National Environmental Policy Act; Wallops Flight Facility Shoreline Restoration and Infrastructure Protection Program, 66800-66802 [2010-27354]

Agencies

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 209 (Friday, October 29, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66800-66802]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-27354]


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice (10-142)]


National Environmental Policy Act; Wallops Flight Facility 
Shoreline Restoration and Infrastructure Protection Program

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Final Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement (PEIS) for the Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) Shoreline 
Restoration and Infrastructure Protection Program (SRIPP).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, as amended, 
(NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality 
Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 
Parts 1500-1508), and NASA's NEPA policy and procedures (14 CFR Part 
1216, subpart 1216.3), NASA has prepared and issued the Final PEIS for 
the proposed SRIPP at WFF. The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau 
of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE), and 
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have served as Cooperating Agencies in 
preparing the Final PEIS.
    NASA is proposing to implement a fifty-year design-life storm 
damage reduction project at its WFF on Wallops Island, Virginia. WFF is 
continuously faced with storm damage resulting in the implementation of 
emergency repairs. The project would be conducted to reduce the need 
for these emergency repairs and the potential for storm-induced 
physical damage to the over $1 billion in Federal and State assets on 
Wallops Island. The Final PEIS examines in detail three project action 
alternatives, each expected to provide substantial damage reduction 
from storms with intensities ranging up to approximately the 100-year 
return interval storm. Although some reduction in flooding can be 
expected under each alternative, the primary purpose of the proposal is 
not flood protection, rather it is moving destructive wave energy 
further away from the Wallops Island shoreline and the infrastructure 
behind it.
    Alternative One, NASA's preferred alternative, would include 
extending the existing Wallops Island seawall up to a maximum of 1,400 
meters (m) (4,600 feet [ft]) south and placing an estimated 2.5 million 
cubic meters (MCM) (3.2 million cubic yards [MCY]) along the shoreline. 
Alternative Two would include the same seawall extension as Alternative 
One; however the sand placed along the shoreline would be less at 
approximately 2.2 MCM (2.9 MCY). Under this alternative, NASA would 
also construct a groin perpendicular to the shoreline at the south end 
of the project site to limit the volume of nearshore sand being 
transported from the restored Wallops Island beach to the south. 
Alternative Three would entail the same seawall extension as in 
Alternatives One and Two; however sand placement would be the least of 
the Alternatives at approximately 2.1 MCM (2.8 MCY). NASA would 
construct a single detached breakwater parallel to the shoreline at the 
south end of the project site to retain sand under Alternative Three. 
Under all three project alternatives, NASA would obtain the sand 
required for its initial beach nourishment from an unnamed shoal 
(referred to as Shoal A) located in Federal waters approximately 23 
kilometers (km) (14 miles [mi]) east of Wallops Island. Sand for an 
expected nine future renourishment cycles could

[[Page 66801]]

come from either Shoal A or a second offshore shoal in Federal waters 
referred to as Shoal B, approximately 31 km (19 mi) east of the project 
site. Additionally, NASA is considering transporting sand that 
accumulates on north Wallops Island to supplement its future 
renourishment needs (commonly known as ``backpassing''). It is 
estimated that up to half of the required renourishment volumes could 
be obtained from ``backpassing.'' The No Action Alternative is to not 
implement the WFF SRIPP, but to continue making emergency repairs to 
the existing Wallops Island seawall and infrastructure, as necessary.

DATES: NASA will issue a Record of Decision (ROD) for the proposed 
SRIPP based on the Final PEIS no sooner than 30 days from the date of 
publication in the Federal Register of the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency's Notice of Availability of the Final PEIS.

ADDRESSES: The Final PEIS may be reviewed at the following locations:
    (a) Chincoteague Island Library, 4077 Main Street, Chincoteague, 
Virginia 23336 (757-336-3460).
    (b) Eastern Shore Public Library, 23610 Front Street, Accomac, 
Virginia 23301 (757-787-3400).
    (c) Northampton Free Library, 7745 Seaside Road, Nassawadox, 
Virginia 23413 (757-414-0010).
    (d) NASA Wallops Flight Facility Technical Library, Building E-105, 
Wallops Island, Virginia 23337 (757-824-1065).
    (e) NASA Headquarters Library, Room 1J20, 300 E Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20546-0001 (202-358-0168).
    A limited number of hard copies of the Final PEIS are available, on 
a first request basis, by contacting Joshua Bundick, NASA WFF, 
Environmental Office, Code 250.W, Wallops Island, Virginia 23337; 
telephone 757-824-2319; or electronic mail at 
Joshua.A.Bundick@nasa.gov.
    The Final SRIPP PEIS is available on the Internet in Adobe[supreg] 
portable document format at https://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code250/shoreline_eis.html. NASA's ROD will be made available, once issued, on 
the same Web site as above and by request to the contact provided 
above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Additional information on the WFF 
SRIPP can be obtained by addressing an e-mail to wff_shoreline_eis@majordomo.gsfc.nasa.gov or by mailing to 250/NEPA Manager, WFF 
Shoreline Restoration and Infrastructure Protection Program, NASA 
Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, 
Virginia 23337. Additional information about the WFF SRIPP and NASA's 
NEPA process may be found on the internet at https://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code250/shoreline_eis.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  The Final PEIS addresses the environmental 
impacts associated with NASA's proposed implementation of a 50-year 
design-life storm damage reduction program along the shoreline of 
Wallops Island. The environmental impacts of principal concern are 
those that could result from dredging sand from offshore shoals, 
removing sand from north Wallops Island, and from the construction of a 
sand retention structure at the south end of the project site.
    The three action alternatives considered in the Final PEIS would 
all provide the facilities on Wallops Island equal levels of storm 
damage reduction for the duration of the program. Each alternative 
would involve the establishment of an approximately 34 m (110 ft) wide 
dry beach along approximately 6,000 m (19,700 ft) of the Wallops Island 
shoreline to serve as a primary line of defense from destructive storm 
waves. In addition to the beach, a sand dune would be created to cover 
the ocean side of the existing and proposed seawall. The remaining 
portion of the fill would be placed underwater and would gradually 
slope to the east. It is expected that the fill alone would provide 
considerable damage reduction from a 30-year return interval storm. 
With the fill combined with the rock seawall, the project would provide 
substantial infrastructure damage reduction from up to an approximately 
100-year return interval storm. A rock sand retention structure (a 
groin or breakwater) is included under Alternatives Two and Three, 
respectively, to slow the transport of sand from the project site and 
potentially reduce the amount of beach fill needed both initially and 
throughout the lifecycle of the project.
    All three alternatives would involve an initial construction phase 
and future follow-on maintenance cycles. The initial construction phase 
would likely include three distinct elements spanning three fiscal 
years:
    Year 1 Activities--The existing rock seawall would be extended 
approximately 400 m (1,315 ft) south. Additional lengthening (up to the 
1,400 m [4,600 ft] total length) would be accomplished in future years 
as funding becomes available.
    Year 2 Activities--Approximately one third of the sand necessary 
for beach nourishment would be placed along the Wallops Island 
shoreline. Work would likely begin at the south end of the project site 
and would gradually move north. Sand placement would involve removing 
sand from Shoal A by hopper dredges and pumping the material onto the 
beach.
    Year 3 Activities--The remaining sand needed to complete the beach 
nourishment would be placed along the Wallops Island shoreline. 
Additionally, under Alternatives Two and Three, the sand retention 
structure would be constructed.
    Subsequent beach renourishment cycles would vary throughout the 
lifecycle of the proposed project. Factors dictating the frequency and 
magnitude of such actions would include project performance as revealed 
through ongoing monitoring, storm severity and frequency, and 
availability of funding. For each of the action alternatives considered 
in the PEIS, the renourishment cycle is anticipated to be every five 
years, totaling nine cycles over the fifty year design life of the 
project.
    In addition to the construction activities outlined for each of the 
three action alternatives, NASA would implement a rigorous monitoring 
program that would begin with construction in Year 1 and continue 
throughout the project. The intent of the monitoring program is to 
measure the performance of the project, and through adaptive 
management, make informed decisions regarding the need for 
renourishment, sand retention structures, and future storm damage 
reduction measures.
    Despite the programmatic nature of the PEIS, NASA included detailed 
information on the three action alternatives that it is considering for 
the SRIPP. Given the severity of shoreline erosion at Wallops Island 
and WFF's vulnerability to storms, it is imperative that a storm damage 
reduction project be implemented as soon as possible. As a result, this 
PEIS includes such detail as structure dimensions and locations so that 
the selected alternative could be implemented and permitted without the 
need for additional NEPA documentation. In addition to structure 
dimensions and locations, this information includes beach fill volumes, 
dredging locations, and dredging operations. Proposed sand retention 
structures have been modeled and potential impacts evaluated at 
specific locations within the project area based on current conditions 
at Wallops Island. Utilizing an adaptive management approach, NASA 
would evaluate future actions that may include variations of the 
alternatives evaluated in the PEIS.

[[Page 66802]]

Given the dynamic nature of the ocean environment, and that exact 
locations and magnitude of renourishment cycles may fluctuate, 
additional NEPA documentation for subsequent actions may be prepared in 
the future, as appropriate.
    NASA published a Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft SRIPP 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on February 26, 2010 (75 FR 
8997). NASA mailed over 125 hard copies and/or compact disks (CDs) of 
the Draft PEIS to potentially interested Federal, State, and local 
agencies; organizations; and individuals. In addition, the Draft PEIS 
was made publicly available in electronic format on NASA's Web site. 
The public review and comment period for the Draft PEIS closed on April 
19, 2010. NASA received a total of 12 submissions (letters and e-mails) 
from Federal, State, and local agencies; organizations; individuals; 
and its Independent Technical Review team. The resulting 315 individual 
comments received spanned a broad range of topics; however the majority 
of commentors expressed concern regarding effects of the project on 
wildlife, fisheries, and sediment transport. The comments are addressed 
in the Final PEIS in Appendix N. NASA also formally consulted with 
resource agencies regarding potential effects of the program on 
Federally threatened and endangered species, Essential Fish Habitat, 
cultural and historic resources, and coastal resources. The outcomes of 
these consultations are summarized in the Final PEIS and are also 
included as appendices.

Olga M. Dominguez,
Assistant Administrator for Strategic Infrastructure.
[FR Doc. 2010-27354 Filed 10-28-10; 8:45 am]
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