1. Project Proponent. St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers, 332 Minnesota Street, Suite E1500, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101.
2. Project Authority. The proposed actions were authorized under the authority of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1930, as amended.
3. Project Location. The proposed actions would be located in Clayton County, Iowa and Grant County, Wisconsin.
4. Summary of the Proposed Project. The proposed action is to temporarily install, operate, and remove a bedload sediment collector system in Pool 10 of the Upper Mississippi River near McMillan Island to evaluate its use in channel maintenance applications. The system would be tested multiple times to evaluate how the system operates under different river flow conditions. Ideally, the tests would encompass low, medium, and high flow ranges, which may each have different bedload sediment transport characteristics. The purpose of the proposed action is to evaluate the feasibility of accomplishing channel management using passive bedload sediment collection systems. These systems may have the ability to reduce costs and environmental effects of managing sediment within the Upper Mississippi River System.
5. Construction Schedule. Construction of the proposed actions is tentatively scheduled to be initiated in Fall of 2024.
6. Permits/Coordination.
a. General. The proposed action has been coordinated with local agency partners through the River Resources Forum.
d. Federal. A Draft Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact was prepared and coordinated in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act. Coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service occurred during the planning process.
7. Summary of Environmental Impacts. The proposed project would have temporary minor adverse effects on noise levels, aesthetic values, air quality, biological productivity, and water quality. Affected resources would be expected to recover from any adverse effects shortly after the conclusion of the project.
8. Report. A Draft Environmental Assessment that describes the project and the environmental impacts in detail is available to the public and can be viewed by finding the project page on the St. Paul District’s Public Notice Webpage: https://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Home/PublicNotices.aspx. The report includes project drawings and a Draft Finding of No Significant Impact.
9. Review and Comment. If you have any comments on the environmental assessment they should be provided before the expiration date of this notice. Persons submitting comments are advised that all comments received will be available for public review, to include the possibility of posting on a public website. Questions on the project or comments on the Environmental Assessment can be directed to Aaron McFarlane at (651) 290-5660 or at aaron.m.mcfarlane@usace.army.mil. Please address all formal written correspondence on this project to:
St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers,
ATTN: Regional Planning and Environment Division North,
332 Minnesota Street, Suite E1500,
St. Paul, Minnesota 55101.