8920 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 38 / Friday, February 27, 2009 / Notices 

which will extend 30 days from the date 

of the scoping meeting public notice. 

7. Interagency Coordination and 

Cooperation. The USACE and the 

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 

regarding threatened and endangered 

species under their jurisdictional 

responsibilities. The Arizona Game and 

Fish Department (AZGFD) will be 

consulted concerning potential impacts 

to sensitive species and habitats. 

Coordination will be maintained with 

the Advisory Counsel on Historic 

Preservation and the State Historic 

Preservation Officer (SHPO). 

Coordination will be maintained with 

the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency (USEPA) concerning 

compliance with Executive Order 

12898, ‘‘Federal Action to Address 

Environmental Justice in Minority 

Populations and Low-Income 

Populations.’’ 

8. Availability of the EIS. It is 

anticipated that the DEIS will be 

available for public review during the 

spring of 2011. The DEIS or a Notice of 

Availability (NOA) will be provided 

during the 45-day review period to 

affected Federal, State and local 

agencies, Indian Tribes, and other 

interested parties. 

Dated: February 25, 2009. 

Thomas H. Magness, 

Colonel, U.S. Army, District Engineer. 

[FR Doc. E9–4200 Filed 2–26–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army; Corps of 

Engineers 

Intent To Prepare a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Southwest Coastal Louisiana 

Feasibility Study 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

SUMMARY: The Corps of Engineers 

(Corps) intends to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for the Southwest Coastal Louisiana 

Feasibility Study for Calcasieu, 

Cameron and Vermilion Parishes, 

Louisiana. The Corps will evaluate a full 

suite of structural, nonstructural and 

coastal restoration measures to achieve 

hurricane protection and storm damage 

risk reduction within Calcasieu, 

Cameron and Vermilion Parishes in 

Louisiana. Southwestern Louisiana has 

been affected by several named storms 

in the past 50 years. The study area, 

which is characterized by low, flat 

terrain, is highly susceptible to flooding 

from tidal surges associated with 

hurricanes and tropical storms due to its 

close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Hurricanes that caused damage include 

Audrey (1957), Arlene (1959), Debra 

(1978), Chris (1982), Danny (1985), Juan 

(1985), Bonnie (1986), Allison (1989), 

Chantal (1989), Francis (1998), Hermine 

(1998), Allison (2001), Bertha (2002), 

Lili (2002), Rita (2005), Gustav (2008) 

and Ike (2008). As the ground elevation 

subsides relative to the levels of the Gulf 

of Mexico, the depth of potential 

flooding in the future will increase 

along with an increase in damages to the 

human and natural environments. 

Wetlands in the study area are affected 

by relative sea level rise, subsidence, 

tides and storm surge created by tropical 

storms and hurricanes, saltwater 

intrusion and ponding and reduced 

organic production. These conditions 

would continue at an increased rate as 

the mass of coastal land decreases. 

DATES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

section for scoping meeting dates. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Questions concerning the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 

should be addressed to Ms. Sandra 

Stiles at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

CEMVNPM–RS, P.O. Box 60267, New 

Orleans, LA 70160–0267, phone (504) 

862–1583, fax number (504) 862–2088 

or by e-mail at 

sandra.e.stiles@usace.army.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Authority: Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure, U.S. 

House of Representatives, Resolution 

Docket 2747, Southwest Coastal 

Louisiana, LA authorized the Secretary 

of the Army in accordance with section 

110 of the River and Harbor Act of 1962, 

to survey the coast of Louisiana in 

Cameron, Calcasieu and Vermilion 

Parishes with particular reference to the 

advisability of providing hurricane 

protection and storm damage reduction 

and related purposes to include the 

feasibility of constructing an armored 12 

foot levee along the Gulf Intracoastal 

Waterway. 

