[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 212 (Friday, November 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75621-75624]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23864]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2023-0148; FF09E42000-FXES111609BFEDR-234]


John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System; Florida, 
Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, and New York; Draft 5-Year Review Boundaries

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA) requires the 
Secretary of the Interior to review the maps of the John H. Chafee 
Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS) at least once every 5 years and 
make any minor and technical modifications to the boundaries of the 
CBRS as are necessary to reflect changes that have occurred in the size 
or location of any unit as a result of natural forces. We, the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), have conducted this review for 
CBRS units in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, and the Great Lakes 
region of New York. With this notice, we announce the findings of our 
review and invite comments on the draft revised boundaries from 
Federal, State, and local officials.

DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive your written comments 
by December 4, 2023.

ADDRESSES: 
    Accessing Files: The draft revised boundaries may be viewed in a 
web mapping application accessed from the Service's website at https://www.fws.gov/project/cbrs-5-year-review. For more information, see 
Request for Comments under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
    Submitting Comments: You may submit written comments by one of the 
following methods:
     Internet: Go to: https://www.regulations.gov. Search for 
and submit comments on Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2023-0148.
     U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing, 
Attn: Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2023-0148, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB/3W, Falls Church, VA 22041-3808.
    We request that you send comments by only one of the methods 
described above. We will post all information received on https://www.regulations.gov. If you provide personal identifying information in 
your comment, you may request at the top of your document that we 
withhold this information from public review. However, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katie Niemi, Coastal Barriers 
Coordinator, via telephone at 703-358-2071 or email at [email protected]. 
Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of 
hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or 
TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals 
outside the United States should use the relay services offered within 
their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in 
the United States.

[[Page 75622]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA; 16 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) requires the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) 
to review the maps of the CBRS at least once every 5 years and make, in 
consultation with the appropriate Federal, State, and local officials, 
such minor and technical modifications to the boundaries of the CBRS as 
are necessary solely to reflect changes that have occurred in the size 
or location of any unit as a result of natural forces (16 U.S.C. 
3503(c)).
    The Service's review included:

 Six of the 137 total units located in Florida
 All 13 units located in Georgia
 Fifteen of the 21 total units located in Louisiana
 All 34 units located in Maine
 All 21 units located in the Great Lakes region of New York

    The remaining Louisiana and New York (Long Island) units were not 
included in this review because they are part of separate comprehensive 
mapping projects (the related maps are awaiting adoption by Congress 
through legislation). The remaining Florida units were not included in 
this review but are planned for review in the future.
    Of the 89 total units reviewed, the Service revised 13 units that 
changed in size or location as a result of natural forces since they 
were last mapped. The Service's review of these areas also found two 
CBRS units that require modifications to correct administrative errors 
made in the past on maps for Lee County, Florida.

Background and Methodology

    Background information on the 5-year review effort and the 
methodology used to produce the revised boundaries can be found in a 
notice the Service published in the Federal Register on November 22, 
2022 (87 FR 71352).
    Prior to the Service's ``digital conversion'' effort for the CBRS 
maps (carried out during the period 2013-2016), the official CBRS maps 
had significant limitations due to their age, scale, and the now 
antiquated techniques used to create them. On August 29, 2013 (78 FR 
53467), the Service published a notice in the Federal Register 
describing the limitations of those original maps, along with the 
methodology that was used to transcribe the boundaries from those maps 
to new base map imagery for the purposes of the 5-year review. In that 
notice, the Service also described limited circumstances under which 
CBRS boundaries may be modified to correct administrative errors made 
in the past, either in (a) the transcription of the boundaries from 
maps that were reviewed and approved by Congress to the official CBRS 
maps on file with the Service or (b) the inclusion of unqualifying 
areas to the CBRS through a map modification to account for natural 
changes under 16 U.S.C. 3503(c). We found two administrative errors in 
Units P19 and P19P that were introduced through the digital conversion 
and 5-year review effort in Florida in 2016. Minor corrections to these 
two units are described below.

