JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District has released the revised final report for the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) for public, state and agency review today.
A notification has been published in the Federal Register announcing the availability of the report for its required 30-day review. View the notice here: http://1.usa.gov/1ooMrYu
"All of the recommended revisions to the report have been completed and approved and we're now moving forward with public, state and agency review," said Jacksonville District commander Col. Alan Dodd. "The release of this report is a significant milestone for CEPP and reflects the extraordinary efforts of so many to successfully address complex issues and produce this quality report."
The report is available on the project's Web page at: www.bit.ly/CentralEverglades_
. Comments will be accepted through Sept. 8, 2014. They can be submitted electronically to: [email protected] or mailed to:
Dr. Gretchen Ehlinger
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
P.O. Box 4970
Jacksonville, FL 32232-0019
The Corps' Civil Works Review Board (CWRB) provided unanimous approval to release the report for state and agency review once their recommended revisions were incorporated into the report. The CWRB is part of the Corps' internal process to facilitate the review of the recommended plan to ensure consistency with legal requirements, Corps policies, and administration priorities. It serves as a corporate check to ensure the report is ready for state and agency review.
Comments and responses during the ongoing 30-day review period will be considered and incorporated as appropriate into the final report, and the Chief of Engineers Report, also known as a Chief's Report, will be finalized for signature. The signed Chief's Report will then be submitted to the administration for review. Based on this timeline, it is anticipated that the final Chief's Report will be submitted to Congress this fall.
The goal of CEPP is to capture water lost to tide and re-direct the water flow south to restore the central and southern Everglades ecosystem and Florida Bay. The Corps is jointly conducting this planning effort in partnership with the South Florida Water Management District.