Public Law 84-99 Emergency Levee Rehabilitation Program
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Omaha District Finding of No Significant Impact & Revision to: December, 2011 Tiered Environmental Assessment PUBLIC LAW 84-99 EMERGENCY LEVEE REHABILITATION PROGRAM View of the setback near Highway-2, showing the setback, borrow pit wetlands, and the Missouri River. Oriented north. Missouri River Missouri River Unit, L-575 Fremont County, Iowa Atchison County, MO May, 2013 PROJECT DATE Finding of No Significant Impact Missouri River Levee Unit L-575 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District (Corps), in cooperation with the project sponsors, propose to implement levee repairs, including two large-scale levee setbacks, on the Missouri River Levee Unit L-575 under the authority of Public Law 84-99. The setbacks are located in Fremont County, Iowa, along the left descending bank of the Missouri River between river miles 566 and 555. A Programmatic Environmental Assessment for PL 84-99 Levee Rehabilitation Projects and Advanced Measure Responses in the Corps was finalized in December 2011 and is incorporated by reference herein. In addition, a tiered Environmental Assessment (EA) was prepared in December of 2011 for the non-setback levee repairs that were initially identified as the recommended plan. Upon further planning and design considerations, setback alternatives were incorporated into a new recommended plan. As such, this EA serves to revise the original tiered EA to include the additional large-scale setback construction activities. Due to emergency conditions, necessity to complete levee fixes in a timely manner, and the many planning uncertainties and coordination involved with this project, preparation of this revised EA occurred during construction of the setbacks. All unavoidable wetland impacts were concurrently mitigated by grading and treating for wetland establishment the borrow pits associated with the large-scale setbacks. The attached EA supports the conclusions found in the programmatic and original tiered EA. The overall flood risk management level of the affected area would not be negatively impacted by the construction activities. The recommended plan would result in no adverse impacts to any Federally listed threatened or endangered species or their habitat. The recommended plan would result in no adverse impacts to any properties listed, proposed for listing, eligible for listing, or potentially eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The recommended plan would result in minor impacts to noise and air quality. The recommended plan would result in impacts to wetlands; however, these impacts would be mitigated for and the project would result in a no net-loss of wetlands in the project area. Areas of the existing levee sections damaged by flooding are to be either temporarily disturbed by construction activity or be demolished and used to create the setbacks; the disturbed areas used for borrow mining have been used to create wetland mitigation areas. Wetlands impacted are primarily of the emergent type, though some riparian forested wetlands were impacted. Approximately 104 acres of wetland were impacted during construction; approximately 320 acres of land was treated for wetland establishment as part of compensatory wetland impact mitigation. Emergency construction meets the project purpose and need of rehabilitating the flood risk management capability and its associated socioeconomic benefits of the existing levee system. Best Management Practices (such as using cleaned construction equipment, not idling equipment when not immediately needed, containing fuels and storing them in upland areas, minimizing dust, and replanting disturbed areas) were implemented. To ensure no significant impacts occur to wetlands, cultural resources, species of concern and their habitats during borrow operations, the standard operating procedures for the Selection and Restoration of Borrow Sites were implemented. The Standard Operating Procedures are included as Appendix F in this EA. After evaluating the anticipated environmental, economic, and social effects of the construction activity, it is my determination that the construction project does not constitute a major Federal action that would significantly affect the quality of the human environment. The construction action has been coordinated with the appropriate resource agencies, and there are no significant unresolved issues. Therefore, preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not required. ____________________ _____________________________________ Date Joel R. Cross Colonel, Corps of Engineers District Commander Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Purpose and Need ............................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Project Location .................................................................................................................................. 4 2.0 Alternatives ............................................................................................................................................ 7 2.1 Alternatives Considered but Eliminated From Detailed Analysis ................................................ 7 2.2 No Action Alternative ................................................................................................................... 8 2.3 Structural/ Non-Structural Combination Repair Alternative (Recommended Plan) ..................... 8 3.0 Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences (Impacts) ................................................... 13 3.1 Water Quality Existing Conditions ............................................................................................... 13 3.2 Wetlands/Waterbodies Existing Conditions ................................................................................. 14 3.3 Raptors and other Migratory Birds Existing Conditions ............................................................... 19 3.4 Threatened and Endangered Species ............................................................................................. 20 3.5 Cultural Resources ........................................................................................................................ 21 4.0 Cumulative Impacts .............................................................................................................................. 23 5.0 Coordination and Comments ................................................................................................................ 23 6.0 Compliance with Other Environmental Laws ....................................................................................... 25 7.0 Preparers ............................................................................................................................................... 26 8.0 References ............................................................................................................................................. 26 Figure 1a. Missouri River Levee Unit L-575 Location Figure 1b. Setback Location Maps Figure 2. General Location of Damage/ Repair Areas Figure 3. General Areas of All L-575 Construction Borrow Sources Table 1 - L-575 Levee Setback Around Highway-2 Cost Comparison (north of HWY-2) Table 2 - L-575 Levee Setback Around Highway-2 Cost Comparison (south of HWY-2) Table 3 - PEA Alternatives Table 4 - Damage Areas and Recommended Repairs Table 5 - Threatened and Endangered Species in the Project Area Table 6 - Recorded Locations of Known Riverboat Wrecks Near L-575 Levee Table 7 - Recorded Locations of Known Riverboat Wrecks Near Frazers Bend Setback Appendix A – Migratory Bird Treaty Act Survey Results Appendix B – Applicable Permits Appendix C - Biological Assessment and USFWS Concurrence Appendix D – Borrow Site Reclamation Guidance for Contractor Construction Crew Appendix E – Programmatic Environmental Assessment Appendix F – 404 (b) (1) Analysis Tiered Environmental Assessment Revision Public Law 84-99 Emergency Levee Rehabilitation Program Missouri River Levee Unit L-575 1.0 Introduction In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and implementing regulations, a Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for Public Law (PL) 84-99 Levee Rehabilitation Projects and Advanced Measure Responses in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District (Corps) was completed on December 27, 2011, and is incorporated by reference herein. Concurrently, a project- specific Environmental Assessment (EA) of the levee rehab activities was prepared for levee L-575 (“L” meaning along the left bank of the Missouri River and “575” meaning it begins near river mile (RM) 575) and tiered off of the PEA to determine if the levee rehabilitation project met the description and criteria of the Recommended Plan as described in the PEA. Following the completion of the tiered EA and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), dated December 2011, new flood control alternatives (i.e., two large-scale levee setbacks) were proposed because of increased sponsor interest in non-structural alternatives on severely damaged sections of the levee. Instead of evaluating these alternatives separately within a supplemental EA, the original tiered EA has been revised to include analysis of all actions associated with all flood repair activities at L-575. The content of this EA is meant to