PUBLIC NOTICE
San Luis Rey River – Douglas Drive Bridge Seismic Retrofit.
U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
BUILDING STRONG®
LOS ANGELES DISTRICT
Public Notice No.: 408-SPL-PN-2025-0017
Permit No.: 408-SPL-2025-0017
Comment Period: 2024-12-10 to 2025-01-09
Requester: In compliance with Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, as amended, codified at 33 U.S.C. 408 (“Section 408”), the City of Oceanside, has requested permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to alter San Luis Rey River, a feature for flood control in the San Luis Rey River Basin (USACE project), in San Diego County, California.
Location: The proposed action or proposed alteration (Section 408 Activity) would be located on and near the existing Douglas Drive Bridge that goes over the San Luis Rey River in Oceanside, San Diego County, California.
Requester’s Proposed Action: The proposed action involves seismic retrofit of the existing Douglas Drive Bridge.
Details of the proposed action are as follows: Construction of new full-height infill walls between the columns at Piers 4 through 12, a new wildlife crossing in the riprap near Pier 4, installing pipe seat extenders at each expansion joint, installing two concrete fish passage flumes with scour countermeasures between Piers 8 and 9 and between Piers 9 and 10. The purpose of the proposed action is to address seismic deficiencies of the bridge by further stabilizing the Douglas Drive Bridge, reducing the damaging effects of future earthquakes, and remediate the barrier to fish passage in the San Luis Rey River beneath the bridge.
Authority: The authority to grant permission for temporary or permanent use, occupation, or alteration of any USACE Civil Works project is contained in Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, as amended, codified at 33 USC 408 (“Section 408”). Section 408 authorizes the Secretary of the Army, on the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers, to grant permission for the alteration or occupation or use of a USACE project if the Secretary determines that the activity will not be injurious to the public interest and will not impair the usefulness of the project. The Secretary of Army’s authority under Section 408 has been delegated to the USACE, the Chief of Engineers. The Chief of Engineers has further delegated the authority to the USACE, Directorate of Civil Works and Division and District Engineers, depending upon the nature of the activity.
Limits of Section 408 Authority: A requester has the responsibility to acquire all other permissions or authorizations required by federal, state, and local laws or regulations, including any required permits from the USACE Regulatory Program under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 USC 403), Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 USC Section 1344), and/or Section 103 of the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 USC 1413). The compliance determination for any Section 10/404/103 permit decision associated with the proposed alteration will also address the Section 408 compliance determination. In addition, an approval under Section 408 does not grant any property rights or exclusive privileges nor does it authorize any injury to the property or rights of others.
Environmental Compliance: A decision on a Section 408 request is a federal action, and therefore, subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other environmental compliance requirements. While USACE is responsible for ensuring environmental compliance, the requester is responsible for providing all information that the Los Angeles District identifies as necessary to satisfy all applicable federal laws, executive orders, regulations, policies, and procedures. NEPA and other analysis completed to comply with other environmental statutes (e.g., Endangered Species Act) should be commensurate with the scale and potential effects of the activity that would alter the USACE project. The Los Angeles District will work with the requester to determine the requirements, which will be scaled to the likely impacts of the proposed alteration and should convey the relevant considerations and impacts in a concise and effective manner. Comments received on this public notice will be used in the evaluation.
Consideration of Comments: The Corps is soliciting comments from the public, Federal, State, and local agencies and officials, and other interested parties. Comments will be made part of the record, and they will be considered before permission is granted to proceed with this action. Please limit comments to the area of the alteration and those adjacent areas that would be directly or indirectly affected by the alteration described in this public notice.
Submission of Comments: Interested parties may submit, in writing, any comments concerning this proposal. Comments should reference public notice no. 408-SPL-PN-2025-0017 and be forwarded by the comment due date of January 9, 2025. Comments must be sent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, Operations Division, ATTN: Section 408 Permissions, 915 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1109, Los Angeles, California 90017-3409. Alternatively, comments can be sent electronically to spl.408permits@usace.army.mil.
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
LOS ANGELES DISTRICT, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
Los Angeles District, Corps of Engineers
915 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1109
Los Angeles, California 90017-3409
WWW.SPL.USACE.ARMY.MIL/MISSIONS/SECTION-408-PERMITS
