Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Chehalis River Basin Flood Damage Reduction Project Proposed by the Chehalis River Basin Flood Control Zone District, Lewis County, WA

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Seattle District received a permit application from the Chehalis River Basin Flood Control Zone District (applicant) for the construction of a flood retention structure on the upper Chehalis River and the raising of levees at the Centralia-Chehalis Airport. A Department of the Army (DA) permit is required for the project pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The Corps has determined the proposed project may have significant individual and/or cumulative impacts on the human environment. An environmental impact statement (EIS) will be prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Preparation of the EIS will support the Corps' eventual decision to either issue, issue with modification or deny the DA permit for the proposed action. The EIS will assess the potential social, economic, and environmental impacts of the projects and is intended to be sufficient in scope to address Federal, State, and local requirements, environmental and socio-economic issues concerning the proposed action, and permit reviews. The EIS process begins with the publication of this Notice of Intent. The EIS will be prepared according to the Corps' procedures for implementing NEPA, and consistent with the Corps' policy to facilitate public understanding and review of agency proposals. The Corps will serve as the lead federal agency for this EIS pursuant to the requirements of NEPA. The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) will serve as the lead agency for the separate EIS pursuant to the requirements of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The Corps and Ecology have agreed to participate in joint scoping to simplify the public comment process for the two separate EISs.