Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 62 / Thursday, April 2, 2009 / Notices 14965 

effectiveness is also required to 

maintain the Community College of the 

Air Force’s regional accreditation. 

Frequency: Biennial. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary. 

OMB Desk Officer: Ms. Jasmeet 

Seehra. 

Written comments and 

recommendations on the proposed 

information collection should be sent to 

Ms. Seehra at the Office of Management 

and Budget, Desk Officer for DoD, Room 

10236, New Executive Office Building, 

Washington, DC 20503. 

You may also submit comments, 

identified by docket number and title, 

by the following method: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name, docket 

number and title for this Federal 

Register document. The general policy 

for comments and other submissions 

from members of the public is to make 

these submissions available for public 

viewing on the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov as they are 

received without change, including any 

personal identifiers or contact 

information. 

DoD Clearance Officer: Ms. Patricia 

Toppings. 

Written requests for copies of the 

information collection proposal should 

be sent to Ms. Toppings at WHS/ESD/ 

Information Management Division, 1777 

North Kent Street, RPN, Suite 11000, 

Arlington, VA 22209–2133. 

Dated; March 27, 2009. 

Patricia L. Toppings, 

OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, 

Department of Defense. 

[FR Doc. E9–7390 Filed 4–1–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army; Corps of 

Engineers 

Notice of Availability of the Final 

Supplemental Environmental Impact 

Statement for the Nourishment of 

25,000 Feet of Beach in Topsail Beach, 

Pender County, NC 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers (USACE), Wilmington 

District, Wilmington Regulatory Field 

Office has received a request for 

Department of the Army authorization, 

pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean 

Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers 

and Harbors Act, from the Town of 

Topsail Beach to conduct a one-time 

interim beach fill project to protect 

oceanfront development and 

infrastructure until such time that a 

Federally authorized shore protection 

project can be implemented. The Corps 

has prepared a Final Supplemental 

Environmental Impact Statement 

(FSEIS) in accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This 

FSEIS was developed as a supplement 

to the West Onslow Beach and New 

River Inlet (Topsail Beach), NC, General 

Reevaluation Report (GRR) and 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

(USACE, 2008) prepared by the 

Wilmington District Corps of Engineers 

(USACE or the Corps) to evaluate 

resources and environmental 

considerations involved with the 

proposed Federal Beach nourishment 

project. The purpose of this supplement 

is to fully evaluate the potential impacts 

of the private action proposed as an 

addition to the Federal Project and to 

evaluate alternatives to the proposed 

action. The private action is proposed to 

respond to current, substantial erosion 

occurring along the oceanfront shoreline 

of the Town of Topsail Beach, NC. 

While Federal budget priorities have 

made it difficult to obtain funds for civil 

works projects in general and beach 

protection projects in particular, the 

projected earliest construction date for 

the Federal project is 2012. State and 

agency review and comment on Final 

GRR and EIS were completed in 

summer 2008. The Recommended Plan 

outlined in the Final GRR and EIS 

includes use of all the identified borrow 

sites over the next 50 years pending 

further investigations during the 

development of detailed plans and 

specifications. Given the current status 

of the GRR–EIS and the need for 

Congressional authorization, funding, 

preparation of plans and specifications, 

and right-of-way acquisition, the 

Federal project may not be implemented 

until Fiscal Year 2012, or possibly later. 

Accordingly, the Town of Topsail Beach 

would like to construct an interim beach 

fill project to protect its development 

and infrastructure during the period 

between now and the time the Federal 

project is constructed. In order to 

account for any possible delays in the 

construction of the Federal project, a 

construction date of 2016 was used in 

the development of the alternatives and 

economic analysis for the interim 

project. This would maintain the 

baseline conditions described in the 

Final GRR and FSEIS. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of comments and 

questions regarding the FSEIS may be 

addressed to: U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, Wilmington District, 

Regulatory Division. ATTN: File 

Number SAW–2006–40848–071, Post 

Office Box 1890, Wilmington, NC 

28402–1890. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Questions about the proposed action 

and FSEIS can be directed to Mr. Dave 

Timpy, Wilmington Regulatory Field 

Office, telephone: (910) 251–4634. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 1. Project 

Description. The proposed project 

would be constructed as a one-time 

nourishment event that would protect 

oceanfront homes and the Town’s 

infrastructures until the Federal project 

(West Onslow Beach and New River 

Inlet [Topsail Beach]) is constructed. 

The Applicant’s Preferred Alternative is 

to place fill material within the 

oceanfront section of the Town located 

between Godwin Avenue on the south 

to a point 610 m (2,000 ft) northeast of 

Topsail Beach/Surf City town limits, 

southeast along a total ocean shoreline 

length of approximately 7.6 km (∼ 4.7 

mi). The proposed fill design consists of 

three sections: A 305 m (1,000 ft) 

transition on the south starting at a 

point opposite Godwin Avenue; a 6,700 

m (22,000 ft) main fill section that 

extends to the Topsail Beach/Surf City 

town limits; and a 610 m (2,000 ft) 

northern transitional taper to the point 

of intersection with the existing beach. 

The main fill would consist of a 

horizontal berm constructed to an 

elevation of +1.8 m (6 ft) NAVD (+2.1m 

[7 ft] NGVD). The in-place volume of the 

beach fill could range from 800,000 cy 

to 975,000 cy. The applicant’s preferred 

borrow area, Borrow Area X, is located 

offshore of New Topsail Inlet, an area 

which is not available for the 

construction of the Federal project due 

to its location within an area designated 

by the Coastal Barrier Resources Act 

(CBRA), more commonly known as a 

CBRA zone. Borrow Area X is also 

located landward of the 3-mile State 

territorial limit and would not require 

permits from the U.S. Minerals 

Management Service (MMS). 

The proposed construction for the 

one-time beach fill is scheduled to occur 

within the environmental dredging 

window of November 16, 2009 through 

March 31, 2010. 

Borrow Area X has been modified 

throughout the Project Delivery Team 

(PDT) process in an effort to avoid and 

minimize potential impacts to Essential 

Fish Habitat (EFH) (Figure 1). The 

original footprint of Borrow Area X 

including all five cuts was 151 acres. In 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES

14966 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 62 / Thursday, April 2, 2009 / Notices 

response to concerns of the resource 

agencies the applicant modified Borrow 

Area X to relocate the landward edge of 

the borrow area further seaward to 

minimize any potential modification to 

the ebb tidal delta of New Topsail Inlet 

and the adjacent oceanfront and 

estuarine shorelines. The modified 

impact area within Borrow Area X was 

reduced to 127 acres, and minimized 

the proposed EFH impacts by 24 acres. 

A summary of the modifications to 

Borrow Area X include: (1) The 

landward cuts (cuts one (1) and two (2)) 

have been eliminated, (2) the landward 

edge of cut three (3) has been moved 

100 feet seaward in order to further 

avoid and minimize potential impacts to 

the ebb-tidal delta, and (3) cut six (6) 

has been added seaward of cut three (3) 

to account for the loss of volume. Cut 

six contains 126,950 cy of beach 

compatible sand which would result in 

a net loss of 42,566 cy from Borrow Area 

X. The total volume of material in 

Borrow Area X once modifications are 

taken into account totals 1,583,236 cy. 

However, the volume needed to 

maintain the design beach fill totals 

1,286,000 cy. 

Geotechnical Investigations. The 

offshore sand search investigations 

included bathymetric surveys, sidescan 

sonar surveys, seismic surveys, cultural 

resource surveys, vibracore collection 

and analysis, and ground-truth diver 

surveys to verify existence or nonexistence of hard bottoms. The results of 

the offshore investigations coupled with 

the compatibility of the sand resource 

area, native beach sand, and Essential 

Fish Habitat (EFH) were used to define 

the selected borrow area. The applicants 

preferred borrow area, Borrow Area X, 

was further modified to reflect resource 

agency comments. All sediment 

compatibility assessments were based 

on State of North Carolina sediment 

compatibility standards that went into 

effect in February 2007. 