2. Proposed Action. The Corps will 

develop hurricane protection, storm 

damage risk reduction and coastal 

restoration measures for Calcasieu, 

Cameron and Vermilion Parishes to 

include: (1) Levee alignments to provide 

hurricane protection and reduce 

damages from storm surge; (2) restoring 

natural ecosystem features, such as 

Cheniers, to reduce damages from storm 

surge; (3) measures protecting, restoring 

or increasing wetlands to prevent 

saltwater intrusion or reduce storm 

surge; (4) measures reducing risk of 

storm damage to communities by 

preventing or reducing wetland losses 

in areas affected by navigation, oil and 

gas and other manmade channels; (5) 

creation of barrier islands to serve as the 

first line of defense against storms and 

reduce storm surge; (6) nonstructural 

measures such as raising structures inplace, relocating structures, buyouts, 

flood proofing and policy development. 

3. Alternatives. Hurricane protection 

and surge reduction measures being 

considered include multi-parish levee 

alignments, ring levees, ridges, and 

breakwaters to provide multiple lines of 

defense. Coastal restoration measures 

being considered include restoration of 

Cheniers, creation of barrier islands, 

large-scale marsh creation and 

restoration, salinity control, hydrologic 

restoration, and restoration of natural 

features to prevent/reduce storm surge. 

Non-structural measures include raising 

structures in-place, property buyouts, 

relocations of residents and 

communities, flood-proofing and 

hardening of infrastructure. Once 

hurricane protection, storm surge risk 

reduction and coastal restoration 

measures are identified, alternative 

plans will be developed through various 

combinations of measures that best meet 

the study goals and objectives and are 

determined to be cost-effective, 

environmentally acceptable and 

technically feasible. 

3. Public Involvement. Stakeholder 

and public involvement for this 

proposed action is integral to the 

project. Interested parties, concerned 

citizens, and other State and Federal 

agencies, private and not for profit or 

non-governmental organizations are 

strongly encouraged to participate in the 

development of the proposed action. 

Stakeholder and public meetings would 

be held throughout project 

development. Meeting announcements 

would be made as information becomes 

available. 

4. Public Scoping Meeting. Scoping is 

the process utilized for determining the 

range of alternatives and significant 

issues to be addressed in the EIS. For 

this study, a letter will be mailed to all 

parties believed to have an interest in 

the analysis. The letter will notify 

interested parties of public scoping 

meetings that will be held in the local 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES2
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 38 / Friday, February 27, 2009 / Notices 8921 

area and request their input on 

alternatives and issues to be evaluated. 

Notices will also be mailed to local 

news media. All interested parties are 

invited to comment at this time, and 

anyone interested in this study should 

request inclusion in the study mailing 

list. A public scoping meeting will be 

held March 24, 2009 from 6–9 p.m. in 

Cameron, Louisiana, March 25, 2009 

from 6–9 p.m. in Lake Charles, 

Louisiana and March 26, 2009 from 6– 

9 p.m. in Abbeville, LA. The exact 

location and address for the meetings 

will be announced through local media 

channels. Additional meetings could be 

held, depending upon public interest 

and if it is determined that further 

public coordination is warranted. 

5. Significant Issues. Tentatively, the 

important resources and issues that 

would be evaluated in the EIS include 

but are not limited to tidal wetlands 

(marshes and swamps), aquatic 

resources, commercial and recreational 

fisheries, wildlife resources, essential 

fish habitat, water quality, air quality, 

threatened and endangered species and 

critical habitat, recreation resources, 

and cultural resources. Socioeconomic 

items to be evaluated in the EIS include 

navigation; flood protection; business 

and industrial activity; oil and gas 

pipelines; employment; land use; 

property values; public/community 

facilities and services; tax revenues; 

population, community and regional 

growth; transportation; housing; 

community cohesion; environmental 

justice, aesthetics and noise. 

6. Environmental Consultation and 

Review. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service (USFWS) will assist in 

documenting existing conditions and 

assessing effects of project alternatives 

through the Fish and Wildlife 

Coordination Act consultation 

procedures. The USFWS will provide a 

Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act 

report. Consultation will be 

accomplished with the USFWS and the 

National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) concerning threatened and 

endangered species and their critical 

habitat. The NMFS will be consulted 

regarding the effects of this proposed 

action on Essential Fish Habitat. The 

draft EIS or a notice of its availability 

will be distributed to all interested 

agencies, organizations, and 

individuals. 

7. Estimated Date of Availability. The 

earliest that the DEIS is expected to be 

available is March of 2010. 

