Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Mid-Breton Sediment Diversion, in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana
| Citation | 85 FR 39892 |
| Record Number | 2020-14031 |
| Published date | 02 July 2020 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Army, Corps Of Engineers Department |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 128 (Thursday, July 2, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 128 (Thursday, July 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39892-39894]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14031]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
the Proposed Mid-Breton Sediment Diversion, in Plaquemines Parish,
Louisiana
AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Defense Department (DoD).
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), New Orleans District
(CEMVN), has received an application for a U.S. Department of Army (DA)
permit pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899
(Section 10), Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (Section 404), and
Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (Section 408), from
the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana (CPRA) to
construct, maintain, and operate the Mid-Breton Sediment Diversion
Project (Breton SD or proposed Action).
ADDRESSES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, Attn:
CEMVN-ODR-E, 7400 Leake Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions and scoping comments
regarding the proposed Breton SD, EIS, and DA permit process should be
directed to Mr. Brad LaBorde at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New
Orleans District, Attn: CEMVN-ODR-E, 7400 Leake Avenue, New Orleans,
Louisiana 70118, by phone (504) 862-2225, or by email at [email protected]. Questions and comments concerning the Section
408 permissions should be directed to Mr. Jeffrey Varisco at U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, Attn: CEMVN-PPMD, 7400 Leake
Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, by phone (504) 862-2853, or by
email at [email protected]. Commenters will be placed on a
Breton SD mailing list unless requested otherwise.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Breton SD is proposed to be located on
the east bank of the Mississippi River, at approximately 68 miles above
``Head of Passes'' and south of the Towns of Braithwaite and Scarsdale,
in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. The requested Federal action
associated with the Breton SD is authorization of the discharge of
dredged or fill material into the Waters of the United States (Section
404) and the construction of structures and/or work that may affect
navigable waters (Section 10), and permission to use, occupy, and alter
Corps' Civil Works projects (Section 408) through the issuance of a DA
Section 10/404 permit and Section 408 permission. Based on the
potential impacts, both individually and cumulatively, Federal
authorization for the proposed Action would constitute a ``major
federal action''. The Corps intends to prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) in compliance with the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) as part of its decision-making process before rendering a
decision on CPRA's permit application. The Corps' decision will be to
issue, issue with modification, or deny the requested DA permit/
permissions for the proposed Action. The EIS will assess the potential
effects of the proposed Breton SD on the human environment (including
the natural and physical environment and relationship of people with
that environment) and is intended to be sufficient in scope to address
Federal, State, and local requirements and permit reviews, and
environmental and socioeconomic issues concerning the proposed Action.
The CEMVN DA permit number for the Breton SD is MVN-2018-1120-EOO.
1. Project Details. The proposed Breton SD Project is a large-
scale, complex ecosystem restoration project intended to convey
sediment, fresh water, and nutrients from the Mississippi River into
the Breton Sound Basin in an effort to reduce coastal land loss and
sustain surrounding wetlands. If constructed and operated as proposed,
CPRA would maintain a base flow up to 5,000 cubic feet per second (cfs)
through the Breton SD Structure. When the Mississippi River gage at
Belle Chasse exceeds 450,000 cfs in flow, the Breton SD structure would
``open'' to divert varying volumes of sediment, fresh water, and
nutrients into the Breton Sound Basin. Maximum discharge of the Breton
SD Structure would be 75,000 cfs, reached when the Belle Chasse gage
measures 1,000,000 cfs.
The proposed Breton SD gated intake would impact the Mississippi
River batture on the east bank, or left descending bank, of the
Mississippi River, at approximately 68 miles above ``Head of Passes''
and extend eastward, with the conveyance structure and guide levees
extending through the Mississippi River Levee, Louisiana Highway 39,
and the non-Federal back levee south of the Towns of Braithwaite and
Scarsdale, Louisiana. The Breton SD structure would terminate at the
outfall channel which would initially widen to convey sediment, fresh
water, and nutrients into Breton Sound Basin with a pilot channel
connecting to River Aux Chenes.
If constructed as proposed, the Breton SD footprint would directly
impact approximately 309 acres of jurisdictional wetlands and
approximately 52 acres of waters of the U.S. The proposed Breton SD
operation will result in additional impacts, to the Breton Sound Basin
where the current landscape is expected to be altered via diversion-
related processes such as channelization, accretion, and delta
formation. According to CPRA, the area to be potentially impacted
within the Breton Sound Basin encompasses 5,277 acres of existing
jurisdictional wetlands and 2,225 acres of waters of the U.S.
The Corps requires compensatory mitigation to offset unavoidable
impacts to jurisdictional wetlands and other aquatic resources. CPRA
proposes this project as a large scale ecosystem restoration that is
self-mitigating. CEMVN will assess whether compensatory mitigation is
required as part of the EIS process and permit review.
The proposed Breton SD project would directly and/or indirectly
impact multiple CEMVN Civil Works projects, including but not limited
to projects within the Mississippi Rivers and Tributaries Program such
as the Mississippi River Levee and the Mississippi River (federal
navigation) Ship Channel.
CPRA submitted a complete joint permit application to CEMVN and the
Louisiana Department of Natural Resources for the proposed Breton SD on
March 11, 2019; it was advertised on joint public notice on March 19,
2019. Following a review of the permit application, joint public notice
comments, related sediment diversion sources, and based on a
preliminary assessment of the environmental impacts, CEMVN determined
that an EIS is required due to the proposed Action's potential to
significantly impact the quality of the human environment on July 31,
2019. Since that decision, an independent third-party contractor was
selected to draft the EIS on behalf of CEMVN, and
[[Page 39893]]
CEMVN, CPRA, and the Cooperating Agencies (identified below), developed
the proposed Breton SD purpose and need (identified in the following
paragraph), selected hydraulic modeling inputs and parameters, and
identified a preliminary range of alternatives (identified below).
