NEPA Alternative Arrangements for Critical Physical Infrastructure in New Orleans, 14712-14716 [E6-4191]

Agencies

• Federal Emergency Management Agency
• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 56 (Thursday, March 23, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14712-14716]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4191]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

[FEMA-2006-0005]
RIN 1660-ZA14


NEPA Alternative Arrangements for Critical Physical 
Infrastructure in New Orleans

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of 
Homeland Security.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) have established Alternative Arrangements 
to meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) and the CEQ Regulations for Implementing the Procedural 
Requirements of NEPA (CEQ Regulations) for FEMA Grants to Reconstruct 
Critical Infrastructure in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. These 
Alternative Arrangements are designed to enable timely action on the 
expected large number of grant applications to restore safe and 
healthful living conditions in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area 
(NOMA). These alternative arrangements will enable FEMA, as a component 
of DHS, to consider the potential for significant impacts to the human 
environment from its approval to fund the reconstruction of critical 
physical infrastructure in NOMA through its grant programs.

DATES: Comments due on or before May 22, 2006.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket Number FEMA-
2006-0005, by one of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    E-mail: FEMA-RULES@dhs.gov. Include Docket Number FEMA-2006-0005 in 
the subject line of the message.
    Fax: 202-646-4536.
    Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General 
Counsel, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Room 406, 500 C Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20472.
    Instructions: All Submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number (if available). Regardless of the method used for 
submitting comments or material, all submissions will be posted, 
without change, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://
www.regulations.gov, and will include any personal

[[Page 14713]]

information you provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes 
it public. You may wish to read the Privacy Act notice that is 
available on the Privacy and Use Notice link on the Administration 
Navigation Bar of https://www.regulations.gov.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://
www.regulations.gov. Submitted comments may also be inspected at FEMA, 
Office of General Counsel, 500 C Street, SW., Room 406, Washington, DC 
20472.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brent Paul, Environmental Officer, 
Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500 C Street SW., Washington, DC 
20472, or phone (202) 646-3032.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. What are NEPA Alternative Arrangements?

    NEPA Alternative Arrangements are a set of procedures, established 
in consultation with CEQ, for complying with the requirements of the 
National Environmental Policy Act and CEQ regulations when emergency 
circumstances require taking actions with significant environmental 
impacts and there is not sufficient time to follow the regular 
Environmental Impact Statement process. These arrangements are limited 
to actions necessary to control the immediate impacts of the emergency. 
CEQ and DHS arrived at these alternative arrangements in accordance 
with 40 CFR 1506.11 on December 6, 2005.

2. What is the nature of the emergency?

    Damages to the critical physical infrastructure in the New Orleans 
Metropolitan Area (NOMA) from the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita 
have rendered parts of the city inoperable and uninhabitable. Without 
the restoration of this critical infrastructure the city cannot 
adequately support a safe and healthy reconstruction and repopulation 
process.
    FEMA expects a large number of grant applications which would 
overwhelm the available personnel and resources to assess each 
application in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Review and 
approval of these applications must be accomplished in an expeditious 
manner to provide safe and healthy conditions for the reconstruction 
and repopulation of NOMA and will be required in a timeframe that does 
not allow available staff and resources to complete the EIS process and 
to issue the individual Record of Decision (ROD).

3. What authority exists for these Alternative Arrangements?

    These Alternative Arrangements were prepared pursuant to CEQ 
regulations at 40 CFR 1506.11 and FEMA regulations at 44 CFR 10.13.

4. What types of critical physical infrastructure actions fall under 
these Alternative Arrangements?

    Grant applications for the reconstruction of the following 
categories of critical physical infrastructure would be included under 
these Alternative Arrangements:
     Hospitals and health care facilities.
     Utilities and Wastewater Treatment Plants.
     Permanent police and fire stations.
     Government and court administration buildings.
     Detention Centers (jailhouses).
     Permanent schools.
    FEMA is developing a description for each category which it will 
post on the Web site established per the alternative arrangements 
(https://www.fema.gov/ehp/noma). This description will provide criteria 
for determining whether a grant for a specific proposed project falls 
within an identified critical infrastructure category and is subject to 
the alternative arrangements. The description will also describe 
mitigation measures that will be available to reduce environmental 
impacts including any impacts to properties eligible for listing or 
listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

5. Who was consulted during the preparation of these Alternative 
Arrangements?

    The Department of Homeland Security and the White House Council on 
Environmental Quality were heavily involved in the preparation of these 
Alternative Arrangements to ensure that they were necessary to control 
the immediate impacts of the emergency. This notice provides the 
process for engaging other potentially interested parties.

6. How does FEMA plan to consult and involve affected disaster victims, 
communities, and local governments?

    FEMA will continue to provide opportunities for stakeholders to 
become involved in the environmental review process through its regular 
outreach mechanisms including meetings sponsored by the Long Term 
Community Recovery Emergency Support Function and Public Assistance 
meetings with applicants and local officials. Other mechanisms provide 
special efforts to involve NOMA residents that may have temporarily 
relocated outside of NOMA, these mechanisms include the development of 
a FEMA Internet page with environmental related information specific to 
the proposed actions in NOMA (https://www.fema.gov/ehp/noma), and 
linking to other public involvement forums such as State, parish, local 
group, and committee hearings, and outreach through various groups like 
faith-based organizations.

7. How can affected disaster victims and the general public submit 
comments to FEMA on these NEPA Alternative Arrangements?

    The general public and disaster victims can submit comments 
regarding this procedure through one of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    E-mail: FEMA-RULES@dhs.gov. Include Docket Number FEMA-2006-0005 in 
the subject line of the message.
    Fax: 202-646-4536.
    Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General 
Counsel, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Room 406, 500 C Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20472.
    The general public should submit comments on the content of the 
website and project specific information to FEMA-NOMA@dhs.gov.

8. Why are NEPA Alternative Arrangements needed for the FEMA-funded 
reconstruction of critical infrastructure in NOMA?

    The NEPA Alternative Arrangements have been developed for the New 
Orleans Metropolitan Area because it was a unique situation where the 
sensitivity of the area, the level of devastation, and the density of 
reconstruction that will be addressed through FEMA grants warranted the 
agency to consider all FEMA funding of projects rather than 
environmentally assessing the impacts of each grant application 
individually. The combined effects of these numerous actions are highly 
uncertain, may involve unknown risks, and are expected to result in 
cumulatively significant environmental impacts.
    FEMA believes that actions in this small geographic area by one 
applicant could likely result in an extensive land use change which may 
be incompatible with existing or planned land use of the surrounding 
area. In addition, the wind and flood damage from Hurricane Katrina in 
NOMA was concentrated in

[[Page 14714]]

largely low-income and minority communities. As a result, 
reconstruction of the critical infrastructure in these areas and its 
related environmental effects (i.e. land-use changes, air quality 
impacts of construction activities, air quality impacts of traffic 
patterns, water quality impacts, etc.) may disproportionately impact 
these communities.
    NOMA contains numerous historic properties, many of which are 
listed or eligible to be listed in the National Register of Historic 
Places. These historic properties may be adversely impacted by the 
reconstruction activities.
    FEMA also believes that the accumulated effects of FEMA-funded 
reconstruction actions together with other local, State, and Federal 
planned actions for the New Orleans Metropolitan Area may result in 
significant environmental impacts.

9. Will these Alternative Arrangements circumvent the basic concepts of 
NEPA?

    The Alternative Arrangements cannot circumvent the National 
Environmental Policy Act because they are imbedded in the procedures 
established to comply with the Act. The intent of these arrangements is 
to implement the basic principles of NEPA as reflected in the CEQ 
regulations implementing the NEPA section 102(C) requirement for a 
detailed statement to the extent practical in the time available. The 
arrangements will provide expedited but effective fulfillment of the 
public involvement, consideration of alternatives, impacts analyses, 
and informed decision making objectives of NEPA. CEQ provided its 
letter concurring with these alternative arrangements on December 6, 
2005.

10. Will alternatives to projects be considered under these Alternative 
Arrangements?

    Non-federal applicants may include alternatives in their 
applications for funding for reconstruction of critical physical 
infrastructure in NOMA. These Alternative Arrangements allow for, but 
do not require, the submission or analysis of alternatives for 
individual projects. However, evaluation of alternatives, such as 
mitigation alternatives to meet other legal requirements like 
Floodplain Management and Wetlands Protection regulations or Executive 
Order 12898 on Environmental Justice, will be considered in the context 
of the grant applications. For example, the evaluation of alternatives 
may also be used to assist in the identification of treatment measures 
for undertakings that may have adverse effects on properties that are 
eligible for or listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
    The applicant may provide sector-specific Critical Infrastructure 
Facility Plans. This plan will provide the needs identified by the 
applicant for a particular sector and the development plan to meet 
those needs. These plans may have an evaluation of alternatives for the 
re-establishment of the sector's critical infrastructure.

11. What is the end date for these NEPA Alternative Arrangements?

    The NEPA Alternative Arrangements are limited to actions necessary 
to control the immediate impacts of the emergency. The need for the 
Alternative Arrangements will continue to exist as long as necessary to 
process grant applications for the reconstruction of critical 
infrastructure in NOMA. While there is no clear end date, grant 
applications are expected to arrive as local, regional, State, and 
interstate planning efforts conclude. For NOMA, the response time from 
the receipt of the grant application, to action on the application, and 
implementation or execution dates of approved grant applications is 
further limited by public health and safety concerns. It is urgent to 
restore the critical infrastructure needed to protect the health and 
safety of the public in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area.

12. How are these NEPA Alternative Arrangements reviewed?

    DHS and CEQ will review these Alternative Arrangements on a 
quarterly basis to assess their effectiveness and longevity. This 
review will include a review of significant comments received during 
the previous quarter. The review will be made available to the public 
through the Web site prepared for the Alternative Arrangements 
(www.fema.gov/ehp/noma).

13. How is FEMA ensuring that projects comply with other Federal 
environmental and historic preservation laws?

    Projects that are subject to the NEPA Alternative Arrangements must 
comply with other environmental and historic preservation laws and 
executive orders. Thus, projects subject to the Alternative 
Arrangements will still be reviewed to ensure compliance with relevant 
environmental and historic preservation laws and executive orders. The 
results of this review will be made available to the public through the 
web site.
    The Department of Homeland Security and CEQ have established 
Alternative Arrangements to meet the requirements of NEPA and the CEQ 
Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Requirements of NEPA for 
FEMA Grants to Reconstruct Critical Infrastructure in the New Orleans 
Metropolitan Area. These Alternative Arrangements are designed to 
enable timely action on the expected large number of grant applications 
to restore safe and healthful living conditions in the New Orleans 
Metropolitan Area. These alternative arrangements will enable FEMA to 
consider the potential for significant impacts to the human environment 
from its approval to fund the reconstruction of critical physical 
infrastructure in NOMA through its grant programs.
    The Alternative Arrangements to Meet National Environmental Policy 
Act Requirements for the Reconstruction of New Orleans Metropolitan 
Area Critical Infrastructure Funded by Federal Emergency Management 
Agency Grant Programs follows: Alternative Arrangements to Meet 
National Environmental Policy Act Requirements for the Reconstruction 
of New Orleans Metropolitan Area Critical Infrastructure Funded by 
Federal Emergency Management Agency Grant Programs

I. Scope of the Emergency

    Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused sufficient damage in parts of 
the State of Louisiana to trigger Presidential disaster declarations 
for these areas. Damage was so severe and wide spread that the impact 
of Hurricane Katrina was also designated as the first catastrophic 
incident of national significance under the National Response Plan. 
Disaster-related damages to the critical physical infrastructure in the 
New Orleans Metropolitan Area (NOMA) have rendered parts of the city 
inoperable and uninhabitable. Without this critical infrastructure the 
city cannot adequately support a safe and healthful reconstruction and 
repopulation process.
    The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management 
Agency (FEMA) expects numerous grant applications requiring agency 
action in a timeframe \1\ that would not allow for completion of an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and a Record of Decision (ROD). 
This constitutes an emergency situation.
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    \1\ This limited timeframe is the time from the receipt of the 
grant application to the approval and execution of the proposed 
action.
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    The Department of Homeland Security and the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) established these alternative

[[Page 14715]]

arrangements to enable timely action on grant applications to restore 
safe and healthful living conditions in NOMA while observing the 
requirements and objectives of the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA). These alternative arrangements will enable FEMA to consider the 
potential for significant impacts to the human environment from its 
funding the reconstruction of critical physical infrastructure in NOMA 
through its grant programs. These alternative arrangements have been 
developed in consultation with CEQ pursuant to NEPA regulations found 
in 40 CFR 1506.11 and 44 CFR 10.13.

II. Actions Needed to Control the Immediate Impacts of the Emergency

    FEMA currently administers grant programs to fund the repair, 
restoration, and replacement of eligible infrastructure that has been 
damaged or destroyed in areas that have been included in a Presidential 
disaster declaration. Although the restoration of eligible 
infrastructure substantially to its pre-disaster conditions is excluded 
from NEPA by section 316 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5159) FEMA anticipates that the 
applications from the State of Louisiana for NOMA will more strongly 
reflect future demands than returning to pre-disaster conditions. 
Proposed projects will not necessarily be the same size, nature, or 
location; will use current building codes, and construction methods; 
and take advantage of current community and urban planning principles, 
and hazard mitigation opportunities. In such situations NEPA does 
apply. The following types of critical physical infrastructure \2\ 
projects in NOMA that may qualify for FEMA grant funding are addressed 
by these alternate arrangements:
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    \2\ While levees are considered critical infrastructure, their 
restoration is not an eligible FEMA activity because they fall under 
the purview of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
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     Hospitals and health care facilities.
     Utilities and Wastewater Treatment Plants.
     Permanent police and fire stations.
     Government and court administration buildings.
     Detention Centers (jailhouses).
     Permanent schools.

III. Potential Significant Effects of the Proposed Action

    Both the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA consider this a 
unique situation where the sensitivity of the area and the level of 
devastation and the density of reconstruction warrant the agency to 
consider the FEMA funded projects together rather than individually. 
The combined effects of these numerous actions are highly uncertain and 
may involve unknown risks. However, FEMA believes the following factors 
that could trigger the need for an EIS may be present:
     Actions will likely result in an extensive change in land 
use;
     Actions could result in a land use change which is 
incompatible with existing or planned land use of the surrounding area;
     Many people, including low income and minority 
communities, will be affected by these actions;
     The environmental impacts of these actions will likely be 
controversial;
     Actions could adversely affect a significant amount of 
properties listed or eligible to be listed in the National Register of 
Historic Places; and
     Actions are likely to be either a part of or closely 
related to other actions underway or planned for NOMA and the 
cumulative nature of these projects could cause significant 
environmental impacts.

IV. Components of the NEPA Process that Add Value and Will Be Used

a. Public Involvement

    FEMA will continue to provide opportunities for stakeholders to 
become involved in the environmental review process through regular 
outreach mechanisms. An example of these mechanisms is meetings with 
the applicant and local officials to explain the Public Assistance 
Program requirements, including those environmental and historic 
preservation compliance requirements and related environmental, social, 
economic, cultural, and historic consequences. Other existing venues 
for the involvement of stakeholders will be identified and utilized to 
the extent practical. Public input will be used to further develop 
appropriate outreach mechanisms best suited to assist in assessing the 
potential for impact to the human environment from the reconstruction 
of critical physical infrastructure projects required to restore safe 
and healthful conditions for the repopulation of NOMA.
    Special effort will be taken to involve the general public and NOMA 
residents, including those that have temporarily relocated outside of 
NOMA. FEMA will develop an internet page for environmentally related 
public notices and environmentally related information specific to the 
proposed actions in NOMA. This page would also track other projects in 
NOMA in order to provide the public with information on the individual 
and the cumulative nature of impacts of the FEMA funded actions. 
Efforts would be made to link to other public involvement forums such 
as State, parish, local group, and committee hearings and make this 
information available via electronic and non-electronic modes of 
outreach to assure availability to all those potentially affected.
    For each project type, such as those identified above, FEMA will 
develop public involvement strategies that take into consideration the 
nature of that project type and the likely stakeholders that would have 
an interest in or be affected by those projects. Such strategies will 
include addressing national, State and local media, notifying groups 
linked to the various types of infrastructure, involving various civic, 
ethic, and religious groups, etc. When an action also requires public 
involvement to satisfy requirements under other Federal laws, 
regulations, or Executive Orders, including the National Historic 
Preservation Act and Executive Order 11988, Floodplains, FEMA will work 
to integrate those public involvement requirements into the alternate 
arrangements public involvement process.

b. Alternatives and Mitigation Measures

    FEMA has developed the list of types of critical infrastructure 
projects (section II) that would be addressed by these alternative 
arrangements when applications are received from the State of 
Louisiana. Grant applications are project specific and provide the 
proposed sites or alternative sites. Potential alternatives also 
include whether to approve or condition the grant.
    FEMA will establish criteria that will be followed for each type of 
critical physical infrastructure reconstruction project to mitigate or 
avoid significant environmental impacts whenever possible. Public input 
and consultation with the appropriate Federal, tribal, and State 
resource agencies will be used to help identify appropriate measures to 
minimize the potential for adverse environmental impacts associated 
with the reconstruction of each type of critical infrastructure. As 
these environmental impact evaluations are completed and mitigation 
measures are developed, FEMA will post available and relevant documents 
on the internet site and make copies available to interested groups and 
members of the public upon request.
    Given the urgency of the reconstruction effort, it is likely that

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some environmental impact analyses will need to proceed with incomplete 
or unavailable information. When information on the environmental 
effects of a type of critical physical infrastructure reconstruction is 
limited by incomplete or unavailable information, FEMA will use the 
direction in the Council on Environmental Quality regulations at 40 CFR 
1502.22.

c. Environmental (including related social, cultural, historic, and 
economic) Impacts and Incorporation of Other Environmental/Historic 
Preservation Documentation and Processes

    FEMA will post on the internet site prepared for NOMA and use the 
public outreach described above to provide the projects and associated 
environmental reviews. This will allow the public and environmental 
reviewers an opportunity to track all the projects and associated 
impacts in a given area in NOMA.
    FEMA will refer to and incorporate other available environmental 
and planning documents and data prepared for the NOMA area that provide 
useful information. The agency also intends to incorporate and utilize, 
to the extent feasible and practical, the environmental documentation 
or information prepared or gathered by other agencies before this event 
and those that will be prepared during the reconstruction and 
rebuilding efforts in NOMA. Examples of documents incorporated by 
reference include:
     New Orleans International Airport EIS.
     New Orleans Regional Transit Authority EIS for city's 
streetcar system.
     East-West Corridor Environmental Impact Study.
     New Orleans Riverfront Redevelopment Master Plan.
    FEMA will also document and incorporate its ongoing consultation 
efforts with other regulatory and environmental agencies including the 
State Historic Preservation Offices and the Advisory Council on 
Historic Preservation.

V. Duration of the Emergency

    The emergency identified above started at the moment of the 
Presidential disaster declaration and will continue until critical 
infrastructure in NOMA that is immediately necessary to protect the 
health and safety of the public is fully restored. Although the 
submission of some project applications may be contingent upon the 
occurrence of an independent event (i.e. reconstruction of levees, 
development of local plans, etc.), the need for the alternative 
arrangements would continue to exist so long as the amount of time 
(from the submission of the application to the date agency action on 
the application is necessary to allow timely implementation or 
execution of the action) is limited. FEMA and DHS will review these 
alternative arrangements with the Council on Environmental Quality on a 
quarterly basis to assess their effectiveness and longevity.

VI. Documentation

    Documentation of the analysis of the proposed actions on grant 
applications and the potential for significant impacts to the human 
environment will consist of these alternative arrangements and the 
evolving website and available documents incorporated by reference, 
with updates as new information becomes available, and the posting of 
agency actions (receiving, approving, conditioning, or denying) on 
critical infrastructure grant applications as well as notices of other 
actions being taking in the NOMA.

    Dated: March 20, 2006.
David Paulison,
Acting Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of 
Homeland Security.
 [FR Doc. E6-4191 Filed 3-22-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-41-P