Dated: February 18, 2009. 

Alvin B. Lee, 

Colonel, U.S. Army, District Engineer. 

[FR Doc. E9–4202 Filed 2–26–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army; Corps of 

Engineers 

Intent To Prepare an Integrated 

Feasibility Report and Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Southwest Florida Feasibility 

Study/Watershed Plan, Lee, Collier, 

Charlotte, Hendry, Glades, and Monroe 

Counties, FL 

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), Jacksonville District, 

intends to prepare an integrated 

Feasibility Report/Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement (FR/DEIS) for the 

Southwest Florida Feasibility Study/ 

Watershed Plan. The study is a 

cooperative effort between the Corps 

and the South Florida Water 

Management District (SFWMD), which 

is also a cooperating agency for this 

DEIS. The goal of the Southwest Florida 

Feasibility Study is to produce a 

regional restoration plan that addresses 

water resources issues within all 

watersheds in southwest Florida. It is 

intended that this plan will meet many 

of the ecological and hydrological 

restoration needs of southwest Florida. 

The problems which will be addressed 

in this study include loss of natural 

ecosystems and landscape connectivity/ 

degradation of wildlife habitat, altered, 

unnatural freshwater flows to wetlands 

and estuaries (altered surface water 

hydrology), and water quality 

degradation in surface waters. 

ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, Planning Division, 

Environmental Branch, P.O. Box 4970, 

Jacksonville, FL 32232–0019. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Angela Dunn, by telephone at 904–232– 

2108, or e-mail at 

angela.e.dunn@usace.army.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

a. Authorization: The Southwest 

Florida Feasibility Study (SWFFS), 

along with the Central and South 

Florida Project Comprehensive Review 

study (Restudy), is authorized by 

Section 309(l) of the Water Resources 

Development Act of 1992 (Pub. L. 102– 

580) and is also authorized by two 

resolutions of the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure, 

United States House of Representatives, 

dated September 24, 1992. The Restudy 

proposed several new feasibility studies, 

which included the SWFFS, to allow a 

more thorough investigation into 

subjects that were considered related to 

but beyond the scope of the Restudy. 

b. Study Area: The study area covers 

approximately 4,300 square miles. It 

encompasses all of Lee County and 

portions of Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, 

Glades, and Monroe Counties. 

c. Project Scope: The scope includes 

conducting a watershed assessment of 

the study area and developing a 

watershed plan for stakeholder 

utilization, additional landscape 

connectivity for endangered species, 

and maintenance of natural hydrology. 

The assessment will investigate the 

southwest Florida region and its 

hydrology and natural landscape in 

greater detail than was developed in the 

Restudy. The evaluation of the 

alternatives and selection of a 

recommended plan will be documented 

in the FR/EIS. The alternative plans will 

be reviewed under provisions of 

appropriate laws and regulations, 

including the Endangered Species Act, 

Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, 

Clean Water Act, and Farmland 

Protection Policy Act. 

d. Preliminary Alternatives: The 

alternatives analyzed in this feasibility 

investigation are a combination of 

structural and non-structural measures 

addressing the following objectives: The 

health of aquatic and upland 

ecosystems; the quantity, quality, 

timing, and distribution of water flows; 

agricultural, environmental, and urban 

water supply; the sustainability of 

economic and natural resources; flood 

protection; fish and wildlife; biological 

diversity; and natural habitat in 

southwest Florida. Alternatives were 

developed to address these objectives. 

These alternatives include a plan of no 

action and various combinations of 

structural and non-structural measures 

within the watersheds of the study area. 

e. Issues: The EIS will analyze the 

following project objectives: Establish 

total freshwater inflows to coastal 

estuaries within project area to within 

10% of the pre-development natural 

system flow quantity conditions; 

decrease loss of habitat connectivity for 

large mammals throughout the project 

area by 20%; reduce average annual 

total nitrogen loads to project area. In 

addition, the EIS will analyze: Impacts 

to aquatic and wetland habitats; water 

flows; hazardous and toxic waste; water 

quality; flood protection; the impacts of 

land acquisition on the tax base; 

aesthetics and recreation; fish and 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES2