[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 233 (Monday, December 6, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68088-68089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-31556]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers
Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement--
Atlantic Coast of Long Island, From Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point,
NY, Reach 1--Fire Island Inlet to Moriches Inlet; Interim Plan for
Storm Damage Protection
AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Army, DOD.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The responsible lead agency is the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, New York District. The responsible cooperating agencies are
the National Park Service's Fire Island National Seashore and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service. The sponsor for this project will be the New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The Fire Island
Interim Project (FIIP) area is bounded by Fire Island Inlet to the west
and Moriches Inlet to the east, and includes a National Park known as
the Fire Island National Seashore (FIIS), populated communities within
the Seashore, Robert Moses State Park, and Smith Point County Park. The
island is approximately 30 miles in length, with a width that generally
varies between 800 and 2,500 feet. Fire Island is separated from the
mainland of Long Island by the Great South Bay. The study area includes
the shoreline, barrier beaches, bay areas and low lying mainland areas.
Although the study area consists of the entire island coastline, the
project will specifically target selected sections of the island which
currently provide low levels of protection against overwash and
breaching. The New York District has investigated public concerns
within the projected area in providing interim storm damage protection.
The proposed interim project is the environmentally preferred plan
because the six year long interim project would provide barrier island
and bay storm damage protection while maintaining the natural
protective features of the barrier island.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding the scoping
process or requests for the Draft Environment Impact Statement may be
directed to: Attn: Peter M. Weppler, EIS Coordinator, (212) 264-0195,
Planning Division, Corps of Engineers, New York District, 26 Federal
Plaza, New York, New York 10278-0090.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of the Army has recommended a
plan for implementation, called the interim plan.
[[Page 68089]]
The interim plan consists of construction of beach fill and a dune
system along 11.4 miles of Fire Island. Through restoration and
enhancement of the existing dunes, the interim plan would provide a
continuous protective dune system to reduce overwashing and breaching
of the barrier island thereby reducing storm damages to structures
located on Fire Island and the bay shore of Long Island while the Fire
Island to Montauk Point Study is being reformulated. The interim plan
would involve an initial beach fill and dune building and is
anticipated to be renourished once during its six-year life. During
this six-year period, the proposed interim project would be able to
withstand a storm with a return period of 44 years. The project has
been designed so that only those areas with a high breach potential
would receive beach fill. In environmentally sensitive areas, feeder
beaches would be constructed on the up-drift side so that no
construction would take place in these sensitive areas. The interim
plan consists of sections of beach berm at elevation +9.5 feet above
National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) with a dune elevation of + 15
feet above NGVD for a length of 18,400 feet, sections of beach berm at
elevation +11.5 feet above NGVD with a dune elevation of +18 feet above
NGVD for a length of 18,200 of shoreline and sections of beach berm at
elevation + 9.5 above NGVD with no dune fill for a length of 23,300.
The construction of the proposed beach fill and dune system includes
developed as well as undeveloped lands within the Fire Island National
Seashore (FIIS), Robert Moses State Park, and Smith Point County Park.
The environmental analysis found no significant effects on the
human environment. No historic properties eligible for the National
Register of Historic Places would be adversely affected by the proposed
interim project.
The primary effects from the implementation of the proposed interim
project are associated with the dredging from a borrow area 1.5 miles
offshore and the fill placement along the shorefront. Placement of sand
along the Fire Island beaches would result in temporary degradation of
the existing beat habitat during initial construction and during the
one periodic nourishment. Existing benthic organisms would be buried.
Benthic species are expected to re-colonize the new beachfront with no
substantial long-term impacts outside the area permanently lost by
extending the beach. Use of the shoreline area by fish and avian
species for feeding would be disrupted in the immediate vicinity of and
during the placement of the fill. Decreased water quality and increased
turbidity associated with the hydraulic placement of fill would also be
expected. These impacts are anticipated to be minor and short-term due
to the existing high degree of natural and human disturbance in the
beach fill areas. Fish and wildlife species that use these areas are
those adapted to the high wildlife species that use these areas are
those adapted to the high energy, dynamic condition of the ocean
shoreline. Fish and bird species would return following the period of
disturbance. Federally listed threatened piping plovers (Charadarius
melodus) currently nest at various part of the affected beachfront.
Impacts to these potential-nesting sites during construction activities
will be avoided though the implementation of a survey-monitoring
program, coordinated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Department of Interior (DOI) and Fire Island National Seashore
(FIIS) have indicated concerns about the consistency of the FIIP with
the General Management Plan (GMP) that has been prepared and adopted
for FIIS. The first GMP premise is that FIIS ``will be managed to
preserve the nationally significant natural resources while providing
for environmentally compatible recreation.'' However, the GMP also
recognizes that much of the island has been altered by human
habitation. These alterations have disturbed the natural morphology and
coastal processes. The GMP makes allowances ``to restore and maintain
the dune and beach system by environmentally compatible methods.''
Public Meetings
Public meetings are intended to provide the public the opportunity
to comment on the proposed plan and DEIS. A public notice issued at a
later date will provide the dates, times and locations of public
meeting(s). Additions to this mailing list can be made by notifying the
project EIS coordinator.
Frank Santomauro, P.E.,
Chief, Planning Division.
[FR Doc. 99-31556 Filed 12-3-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-06-M