[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 154 (Friday, August 13, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44700-44701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17313]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement to the 2014 Final Integrated Feasibility Report and 
Environmental Impact Statement for the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain 
Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction Study, St. Charles, St. 
James, and St. John the Baptist Parishes

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

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Mississippi Valley 
Division, New Orleans District (CEMVN), is announcing its intent to 
prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to 
reevaluate alternatives to compensate for unavoidable impacts to swamp 
habitat associated with the construction of the West Shore Lake 
Pontchartrain Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction Project 
(hereafter WSLP Project). Compensatory mitigation for impacts due to 
construction of the WSLP Project was described previously in the 2014 
WSLP Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and in Environmental 
Assessment (EA) 576, which addressed mitigation for habitat impacts 
associated with each of CEMVN's Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) of 2018 
funded risk reduction projects (i.e., the WSLP Project, Comite River 
Diversion Project, and the East Baton Rouge Parish Watershed Flood Risk 
Management Project). The Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for 
EA 576 was signed by the CEMVN District Commander on April 4, 2020. 
Public comment on EA 576 included requests by the Louisiana's Coastal 
Protection Restoration Authority (CPRA) and others that the Mississippi 
River Diversion into Maurepas Swamp Project (hereafter MSP), a proposed 
ecological restoration project that shares construction features with 
the WSLP Project, be considered as a mitigation alternative for impacts 
to swamp habitat associated with the construction of the WSLP Project. 
Anticipated impacts to swamp habitat as a result of the construction of 
the MSP, estimated to be approximately 55 Average Annual Habitat Units 
(AAHU), would be self-mitigated by the operation of the diversion. 
Impacts to bottom land hardwood (BLH) habitat because of the MSP 
construction would be approximately 30 AAHU. These BLH impacts would be 
mitigated in accordance with EA 576.

ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, Attn: 
CEMVN-PDC-C, 7400 Leake Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70118.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions and scoping comments 
regarding the proposed action should be directed to Mr. Landon Parr at 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, Attn: CEMVN-PDC-C, 
7400 Leake Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, by phone (504) 862-
1908, or by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#692508070d06074739081b1b291c1a080a0c47081b041047040005"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="90dcf1fef4fffebec0f1e2e2d0e5e3f1f3f5bef1e2fde9befdf9fc">[email protected]</span></a>. For additional 
information, including but not limited to a copy of 2014 WSLP EIS, and 
other associated documents, please visit the WSLP Project website at: 
https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/NEPA-Compliance-Documents/Bipartisan-Budget-Act-2018-BBA-18/West-Shore-Lake-Pontchartrain/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    1. Project Details. The WSLP Project is located in southeast 
Louisiana on the east-bank of the Mississippi River in St. Charles, St. 
John the Baptist, and St. James Parishes. Part of the Water 
Infrastructure Improvement for the Nation Act (WIIN Act, Pub. L. 114-
322) in 2016 authorized construction of the WSLP Project. The BBA of 
2018 (BBA 2018, Pub. L. 115-123) funded construction of the WSLP 
Project. The WSLP Project is described in the 2014 WSLP EIS; West Shore 
Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction Structural 
Alignment Surveys and Borings Investigations St. Charles and St. John 
the Baptist Parishes, Louisiana Supplemental Environmental Assessment 
(SEA) 570; and West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane and Storm Damage 
Risk Reduction Levee System, St. Charles and St. John the Baptist 
Parishes, Louisiana SEA 571. The WSLP Project is approximately 19 miles 
in length and includes approximately 18 miles of levee, one mile of T-
wall, six pumping stations with associated drainage structures, one 
gated road crossing, two gated railroad crossings, and approximately 35 
utility relocations.
    The Record of Decision (ROD) for the 2014 WSLP EIS was signed by 
the Assistant Secretary of the Army, Civil Works on September 14, 2016. 
SEA 570 investigated levee alignment shifts as well as the addition of 
five stockpile/staging areas for construction related activities. The 
FONSI associated with SEA 570 was signed by the CEMVN District 
Commander on May 13, 2019. SEA 571 evaluated additional changes to the 
WSLP levee alignment, the addition of four borrow areas, widening of 
the levee alignment, minor modifications to previously assessed access 
roads, and the addition of three access roads. The FONSI associated 
with SEA 571 was signed by the CEMVN District Commander on June 29, 
2020.
    Based on the changes to date, the WSLP Project could impact 
approximately 10,895 acres of swamp and 4,880 acres of wetland 
bottomland hardwoods (BLH-Wet) in the Louisiana (LA) Coastal Zone (CZ). 
This equates to a compensatory mitigation need of approximately 1,010 
AAHU of CZ swamp (if the MSP is selected) [including direct impacts to 
swamp associated with construction of the MSP (~55 AAHU), and direct 
(~600 AAHU) and indirect (~355 AAHU) impacts to swamp associated with 
the construction of WSLP] and approximately 295 AAHU of CZ BLH-Wet (BLH 
habitat impacted by the construction of the WSLP Project would be 
mitigated in accordance with EA 576).
    This Supplemental EIS would provide an assessment of proposed 
alternative projects to compensate for the WSLP Project's swamp impacts 
and it would identify the Tentatively Selected Alternative. When 
unavoidable impacts occur, the CEMVN is required to offset those 
impacts through compensatory mitigation by replacing the lost habitat's 
functions and services equally and in-kind. Compensatory mitigation is 
required by the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1986, Section 
906, as amended, and by the Clean Water Act Section 404(b)(1) 
Guidelines. The MSP is a freshwater diversion that would reconnect the

[[Page 44701]]

