Daily Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices of the Federal Government
2. January 7, 2009, 4 to 8 p.m., Cottleville, Missouri (St. Louis area).
3. January 8, 2009, 4 to 8 p.m., Kansas City, Missouri.
2. January 7, 2009 in the auditorium at the St. Charles Community College, 4601 Mid Rivers Mall Drive, Cottleville, Missouri.
3. January 8, 2009 in the Lobby Courtyard at the KCI-Expo Center, 11730 N. Ambassador Dr., Kansas City, Missouri.
The COE will be conducting public scoping meetings at three locations (see
The applicants include the following currently authorized dredgers: Holliday Sand and Gravel Company (St. Joseph and Kansas City, Missouri); Con-Agg of MO, LLC (Columbia, Missouri); Capital Sand Company, Inc. (Jefferson City, Missouri); Hermann Sand Gravel, Inc. (Hermann, Missouri); J.T.R. Inc (Jotori Dredging, St. Louis, Missouri); and Limited Leasing Company (formerly St. Charles Sand Company, St. Louis, Missouri). Applicants not currently authorized to dredge include The Master's Dredging Company, Inc. (Kansas City, Missouri); Kaw Valley Sand and Gravel, Inc. (Kansas City, Missouri); Muenks Brothers Quarries, Inc. (Loose Creek, Missouri); and Edward N. Rau Contractor Company (Washington, Missouri). The final EIS will also apply to future applications for similar dredging operations on the Missouri River in Missouri and Kansas.
The COE has documented significant degradation or down-cutting of the river bed in areas where dredging has been concentrated. Bed degradation may disable water intake structures, initiate tributary head cuts, promote bank and levee instability, undermine pipelines and bridge piers, increase encroachment of the high bank, eliminate aquatic habitat and create navigation hazards. Some of these effects have already been observed in some areas. Reaches that are not obviously affected may have structures vulnerable to failure during floods or other catastrophic events.
The EIS will be prepared according to the COE's procedures for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(c), and consistent with the COE's policy to facilitate public understanding and review of agency proposals. As part of the EIS process, a full range of reasonable alternatives including the proposed dredging and no dredging will be evaluated.
The COE has invited the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geologic Survey, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and the Kansas Geologic Survey to be contributing agencies in the formulation of the EIS.