices 

recommending the float-in-place plan 

for construction of the lock, the 

hydraulic dredging method for 

excavation of sediment from the canal, 

and a dredged material disposal plan 

that included three locations for 

disposal of excavated sediments. 

In 2010, the Corps’ decision to 

construct a new lock was again 

challenged in United States District 

Court, Eastern District of Louisiana in a 

case that was subsequently consolidated 

with the 2003 case. On September 9, 

2011, the Court found that the 2009 

SEIS failed to sufficiently consider the 

impact of the closure of the MRGO to 

deep-draft traffic and the effect of that 

closure on the depth of the new lock 

and potentially how that depth may 

affect dredging and disposal alternatives 

for the Project. 

2. Proposed Action. The purpose of 

the General Reevaluation Report and 

SEIS is to determine if construction of 

a more efficient navigational lock to 

replace the existing lock is economically 

justified and environmentally 

acceptable. The need for the Project 

arises from long navigation delays in 

passage through the Industrial Canal 

due to an increase in volume of vessel 

traffic and the small size and 

inefficiencies of the current lock. This 

supplemental EIS will evaluate (and/or 

reevaluate, as appropriate) existing 

conditions, alternative lock designs, and 

provide environmental analysis of 

anticipated project impacts associated 

with lock construction, dredging and 

disposal alternatives. The analyses 

associated with the handling of dredged 

material generated during project 

construction, the engineering design of 

confined disposal areas, and several 

other aspects of the Project, evaluated in 

the original 1998 EIS and the 2009 SEIS, 

will also be updated as appropriate. 

3. Alternatives. An evaluation of 

alternatives, including a no action 

alternative will be included. In this 

supplemental EIS, the no action 

alternative will be the continued 

operation and maintenance of the 

existing lock. Other alternatives will be 

determined through scoping, but are 

anticipated to include shallow-draft 

versus deep-draft lock alternatives. 

Previous evaluations of alternative 

dredging methods, dredged material 

handling and disposal alternatives, and 

construction of the lock by a cast-inplace method versus a float-in 

construction method evaluated in the 

1998 EIS and 2009 SEIS will also be 

updated and/or re-evaluated as 

appropriate. 

4. Scoping. The Council on 

Environmental Quality regulations at 40 

CFR 1501.7 require an early and open 

process for determining the scope of an 

EIS and for identifying significant issues 

related to the proposed action. The 

public will be involved in the scoping 

and evaluation process through 

advertisements, notices, and other 

means. Federal, state and local agencies, 

and other interested groups will also be 

involved. Meetings to address discrete 

issues or parts or functions of the 

Project may be held. All parties are 

invited to participate in the scoping 

process by identifying any additional 

concerns on issues, studies needed, 

alternatives, procedures, and other 

matters related to the scope of this 

supplemental EIS. 

A. The Corps will provide additional 

notification of the public scoping 

meeting time and location through 

newspaper advertisements and other 

means (see DATES). Following a short 

presentation, verbal and written 

comments on the scope of this 

supplemental EIS will be accepted. A 

transcript of verbal comments will be 

generated to ensure accuracy. 

B. Issues. Issues identified for the 

Project include, but are not limited to 

the level of existing and forecasted 

vessel traffic through the existing lock, 

changes in socio-economics (i.e., 

property values, population, land use, 

public/community facilities and 

services) since the 2009 SEIS, 

evaluation of direct and indirect social 

and cultural impacts of the Project on 

certain Congressionally identified 

affected communities and the 

appropriate and practicable mitigation 

measures to address those impacts, lock 

construction methods (i.e., cast-in-place 

versus float-in), lock depth, and reevaluation of reasonable dredging and 

disposal alternatives and associated 

impacts. This list is preliminary and is 

intended to facilitate public comment 

on the scope of the SEIS. Concurrent 

with the NEPA process, the Corps will 

ensure that compliance will be achieved 

and/or maintained with all applicable 

environmental laws, regulations, and 

executive orders governing issues such 

as Federally-listed threatened and 

endangered species, essential fish 

habitats, health and safety, general 

environmental concerns, wetlands and 

other aquatic resources, historic 

properties, fish and wildlife values, 

flood hazards, navigation, recreation, 

water quality, and environmental 

justice. In making its decision, the Corps 

will consider, in general, the needs and 

welfare of the community, the effect of 

the closure of the MRGO on existing 

conditions and the alternatives under 

evaluation, and other issues identified 

through scoping, public involvement, 

stakeholder views, and interagency 

coordination. The Corps expects to 

better define the issues of concern and 

define the methods that will be used to 

evaluate those issues through the 

scoping process. 

C. Environmental Review and 

Consultation. The proposed action will 

involve an evaluation for compliance 

with all applicable guidelines pursuant 

to section 404(b) of the Clean Water Act. 

This review will involve a detailed 

reevaluation of all practicable 

alternatives to the handling and 

disposal of the dredged material 

generated from the Project. The Corps 

will provide extensive information on 

the resources to be impacted, mitigation 

measures, and alternatives. Although 

the Corps does not plan to invite any 

Federal agencies to be cooperating 

agencies, we expect to receive input and 

critical information from the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other 

Federal, state, and local agencies. 

5. Public Scoping Meeting Special 

Accommodations. The public scoping 

meeting place is physically accessible to 

people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to 

Mark Lahare, (504) 862–1344 (voice), or 

email at Mark.h.lahare@usace.army.mil, 

at least 5 business days prior to the 

meeting date. 

6. Estimated Date of Availability. It is 

estimated that this draft supplemental 

EIS will be available to the public in 

June 2016. At least one public hearing 

will be held at that time, during which 

the public will be provided the 

opportunity to comment on the draft 

supplemental EIS before it becomes 

final. 

Dated: January 20, 2015. 

Richard L. Hansen, 

Colonel, U.S. Army, District Commander. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01674 Filed 1–28–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Commission To Review the 

Effectiveness of the National Energy 

Laboratories 

AGENCY: Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of open meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces an 

open meeting of the Commission to 

Review the Effectiveness of the National 

Energy Laboratories (Commission). The 

Commission was created pursuant 

section 319 of the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2014, Public Law 

113–76, and in accordance with the 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES