Notice of Intent To Prepare Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Rebuild by Design Hudson River Project: Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge in the City of Hoboken, Township of Weehawken and City of Jersey City, New Jersey, 53555-53557 [2015-22021]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 172 (Friday, September 4, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53555-53557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-22021]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5892-N-01]


Notice of Intent To Prepare Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) for the Rebuild by Design Hudson River Project: Resist, Delay, 
Store, Discharge in the City of Hoboken, Township of Weehawken and City 
of Jersey City, New Jersey

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an EIS.

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SUMMARY: This provides notice that the New Jersey Department of 
Environmental Protection (NJDEP) intends to prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) for the Rebuild by Design Hudson River Project: 
Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge (the Project) in the City of Hoboken, 
Township of Weehawken, and City of Jersey City, New Jersey. The 
Proposed Project was developed as a concept through the Hurricane Sandy 
Rebuilding Task Force's Rebuild by Design (RBD) program, a design 
competition to promote the development of resiliency in the Sandy-
affected region.
    The Proposed Project will consist of a four-part comprehensive 
strategy, including (1) hard infrastructure and soft landscape for 
coastal defense (Resist); (2) policy recommendations, guidelines and 
urban infrastructure to slow storm water runoff (Delay); (3) green and/
or grey infrastructure improvements to allow for greater storage of 
excess rainwater (Store); and (4) water pumps and alternative routes to 
support drainage (Discharge). The proposed project will occur 
throughout the City of Hoboken, with linkages to the adjoining 
communities in the Township of Weehawken and City of Jersey City.
    The Proposed Project was selected by HUD through the RBD 
competition, and HUD Community Development Block Grant-Disaster 
Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds have been allocated to it. CDBG-DR funding 
requires compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
as stated in HUD's regulations as outlined in 24 CFR part 58. The 
Project is also subject to the Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) 
NEPA regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508. HUD has further outlined 
the project's environmental review requirements in a Federal Register 
notice published on October 16, 2014 (79 FR 62182).
    The State of New Jersey, acting through the New Jersey Department 
of

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Community Affairs, is the responsible entity that has assumed 
environmental responsibilities for the Sandy CDBG-DR programs in 
accordance with 24 CFR 58.1(b)(1). The New Jersey Department of 
Community Affairs has designated NJDEP to assist with the environmental 
review. NJDEP will prepare the EIS in accordance with HUD's procedures 
for NEPA found at 24 CFR part 58. This Notice of Intent to prepare an 
EIS (as defined at 40 CFR 1508.22) is in accordance with CEQ 
regulations, and represents the beginning of the public scoping process 
as outlined in 40 CFR 1501.7. As part of the public scoping process, a 
Draft Scope of Work will be prepared and submitted for public comment. 
The Draft Scope of Work will outline in detail the proposed Project 
actions as well as a description of areas of impact to be studied in 
the Draft EIS. The Draft Scope of Work will be finalized to reflect 
substantive comments received during the scoping comment period. After 
this is completed, the Draft EIS will be prepared and ultimately 
submitted for public comment. The Draft EIS will be circulated to the 
general public, as well as groups and government agencies that have 
been identified as having particular interest in the Proposed Project. 
A Notice of Availability will be published in the Federal Register and 
local media outlets at that time in accordance with HUD and CEQ 
regulations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The New Jersey Department of 
Environmental Protection (NJDEP) by email to rbd-hudsonriver@dep.nj.gov 
or mail to David Rosenblatt, Director, Office of Flood Hazard Risk 
Reduction Measures, 501 East State Street, Mail Code 501-01A, P.O. Box 
420, Trenton, NJ 08625-0420.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Project Background

    The project area, comprising the entire city of Hoboken, and parts 
of Weehawken and Jersey City, is vulnerable to flooding from coastal 
storm surge events. Superstorm Sandy exposed the vulnerabilities within 
the project area by flooding over two thirds of the City of Hoboken's 
low-lying areas. The project area is also susceptible to flooding from 
high-intensity and long-duration rainfall events. Rainfall-induced 
flooding is more common within the project area and happens more 
frequently than coastal storm surge flooding. However, the effects of 
rainfall flooding on property damage are considerably less than from 
coastal storm surge flooding. The entire project area is serviced by a 
combined storm-sewer system that collects sewer flow from existing 
buildings and combines it with storm water runoff during rainfall 
events. This combined system does not have the capacity to treat the 
increased volume created during intense storm events, resulting in 
sewage backups in homes and onto city streets as well as the discharge 
of raw sewage into the Hudson River. Were Sandy to have been a 
substantial rainfall event as well as a storm surge event, Hoboken's 
past history of flooding during heavy rainfall events indicates that 
the storm could have further increased flooding levels and property 
damages.
    HUD launched the RBD competition in the summer of 2013 (July 29, 
2013, 78 FR 45551) to develop ideas to improve physical, ecological, 
economic, and social resilience in regions affected by Superstorm 
Sandy. The competition sought to promote innovation by developing 
flexible solutions that would increase regional resilience. The 
Proposed Project was one of the competition's six winning concepts; it 
was developed with the goal of reducing frequent flooding due to storm 
surge, high tide, and heavy rainfall. HUD awarded $230 million to the 
State of New Jersey for the Project in the municipalities of Hoboken, 
Weehawken, and Jersey City.

