Project Overview: 
The San Clemente Shoreline Protection Project was authorized by the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014, Public Law 113-121, section 7002 for the purpose of reducing coastal storm damages by constructing a berm along the San Clemente shoreline, Orange County, California.
The authorized project includes construction of an approximate 50-foot-wide beach nourishment project, along a 3,412-foot-long stretch of shoreline, using about 251,000 cubic yards of compatible sediment, with renourishment on the average of every six years over a 50-year period of federal participation.
Physical monitoring of the performance of the project will be required annually throughout the 50-year period of federal participation. This plan would provide protection to various land elements, including the LOSSAN railroad. It also would expand the existing recreational beach. A comprehensive mitigation monitoring and reporting plan has been incorporated into the authorized project.
Initial project construction began in December 2023; however, due in part to equipment damage and sediment compatibility issues (presence of cobbles and other non-sandy material) encountered at the Oceanside borrow area in San Diego County, construction was temporarily paused in January 2024.
To allow for operational flexibility, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a Revised Supplemental Environmental Assessment in March 2024 that evaluated inclusion of the Surfside-Sunset Borrow Area, a 106-acre borrow site offshore Surfside-Sunset beaches, located 29 miles to the north of San Clemente in Orange County, as an alternate borrow site for initial construction of the project. In April 2024, during the construction window evaluated in the March 2024 Revised SEA, the USACE contractor placed 115,000 cubic yards of compatible sediment on San Clemente Beach as part of the initial construction of the project.
USACE is evaluating the continuation and completion of the initial construction of the project in 2024 or 2025, using the Surfside-Sunset Borrow Area.
Draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment:
USACE announces the availability of and is requesting comments on a Draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA; CECWP_SPL_104713) for the project.
USACE encourages all interested parties to submit comments concerning the analysis presented in the Draft SEA. Comments may be submitted through Sept. 20, 2024. The Notice of Availability below includes information about the Draft SEA and how to submit comments.
Draft SEA Dear Interested Parties Letter September 2024
San Clemente Draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment September 2024
Draft General Conformity Determination:
Interested parties are hereby notified of and provided an opportunity to comment on the Draft General Conformity Determination (DGCD). In accordance with Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter I, Subchapter C, Part 93, Section 93.156(b), notice is hereby provided that the DGCD contains a description of the proposed federal action and the federal agency’s draft conformity determination.
The DGCD is available for download at: San Clemente Shoreline Draft General Conformity Determination September 2024
Written comments on the DGCD must be received by Oct. 5, 2024. Comments by mail or email will be accepted.
Comments may be sent to:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District
Environmental Resources Branch (CESPL-PDR)
ATTN: San Clemente Shoreline Protection Project
915 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1109
Los Angeles, California 90017
Email: kenneth.wong@usace.army.mil