NEW ORLEANS -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is requesting public comments for preparations of the Humble Canal Gate Site and initial levee preload in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. The public comment period begins on Sept. 21 and concludes on Oct. 6, 2022.
A draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) #583a entitled “Mississippi River and Tributaries Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana (MRT-MTG) Mitigation for the Humble Canal Gate Site Preparation and Initial Levee Preload, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana”, prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, is available for public review and comment. The document provides an assessment of potential impacts associated with implementing the action for compensatory mitigation of fresh marsh and brackish marsh in the Deltaic Plain that would be incurred by construction of the MRT-MTG Humble Canal gate site preload levee.
The purpose of the project is to prepare the site for a floodgate at Humble Canal as a feature of the MRT-MTG project that will provide hurricane and storm damage risk reduction for the communities located within the MRT-MTG levee system, with the overarching goal of reducing the risk to people and property in the vicinity of Houma, Louisiana.
The draft SEA #583a was prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Council of Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing NEPA, Section 1506.6. Compensatory mitigation is required by the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1986, Section 906, as amended and by the Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines and is required to be consistent with the policies set forth in 33 CFR 320.4(r), 325 and 332 (REGS), the CEQ implementing regulations for the NEPA, the February 6, 1990, Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the USACE and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and WRDA 2007 §2036(a).
All comments received by the end of the public comment period will be considered in finalizing SEA No. 583a.
Comments should be mailed to the attention of:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regional Planning and Environment Division South
New Orleans Environmental Branch, CEMVNPDS-C
7400 Leake Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118
Comments and questions may also be provided by email to mvnenvironmental@usace.army.mil.
The report and supporting information are available online at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District website: https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/NEPA-Compliance-Documents/Project-Pages/Mississippi-River-and-Tributaries/
###