1. Project Proponent. St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers, 332 Minnesota Street, Suite E1500, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101.
2. Project Authority. Congress authorized the Upper Mississippi River Restoration program (UMRR) in Section 1103 of the 1986 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) (Public Law 99-662), codified at 33 U.S.C. § 652. Over the course of its first 13 years, the UMRR program proved to be one of this country’s premier ecosystem restoration programs, combining close collaboration between Federal and State partners, an effective planning process, and a built-in monitoring process. This success led Congress to extend and modify the authorization for the UMRR program in Section 509 of WRDA 1999 (Public Law 106-53). WRDA 1999 made several adjustments to the program and established the following two elements as continuing authorities:
- Planning, construction, and evaluation of fish and wildlife habitat rehabilitation and enhancement projects (known as Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects (HREPs)).
- Long-term resource monitoring, computerized data inventory and analysis, and applied research (known collectively as Long-Term Resource Monitoring element (LTRM)).
3. Project Location.
The Minnesota River Bank Stabilization project location is near Shakopee, MN and is within the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge – Wilkie Unit. The study area includes a section of right descending bankline of the Minnesota River between RM 15 and 16, along with the Continental Grain Marsh and Eagle Creek south of the river.
4. Summary of the Selected Plan.
The Tentatively Selected Plan (TSP), described in the project’s feasibility report, includes a hybrid combination of revetment and buried revetment, re-sloping and natural levee widening of the bank, turf reinforcement mats, and vegetation features. The TSP is necessary to ensure that the USFWS is able to manage water elevations in the Continental Grain Marsh via the water control structures recently constructed in the Bass Ponds HREP. This will help to protect about 93 acres of important wetland and wildlife habitat. The TSP addresses all project objectives and would be 100% Federally funded.
5. Permits/Coordination.
a. General. By way of this public review process, the selected plan is being coordinated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and other federal, state, and local agencies.
b. State. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (PCA) is the administering agency for Section 401 water quality certification (WQC) in the State of MN. USACE will work with PCA on obtaining Section 401 WQC during detailed design. No additional permits would be required.
c. Federal. A draft feasibility report with integrated Environmental Assessment and subsequent appendices were prepared and coordinated in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act. A Section 404(b)(1) evaluation was prepared in accordance with the Clean Water Act of 1977. Coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service occurred during the planning process. A Special Use Permit would be acquired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to cover actions on the Refuge.
6. Summary of Environmental Impacts. The TSP would result in positive long-term benefits to wetland and aquatic habitat, fish, and wildlife in and around the project area. The TSP may affect, but not likely to adversely affect federally-listed Rusty Patch bumble bee. No other federally listed or proposed listed species would be affected or jeopardized by the TSP. This determination will be revisited, as appropriate, closer to construction. Construction of the project would cause short-term adverse effects to water quality, air quality, aesthetics, noise levels, wildlife habitat, and public use. Long-term benefits to habitats would far outweigh the short-term impacts. No significant negative social or economic impacts would result. The project would cause minor benefits to recreation. Based on the current understanding of extent of historic properties in the study area, no historic properties are anticipated to be adversely impacted by the proposed action.
7. Report. The draft feasibility report with integrated Environmental Assessment and subsequent appendices that describes the project in detail are available to the public and can be viewed at: https://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Home/Public-Notices/.
8. Public Hearing Requests. The Section 404(b)(1) evaluation is being distributed as part of this public notice. Anyone may request a public hearing on this proposed work. The request must be submitted in writing to the District Engineer within 15 working days of the date of this public notice. Interested parties are also invited to submit to this office written facts, arguments, or objections to this project prior to the expiration date of this public notice. These statements should clearly state the interest the project would affect and how the project would affect that interest. A request for public hearing may be denied if substantive reasons for holding a hearing are not provided or there is otherwise no valid interest to be served by holding a hearing. All statements will become an official part of the project file and will be available for public examination.
9. Review and Comment. Any comments on the draft feasibility report 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 the feasibility report should be directed to umrr-mvp-hrep@usace.army.mil. Please address all correspondence on this project, to District Commander, St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers, ATTN: Regional Planning and Environment Division North, 332 Minnesota Street, Suite E1500, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101.