Proposed Modifications to the CBRS

    In accordance with CBRA's requirement to update the CBRS maps at 
least once every 5 years to account for natural changes, the Service 
has conducted a review of certain unit boundaries in Florida, Georgia, 
Louisiana, Maine, and the Great Lakes region of New York.
    The Service made modifications due to natural changes in the size 
or location of a total of 13 CBRS units (of the 89 units reviewed). In 
addition, two units in Florida were modified to correct administrative 
errors made in the past on maps for Lee County, Florida. Below is a 
summary of those changes and the results of our review.

Florida

    The Service's review found that five of the six CBRS units in 
Florida that are included in this review (Units FL-70, FL-70P, P19, 
P19P, P20, and P20P) require changes due to natural forces. In 
addition, two units in Florida, P19 and P19P, were modified to correct 
administrative errors. The imagery that was used on the currently 
effective maps is dated 2013. The imagery that was used for this 
review, and will be used for the revised maps, is dated 2022. Other 
CBRS units in Florida were not assessed as part of this review.
    For Unit P19, the administrative errors affect three privately 
owned structures that were inadvertently added to the unit when the 
Service modified the boundary in a prior 5-year review. Additionally, 
one adjustment was needed to correct an error in the transcription of a 
portion of the boundary of Unit P19P along the excluded area at the 
northern end of North Captiva Island affecting one structure. These 
errors are corrected as described below under these two units.
    Otherwise Protected Area (OPA) Unit P19P is made up of 15 discrete 
segments on North Captiva Island that are interspersed with System Unit 
P19. We are only modifying the northernmost segment of Unit P19P to 
reflect changes from natural forces. Although erosion has been 
occurring along the other 14 segments, we found that modifications 
beyond the scope of this project and our 5-year review authority are 
needed to first address significant misalignments in the locations of 
the OPA boundaries and the Cayo Costa State Park parcels they were 
intended to follow. These alignment errors were already present on the 
map adopted by Congress in 2000 via Public Law 106-360 and can be 
attributed to imprecise information regarding the location of the 
parcel boundaries at the time the CBRS map was produced. However, 
because these other errors are not of the administrative nature 
described in the Background and Methodology section above, they cannot 
be corrected administratively by the Service. Rather, such changes must 
be made through the comprehensive remapping process, which is described 
in more detail in a notice the Service published in the Federal 
Register on January 4, 2021 (86 FR 118).
    FL-70P: GASPARILLA ISLAND. Unit FL-70P has two discrete segments, 
but modifications to account for natural changes were only necessary in 
the western segment. The western boundary of the excluded area of this 
segment has been modified to account for natural changes in the 
shoreline between the Boca Grande Rear Range Lighthouse and Sea Grape 
Beach.
    P19: NORTH CAPTIVA ISLAND. The boundary along the western side of 
North Captiva Island that is coincident with the northernmost segment 
of Unit P19P has been modified to account for natural changes in the 
shoreline along the Gulf of Mexico. The excluded area boundary at the 
northern tip of North Captiva Island has been modified to account for 
natural changes in the shoreline along the Gulf of Mexico and Captiva 
Pass.
    In addition, two segments of the boundary along the excluded area 
have been modified to correct an administrative error made during the 
previous 5-year review for this unit that affected three existing 
structures. That boundary was modified in 2016 to account for natural 
changes in the shoreline. However, that boundary modification was not 
included in the description of the 5-year review changes included in 
the Federal Register notices associated with this unit dated November 
17, 2015 (80 FR 71826) and March 14, 2016 (81 FR 13407). The 2016 
boundary change inadvertently resulted in adding to the unit three 
existing structures along the beach in the North Captiva Dunes 
subdivision. The boundary has been modified so that the structures will 
no longer be located within the unit.

