INTRODUCTION: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District (USACE), has prepared a draft Feasibility Report with integrated draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1968, as amended, for the proposed Buckeye Creek Section 14 Project. The draft Feasibility Report and integrated 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 2018 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 June 2, 2023, 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: http://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Media/Public-Notices/Planning-Public-Notices/nwk.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Civil-Works-Programs-And-Projects/ 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. Daren Page, 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 daren.k.page@usace.army.mil, or by telephone at (816) 389-2075. All comments to this public notice should be directed to the above address on or before July 2, 2023. After the public notice period, the documents will be loaded on the USACE digital library at: https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16021coll7/search
PROJECT LOCATION: Components of the TSP are spread across three sites along Buckeye Creek (Figure 1), which is located in Clay County, Kansas City, Missouri between Missouri Highway 269 and 210 and North Brighton Avenue. The TSP would be implemented within 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC): 10300101.
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, the city of Kansas City, MO (KCMO), 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 Buckeye Creek in the vicinity of a 30-to-36-inch sanitary sewer line which is owned, operated, and maintained by KCMO. In addition to the sewer line, residential and municipal properties need protection from the active bank erosion. Failure of this sewer line would gravely impact residents of Kansas City and allow untreated sewage to discharge into Buckeye Creek and ultimately into the Missouri River.
The TSP includes longitudinal peaked stone toe protection (LPSTP) constructed approximately half the bank height, ranging from 4-8 feet high with 1.5 Horizontal (H):1 Vertical (V) side slopes. Rock tiebacks (keys) would be installed diagonally on the upstream and downstream ends of the LPSTPs with a minimum of three feet of cover. Rock baffle tiebacks, ranging 3-8 feet in height, at each subsite of Sites 1, 2, and 4 would tie LPSTPs into the slope of the streambank. Over time the area between the LPSTP and the bank is expected to fill in with sediment and support natural regrowth of native vegetation. Furthermore, to provide additional stream conveyance and to ensure project designs result in no net rise in flood elevations, material from the opposite bank of Sites 1A and 1C would be excavated. Excess material to grade or construct the project may be used to fill areas between the LPSTP and streambank rather than hauling the material offsite. Any material, such as topsoil, potentially containing invasive species would need to be stockpiled and restored to pre-construction locations and replanted with native species.
Alternative 1 also involves two groups of 2-3 feet thick Newbury weirs at Site 2D and 4A, for a combined total of 265 linear feet. Approximately 250 linear feet of bank armoring would be installed directly upstream of the weirs to minimize upstream erosion due to turbulence or contraction. Additionally, at Sites 1A, 1B, and 1C the sewer main would be covered with at least six inches of soil prior to installation of the LPSTP.
WETLANDS AND WATERS OF THE US: Project construction activities would occur in a jurisdictional water of the United States and requires a Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 authorization and a state issued Section 401 Water Quality Certification (WQC). Section 404 of 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 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 proposed project is applicable to the criteria under the 2018 Section 14 PEA; thus, the project complies with the CWA under the PEA’s Section 404(b)(1) and 401. The MDNR concurred with this conclusion through email correspondence dated March 12, 2021, concluding that the project would fall under conditions 1 and 2 of the programmatic CWA 401 WQC for USACE (NWK-20172004-CW/CEK007257) and an individual 401 WQC for the project would not be required.
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, the proposed endangered tricolored 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. The USFWS concurred with the USACE determination in an email dated May 4, 2021. 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 not result in appreciable changes to terrestrial habitat. Disturbed areas would be restored to similar preconstruction conditions. 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. The Missouri State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) was contacted and 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 Miami Tribe responded with no objection in a letter dated April 9, 2021.
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 2018 Section 14 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.