42548 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 173 / Friday, September 8, 2017 / Notices 

c. Water management operating 

criteria defined during development of 

the COP will be incorporated into the 

2012 WCAs, ENP, and ENP to South 

Dade Conveyance system Water Control 

Plan following completion of NEPA. 

d. A scoping letter will be used to 

invite comments from Federal, State, 

and local agencies, affected Indian 

tribes, and other interested private 

organizations and individuals. 

e. All 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. 

f. The Draft Environmental Impact 

Assessment is expected to be available 

for public review in 2019. 

Dated: August 22, 2017. 

Gina Paduano Ralph, 

Chief, Environmental Branch. 

[FR Doc. 2017–19065 Filed 9–7–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army, U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Integrated Environmental Impact 

Statement for the Lower Columbia 

River Federal Navigation Channel 

Maintenance Plan 

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

SUMMARY: The Portland District, U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) 

intends to prepare an integrated 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

and Federal Navigation Channel (FNC) 

Maintenance Plan, hereafter referred to 

as the Plan. The purpose of this Plan is 

to ensure the continued maintenance of 

the 43-foot deep Lower Columbia River 

FNC for the next 20 years. The Port of 

Longview, Port of Kalama, Port of 

Woodland, Port of Vancouver, and the 

Port of Portland (collectively the 

Sponsor Ports) are non-federal sponsors 

of the project, who will have Oregon 

and Washington State permitting 

requirements to execute on the Plan. 

The Corps will serve as the lead federal 

agency for purposes of the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The 

Sponsor Ports will serve as cooperating 

agencies for purposes of NEPA. The 

Washington ports’ activities in support 

of the proposed project will be subject 

to environmental review under chapter 

43.21C Revised Code of Washington 

(RCW), the Washington State 

Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The 

Washington Sponsor Ports will be colead agencies under SEPA, and the Port 

of Longview will serve as the nominal 

SEPA lead agency for purposes of SEPA 

compliance. To satisfy the requirements 

of NEPA and SEPA, the Corps and 

Sponsor Ports will be jointly preparing 

an integrated EIS for the Plan. 

DATES: Written comments for 

consideration in the development of the 

scope of the joint NEPA/SEPA EIS are 

due to the addresses below no later than 

Thursday, November 16, 2017. 

Comments may also be made at the 

public scoping meetings listed in this 

notice. Additional information related 

to the public scoping process will be 

provided through advertisements placed 

in regional newspapers of general 

circulation, Public Notice, and on the 

project Web site at 

www.nwp.usace.army.mil/lcrchannel

maintenance. 

ADDRESSES: Mailed comments may be 

sent to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

Portland District, P.O. Box 2946, Attn: 

CENWP–PM–E, Portland, Oregon 

97208–2946. Email comments to: 

ColumbiaNavChannel@usace.army.mil. 

All written comments and materials 

received, including names and 

addresses, will become part of the 

administrative record and may be 

released to the public. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions regarding the Plan, the EIS, or 

special accommodations for scoping 

process participation, please contact 

Kate Wells, Environmental Resources 

Specialist; Attn: CENWP–PM–E, P.O. 

Box 2946, Portland, Oregon 97208– 

2946; (503) 808–4664; 

ColumbiaNavChannel@usace.army.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Project Background. The Lower 

Columbia River FNC project includes a 

main channel that is 43 feet deep and 

generally 600 feet wide, and extends 

upstream of the Mouth of Columbia 

River, River Mile (RM) 3 to Vancouver, 

WA, RM 105.5. The FNC also extends 

into lower Oregon Slough and includes 

vessel turning basins at Astoria in 

Oregon and Longview, Kalama, and 

Vancouver in Washington. The FNC is 

maintained using a combination of 

dredging and hydraulic control works 

(pile dikes). Advanced maintenance 

dredging is currently approved up to 5 

feet below authorized depth (¥48 feet) 

and up to 100 feet outside the 

authorized channel width. For the past 

several years, dredging 6 to 8 million 

cubic yards of localized sand shoals has 

been required annually to provide 

reliable service for deep-draft 

navigation. The Corps’ policy requires 

all federally maintained navigation 

projects to demonstrate that there is 

sufficient dredged material placement 

capacity for a minimum of 20 years. An 

updated Plan for the Lower Columbia 

River FNC is needed now because the 

existing dredged material placement 

network is nearing capacity and, if 

insufficient capacity exists, navigation 

maintenance dredging may be 

negatively affected. Non-federal project 

sponsors for the Lower Columbia River 

FNC include the Port of Portland 

individually and as representative of the 

Port of St. Helens in Oregon, and the 

Port of Longview, the Port of Kalama, 

the Port of Woodland, and the Port of 

Vancouver in Washington. These ports 

are stakeholders in the channel depth 

maintenance of the Columbia River. 

