SPECIAL JOINT PUBLIC NOTICE: REVISED SITE MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING PLAN (SMMP) FOR FIVE EXISTING HAWAII OCEAN DREDGED MATERIAL DISPOSAL SITES
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Honolulu Engineer District (USACE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX (EPA) have prepared a revised Site Management and Monitoring Plan (SMMP) for the five existing Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Sites (ODMDSs) serving Hawaii. SMMPs describe the coordinated approach by which EPA and USACE manage ODMDSs to ensure that significant adverse impacts to the environment or uses of the ocean do not occur.
The revised SMMP is available at http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/dredging/hi/index.html.
The Water Resources Development Act of 1992 (WRDA 92), requires that each EPA-designated ODMDS must be covered by an SMMP, and that SMMPs must be periodically reviewed and (if necessary) updated. The periodic reviews must include opportunity for public input. The five existing Hawaii ODMDS were designated by EPA in 1981 based on a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) issued in 1980, and the SMMP covering these five sites was last updated in 1997. In preparation for updating the 1997 SMMP, EPA conducted extensive monitoring studies at two of the Hawaii ODMDSs in 2013. The site monitoring results confirm that there have been no significant adverse impacts of ocean disposal activities, and for this reason EPA and USACE propose to continue site use with modified (updated) standard permit conditions that will apply to all authorized projects proposing transportation of dredged material for disposal at any of the Hawaii sites. The 1980 site designation Final EIS, the 1981 final rule, the 1997 SMMP, and a synthesis of the results of the 2013 monitoring studies are all available on EPA’s web site at http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/dredging/hi/index.html.
Questions and comments should be directed to:
Chief, Regulatory Office
Honolulu District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
CEPOH-RO, Building 230
Fort Shafter. Hawaii, 96858-5440
(CEPOH-RO@usace.army.mil)
and
Mr. Allan Ota
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region IX
Dredging & Sediment Management Team (WTR-2-4)
75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901
(ota.allan@epa.gov)