Omaha, NE – A draft Environmental Assessment has been prepared by Amec Foster Wheeler, Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc. for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine if any environmental impacts would be caused by a proposed project to bring the town of Greybull Levee System into compliance with 44 CFR § 65.10 of the National Flood Insurance Program criteria for levee certification. The Greybull Levee System includes two project areas, the Dry Creek right bank levee and the Big Horn River left bank levee.
The purpose of the proposed project is to restore project erosion protection features, remove unwanted vegetation and raise the levee along Dry Creek to ensure flood damage protection is in compliance with CFR 65.10 certification in support of Federal Emergency Management Agency accreditation of the Greybull Levee. The need stems from identified levee deficiencies along the two project areas of the Greybull Levee System. Levee improvements to mitigate these identified levee deficiencies are needed to ensure flood risk reduction and attain FEMA accreditation.
The Greybull Levee was constructed by the Corps in the mid-1950s and then turned over to the town of Greybull (the non-federal sponsor), to operate and maintain per the agreement with the Corps which has a congressionally mandated responsibility to ensure that federally-constructed flood risk reduction projects are appropriately operated and maintained. As such, this proposed action to modify a levee must be considered by the Corps in accordance with Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 United States Code [U.S.C.] § 408, “Section 408” hereafter). Section 408 authorizes the Secretary of the Army, on the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers of the Corps, to grant permission for the alteration or occupation or use of a Corps civil works project if the Secretary determines that the activity will not be injurious to the public interest and will not impair the usefulness of the project.
The public is encouraged to provide comments on the draft EA, which is available for viewing at http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Planning/ProjectReports.aspx. Comments can be mailed to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District; CENWO-PM-AC; ATTN: Greybull EA; 1616 Capitol Avenue; Omaha, NE 68102-4901. Comments can also be emailed to: cenwo-planning@usace.army.mil. Comments must be postmarked or received no later than August 8, 2016.
This draft EA is consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the Council on Environmental Quality’s regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508), the Corps’ regulations for implementing NEPA (33 CFR 325 and Engineering Regulation 200-2-2) and other applicable environmental laws and regulations.
Release no. 20160708-001