63386 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 205 / Thursday, October 23, 2014 / Notices 

other stakeholders. The information is 

collected electronically through the 

eGrants system. 

Type of Review: Renewal. 

Agency: Corporation for National and 

Community Service. 

Title: Commission Support Grant 

Grantee Progress Report. 

OMB Number: 3045–0099. 

Agency Number: None. 

Affected Public: Commission Support 

Grant grantees. 

Total Respondents: 53. 

Frequency: Semi-annual. 

Average Time per Response: 6.5 hours 

per submission. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 689. 

Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): 

None. 

Total Burden Cost (operating/

maintenance): None. 

Dated: October 17, 2014. 

William Basl, 

Director, AmeriCorps State and National. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25186 Filed 10–22–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6050–28–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army, Corps of 

Engineers 

Intent To Prepare a Draft Supplemental 

Environmental Impact Statement To 

Support the Decision Document for 

Channel Widening Found in the 

Original Project Report and 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Expansion of Shipping Channels 

and Approaches to the Baltimore 

Harbor in Chesapeake Bay Maryland 

and Virginia 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, Baltimore District (USACE) 

and the non-Federal sponsor, the 

Maryland Port Administration (MPA), 

are intending to prepare a decision 

document and supporting Supplemental 

Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) 

to execute Phase II of the Baltimore 

Harbor and Channels 50-Foot project to 

complete the construction of the project 

channels to their authorized widths and 

consider reformulation of the plan to 

develop new alternatives. 

Because of the lapse in time since the 

authorization of the original project 

report and EIS in 1981 and the 

completion of Phase I in 1990, the 

intention of the new decision document 

and SEIS is to consider whether 

widening the existing project channels 

to the authorized widths for Phase II is 

still in the federal Interest and to allow 

for reformulation of the plan for Phase 

II, as appropriate, to develop new 

alternatives. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions, comments, further 

information or to be placed on the 

project information distribution list, 

please contact: Ms. Robin Armetta, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore 

District, 10 S. Howard Street, Planning 

Division, Baltimore, MD 21201, (410) 

962–6100, Robin.E.Armetta@

usace.army.mil or 

baltimoreharborproject@

usace.army.mil. Please contact Ms. 

Armetta if you wish to speak at the 

meetings or should you have special 

needs (sign language interpreters, access 

needs) at the above address. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Baltimore Harbor and Channels 50-Foot 

project is a single purpose deep draft 

navigation project located in the 

Maryland and Virginia waters of the 

Chesapeake Bay and Patapsco River. 

The project was originally authorized by 

Section 101 of the River and Harbor Act 

of 1970 (Pub. L. 91–611), on December 

31, 1970 as amended by Section 909 of 

the Water Resources Development Act 

(WRDA) of 1986, and recommended for 

phased construction in 1985 via a 

supplement to a 1981 General Design 

Memorandum (GDM). The 1985 

Supplement recommended a phased 

implementation to ‘‘hasten 

commencement’’ of the project, with the 

second phase being implemented ‘‘at a 

future date to be determined.’’ 

Phase I of project implementation 

provided a 50-foot deep main shipping 

channel from the Virginia Capes to Fort 

McHenry in Baltimore Harbor. In 

addition, the project includes the Curtis 

Bay Channel, the East Channel, and the 

West Channel, which are dredged to 

depths of 50 feet, 49 feet, and 40 feet, 

respectively, with all three channels 

authorized to a width of 600 feet. Due 

to financial and dredged material 

placement capacity constraints at the 

time, several channel components of the 

50-foot project were not constructed to 

the authorized widths during Phase I. 

Two of the three 1000-foot wide 

Virginia channels were only constructed 

to a width of 800 feet, the 800-foot wide 

Maryland channels were only 

constructed to 700 feet, and the 600-foot 

wide Curtis Bay Channel was only 

constructed to a width of 400 feet. 

Need for Action: Since completion of 

Phase I in 1990, the maritime industry 

has continued to utilize increasingly 

larger vessels to make port calls in 

Baltimore Harbor. The current channels 

were designed for dry bulk and tanker 

ships of up to 150,000 Deadweight 

Tonnes (DWT), which corresponds to 

beam widths of about 145 feet and draft 

depths up to 50 feet. While ships may 

have a draft of up to 50 feet, the 

channels are designed to accommodate 

5 feet under keel clearance; therefore 

vessels generally draft less than 50 feet. 

The current channel dimensions are 

generally adequate for today’s vessel 

traffic, but the vessel pilots and 

shipping companies are concerned that 

the narrow channel widths are 

beginning to negatively impact shipping 

efficiency. Currently, deeper and wider 

vessels sometimes experience 

conditions that have the potential for 

safety issues when passing other ships 

in the narrow channels, which results in 

time delays and increased shipping 

costs. Furthermore, in 2016 when the 

Panama Canal improvements are 

scheduled to be completed, large ships 

requiring 50-foot channels and with 

beam widths of 160 feet will experience 

similar shipping delays when making 

calls in the Port of Baltimore if the 

channels remain at the current 

dimensions. Currently, Baltimore is one 

of two East Coast ports that can 

accommodate this ship size. 

Scoping: The Corps is requesting 

written comments from federal, state, 

and local governments, industry, nongovernmental organizations, and the 

general public on the need for action, 

the range of alternatives considered, and 

the potential impacts of the alternatives. 

Scoping comments will be accepted for 

45 days from the date of this notice. 

Public scoping meetings are scheduled 

in Virginia and Maryland at two 

locations on the following dates: 

November 24, 2014, 7 p.m. at the 

Hampton Public (Main) Library, 4207 

Victoria Blvd., Hampton, VA 23669 and 

November 19, 2014, 7 p.m. at the 

Riviera Beach Community Library— 

Anne Arundel County Public Library, 

1130 Duvall Highway, Pasadena, MD 

21122. For both the Virginia and 

Maryland meetings, a poster session 

will begin at 5 p.m., two hours prior to 

each meeting, where staff will be 

available to answer questions. All 

interested parties are invited to speak at 

the public meetings. 

Estimated date of the Draft SEIS and 

Planning Report: Spring 2016. 

Daniel M. Bierly, 

Chief, Civil Project Development Branch, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25290 Filed 10–22–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

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