[[Page 75623]]

    P19P: NORTH CAPTIVA ISLAND. Unit P19P has 15 discrete segments that 
are all coincident with Unit P19. In the northernmost segment of Unit 
P19P, the western boundary coincident with Unit P19 has been modified 
to account for natural changes in the shoreline along the Gulf of 
Mexico.
    Additionally, an adjustment has been made to correct an 
administrative error in the transcription of the boundary from the CBRS 
map dated October 27, 2000, to the official map dated January 11, 2016, 
for this unit. We found that when we digitized the southern boundary of 
the excluded area on North Captiva Island for the purposes of the 5-
year review in 2015-2016, we did not properly follow the boundary 
transcription methodology described in the notice published in the 
Federal Register (August 29, 2013; 78 FR 53467).
    This transcription error resulted in small portions of six 
privately owned parcels, including one existing structure, being 
incorrectly depicted as within the unit in 2016. The southern boundary 
of the excluded area (part of the northern boundary of Unit P19P) is 
adjusted to correct this error and maintain the relationship between 
the OPA boundary, and the boundary of Cayo Costa State Park as 
established by Congress via Public Law 106-360 in 2000 and clearly 
indicated by legislative history and our background records on Unit 
P19P.
    P20: CAYO COSTA. The coincident boundary between Units P20 and P20P 
at the northern tip of Cayo Costa has been modified to account for 
natural changes in the shoreline along Boca Grande Pass.
    P20P: CAYO COSTA. Unit P20P has 13 discrete segments, but 
modifications to account for natural changes were only necessary in the 
northernmost segment. The coincident boundary between Units P20 and 
P20P at the northern tip of Cayo Costa has been modified to account for 
natural changes in the shoreline along Boca Grande Pass.

Georgia

    The Service's review found that 4 of the 13 CBRS units in Georgia 
require changes due to natural forces. The imagery that was used on the 
currently effective map is dated 2013. The imagery that was used for 
this review, and will be used for the revised map, is dated 2021.
    GA-05P: ALTAMAHA/WOLF ISLANDS: The coincident boundary between 
Units GA-05P and N03 has been modified to account for accretion at the 
northern tip of Little St. Simons Island.
    N03: LITTLE ST. SIMONS ISLAND: The coincident boundary between 
Units GA-05P and N03 has been modified to account for accretion at the 
northern tip of Little St. Simons Island.
    N06: CUMBERLAND ISLAND: Unit N06 has five discrete segments, but 
modifications to account for natural changes were only necessary in the 
southernmost segment. The coincident boundary between Units N06 and 
N06P along Beach Creek near its confluence with Cumberland Sound has 
been modified to account for natural changes in the shoreline.
    N06P: CUMBERLAND ISLAND: Unit N06P has six discrete segments, but 
modifications to account for natural changes were only necessary in the 
southernmost segment. The coincident boundary between Units N06 and 
N06P along Beach Creek near its confluence with Cumberland Sound has 
been modified to account for natural changes in the shoreline.

Louisiana

    The Service's review found that 3 of the 15 CBRS units in Louisiana 
that are included in this review (Units LA-03P, LA-04P, LA-05P, LA-07, 
LA-08P, LA-09, LA-10, S01, S01A, S02, S03, S08, S09, S10, and S11) 
require changes due to natural forces. The imagery that was used on the 
currently effective maps is dated 2013. The imagery that was used for 
this review, and will be used for the revised maps, is dated 2021.
    The remaining six Louisiana units were not assessed as part of this 
review because they are part of a separate comprehensive mapping 
project (the related maps are awaiting adoption by Congress through 
legislation).
    LA-05P: MARSH ISLAND/RAINEY. The boundary of the unit has been 
modified to account for wetland erosion along Vermilion Bay and West 
Cote Blanche Bay. Due to the significant rate of erosion in this area, 
some of the boundary has been generalized (i.e., simplified so that the 
map is clear, and the boundary is not overly detailed).
    LA-10: CALCASIEU PASS. A portion of the northern boundary of the 
unit has been modified to account for wetland erosion along West Cove. 
Due to the significant rate of erosion in this area, some of the 
boundary has been generalized (i.e., simplified so that the map is 
clear, and the boundary is not overly detailed).
    S10: MERMENTAU RIVER. The southern boundary of the excluded area at 
the western end of the unit has been modified to account for shoreline 
erosion along the Gulf of Mexico.

