[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 48 (Friday, March 13, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10896-10897]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-5563]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

 Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


The Release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 
and the Announcement of a Public Hearing for the Proposed Construction 
of the Western Wake Regional Wastewater Management Facilities, Which 
Includes Regional Wastewater Pumping, Conveyance, Treatment, and 
Discharge Facilities To Serve the Towns of Apex, Cary, Holly Springs 
and Morrisville, as Well as the Wake County Portion of Research 
Triangle Park (Service Area), NC

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), Wilmington District, 
Regulatory Division has been reviewing the request for Department of 
the Army authorization, pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act 
from the Town of Cary, acting as the lead for the Western Wake Regional 
Wastewater Management Facilities Project Partners (Western Wake 
Partners), to construct Regional Wastewater Management Facility. The 
proposed project consists of regional wastewater pumping, conveyance, 
treatment, and discharge facilities to serve the Towns of Apex, Cary, 
Holly Springs and Morrisville, as well as the Wake County portion of 
Research Triangle Park (RTP South), NC.
    The project is being proposed by the Western Wake Partners to 
provide wastewater service for planned growth and development in the 
project service area and to comply with two regulatory mandates. One 
regulatory mandate has been issued by the North Carolina Environmental 
Management Commission (EMC), and the second regulatory mandate has been 
issued by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural 
Resources (NC DENR).

DATES: The Public Hearing will be held at the Town of Apex Town Hall, 
73 Hunter Street, Apex North Carolina, on April 14, 2009 at 6 p.m. 
Written comments on the Draft EIS will be received until April 27, 
2009.

ADDRESSES: Copies of comments and questions regarding the Draft EIS may 
be addressed to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District, 
Regulatory Division. ATTN: File Number 2005-20159, 69 Darlington 
Avenue, Wilmington, NC 28403. Copies of the Draft EIS can be reviewed 
on the Wilmington District Regulatory homepage at http://www.saw.usace.army.mil/wetlands/projects/ww-wtp, or contact Ms. Gwen 
Robinson, at (910) 251-4494, to receive written or CD copies of the 
Draft EIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action 
and DEIS can be directed to Mr. Henry Wicker, Project Manager, 
Regulatory Division, telephone: (910) 251-4930.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    1. Project Description. The proposed project consists of regional 
wastewater pumping, conveyance, treatment, and discharge facilities to 
serve the Towns of Apex, Cary, Holly Springs and Morrisville, as well 
as RTP South (service area), NC. The purpose of the project is to 
provide wastewater service for planned growth and development in the 
project service area and to comply with two regulatory mandates. One 
regulatory mandate has been issued by the North Carolina Environmental 
Management Commission (EMC), and the second regulatory mandate has been 
issued by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural 
Resources (NC DENR).
    Regulatory Mandate No. 1--Interbasin Transfer: The Towns of Apex, 
Cary, and Morrisville, as well as Research Triangle Park (RTP) South, 
obtain their drinking water from Jordan Lake in the Cape Fear River 
Basin and discharge treated effluent to locations in the Neuse River 
Basin. Obtaining water from one basin and discharging it to another 
river basin is referred to as an interbasin transfer (IBT), which 
requires a permit from the EMC. In July 2001, the EMC granted the Towns 
of Apex, Cary, and Morrisville, as well as Wake County (on behalf of 
RTP South), an IBT certificate to withdraw water from the Cape Fear 
River Basin and discharge the water to the Neuse River Basin. However, 
as a condition of approval, the IBT certificate issued by the EMC 
requires the local governments to return reclaimed water to the Cape 
Fear River Basin after 2010. As a result, the local governments have 
initiated activities to plan, permit, design, and construct wastewater 
transmission, treatment, and disposal facilities in order to comply 
with the terms and conditions of the IBT certificate issued by the EMC. 
The facilities that will be described and evaluated in the 
environmental impact statement (DEIS) are needed to comply with the IBT 
certificate terms and conditions.
    Regulatory Mandate No. 2--Nutrient Enrichment for Harris Lake: The 
Town of Holly Springs currently has a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) 
that discharges to Utley Creek, which is a tributary to Harris Lake in 
the Cape Fear River Basin. Representatives from NCDENR have directed 
the Town of Holly Springs to remove the Town's wastewater discharge 
from Utley Creek due to nutrient enrichment issues in Utley Creek and 
downstream in Harris Lake. In addition, NCDENR has encouraged Holly 
Springs to participate with Apex, Cary and Morrisville on a regional 
wastewater management program that will allow Holly Springs to remove 
the Town's discharge from Utley Creek after 2010. Thus, Holly Springs 
is participating with Apex, Cary and Morrisville in the planning, 
permitting, design and construction of regional effluent disposal 
facilities in order to comply with the mandate issued by NCDENR to 
remove its discharge from Utley Creek. The regional effluent disposal 
facilities that will be described and evaluated in the DEIS are needed 
to comply with the NCDENR mandate.
    The proposed project was reviewed to address a number of issues 
which includes an alternatives analysis, direct environmental impacts, 
secondary and cumulative environmental impacts, environmental justice 
concerns,

