SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Jacksonville District, Cocoa Permits Section field office, has received a request for Department of the Army (DA) authorization, pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbor Act of 1899, from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) for activities associated with the proposed drawdown, vegetation removal, and demucking of East Lake Tohopekaliga (ELT) to improve habitat conditions for fish and wildlife. The Drawdown and Habitat Enhancement of East Lake Tohopekaliga (Osceola County) would require a deviation to the Water Control Plan for ELT, DA permit and Environmental Impact Statement for proposed fill in waters of the United States.
Scoping Process: USACE is furnishing this notice to advise other Federal and State agencies, affected federally recognized Tribes, and the public of the proposed project. This notice announces the initiation of a 30-day scoping period which requests the public’s involvement in the scoping and evaluation process in preparation of the Draft EIS. A public scoping meeting (see DATES) will be held to receive public comment and address public concerns concerning the scope of issues and level of analysis to be considered in preparation of the Draft EIS. Participation in the public meeting by federal, state and local agencies and other interested organizations and persons is encouraged. A detailed description of the study area will be developed following the scoping meeting, at which time USACE will determine the final study area for the EIS.
DATES: The USACE will hold a public scoping meeting in preparation of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on December 5, 2017, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Interested parties are invited to submit scoping comments to USACE by January 4, 2018.
ADDRESSES: The public scoping meeting will be held at Osceola Heritage Park, 1875 Silver Spur Lane, Kissimmee, FL 34744. Scoping comments may be submitted by mail or hand-delivered to: Jeffrey S. Collins, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Cocoa Permits Section, 400 High Point Drive, Suite 600, Cocoa, FL 32926. Comments may also be submitted by email to: jeffrey.s.collins@usace.army.mil. All comments should include “East Lake Tohopekaliga Drawdown Comments” in the subject line.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the Proposed Action and Draft EIS should be directed to Mr. Collins by telephone at (321) 504-3771 or by email: jeffrey.s.collins@usace.army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background / Project Authorization. USACE is preparing this Draft EIS in accordance with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulation [CFR] 1500 et seq.), and USACE provisions for implementing the procedural requirements of NEPA (33 CFR 230, USACE Engineering Regulation [ER] 200-2-2). A primary purpose of a USACE Regulatory Program EIS is to provide disclosure of the significant impacts of a proposal seeking a DA permit on the human environment. The Draft EIS and Final EIS are used to inform the public and agency decision-makers of alternatives to an applicant’s project that may avoid or minimize impacts or enhance the quality of the human environment.
2. Need or Purpose of Project. The purpose of the proposed activity is aquatic habitat improvement in ELT. Major contributors to deteriorating aquatic habitat in ELT are water level stabilization and pollution from watershed development. Negative environmental changes include an increase in aquatic plant density and biomass, organic sediments, and a shift to invasive species. Dense bands of organic material have formed along the lakeshore and, combined with aquatic plants such as pickerelweed, cattail, and tussucks, form a barrier that keeps fish from shallow spawning areas. Decline in coverage of desirable aquatic vegetation negatively impact the diversity and abundance of forage organisms that depend on these plant communities. In turn, this directly contributes to reduced sport fish production and wading bird utilization.
3. Project Description. East Lake Tohopekaliga is an approximately 11,968-acre lake located in the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. FWC is pursuing authorization from USACE, Jacksonville District Regulatory Division, to conduct a temporary drawdown of ELT to accomplish demucking and vegetation removal activities for purposes of littoral zone habitat enhancement. FWC proposes to draw down ELT in Osceola County from 57.0 National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) feet to 53.0 NGVD feet. Four pumps (combined capacity of 400 cfs) are proposed to be used to drain ELT; pumps are required because gravity-fed conveyance becomes inefficient as the lower ELT stage approaches that of Lake Tohopekaliga. The proposed drawdown would begin in October-November 2018, work conducted in February-May 2019, with the refill initiated in June 2019. Other proposed activities include herbicide application, prescribed burning and consolidation of organic sediments into two muck islands for long-term storage.
Notice of Intent: The Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Drawdown and Habitat Enhancement of East Lake Tohopekaliga in Osceola County, Florida will be published in the Federal Register November 3, 2017. The NOI can be found on the Federal Register website: https://www.federalregister.gov/