Maine

    The Service's review found that the 34 CBRS units in Maine do not 
need to be modified due to changes from natural forces. The imagery 
that was used on the currently effective maps is dated 2011 and/or 
2012, with the exception of one map that also utilizes imagery dated 
2003-2005. The imagery that was used for this review, and will be used 
for the revised maps, is dated 2021.

New York (Great Lakes)

    The Service's review found that 1 of the 21 CBRS units in the Great 
Lakes region of New York (the only CBRS units in New York that were 
part of this review) requires changes due to natural forces. The 
imagery that was used on the currently effective maps is dated 2013. 
The imagery that was used for this review, and will be used for the 
revised maps, is dated 2022.
    The remaining CBRS units in the Long Island region of New York were 
not assessed as part of this review because they are part of a separate 
comprehensive mapping project related to Hurricane Sandy (the related 
maps are awaiting adoption by Congress through legislation).
    NY-62: GRENADIER ISLAND. The eastern lateral boundary of the unit 
has been modified to account for the accretion of a sand spit that has 
migrated outside the unit.

Request for Comments

    CBRA requires consultation with the appropriate Federal, State, and 
local officials on the proposed CBRS boundary modifications to reflect 
changes that have occurred in the size or location of any unit as a 
result of natural forces (16 U.S.C. 3503(c)). We therefore invite 
interested Federal, State, and local officials to review and comment on 
the draft revised boundaries for Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, 
and the Great Lakes region of New York. The Service is specifically 
notifying the following stakeholders concerning the availability of the 
draft revised boundaries: (1) the Chair and Ranking Member of the House 
of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources, the Chair and 
Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, 
and the members of the Senate and House of Representatives for the 
affected areas; (2) the governors of the affected areas; (3) State and 
local officials with floodplain management and/or land use 
responsibilities for the affected areas; and (4) Federal officials with 
knowledge of the coastal geomorphology within the affected areas.

[[Page 75624]]

    Federal, State, and local officials may submit written comments and 
accompanying data as described in ADDRESSES, above. Comments regarding 
specific CBRS unit(s) should reference the appropriate unit number(s) 
and unit name(s). Please note that boundary modifications through the 
5-year review process can only be made to reflect changes that have 
occurred in the size or location of any CBRS unit as a result of 
natural forces. Other requests for changes to the CBRS outside of the 
Service's administrative authorities (16 U.S.C. 3503(c)-(d)) will not 
be considered at this time. We must receive comments on or before the 
date listed above in DATES.
    The draft revised boundaries may be viewed in a web mapping 
application accessed from the Service's website at https://www.fws.gov/project/cbrs-5-year-review. A shapefile of the draft revised CBRS 
boundaries, which can be used with GIS software, is also available for 
download. The shapefile is best viewed using the base imagery to which 
the boundaries were drawn; the base imagery sources and dates are 
included in the metadata for the shapefile. The Service is not 
responsible for any misuse or misinterpretation of the shapefile.
    Interested parties who are unable to access the draft revised 
boundaries or other information online may contact the individual 
identified in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above, and reasonable 
accommodations will be made.

Next Steps

    Following the close of the comment period, the Service will review 
all comments received on the draft revised boundaries; adjust the 
boundaries, as appropriate; prepare final revised maps; and publish a 
notice in the Federal Register to announce the availability of the 
final revised maps. The revised maps will take effect upon the date of 
publication of that notice in the Federal Register.

Authority

    Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA; 16 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Gary Frazer,
Assistant Director for Ecological Services.
[FR Doc. 2023-23864 Filed 11-2-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P