Proposed Project Information: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District (District) is developing a Programmatic Agreement (PA) in consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officers (SHPOs) of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and Tribes regarding management plan implementation and routine operations and maintenance activities for the 9-foot navigation channel on the portions of the Upper Mississippi River and the Illinois Waterway within the District.
Location: The proposed programmatic agreement will apply to covered undertakings within the Rock Island District area of responsibility along the Upper Mississippi River (UMR RM 300.0-613.5) and the Illinois Waterway (IWW RM 78.9-290.7).
National Historic Preservation Act Coordination: As a federal agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is required to consider the effect of proposed actions on historic properties under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, as amended (54 U.S.C. 306108), and its implementing regulations at 36 CFR Part 800, and provide opportunity for consulting parties, including the public, to comment. The proposed programmatic agreement will allow the District to conduct phased NHPA consultation with consulting parties when implementing new Dredged Material Management Plans and will ensure streamlined, consistent compliance for routine, repetitive actions related to dredging, the placement of dredged material, including providing public access to it for beneficial use, at existing locations established for those purposes, as well as the maintenance and repair of existing river regulating structures. The activities covered by the proposed programmatic agreement are federal undertakings, as defined at 36 CFR 800.16(y), and, through the process of developing the programmatic agreement, the District is taking the potential effects of the covered undertakings on historic properties into account. This notice is to provide the public an opportunity to comment on the potential effect to historic properties. Interested parties are requested to submit comments by Friday, September 5, 2025. This notice is supplemental to any consultation under Section 106 of the NHPA with SHPOs, Tribes, and other Consulting Parties.
Questions or comments specific to this programmatic agreement can be directed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regional Planning Environmental Division (RPEDN) at RPEDNCulturalSection@usace.army.mil.