[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 80 (Monday, April 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17586-17587]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-07293]
[[Page 17586]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers
[NEPA ID Number: PEIS-202-00-G5P-1728988668]
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement (PEIS) for the Lower Missouri River Flood Risk and Resiliency
System Plan
AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969, as amended, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District and
Kansas City District (USACE) intend to jointly prepare a feasibility
study with integrated programmatic environmental impact statement
(PEIS) that analyzes and discloses effects associated with the Lower
Missouri River Flood Risk and Resiliency System Plan. The System Plan
is being developed to identify actions to address flood risk and
resiliency along the entire Lower Missouri River. The System Plan seeks
to identify projects that can achieve flood risk benefits while also
providing ecological, recreational, economic, or social benefits.
DATES: The USACE invites federal and state agencies, Native American
Tribes, local governments, and the public to submit comments on the
alternatives and effects to be considered in the PEIS by May 28, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send written scoping comments, requests to be added to the
mailing list, or requests for sign language interpretation for people
who are deaf/hard of hearing, or other special assistance needs to Mr.
Max Headlee by telephone: (816) 389-3134; by mail: 601 E 12th Street,
Kansas City, MO 64106; or by email: max.r.headlee@usace.army.mil.
Alternatively, these materials and requests can be sent to Mr. David
Crane by telephone: (402) 995-2676; by mail: 1616 Capitol Avenue,
Omaha, NE 68102-4901; or by email: david.j.crane@usace.army.mil.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or
questions about the proposed feasibility study with integrated PEIS,
please contact Mr. Max Headlee by telephone: (816) 389-3134, by mail:
601 E 12th Street, Kansas City, MO 64106, or by email:
max.r.headlee@usace.army.mil; or contact Mr. David Crane by telephone:
(402) 995-2676, by mail: 1616 Capitol Avenue, Omaha, NE 68102-4901, or
by email: david.j.crane@usace.army.mil. For inquiries from the media,
please contact the USACE Kansas City District Public Affairs
Specialist, Ms. Christine Paul by telephone: (816) 389-2096, by mail:
601 E 12th Street, Kansas City, MO 64106, or by email:
christine.e.paul@usace.army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background: The Lower Missouri River Flood Risk and Resiliency
System Plan (System Plan) is being developed through a partnership
between the USACE and the states of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and
Missouri. Recurring flooding on the Missouri River has created desire
to find new, more resilient solutions to reduce the consequences of
flooding along the 735-mile Missouri River floodplain from Sioux City,
Iowa to St. Louis, Missouri.
These floods cause billions of dollars in damage to critical
infrastructure, residential property, businesses, federal flood risk
and navigation infrastructure, public and private transportation and
utility infrastructure, and agricultural cropland and related
facilities. The generally long duration of these flood events often
disrupts critical transportation and utility services for several
months resulting in extended recovery times even after floodwaters
recede.
2. Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action: The purpose of this
study is to develop a System Plan to identify actions to address flood
risk and resiliency along the 735 miles of the Lower Missouri River
from Sioux City, Iowa to St. Louis, Missouri. The System Plan seeks to
identify projects that can achieve flood risk reduction benefits while
also potentially providing secondary ecological, recreational, or
social benefits. There is a need to address ongoing flood risk along
the Missouri River and improve resiliency of floodplain communities and
infrastructure. In the last 30 years, three record setting floods
(1993, 2011, and 2019) have occurred in various reaches of the Missouri
River, each of which equaled or exceeded the 0.2 percent annual
exceedance probability flood event at multiple gauges. In addition,
four of the six highest annual volumes of unregulated runoff in the
Upper Missouri River Basin have occurred since 2010 (2010, 2011, 2018
and 2019) based on the 122-year period of record. This flooding along
the Missouri River has led to injuries and death, transportation
disruptions, home and business destruction, and agricultural operation
impacts.
3. Description of Proposed Action and Alternatives: The no action
alternative and all reasonable alternatives that meet the purpose and
need will be considered in the PEIS. The USACE developed seven action
alternatives for a regionally integrated and coordinated plan for the
lower 735 miles of the Missouri River to reduce flood risk and improve
system resiliency.
The first action alternative focuses on increased flood water
conveyance in which levees are set back and realigned to widen the area
available to the river when flooding, reduce flood stage, and reduce
flood velocity. The second action alternative focuses on modifying
roadway elevations and constructing ring levees to enhance protection
of transportation and other critical infrastructure. The third action
alternative focuses on the increased level of performance gained by
raising existing levees to a higher elevation. The fourth action
alternative focuses on improving the resiliency of existing
infrastructure by identifying levees that would benefit from slope
armoring, controlled overtopping, seepage/stability berms, and pumps.
The fifth action alternative focuses on non-structural measures, such
as identifying areas for floodproofing, increasing elevation, or
buyouts. The sixth action alternative focuses on constructing new
levees or federalizing and improving existing private levees. The
seventh action alternative focuses on combining the themes of the other
action alternatives.
USACE has also identified candidate locations where actions could
be taken to achieve flood risk and resiliency benefits. The System Plan
would recommend future site-specific USACE flood risk management
studies for these locations. Potential environmental mitigation
measures would be incorporated into the System Plan, as appropriate.
4. Summary of Potential Effects: The PEIS will analyze and disclose
environmental impacts associated with the watershed-scale System Plan
together with engineering, operations and maintenance, social, and
economic considerations. The PEIS will address the anticipated direct,
indirect, and cumulative impacts associated with the System Plan
alternatives. Given the large geographic area and time horizon over
which projects would be identified, the impacts analysis in the PEIS
will reflect the major broad and general impacts that may result from
implementation of the System Plan alternatives. The PEIS will disclose
anticipated impacts to water resources, terrestrial and aquatic
habitats, socioeconomics, and other resource categories.
[[Page 17587]]
5. Anticipated Permits, Other Authorizations, and Other Directives:
While the development and implementation of the System Plan would not
require any permits, the PEIS will identify any permits or
authorizations that would likely be required for any tiered projects
that are constructed in accordance with the System Plan.
6. Schedule for the Decision-Making Process: The USACE is currently
in the process of evaluating the alternatives. The USACE anticipates
that a draft System Plan with integrated PEIS will be released for
public review in July 2025. The USACE anticipates that this public
review period will last for 45 days. The USACE anticipates that it will
finalize the System Plan with integrated PEIS by May 2026.
7. Scoping Process/Public Involvement: Public scoping meetings and
other engagement opportunities are being conducted by a combination of
in-person meetings held across the lower Missouri River and quarterly
webinar presentations. The USACE hosted a series of public scoping
meetings across the lower Missouri River in 2023 and 2024. The public
was informed of this study and was given the opportunity to submit
comments and questions in multiple ways. Comments could be submitted by
filling out a comment sheet that included prompts for specific feedback
as well as general comments. The USACE received approximately 35
comments in this manner. The USACE also provided the public with maps
of the lower Missouri River and invited the public to mark these maps
with location-specific comments. The USACE received approximately 115
comments in this manner. The locations of the previous in-person
scoping meetings were selected to facilitate public involvement
throughout the study area. The locations and dates of these meetings
are listed here:
Atchison, Kansas. First Meeting: 20 July 2023. Second
Meeting: 8 April 2024.
Council Bluffs, Iowa. First Meeting: 17 July 2023. Second
Meeting: 11 April 2024.
Jefferson City, Missouri. First Meeting: 19 July 2023.
Second Meeting: 25 April 2024.
Marshall, Missouri. 30 April 2024.
Missouri Valley, Iowa. 11 April 2024.
Mound City, Missouri. 1 April 2024.
Nebraska City, Nebraska. 18 July 2023.
Percival, Iowa. 10 April 2024.
St. Joseph, Missouri. 9 April 2024.
Washington, Missouri. 24 April 2024.
Quarterly webinars are currently held every third Wednesday of
January, April, July, and October to provide study updates and
opportunities to ask questions. These webinars will continue during the
duration of the study. Links to these webinars, including recordings of
previously held webinars, are available on the study's web page. This
web page includes a submission form for comments and questions, answers
to frequently asked questions, and an interactive map of the lower
Missouri River that allows users to submit location-specific comments.
The web page is available at this link: https://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Civil-Works-Programs-And-Projects/Lower-Missouri-River-Basin/.
Cooperating agencies for the System Plan include the Environmental
Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Natural
Resources Conservation Service, and United States Fish and Wildlife
Service. Participating agencies for the System Plan include the Iowa
Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Department of Transportation,
Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas Department of
Transportation, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Missouri
Department of Conservation, Missouri Department of Natural Resources,
Missouri Department of Transportation, Nebraska Department of
Environment and Energy, Nebraska Department of Natural Resources,
Nebraska Department of Transportation, and Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission.
The public is invited to identify and comment on issues and effects
they believe should be addressed in the PEIS; considerations in
developing a System Plan for the Lower Missouri River to address flood
risk and resiliency; and any relevant information, studies, or analyses
with respect to the development of a System Plan.
8. Public Disclosure Statement: The USACE is issuing this notice
pursuant to section 102(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. The USACE believes it is
important to inform the public of the environmental review process. To
assist the USACE in identifying and considering issues related to the
development of the System Plan, comments made during formal scoping and
later on the draft PEIS should be as specific as possible. Reviewers
should structure their participation in the environmental review of the
proposal so that it is meaningful and alerts the USACE to the
reviewers' position and contentions. It is very important that those
interested in this System Plan participate by providing comments
throughout the study process so that substantive comments and
objections are made available to the USACE at a time when they can
meaningfully consider and respond to them.
The study team is currently open to receive comments at any time
prior to the completion of the draft System Plan with integrated PEIS.
Once the draft System Plan with integrated PEIS is published for public
comment, a defined public comment period (likely 45 days) will be
initiated. If you wish to comment, you can mail or email your comments
as indicated under the ADDRESSES section. Before including your name,
address, phone number, email address, or any other personal identifying
information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire
comment, including your personal identifying information, may be made
available to the public at any time. While you can request in your
comment for us to withhold your personal identifying information from
public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Jeffrey D. Hall,
Colonel, Corps of Engineers, Deputy Division Commander.
[FR Doc. 2025-07293 Filed 4-25-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P