[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 136 (Friday, July 16, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38413-38414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-18177]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of Army, Corps of Engineers
Intent to Prepare a Feasibility Study and Draft Environmental
Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Anacostia Levee Corridor Feasibility
Study--Prince George's County, Maryland
AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DOD.
ACTION: Notice of Intent.
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SUMMARY: A U.S. House of Representatives resolution dated September 8,
1988, authorized a study on the Anacostia River and several of its
tributaries. In accordance with that resolution and with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Baltimore District, U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers is initiating the Anacostia Levee Corridor
Feasibility Study and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). This
feasibility study is the third study conducted by the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers in the Anacostia watershed. The feasibility study will
focus on the Prince George's County, Maryland, portion of the Anacostia
River watershed. The study area is near the confluence of the Northeast
and Northwest Branches of the Anacostia River and involves the towns of
Bladensburg, Brentwood, Colmar Manor, Cottage City, Edmonston,
Hyattsville, and Riverdale. An existing levee system, authorized by the
Flood Control Act of 1950 (Pub. L. 516), was completed in the mid-1950s
and is in place along portions of the Anacostia River and the Northeast
and Northwest Branches. The existing levee project includes
approximately 14,400 feet of flood control channels, 28,100 feet of
levees, four pumping stations, and one pressure conduit.
The Anacostia Levee Corridor Feasibility Study will have four
components: flood damage reduction, fish and wildlife habitat
restoration, aesthetics, and recreation. The flood damage reduction
component will evaluate the existing levee system's capacity to provide
adequate protection from the 100-year flood event. Based on that
evaluation, the study team will identify and design modifications that
will provide 100-year flood protection for the levee corridor. (The
study will also evaluate alternative flood damage reduction options for
high priority flood-prone areas and the residual flood hazard risk.)
The fish and wildlife habitat restoration component of the study will
evaluate the potential for re-establishing wetland, instream, and
upland habitats within the levee corridor. Restoring habitat would
benefit water quality and the biological communities both in the study
area and downstream of the project. The study components concerned with
improving aesthetics and recreational improvements in the levee area
and in the surrounding urban environment. A DEIS will be integrated
into the feasibility report to document existing conditions, project
actions, and project effects and products. Prince George's County,
Maryland, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission--
Prince George's County, and the Maryland Department of the Environment
are the project sponsors.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions about the proposed action and DEIS can be addressed to Ms.
Kathryn Conant, Study Team Leader, Baltimore District, U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, ATTN: CENAB-PL-P, PO Box 1715, Baltimore, Maryland 21203-
1715, telephone (410) 962-5175. E-mail address:
kathryn.j.conant@usace.army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 1. The Anacostia Levee Corridor Feasibility
Study is the third study to be initiated under the original 1988
authority. The first study, titled the Anacostia River and Tributaries
Feasibility Study was completed by the Corps in 1994 and determined
that previous Corps activity in the Anacostia River watershed has had a
detrimental impact to the ecosystem of the watershed. That first study
was a broad overview of the watershed and recommended environmental
restoration projects in various watershed locations. The study also
recommended that additional feasibility studies focusing on
environmental restoration should be pursued. Based on that
recommendation, the Baltimore District Corps of Engineers, Montgomery
County, and Prince George's County identified the potential for
additional environmental restoration opportunities within the Anacostia
watershed. A second study, initiated by the Corps and Montgomery County
in 1996, is investigating potential projects along the Northwest
Branch. This third feasibility study, being initiated by the Corps and
Prince George's County, will focus on potential projects along the
stream reaches upstream and downstream of the Northeast-Northwest
Branch confluence and two small tributaries that flow into the levee
corridor.
2. The study area is in the western central portion of Prince
George's County, within a mile of the Maryland-District of Columbia
border. The study will focus on modifications to and within the
existing levee project along the Anacostia River and the Northeast and
Northwest Branches. During the study, the team will gather baseline
data on the level of protection currently provided by the existing
local flood protection project and on existing environmental conditions
within the study area. Information gathered will include the hydraulic
capacity and physical condition of the existing levee. Alternatives for
improving local flood protection will include a variety of possible
levee heights, lengths, and types of structure. Alternative
environmental improvements will include a range of locations, targeted
habitat types or communities, and project sizes for instream and
terrestrial habitat restoration and wetland restoration projects.
3. The study will include coordination and preparation for a series
of public involvement activities, such as workshops or information
meetings and newsletters. In addition to meetings organized by the
study team, it is anticipated that the study team will participate in a
number of locally sponsored meetings with citizen interest groups or
other entities. The purpose of the first public scoping workshop, to be
held in the summer 1999, will be to provide information on the existing
conditions data and to identify public
[[Page 38414]]
interest in and ideas about potential projects. The purpose of the
second public meeting will be to provide information on preliminary
alternatives and to gather public comments on the alternatives. It is
anticipated that the first two meetings will be somewhat informal,
informative, and highly interactive. A third public meeting will be
held after the release of the draft feasibility report and draft
environmental impact statement (DEIS) to present, discuss, and receive
comments on the report and the recommended plan.
a. The public involvement program will include workshops, meetings,
and other coordination with interested individuals and organizations,
as well as with concerned Federal, state and local agencies.
Information about the study will be provided through mailings, news
releases, advertisements, and other media. Approximately 150
coordination letters and newsletters announcing the study initiation
were sent to appropriate agencies, organizations, and individuals in
April 1999.
b. The Baltimore District is preparing a DEIS which will describe
the impacts of the proposed projects on environmental and cultural
resources in the study area and the overall public interest. The DEIS
will document all factors which may be relevant to the proposal,
including the cumulative effects thereof. If applicable, the DEIS will
also apply guidelines issued by the Environmental Protection Agency,
under the authority of section 404(b)(1) of the Clean Water Act of 1977
(Pub. L. 95-217).
Environmental issues will focus on, but are not limited to, effects
on air quality, wetlands, water quality; fish and wildlife resources
(including threatened and endangered species); hazardous, toxic, and
radioactive waste; aesthetic resources; and cultural resources
(including archaeological sites and historic architecture). Benefits,
costs, and impacts will be examined in detail to determine which
elements of the water resources plan are justified. The team will
evaluate the environmental impacts (both adverse and beneficial) of the
proposed actions.
The decision to implement these actions will be based on an
evaluation of the probable impact of the proposed activities on the
public interest. That decision will reflect the national concern for
both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefit,
which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal, will be
balanced against its reasonably foreseeable costs.
c. In addition to the Corps, the Maryland Department of the
Environment, Prince George's County, and the Maryland National Capital
Park and Planning Commission-Prince George's County, other participants
that will be involved in the study and DEIS process include the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S.
National Park Service; Maryland Department of Natural Resources;
Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin; Natural Resource
Conservation Service; and the Prince George's County Soil Conservation
District. The Baltimore District invites potentially affected Federal,
state, and local agencies, and other organizations and entities to
participate in this study.
4. The Anacostia Levee Corridor Feasibility Study and integrated
DEIS are scheduled for public review in October 2001.
David S. Ladd,
Acting Chief, Planning Division.
[FR Doc. 99-18177 Filed 7-15-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-41-N-
