SUMMARY

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board of Louisiana, through the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), has submitted a Joint Permit Application to the Department of the Army (DA) under the provisions of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) (Section 404), and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899, as amended (33 U.S.C. 403) (“Section 10”) and a permission request under Section 14 (33 U.S.C. 408) (Section 408) of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”), at the New Orleans District (CEMVN) for CPRA’s proposed Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion  ( Proposed Action).  

The Proposed Action generally consists of the placement of a sediment diversion through a portion of the federal Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) Project mainline levee on the right descending bank of the Mississippi River (River) at approximately River Mile 60.7 and through the future New Orleans to Venice (NOV) Hurricane Protection Levee, extending into the mid-Barataria Basin in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.

A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has been prepared to disclose and analyze all significant environmental impacts of the Proposed Action as required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) regulations found in 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508.  This EIS addresses the Public Interest Review requirements of 33 CFR Parts 320-332 including 33 CFR Part 325, Appendix B, 33 U.S.C. 408 and 40 CFR Part 230 (Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines), so that the EIS, when completed, will provide information required for an informed decision on the DA permit application and Section 408 permission request. Any additional information required for the Section 408 permission request beyond the completed final EIS will not be done by the selected third party contractor (TPC).

The Draft EIS can be found on the right-hand side of this webpage, under the section "EIS Documents".  Click on the plus (+) sign next to "Draft EIS."   The Draft EIS is subdivided into separate adobe acrobat documents to make it easier for downloading.  There is a separate document  for each Chapter and Appendix as well as the cover, abstract, executive summary, and table of contents.  All USACE issued public notices and public meeting presentations and graphics can be found on the left-hand side of the screen under the section "Draft EIS (DEIS) Meeting Materials".   If you want to view the Notice of Availability in the federal register, please go to the following URL: 86 FR 12942.   To comment on the Draft EIS, please look on the top right-hand side of this screen for "Ways to Submit Official Draft EIS Comments."

In addition to the Draft EIS, the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group (LA TIG) has prepared a Draft Phase II Restoration Plan#3.2: Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion (Draft Restoration Plan) that evaluates granting funding to construct the proposed MBSD Project.  The LA TIG will issue a separate public Federal Register notice and related information on its website and elsewhere announcing the availability of its Draft Restoration Plan. The NOAA/LA Tig Restoration Plan website can be found at the following URL: https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration-areas/louisiana

Below is a general EIS schedule for the major milestones.  Click here for the more detailed MBSD Permitting Dashboard Schedule.