[Federal Register: December 28, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 249)]
[Notices]
[Page 78155]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28de06-33]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers
Notice of Availability for the Final Environmental Impact
Statement for the San Juan Creek Watershed/Western San Mateo Creek
Watershed Special Area Management Plan (SAMP), Orange County, CA
AGENCY: Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Corps of
Engineers, Los Angeles District Regulatory Branch.
ACTION: Notice of Availability for a Final EIS.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch has
completed a Final EIS for the San Juan Creek Watershed/Western San
Mateo Creek Watershed Special Area Management Plan (SAMP). The San Juan
Creek Watershed/Western San Mateo Creek Watershed SAMP establishes
three alternative permitting procedures that balance aquatic resource
protection and reasonable economic development for the San Juan Creek
Watershed and western San Mateo Creek Watershed.
DATES: The Final EIS will be available to the public for 30 days from
December 29, 2006 to January 29, 2007. After the 30 day availability
period, a Record of Decision will be issued.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jae Chung, Project Manager,
Regulatory Branch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, P.O. Box 532711, Los
Angeles, California, 90053-2325, (213) 452-3292,
yong.j.chung@usace.army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under section 404 of the Clean Water Act,
the Corps is authorized to issue permits for activities that discharge
dredged and/or fill materials into waters of the U.S., including
wetlands, for roads, developments, utilities, and other activities. For
the San Juan Creek and western San Mateo Creek Watersheds, the Corps is
proposing a watershed-based SAMP to balance aquatic resource protection
and reasonable economic development. The SAMP is an improvement over
the current incremental case-by-case approach, which does a less
effective job of taking a watershed perspective of aquatic resources
and considering the needs of future permit applicants. The SAMP
involves characterizing aquatic resource conditions and processes
through the watershed, establishing alternative permitting procedures
more appropriate for the given aquatic resources in the watershed, and
developing a coordinated aquatic resources management framework.
The Draft EIS was made available to the public on November 21,
2005. The Corps accepted written comments until January 16, 2006, and
accepted oral comments in a public hearing dated December 6, 2006. The
Corps received ten written comments throughout the comment period and
two oral comments at the public hearing.
The Final EIS is available to the public at the reference desks at
the following local libraries: Mission Viejo Library, 100 Civic Center,
Mission Viejo, CA 92691; San Clemente Library, 242 Avenida Del Mar, San
Clemente, CA 92672; Laguna Hills Library, 25555 Alicia Parkway, Laguna
Hills, CA 92653; Laguna Niguel Library, 30341 Crown Valley Parkway,
Laguna Niguel, CA 92656; San Juan Capistrano Library, 31495 El Camino
Real, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675; Rancho Santa Margarita Library,
30902 La Promesa, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688; and Dana Point
Library, 33841 Niguel Road, Laguna Niguel, CA 92656. Information on
obtaining electronic copies of the Final EIS is available by phoning or
mailing the contact person or by visiting http://www.spl.usace.army.mil/samp/sanjuancreeksamp.htm
.
Mark Durham,
Chief, South Coast Section, Regulatory Branch.
[FR Doc. E6-22311 Filed 12-27-06; 8:45 am]
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