The established Breton SD purpose and need is as follows: The
purpose of the proposed Action is to reconnect and re-establish the
deltaic sediment deposition process between the Mississippi River and
the Breton Sound Basin through a large-scale sediment diversion that is
consistent with the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan (LCMP) and delivers
sediment, freshwater, and nutrients to create, preserve, restore, and
sustain wetlands to counteract the effects of natural and man-made
disturbances, such as the Deep Water Horizon oil spill. The proposed
Action is needed to serve as a long-term, resilient, sustainable
strategy to reduce land loss rates and sustain and restore wetlands
altered by natural and man-made disturbances in the Breton Sound Basin.
2. Scoping Process. Public Scoping meetings will be held virtually,
accessible by phone and internet. The Corps invites all affected
federal, state, and local agencies, affected Native American Tribes,
other interested parties, and the general public to participate in the
NEPA process during development of the EIS. 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 alternatives and issues
of concern, and ensure full and open participation in scoping for the
Draft EIS. To ensure that all the issues related to the proposed Breton
SD are addressed, the Corps will conduct virtual 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 EIS. 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/Regulatory/Permits/Mid-Breton-Sediment-Diversion-EIS/ and http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Public-Notices/. Notification of Breton SD virtual scoping meetings
will also be available via press releases, special public notices, and
on CEMVN's social media platforms.
3. Federal Authority. The EIS will disclose the context and
intensity of environmental impacts, including direct, indirect, and
cumulative impacts, of the proposed Action as required under the
Council of Environmental Quality's (CEQ) National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508 and the Department of
the Army's (DA) NEPA regulations at 33 CFR part 325, appendix B. A
reasonable range of alternatives will be determined and significant
issues related to the proposed Action will be identified during agency
and public scoping. As explained below, a preliminary range of
alternatives has been developed. The EIS will address the Public
Interest Review requirements of the DA permitting process (33 CFR parts
320-332), as well as the requirements of the Clean Water Act Section
404(b)(1) guidelines (40 CFR part 230). The EIS will inform the CEMVN
decision-making processes for Section 10 (33 U.S.C. 403), Section 404
(33 U.S.C. 1344), and Section 408 (33 U.S.C. 408).
Under Section 10/Section 404, the District Engineer issues permits
for the discharge of dredged and/or fill material into the waters of
the U.S. and for work in navigable water in the U.S., to include
installation and maintenance of structures based on the public interest
review and Section 404(b)(1) Clean Water Act guidelines.
Under Section 408, the Corps of Engineers reviews requests to use,
occupy, alter or modify existing Corps of Engineers projects. The
decision whether to grant a Section 408 permission for such use,
occupation or alteration is based on whether the proposed Action would
be injurious to the public interest and whether it would impair the
usefulness of affected Corps of Engineers projects.
The proposed Action is subject to Executive Order 13807 of August
15, 2017 titled ``Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the
Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure
Projects'' and Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation
Act (FAST-41) (42 U.S.C. 4370m, et seq.). Project milestones
established via a Coordinated Project Plan will be maintained and
updated quarterly on the Federal Permitting Dashboard. Interested
parties can monitor project milestones at: https://www.permits.performance.gov/permitting-projects/mid-breton-sediment-diversion.
At this time, Cooperating Agencies on the EIS include the:
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Interior's U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation (ACHP), Louisiana's Historic Preservation Office (SHPO),
and Louisiana's Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD).
4. Alternatives. The EIS will address a reasonable range of
alternatives based on the proposed Breton SD's purpose and need. CEMVN,
through consultation with Cooperating Agencies and CPRA, has identified
a preliminary range of alternatives to evaluate in greater detail in
the EIS. Prospective alternatives were developed from, but not limited
to, Breton SD public notice comments, Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion
scoping comments, existing studies prepared under the Coastal Wetlands
Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) Program and
Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) Program, including the LCA Medium
Diversion at Myrtle Grove with Dedicated Dredging Feasibility Study and
the LCA Medium Diversion at White Ditch Feasibility Study, and the 2017
Louisiana Coastal Master Plan. CEMVN's preliminary range of
alternatives is a sediment diversion with maximum flows of 35,000 cfs,
75,000 cfs (CPRA's preferred alternative), and 115,000 cfs. Each of the
three sediment diversion alternatives will be evaluated with two base
flow alternatives, 2,500 cfs and 5,000 cfs. Other reasonable
alternatives may be developed based on comments received through the
NEPA scoping process.
5. Potentially Significant Issues. The EIS 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 EIS could include, but are
not limited to, the direct, indirect, and cumulative 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 including
agricultural land and prime and unique farmland; hydrology and
hydraulics; air quality; marine mammals; threatened and endangered
[[Page 39894]]
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;
and cumulative effects of related projects in the study area.
6. Environmental Consultation and Review. 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; and, the ACHP, Louisiana SHPO, and the
appropriate Tribal Historic Preservation Officers under the National
Historic Preservation Act and integrated NHPA/EIS process.
On March 15, 2018, NMFS issued a Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA) waiver pursuant to Title II, Section 20201 of the Bipartisan
Budget Act of 2018 and Section 101(a)(3)(A) of the MMPA for the Mid-
Barataria Sediment Diversion, Mid-Breton Sound Sediment Diversion, and
Calcasieu Ship Channel Salinity Control Measures.
7. Availability. The draft EIS is presently scheduled to be
available for public review and comment on November 9, 2022. All
comments received throughout the review process will become part of the
project file for the proposed Breton SD project and will be subject to
public release.
Edward E. Belk, Jr.,
Director of Programs.
[FR Doc. 2020-14031 Filed 7-1-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P