[[Page 10897]]

endangered species, and potential project costs.
    2. Proposed Action. The proposed action is to construct a regional 
wastewater pumping, conveyance, treatment, and discharge facility to 
serve the Towns of Apex, Cary, Holly Springs and Morrisville, as well 
as RTP South, North Carolina. The Towns have cooperated together to 
develop the proposal, and each town will be responsible for the permits 
for their part of the proposed project. It is anticipated there will be 
4 permit requests to construct the whole project. Future request for 
Department of the Army authorization for other sections of the project 
will be submitted once the final plans have been completed.
    This request for Department of the Army authorization consists of 
the construction of a regional wastewater system that includes the 
construction of influent conveyance facilities, a new water reclamation 
facility (WRF), and new effluent conveyance facilities in western Wake 
County and Chatham County, North Carolina to serve the Towns of Apex, 
Cary, and Morrisville and RTP South. The proposed WRF site is north of 
U.S. 1 and just south of Old U.S. 1 between New Hill-Holleman and 
Shearon Harris Roads. The WRF would be constructed in two phases to a 
proposed treatment capacity of 30-million gallons per day (mgd). The 
Town of Holly Springs Utley Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) has 
already been approved to expand to 6 MGD and will share the 38 MGD 
outfall to the Cape Fear River. The effluent line will leave the WRF in 
Wake County and enter Chatham County to the discharge point located on 
the Cape Fear River downstream of Buckhorn Dam in Chatham County.
    As a result of the construction activities related to this permit 
request from Western Wake Partners, there will be temporary and 
permanent impacts to wetlands and streams. The total permanent impact 
of the proposed project is 509 of linear feet (lf) of stream (329 lf of 
perennial and 180 lf intermittent) and 1.8 acres of wetlands. The total 
temporary impact of the proposed project is 1,924 lf of stream (1,115 
lf of perennial and 809 lf of intermittent) and 6.8 acres of wetlands. 
Most of these impacts are along the influent transmission lines.
    3. Alternatives. An extensive alternatives analysis was performed 
and reviewed by the Project Delivery Team (PDT). This included the 
evaluation of wastewater management options; wastewater discharge 
options; WRF site alternatives; conveyance alternatives and wastewater 
outfall options. Many alternatives were identified and evaluated 
through the scoping process, and further detailed description of all 
alternatives is disclosed in Section or Chapter 2 of the Draft EIS.
    4. Scoping Process. A public scoping meeting was held on April 19, 
2007 and a Project Delivery Team (PDT) was developed to provide input 
in the preparation of the EIS. The PDT was comprised of representatives 
from local, state, and federal government, the Western Wake Partners, 
Wake County, Chatham County, and the New Hill Community.
    The COE coordinated closely with the North Carolina Division of 
Water Quality Construction Grants and Loans Section in the development 
of the EIS to ensure the process complies with State Environmental 
Policy Act (SEPA) requirements, as well as the NEPA requirements. The 
Draft EIS has been designed to consolidate both NEPA and SEPA processes 
to eliminate duplications.

    Dated: March 4, 2009.
C. Scott McLendon,
Assistant Chief, Wilmington Regulatory District.
[FR Doc. E9-5563 Filed 3-12-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P