Lewis County: Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Rural Housing Service, USDA

ACTION: Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Rural Housing Service (RHS), as required by the National Environmental Policy Act, is issuing an environmental assessment (EA) in connection with possible impacts related to a project proposed by the Lewis County Board of Education to construct a new county high school on land immediately west of the existing high school facility in Hohenwald, TN. Lewis County has submitted an application to RHS for funding of the proposal.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vance Hamilton, Area Specialist, Rural Development, 237 Waterloo Street, Lawrenceburg, TN 38464 ([email protected]) phone: 931-279-5251. The Agency especially encourages contact to be made through electronic methods.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposal is for construction of a new high school facility designed to be approximately 106,000 SF with a detached field house of approximately 5,000 SF and associated parking, roadway and sidewalks. The site is approximately 28 acres and is owned by the Lewis County Board of Education.

The Breland Group, LLC., an environmental consultant, prepared an environmental assessment for the applicant that describes the project, assesses the proposed project’s environmental impacts, and summarizes as applicable any mitigation measures used to minimize environmental effects. RHS has conducted an independent evaluation of the environmental assessment and provided supplemental information and believes that it accurately assesses the impacts of the proposed project. No significant impacts are expected as a result of the construction of the project.

Questions and comments should be sent to RHS at the address provided. RHS will accept questions and comments on the environmental assessment for 14 days from the date of the first publication of this notice.

Any final action by RHS related to the proposed project will be subject to, and contingent upon, compliance with all relevant Federal environmental laws and regulations and completion of environmental review procedures as prescribed by 7 CFR Part 1970, Environmental Policies and Procedures.

A general location map of the proposal is shown:

Dated: March 3, 2022

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