The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, today released a draft Programmatic Individual Environmental Report #36 (PIER #36), titled, "Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity (LPV) Hurricane Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS) Mitigation, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. Tammany Parishes, Louisiana" for a 30-day public review and comment period.
The PIER evaluates the alternatives to compensate for unavoidable habitat impacts that resulted from construction of the LPV HSDRRS. As part of the analysis, the PIER identifies the Tentatively Selected Mitigation Plan Alternative (TSMPA) for mitigating those impacts to a variety of habitats. At this time, only certain features of the TSMPA are being proposed for implementation, namely the purchase of mitigation bank credits to compensate for impacts to non-refugebottomland hardwood forests and non-refuge swamp. Other features will be recommended for implementation in subsequent environmental documents, called TIERs. Impacts from construction of the LPV HSDRRS are described in Individual Environmental Reports 1-11, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25-32, 35 and their associated Supplemental IERs (IERS).
The PIER #36 is currently available for review and comment at www.nolaenvironmental.gov; hard copies may be requested by sending e-mail to mvnenvironmental@usace.army.mil. The deadline to submit comments is Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013. All comments postmarked on or before the expiration of the comment period will be considered.
Questions or comments concerning proposed actions should be addressed to:
Elizabeth Behrens
Regional Planning and Environmental Division
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
P.O. Box 60267
New Orleans, LA 70160-0267
Phone: 504-862-2025
Fax: 504-862-2088
E-mail: mvnenvironmental@usace.army.mil.
For more information or to sign up to be on a public meeting notification list please visit the following Web site: www.nolaenvironmental.gov.