Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 38 / Friday, February 27, 2009 / Notices 8915 

or provide significant public benefits. 

NTIA, Rural Development, and the 

Federal Communications Commission 

will host a public meeting to discuss the 

broadband initiatives funded by the Act, 

including the new Broadband 

Technology Opportunities Program, the 

new Rural Development Broadband 

Program, and the development of a 

National Broadband Plan. The public 

meeting agenda and information about 

the new program will be available at 

NTIA’s website at http:// 

www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants, 

Rural Development’s website at http:// 

www.usda.gov/rurdev, and the FCC’s 

website at http://www.fcc.gov. This will 

be the first of several Public Meetings. 

Public attendance at the meeting is 

limited to space available. The meeting 

will be physically accessible to people 

with disabilities. Individuals requesting 

accommodations, such as sign language 

interpretation or other ancillary aids, are 

asked to indicate this to Barbara Brown 

at least two (2) days prior to the 

meeting. Members of the public will 

have an opportunity to ask questions at 

the meeting. The meeting will be 

streamed on the Web with captions and 

the archive will be made available on 

NTIA’s website at http:// 

www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants and 

Rural Development’s website at http:// 

www.usda/rurdev. 

Dated: February 23, 2009. 

Bernadette McGuire-Rivera, 

Associate Administrator, Office of 

Telecommunications and Information 

Applications. 

Dated: February 23, 2009. 

David P. Grahn, 

Associate General Counsel, Rural 

Development. 

Dated: February 23, 2009. 

P. Michele Ellison, 

Acting General Counsel, Federal 

Communications Commission. 

[FR Doc. E9–4194 Filed 2–26–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–60–S 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army; Corps of 

Engineers 

Notice of Availability of the Record of 

Decision for the Final Environmental 

Impact Statement for the Brazos River 

Harbor Navigation District’s (Port 

Freeport) Proposed Widening of the 

Freeport Harbor Ship Channel 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, DOD. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, Galveston District announces 

the availability of the Record of 

Decision (ROD), for the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) 

for the Port Freeport’s proposal to widen 

the Freeport Harbor Ship Channel. The 

FEIS was made available for public 

review and comment on January 11, 

2008. Comments received during the 

FEIS comment period are addressed in 

the ROD. The ROD discloses the 

decision to issue a Department of the 

Army permit for the proposed project. 

DATES: The waiting period for the FEIS 

ended February 11, 2008. The ROD was 

signed on February 3, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Questions about this action 

may be addressed to the USACE, 

Galveston District, Attn: Sam J. Watson, 

P.O. Box 1229, Galveston, TX 77553– 

1229; or by calling 409–766–3946. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Authority: This Federal Action is in 

consideration of a Department of the 

Army Permit application for work under 

Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act 

of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403), Section 404 of 

the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) 

and Section 103 of the Marine 

Protection and Sanctuaries Act 

(MPRSA) (33 U.S.C. 1413). 

Background: In April 2005, Port of 

Freeport submitted a Department of 

Army Permit Application to widen 

portions of the Freeport Harbor Jetty 

Channel and all of the Freeport Harbor 

Entrance Channel from 400 feet (ft) to 

600 ft. It was determined that an 

Environmental Impact Statement would 

be required for the proposed project. 

Since the November 29, 2005 Scoping 

Meeting, the consulting firm of PBS&J, 

under the direction of the Galveston 

District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

(USACE), prepared an Environmental 

Impact Statement for the proposed 

project. The ROD is now available to the 

public. 

Availability of the ROD: The ROD for 

the proposed Freeport Channel 

Widening project is being made 

available to Federal, State, and local 

agencies and all interested parties. The 

ROD can be viewed or downloaded at: 

http://www.swg.usace.army.mil/reg/. 

Location: The project is located in the 

Freeport Harbor Channel, Brazoria 

County, TX. Specifically, the project site 

is located along the northern edge of the 

Freeport Harbor Jetty and Entrance 

Channels, between the towns of 

Surfside and Quintana, TX. The project 

can be located on the U.S. Geological 

Survey quadrangle map entitled 

Freeport, TX. Approximate UTM 

Coordinates: NAD 83, UTM 14N, 

861095.730029, 3206475.762543. 

Project Description: The project 

includes widening the Freeport Harbor 

Jetty Channel beginning at Channel 

Station 63+35 with a gradual widening, 

at the authorized depth, up to an 

additional 150 feet (ft) for about 1,835 

ft to Channel Station 45+00. From that 

point to Channel Station 40+00 the 

widening would be less gradual from 

the additional 150 ft to an additional 

200 ft. Through the rest of the Jetty 

Channel and to the end of the Freeport 

Harbor Entrance Channel (Channel 

Station ¥260+00), the channel would 

be widened an additional 200 ft. The 

length of channel proposed for 

widening is about 6.1 miles, of which 

5.7 miles would be widened by 200 ft. 

The project depth will remain at the 

authorized depth of 45 ft in the Jetty 

Channel and 47 ft in the Entrance 

Channel. The widening would generate 

approximately 3.2 million cubic yards 

(mcy) of new work dredged material. 

Approximately 2.9 mcy of the new work 

material would consist of clay material 

and about 300,000 cubic yards (cy) 

would consist of silty/sand material. 

The ocean dredged material disposal 

sites (ODMDS) previously designated 

for the existing Freeport Harbor Ship 

Channel, would be used for placement 

of the 2.9 mcy of clay/silt material and 

maintenance material. The 300,000 cy of 

silty/sand material would be used 

beneficially and placed on Quintana 

Beach in front of the Seaway upland 

confined placement area. 

Brenda S. Bowen, 

Army Federal Register Liaison Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–4197 Filed 2–26–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army; Corps of 

Engineers 

Final Supplement to the Environmental 

Impact Statement To Evaluate 

Construction of Authorized 

Improvements to the Gulfport Harbor 

Federal Navigation Project in Harrison 

County, MS 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: This notice of availability 

announces the public release of the 

Final Supplement to the Environmental 

Impact Statement (SEIS) to evaluate 

construction of authorized 

improvements to the Gulfport Harbor 

Federal navigation project in Harrison 

County, MS. The Mobile District, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES2