PUBLIC NOTICE:
Project No: 2022-002-CW
Issue Date: November 23, 2022
Close Date: December 23, 2022
INTRODUCTION: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District (USACE), has
prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and associated Finding of No Significant Impact
(FONSI) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1968, as amended,
for the proposed Platte City North Sanitary Sewer Section 14 Emergency Streambank
Stabilization Project. The Draft EA was prepared to assess and document potential effects to the
human and natural environment of the project’s Tentatively Selected Plan (TSP), as tiered from
the 2017 Section 14 Emergency Streambank Protection Program Programmatic Environmental
Assessment (PEA). The USACE has made a preliminary determination that the proposed project
would not result in significant degradation to the environment and therefore supports preparation
of a Draft FONSI. The Draft EA, FONSI, and supporting information are provided with issuance
of this Public Notice November 23, 2022, to initiate the 30-day public review and comment period.
This Public Notice and project related information are being provided to solicit public input on the
proposed action. Any interested party is invited to submit to this office written facts or objections
relative to the proposed project, both favorable and unfavorable in nature. All comments will be
accepted and made part of the public record. Copies of all comments, including names and
addresses of commenters, may be provided to applicants upon request. The USACE will consider
all pertinent comments in preparing final documentation for completion of the NEPA process
through signature of the FONSI by the USACE Kansas City District Commander.
CONTACT INFORMATION: The Draft documents for this project are available for review at the
USACE, Kansas City District office and on-line at the following web pages:
https://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Media/Public-Notices/Planning-Public-Notices/Year/2022/
The USACE will review comments received in response to this Public Notice to complete project
evaluation for compliance with the requirements of NEPA, and other Federal, state, and local
regulations. Project information may also be obtained by contacting Mr. Chris Name,
Environmental Resource Specialist, U.S Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, ATTN:
Environmental Resources Section, 601 East 12th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106, by email
at chris.name@usace.army.mil, or by telephone at (816) 389-3829. All comments to this public
notice should be directed to the above address on or before December 23, 2022.
PROJECT LOCATION: Components of the TSP would be located at three sites directly
downstream of Platte River and Highway 92 Bridge, between Platte City and Tracy, MO (Figure
1). The TSP would be implemented within 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC): 10240012.
AUTHORITY: Section 14 of the Flood Control Act of 1946 authorizes USACE to design and
execute emergency streambank erosion protection projects in conjunction with a local sponsor
(City of Platte City, MO) through a cost-sharing agreement. The law allows USACE to provide
assistance to protect streambanks from eroding and harming infrastructure. Work performed
under Section 14 corrects bank and shore erosion that endangers a public or nonprofit facility,
including highways, bridge approaches, other public works, churches, hospitals, schools, and
other nonprofit public services. According to 33 USC 701r, emergency work may be conducted to
prevent damage when the Chief of Engineers deems such work to be advisable.
ACTIVITY: The purpose of this Section 14 Project is to address bank instability problems of Platte
River in the vicinity of Platte City North 24-inch sanitary sewer line which is owned, operated, and
maintained by City of Platte City, MO. In addition to the sewer line, an access road and water
treatment plant assets are in need protection from the active bank erosion. Compromise of this
sewer line would gravely impact residents of Platte City and allow untreated sewage to ultimately
discharge into the Missouri River.
The TSP includes longitudinal peaked stone toe protection (LPSTP) at project Sites 1 and 2 with
stone roots on the upstream and downstream ends. Stone roots would be 80-feet (ft) and 60-ft at
Site 1 and 2, respectively, and angled up-slope of the riverbank. Site 1 would have 50-ft rock
baffle tiebacks placed perpendicular to the LPSTP and spaced evenly off center. Tiebacks at Site
2 would not be used but instead the embankment would be excavated, contoured, and filled with
compacted soil. The riverbanks of Sites 1 and 2 would allow for natural deposition and
revegetation. Full slope stone revetment would be used at Site 3. The revetment would be 400 ft
long, 2-ft thick, and have a 2:1 slope. Total sums of all three sites consists of 1,743 linear feet,
approximately 15,000 cubic yards (cy) of soil fill, and approximately 14,500 cy of riprap. Staging
areas would be near Sites 1 and 3, in open areas along access routes. Access routes are located
along an existing maintenance road between Sites 1 and 3. Disturbed areas outside of project
design structures would be restored to preconstruction contours and conditions to the extent
practical. Approximately 0.4 acres (ac) of bottomland hardwood forest would be cleared and
require in-kind mitigation.
PRIME FARMLAND: Prime farmland is defined as land that has the best combination of physical
and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber, oilseed crops, and other
agricultural crops with minimum inputs of fuel, fertilizer, pesticides, and labor, and without
intolerable soil erosion [7 U.S.C. 4201 (c)(1)(A)]. The project footprint contains soils capable of
supporting prime farmland, if well drained. However, the project would not affect prime farmland
because the location is not in farm use and is unlikely to be converted to farmland, regardless of
the proposed project.
WETLANDS AND WATERS OF THE US: Construction activities with this project would occur in
a jurisdictional water of the United States and require a Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404
authorization. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires authorization from the
Secretary of the Army, acting through USACE, for the discharge of dredged or fill material into all
waters of the United States, including wetlands. The USACE, through preparation of a Draft
404(b)(1) evaluation (40 CFR 230) has made a preliminary determination that the project as
proposed would not be contrary to the public interest and is in compliance with Section 404(b)(1)
guidelines. The discharge must be certified before Department of the Army authorization can be
issued. This public notice will be provided to the state for review and comment. The state has
determined the project would be compliant with Condition 2 of the programmatic Clean Water Act
Section 401 Water Quality Certification (WQC) for USACE permit NWK-2017-004-CW.
Therefore, if all the other conditions are met, it will not require an individual WQC from the state.
ENDANGERED SPECIES: Pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended, the USACE has made a preliminary determination that the TSP would have no effect
on the following federally listed species or their designated critical habitat: gray bat, Indiana bat,
northern long-eared bat, and the candidate listed monarch butterfly. This determination was made
through the use of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Information, Planning, and
Conservation (IPaC) online system. Furthermore, the Missouri Department of Conservation’s
online Natural Heritage Review was used to assess the project area for any state listed species
or communities of conservation concern.
TERRESTRIAL HABITAT: The TSP would affect 0.34 average annual habitat units (AAHUs) of
bottomland forest. Approximately 0.08 AAHUs would be restored in disturbed areas on-site. Thus,
0.27 AAHUs of mitigation would be required by the non-federal sponsor. Mitigation requirements
would be fulfilled through the purchase of in-lieu fees by the non-federal sponsor from a reputable
third-party vendor. To avoid and minimized adverse impacts, the project would implement Best
Management Practices (BMPs) such as: keeping heavy construction equipment out of the
waterway whenever possible, protecting construction materials from precipitation/flooding, having
spill containment plans for construction equipment, and using materials that are free from
contaminants.
CULTURAL RESOURCES: Pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of
1966, as amended, the USACE determined that no historic properties would be adversely affected
by the TSP. Through the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) concurred with the
USACE archeologist’s recommendation that there will be no historic properties affected.
Furthermore, USACE contacted local federally recognized Native American Tribes and a reply
letter was received from the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma stating that the project should not affect
the cultural landscape of the Pawnee Nation.
POTENTIAL IMPACTS: The decision to issue authorization will be based on an evaluation of the
probable impact including the cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest.
That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important
resources. The benefits which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal must be
balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. The Draft EA, tiered from 2017 Section
14 Emergency Streambank Protection Program PEA, includes evaluation of temporary and direct
effects of the proposed project on the human and natural environment, as well as potential
cumulative impacts resulting from other reasonably foreseeable projects within the study area. All
relevant cumulative factors were considered including conservation, economics, aesthetics,
general environmental concerns, wetlands, cultural values, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards,
floodplain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply
and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs
and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people.
PUBLIC HEARING: The USACE is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, state, and local
agencies and officials; Indian Tribes; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate
the impacts of this proposed activity. Any comments received will be considered by the USACE
to determine whether to issue, modify, condition, or deny an authorization for this proposal. To
make this decision, comments are used to address impacts on endangered species, historic
properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and other public interest factors listed
above. Comments are used in preparation of the final EA and/or an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) pursuant to the NEPA. Comments are also used to determine the need for a
public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity. Any person
may request, in writing, prior to the expiration date of this public notice, that a public hearing be held to consider this application. Such requests shall state, with particularity, the reasons for holding a public hearing.