B. Project Description

    The Proposed Project takes a multi-faceted approach intended to 
address flooding from both major storm surges and high tides as well as 
from heavy rainfall events. The Proposed Project will occur throughout 
the City of Hoboken, and will extend into Weehawken and Jersey City, 
with the following approximate boundaries: The Hudson River to the 
east; Baldwin Avenue (in Weehawken) to the north; the Palisades to the 
west; and 18th Street, Washington Boulevard and 14th Street (in Jersey 
City) to the south.
    The project's comprehensive approach to resilience consists of four 
integrated components:
    1. Resist: a combination of hard infrastructure (such as bulkheads, 
floodwalls and seawalls) and soft landscaping features (such as berms 
and/or levees which could be used as parks) that act as barriers along 
the coast during exceptionally high tide and/or storm surge events;
    2. Delay: Policy recommendations, guidelines and urban green 
infrastructure to slow stormwater runoff;
    3. Store: Green and grey infrastructure improvements, such as 
bioretention basins, swales, and green roofs, that slow down and 
capture stormwater, and which will complement the efforts of the City 
of Hoboken's existing Green Infrastructure Strategic Plan; and
    4. Discharge: Enhancements to Hoboken's existing stormwater 
management system, including the identification and upgrading of 
existing stormwater/sewer lines, outfalls and pumping stations.

C. Project Alternatives

    The EIS will examine three build alternatives, as well as a No 
Action Alternative. Each of the three build alternatives will include 
elements of all four strategic project components: Resist, Delay, Store 
and Discharge. The three build alternatives vary primarily by the 
Resist infrastructure's alignment and termination points. The possible 
Resist alignments include: Along the waterfront, in the water (in the 
Hudson River), and upland. The waterfront is defined as along the 
existing walkway/esplanade that runs along the eastern edge of Jersey 
City, City of Hoboken and Township of Weehawken. The upland portion 
represents areas landward of the walkway/esplanade. The Resist 
structures will consist of a combination of multi-purpose levees, 
floodwalls and other features that will reduce the flood risk within 
the project area from future coastal storm surge events. In all three 
build alternatives, the Delay, Store, and Discharge, components will be 
located on the landward side of the Resist infrastructure and may 
consist of a combination of green infrastructure (bioswales, storage 
basins and others) and grey infrastructure (pumps, pipes and others).
    Alternative 1 will analyze a Resist alignment that is constructed 
along a combination of in-water, waterfront, and upland locations and 
terminates at appropriate locations upland or on the waterfront. 
Alternative 2 will analyze a Resist alignment constructed primarily 
along the waterfront with termination points at appropriate upland or 
waterfront locations. Alternative 3 will analyze a Resist alignment 
primarily constructed upland with termination points located upland. 
The No Action Alternative, which represents no improvements, will also 
be evaluated as part of the EIS. The alternatives analysis will consist 
of a comparison of the four alternatives' impacts on the environment 
pursuant to 24 CFR part 58, as well as how well each alternative meets 
the Project's Purpose and Need. This process, which will be described 
in detail in the EIS, will lead to the designation of a Preferred 
Alternative.

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D. Scoping

    A public EIS Scoping meeting will be held on September 24, 2015, 
from 7:00 until 9:00 p.m. at the Hoboken Multi-Service Center, located 
at 124 Grand Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. The public meeting facility is 
handicapped accessible to the mobility-impaired. Interpreter services 
will be made available for persons who are hearing or visually 
impaired, upon advance request. Additionally, interpreter services will 
also be made available for persons with Limited English Proficiency 
through a language access service. The EIS scoping meeting will provide 
an opportunity for the public to learn more about the proposed Project, 
as well as provide input on the EIS and the NEPA process. During the 
meeting, an overview of the Project will be provided as well as details 
on the early concept development. The public meeting will also provide 
an opportunity for the public to provide comment on the Project's 
proposed scope of work. A Draft Scope of Work document will be made 
available to the public for review and comment at the scoping meeting. 
An electronic version of the Draft Scope of Work will be available no 
later than September 8, 2015 at https://www.rbd-hudsonriver.nj.gov. 
Comments received during the scoping meeting or via email rbd-hudsonriver@dep.nj.gov or mail to David Rosenblatt, Director, Office of 
Flood Hazard Risk Reduction Measures, 501 East State Street, Mail Code 
501-01A, P.O. Box 420, Trenton, NJ 08625-0420 by October 9, 2015 
(within 15 days of the scoping meeting) will be considered for review.

E. Probable Environmental Effects

    The following areas have been identified for discussion in the EIS: 
Natural resources, including floodplain management, wetland protection, 
and threatened and endangered species; coastal zone management; sole 
source aquifers; wild and scenic rivers; farmland protection; explosive 
and flammable operations; airport hazards and runway clear zones; 
socioeconomics; environmental justice; land use; traffic circulation; 
air quality; noise; vibration; hazardous waste; cultural resources, 
including historic architectural and archaeological resources; 
infrastructure; utilities; and cumulative impacts.

F. Lead Agency

    In accordance with HUD regulations at 24 CFR part 58, the New 
Jersey Department of Community Affairs has designated NJDEP to assist 
with the environmental review and preparation of the EIS. Questions may 
be directed to the individual named in this notice under the heading 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

    Dated: August 31, 2015.
Harriet Tregoning,
Principal Deputy Assistant, Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development.
[FR Doc. 2015-22021 Filed 9-3-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4210-67-P