Beach Fill Surveys & Design. Typical 

cross-sections of the beach along the 

Topsail Beach project area was 

surveyed. Nearshore profiles will extend 

seaward to at least the 30-foot NAVD 

depth contour. The total volume of 

beach fill to be placed in front of the 

existing development and infrastructure 

will be based on an evaluation of 

erosion of the project area from 2002 

through the expected construction date 

of the Federal project. Additional 

offshore and inshore data for Lea/Hutaff 

Island were also obtained along the 

northern 5,000 feet of the island. This 

data was used in the evaluation of 

possible impacts associated with the 

removal of sediment from the selected 

offshore borrow area and for future 

impact evaluations following project 

implementation through the use of 

numerical modeling. 

ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE 

COORDINATION & PERMITTING. The 

USACE prepared a General 

Reevaluation Report—Environmental 

Impact Statement (GRR–EIS) for the 

larger Federal shore protection project 

(June 2006). The Final GRR and EIS 

were released for public and agency 

review and comment in the summer of 

2008. The interim beach fill project will 

be subject to Section 10 of the Rivers 

and Harbors Act, Section 404 of the 

Clean Water Act and the North 

Carolina’s State Environmental Policy 

Act (SEPA). 

Preliminary coordination with the 

USACE—Wilmington District resulted 

in a determination that a Department of 

the Army Individual Permit will be 

needed for project compliance with 

Sections 10 and 404. Similarly, 

coordination with the North Carolina 

Division of Coastal Management 

(NCDCM) determined that the project 

would require evaluation through SEPA. 

A Major Permit under the Coastal Area 

Management Act was issued by the 

North Carolina Division of Coastal 

Management on February 27, 2009. 

2. Issues of particular concern. There 

are several potential environmental 

issues that are addressed in the FSEIS. 

Additional issues may be identified 

during the public review process. Issues 

initially identified as potentially 

significant include: 

a. Potential impact to marine 

biological resources (benthic organisms, 

passageway for fish and other marine 

life) and Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), 

particularly hardbottoms. 

b. Potential impact to Federally 

threatened and endangered marine 

mammals, birds, fish, and plants. 

c. Potential impacts to water quality. 

d. Potential increase in erosion rates 

to adjacent beaches. 

e. Potential impacts to navigation, 

commercial and recreational. 

f. Potential impacts to private and 

public property. 

g. Potential impacts on public health 

and safety. 

h. Potential impacts to recreational 

and commercial fishing. 

i. The compatibility of the material for 

nourishment. 

j. Potential economic impacts. 

4. Alternatives. Several alternatives 

were considered for the proposed 

project. These alternatives were further 

formulated and developed during the 

scoping process and an appropriate 

range of alternatives, including the No 

Action and Non Structural alternative, 

are considered in the Final 

Supplemental EIS. 

5. Scoping Process. Project Delivery 

Team meetings were held to receive 

comments and assess concerns 

regarding the appropriate scope and 

preparation of the FSEIS. Federal, State, 

and local agencies and other interested 

organizations and persons participated 

in these Project Delivery Team 

meetings. 

The COE also consulted with the U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service under the 

Endangered Species Act and the Fish 

and Wildlife Coordination Act, and with 

the National Marine Fisheries Service 

under the Magnuson-Stevens Act and 

Endangered Species Act. The FSEIS has 

been revised in accordance with the 

comments submitted by these agencies. 

Additionally, the FSEIS has assessed the 

potential water quality impacts 

pursuant to Section 401 of the Clean 

Water Act, and is being coordinated 

with NCDCM to determine the projects 

consistency with the Coastal Zone 

Management Act. 

6. Availability of the Final 

Supplemental EIS (FSEIS). The FSEIS 

has been published and circulated, and 

is available for review at the office of 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

Wilmington District, Regulatory 

Division Office located at 69 Darlington 

Avenue, Wilmington, North Carolina. 

Brenda S. Bowen, 

Army Federal Register Liaison Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–7380 Filed 4–1–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Navy 

Notice of Cancellation of Partially 

Closed Meeting of the Secretary of the 

Navy Advisory Panel 

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Secretary of the Navy 

Advisory Panel hereby cancels its notice 

to receive ethics training and discuss 

top areas of concern that the Secretary 

of the Navy should address, as 

published in the Federal Register, 

March 18, 2009 (74 FR number 50), page 

11358. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Colonel Caroline Simkins-Mullins, 

SECNAV Advisory Panel, Office of 

Program and Process Assessment, 1000 

Navy Pentagon, Washington, DC 20350, 

telephone: 703–697–9154. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES