NAO-Skiffes Creek Channel Maintenance Dredging_SEA_PN 2014

Published April 30, 2014
Expiration date: 5/30/2014

The USACE-Norfolk District has prepared a draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment on behalf of the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE) to assess the potential impacts for work described below:

LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The Skiffes Creek Channel is located in the James River at Fort Eustis in Newport News, Va.

PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this project is maintenance dredging of the Skiffes Creek Channel to provide safe navigation for vessels accessing the Third Port facility, located at Fort Eustis. The Proposed Action is the transport of dredged material for the purpose of ocean placement at the Norfolk Ocean Disposal Site (NODS), located in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 16 miles east of Cape Henry.

The project includes maintenance activities at the Fort Eustis Dredged Material Management Area (FEDMMA), such as control of common reed.

SCOPE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: Under the requirements of Section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), this proposed project constitutes a major federal action, and a Supplemental Environmental Assessment to the 2003 Environmental Assessment is therefore required. This SEA has been prepared pursuant to NEPA and its implementing regulations.

The purpose of this Supplemental Environmental Assessment is to evaluate the direct and indirect impacts associated with the transport and placement of dredged material at the NODS. This document identifies and evaluates the potential environmental effects associated with the Proposed Action.

The draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment is being coordinated with the following agencies:

•JBLE-Fort Eustis
• City of Newport News
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
• U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency (USFWS)
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• NOAA - National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
• Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (VDCR)
• Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ)
• Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF)
• Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR)
• Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
• Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC)

COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment should be by email (Robert.S.Pruhs@usace.army.mil) or in writing, addressed to the Norfolk District, Army Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-WR-OT (Pruhs)), 803 Front Street, Norfolk, Va. 23510-1096, and should be received by the close of business on May 30, 2014.

PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY: Comments and information, including the identity of the submitter, submitted in response to this public notice may be disclosed, reproduced, and distributed at the discretion of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Information that is submitted in connection with this public notice cannot be maintained as confidential by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Submissions should not include any information that the submitter seeks to preserve as confidential.

If you have any questions about this project, contact Robert Pruhs at Robert.S.Pruhs@usace.army.mil or call 757-201-7130.