Maintenance of the channel depth is 

necessary for the ports’ and other 

channel users’ continued industrial 

economic development and trade 

promotion. In 2015, the Lower 

Columbia River FNC was used to 

transport nearly 55 million tons of cargo 

valued at $22 billion. Vessels drafting 

the full authorized channel depth of 43 

feet carried approximately 11 million 

tons of export shipments worth nearly 

$3 billion in 2015. Tonnage amounts 

refer to Corps Waterborne Commerce 

Statistics Center (WCSC) data for the 

Columbia & Lower Willamette Rivers 

below Vancouver, WA, and Portland, 

OR, Waterway as processed by the 

Corps Channel Portfolio Tool (CPT). 

Cargo values are estimated by the CPT 

based on the WCSC tonnage amounts 

multiplied by national average 

commodity unit price ($ per ton) data 

derived from USA Trade Online 

(https://usatrade.census.gov/). 

Proposed Project. The Corps will 

develop the subject Plan in accordance 

with the procedures for a dredged 

material management plan in 

Engineering Regulation 1105–2–100, 

which governs Corps project 

formulation, evaluation, and 

implementation. As a dredged material 

management plan, it will ensure 

warranted and environmentally 

acceptable maintenance of the 43-foot 

Lower Columbia River FNC for the next 

20 years. Specifically, the Plan will be 

designed to facilitate efficient 

management of dredged material, 

accounting for variability of shoaling 

processes, to provide a reliable channel 

for deep-draft navigation. The Plan will 

describe the results of investigations 

and analyses used to make 

determinations as to current and 

forecasted dredging needs and material 

placement capacity, potential additional 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 173 / Friday, September 8, 2017 / Notices 42549 

placement sites, measures to reduce the 

need to dredge and avoidance, 

minimization, and mitigation measures 

as needed. As the non-federal sponsors 

of the Plan, the Sponsor Ports are 

required to obtain permits for the 

dredged material placement sites. To 

satisfy the requirements of NEPA and 

SEPA, the Corps and Sponsor Ports will 

be jointly preparing an integrated EIS 

for the Plan. 

Alternatives. The Plan will be 

developed in accordance with Corps 

policy to accomplish channel 

maintenance, including dredged 

material placement, in the least costly 

manner that is consistent with sound 

engineering practice and meets all 

federal environmental laws. In addition 

to the No Action Alternative, in which 

case existing channel maintenance 

practices will continue in the absence of 

the Plan, dredged material management 

alternatives to be considered include: 

Management of existing sites to extend 

or expand capacity; various 

combinations of new sites involving 

different placement methods, locations 

and periods of use; measures to reduce 

dredging requirements, including 

hydraulic control works and changes to 

maintenance dimensions. Potential 

beneficial uses of dredged material 

(such as fish and wildlife habitat 

creation and ecosystem restoration) will 

be assessed. Additional alternatives 

could be developed during the scoping 

and evaluation process. 

Scoping Process/Public Involvement. 

The Corps and Sponsor Ports invite all 

affected federal, state, and local 

agencies, affected Native American 

Tribes, and other interested parties to 

participate in the NEPA and SEPA 

process during development of the Plan 

and EIS. The purpose of the public 

scoping process is to provide 

information to the public, narrow the 

scope of analysis to significant 

environmental issues, and serve as a 

mechanism to solicit agency and public 

input on alternatives and issues of 

concern, and ensure full and open 

participation in scoping of the Draft EIS. 

A series of public scoping meetings is 

scheduled for October 2017. The 

specific dates, times, and locations of 

the meetings are provided below. 

Public Scoping Meetings: 

• Monday, October 2, 2017, 4:00 p.m. 

to 7:00 p.m., Cowlitz County Event 

Center, 1900 7th Avenue, Longview, 

Washington. 

• Thursday, October 5, 2017, 4:00 

p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Marshall Community 

Center, 1009 East McLoughlin 

Boulevard, Vancouver, Washington. 