Mississippi River to the Maurepas Swamp, strategically delivering 
nutrient-laden river water to restore a degraded Cypress-Tupelo swamp. 
The proposed diversion has a 2,000 cubic foot per second (cfs) design 
flow. The freshwater intake structure and conveyance channel are 
located on the east bank of the Mississippi River in St. John the 
Baptist Parish, immediately west of Garyville, Louisiana, at River Mile 
144 Above Head of Passes. The construction corridor for the conveyance 
channel extends from LA 44 (River Road) northward for 5\1/2\ miles, 
terminating at the outfall structure, which is approximately 1,000 ft 
north of Interstate 10.
    2. Scoping Process. The CEMVN invites all affected federal, state, 
and local agencies, affected Native American Tribes, other interested 
parties, and the general public to participate in the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) scoping process during development of 
the SEIS. The purpose of the public scoping process is to provide 
information to the public, narrow the scope of analysis to significant 
environmental issues, serve as a mechanism to solicit agency and public 
input on potential alternatives and issues of concern, and ensure full 
and open participation in scoping for the SEIS. CEMVN requests input 
from interested parties regarding potential WSLP mitigation 
alternatives and information and analyses relevant to the proposed MSP. 
To ensure that all the issues related to the proposed MSP are 
addressed, the CEMVN will conduct virtual and, if permissible, in-
person public scoping meeting(s) to which agencies, organizations, and 
members of the general public are invited to present comments or 
suggestions with regard to the range of actions, alternatives, and 
potential impacts to be considered in the SEIS. Project and public 
scoping meeting information, including information as to where, when, 
and how to participate and submit scoping comments as well as other 
opportunities for public involvement, will be available on CEMVN's 
website at: https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/NEPA-Compliance-Documents/Bipartisan-Budget-Act-2018-BBA-18/West-Shore-Lake-Pontchartrain/.
    Notification of public scoping meetings will also be available via 
press releases, special public notices, and on CEMVN's social media 
platforms.
    3. Federal Authority. The SEIS will disclose the context and 
intensity of environmental impacts, including focusing the analysis on 
those effects that are reasonably foreseeable and that have a 
reasonably close causal relationship to the proposed action as required 
under the Council of Environmental Quality's (CEQ) NEPA regulations at 
40 CFR parts 1500-1508 and the Department of the Army's NEPA 
regulations at 33 CFR part 230. A reasonable range of alternatives will 
be determined, and significant issues related to the proposed action 
will be identified during public scoping.
    The following agencies are being invited to participate as 
Cooperating Agencies on the SEIS: United States Environmental 
Protection Agency; United States Department of the Interior, Fish and 
Wildlife Service (USFWS); United States Department of Commerce, 
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS); United States Department of 
Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service; Advisory Council 
on Historic Preservation (ACHP); State of Louisiana, Historic 
Preservation Office (SHPO), State of Louisiana Department of Natural 
Resources (LDNR), State of Louisiana Department of Wildlife and 
Fisheries (LDWF), and State of Louisiana, Coastal Protection and 
Restoration Authority (CPRA).
    4. Alternatives. The SEIS will address a reasonable range of 
alternatives based on the proposed Project's purpose and need. The SEIS 
will compare, at a minimum, the previously identified BBA Alternative 
for the WSLP Project in EA 576 to Alternative 1 (MSP-1: Public and 
Private Lands) and Alternative 2 (MSP-2: Public Land Only) by using the 
Alternatives Evaluation and Comparison (AEC) process. The results of 
the AEC process would be presented in the SEIS. The BBA Alternative 
would compensate for the WSLP Project impacts of 955 AAHU of CZ swamp. 
The MSP Alternative would compensate for WSLP Project impacts of 
approximately 1,010 AAHU of CZ swamp.
    5. Potentially Significant Issues. The SEIS will analyze the 
potential impacts on the human and natural environment resulting from 
the Project. The scoping, public involvement, and interagency 
coordination processes will help identify and define the range of 
potential significant issues that will be considered. Important 
resources and issues to be evaluated in the SEIS could include, but are 
not limited to, the reasonably foreseeable effects on tidal wetlands 
and other waters of the U.S.; aquatic resources; commercial and 
recreational fisheries; wildlife resources; essential fish habitat; 
water quality; cultural resources; geology and soils; hydrology and 
hydraulics; air quality; marine mammals; threatened and endangered 
species and their critical habitats; navigation and navigable waters; 
induced flooding; employment and incomes; land use; property values; 
tax revenues; population and housing; community and regional growth; 
environmental justice; community cohesion; public services; recreation; 
transportation and traffic; utilities and community service systems.
    6. Environmental Consultation and Review and Authorizations. The 
proposed action is being coordinated with a number of federal, state, 
regional, and local agencies. In accordance with relevant environmental 
laws and regulations, CEMVN will consult with the following agencies: 
USFWS under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act; USFWS and NMFS 
under the Endangered Species Act; NMFS under the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act; LDNR for Coastal Zone 
Consistency determination concurrence; and LDEQ for Clean Water Act, 
Section 401 Water Quality Certification; and, the ACHP, Louisiana SHPO, 
and the appropriate Tribal Historic Preservation Officers under the 
National Historic Preservation Act using an integrated NHPA Section 
106/NEPA EIS process.
    7. Availability. The SEIS is presently scheduled to be available 
for public review and comment in October 2021. A Final SEIS is 
scheduled for release in January 2022. A decision regarding 
implementation of the MSP is expected in 2022. All comments received 
throughout the review process will become part of the project file for 
the proposed Project and will be subject to public release.

Edward E. Belk, Jr.,
Programs Director, Mississippi Valley Division, U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers.
[FR Doc. 2021-17313 Filed 8-12-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P


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