In accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (40 CFR Parts 1500 – 1508) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) procedures for implementing NEPA (40 CFR part 6), the EPA completed an independent environmental review of the proposed project as described below:

Project Name: Bardstown Town Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant Reactor & Clarifier Upgrade

Name and Address of Applicant: City of Bardstown, KY | 220 N. Fifth St. Bardstown, KY 40004

Project Location: City of Bardstown, KY

EPA Community Grant Amount: $2,000,000

Background
The Fiscal Year 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 117-328) included Congressional funding for water infrastructure projects which are awarded through the EPA Community Grant Program. The City of Bardstown was designated to receive appropriations funding support from the EPA for the Bardstown Town Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant Reactor & Clarifier Upgrade (the Proposed Action). Two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) serve the City of Bardstown, Kentucky. The Town Creek WWTP, located approximately 1 mile south of Stephen Foster Avenue along Town Creek, was last updated in the late 1970’s and has a current permitted capacity of 3.0 million gallons per day (MGD). Flows exceeding the plant’s peak daily capacity are pumped to the Jerry L. Riley WWTP (the Project will not involve any work at the Jerry L. Riley WWTP). The Town Creek WWTP currently experiences operational issues and occasional violations of the plant’s Kentucky Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (KPDES) permit limitations. It is unable to effectively treat its permitted capacity of 3.0 MGD due to hydraulic limitations and the inability of the bioreactor to effectively remove ammonia nitrogen at higher flows and loading rates. The Project proposes to rehabilitate and expand the primary Town Creek WWTP to allow the Town Creek WWTP to be re-rated for a permitted design flow of 4.0 MGD and treat a peak daily flow of 7.0 MGD. Any flows exceeding this peak daily flow will continue to be pumped to the Jerry L. Riley WWTP. The expected area of disturbance for construction is 4.6 acres, all disturbed area is within the limits of the existing WWTP and currently in use for wastewater treatment facilities.

Environmental Review
The EPA completed an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the project and, based on the environmental impacts described in the EA (Enclosure 1), determined that no significant environmental impacts are anticipated from the issuance of the grant and the Proposed Action does not constitute a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, making the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) unnecessary. Therefore, the EPA is issuing this preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) to document this determination.

This preliminary FONSI determination will be made available for a 30-day public comment period as required by 40 CFR Part 6.203. An electronic copy of the EA is available for download from the EPA’s NEPA Compliance Database at https://cdxapps.epa.gov/cdx-enepa- II/public/action/nepa/search.

Comments regarding this preliminary decision may be submitted for consideration to:
Karen Waterbury
Environmental Engineer
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4 61
Forsyth Street SW Atlanta, GA, 30303
Waterbury.Karen@epa.gov
404-562-8382

After evaluating any comments received, the EPA will make a final decision. This preliminary decision and finding will then become final after the 30-day comment period expires if no new significant information is provided to alter this finding.

Johnnie D. Purify Jr., MBA
Commander, U.S. Public Health Service
Grants, Infrastructure, and Nonpoint Source Branch