• Friday, October 6, 2017, 4:00 p.m. 

to 7:00 p.m., Charles Jordan Community 

Center, 9009 North Foss Avenue, 

Portland, Oregon. 

• Monday, October 16, 2017, 4:00 

p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Meriwether Place, 

1070 Columbia Boulevard, St. Helens, 

Oregon. 

• Tuesday, October 17, 2017, 4:00 

p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Columbia River 

Maritime Museum Barbey Maritime 

Center, 1792 Marine Drive, Astoria, 

Oregon. 

• Thursday, October 19, 2017, 4:00 

p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Norse Hall, 444 State 

Route 4, Puget Island, Cathlamet, 

Washington. 

Upon completion of the scoping 

process, the Draft Plan/Draft EIS will be 

developed. The DEIS will then be 

circulated for public review and 

comment. The Corps and Sponsor Ports 

expect to release the Draft EIS for public 

review and comment in 2018. The Corps 

will issue a Notice of Availability in the 

Federal Register announcing the release 

of the Draft EIS for public comment. The 

Sponsor Ports will publish a Notice of 

Availability of the Draft EIS for public 

comment in accordance with SEPA 

regulations. Documents and other 

important information related to the 

Plan/EIS will be available for review on 

the Corps’ project Web site. 

Aaron L. Dorf, 

Colonel, Corps of Engineers, District 

Commander. 

[FR Doc. 2017–18988 Filed 9–7–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

International Energy Agency Meetings 

AGENCY: Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of meetings. 

SUMMARY: The Industry Advisory Board 

(IAB) to the International Energy 

Agency (IEA) will meet on September 

13, 2017, at the Conference Centre of the 

French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27, 

Rue de la Convention, 75015 Paris, 

France, in connection with a joint 

meeting of the IEA’s Standing Group on 

Emergency Questions (SEQ) and the 

IEA’s Standing Group on the Oil Market 

(SOM) on September 14, 2017, in 

connection with a meeting of the SEQ 

on that day. 

DATES: September 13, 14, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: 27, Rue de la Convention, 

75015 Paris, France. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas Reilly, Assistant General 

Counsel for International and National 

Security Programs, Department of 

Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington, DC 20585, 202–586– 

5000. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with section 252(c)(1)(A)(i) 

of the Energy Policy and Conservation 

Act (42 U.S.C. 6272(c)(1)(A)(i)) (EPCA), 

the following notice of meetings is 

provided: 

A meeting of the Industry Advisory 

Board (IAB) to the International Energy 

Agency (IEA) will be held at the Centre 

de Confe ́rence Ministe ́riel of the French 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building, 27 

Rue de la Convention, 75015 Paris, 

France, commencing at 9:30 a.m. on 

September 13, 2017. The purpose of this 

notice is to permit attendance by 

representatives of U.S. company 

members of the IAB at a meeting of the 

IEA’s Standing Group on Emergency 

Questions (SEQ), which is scheduled to 

be held at the same location and time. 

The IAB will also hold a preparatory 

meeting among company 

representatives at the same location at 

8:30 a.m. on September 13. The agenda 

for this preparatory meeting is to review 

the agenda for the SEQ meeting. 

The agenda of the SEQ meeting is 

under the control of the SEQ. It is 

expected that the SEQ will adopt the 

following agenda: 

Draft Agenda of the 152nd Meeting of 

the SEQ to be held at the Centre de 

Confe ́rence Ministe ́riel of the French 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building, 27 

Rue de la Convention, 75015 Paris, 

France, 13 September 2017, beginning at 

9:30 a.m. 

Closed SEQ Session—IEA Member 

Countries Only 

1. Adoption of the Agenda 

2. Approval of the Summary Record of 

the 151st Meeting 

3. Status of Compliance with IEP 

Agreement Stockholding 

Obligations 

4. Preparations for the IEA Ministerial 

5. Stockholding Methodology Issues 

Open SEQ Session—Open to 

Association Countries 

6. Update on Study into Legal Systems 

of Emergency Policy 

7. Proposal for Update of 2013 Costbenefit of Stockholding Study 

8. Industry Advisory Board Update 

9. Mid-term Review of Indonesia 

10. Proposal for Energy Security Study 

for ASEAN +6 

11. Update on Preparations for ERE9 

12. Mid-term Review of the United 

Kingdom 

13. Outreach 

—Recent APERC meeting 

—Recent JOGMEC training for China 

—Overview of recent activities 

14. Update on Cyber Security & 

Digitalization 


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