[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] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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