Final Fire Island Wilderness Breach Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Fire Island National Seashore, New York, 60213-60214 [2017-27244]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 19, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60213-60214]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27244]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-NER-FIIS-DTS-23982; P0201786a.00.1]


Final Fire Island Wilderness Breach Management Plan/Environmental 
Impact Statement, Fire Island National Seashore, New York

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability of 
the final Fire Island Wilderness Breach Management Plan/Environmental 
Impact Statement (final Breach Plan/EIS) for Fire Island National 
Seashore, New York. The final Breach Plan/EIS identifies Alternative 3, 
No Human Intervention unless Established Criteria are Exceeded, as the 
NPS preferred alternative. When approved, the management plan will 
guide the management of the breach that occurred in the Otis Pike Fire 
Island High Dune Wilderness during Hurricane Sandy.

DATES: The NPS will prepare a Record of Decision (ROD) no sooner than 
30 days following publication by the Environmental Protection Agency of 
a Notice of Availability of the final Breach Plan/EIS in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES: The final Breach Plan/EIS is available electronically at 
https://parkplanning.nps.gov/FireIslandBreachManagementPlan. A limited 
number of printed copies will be available upon request by contacting 
Fire Island National Seashore, 120 Laurel Street, Patchogue, NY 11772-
3596, 631-687-4770.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kaetlyn Jackson, Fire Island National 
Seashore, 120 Laurel Street Patchogue, NY, 11772, 631-687-4770, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fire Island National Seashore (the 
Seashore), a unit of the NPS, is located along the south shore of Long 
Island in Suffolk County, New York. The Seashore encompasses 19,579 
acres of upland, tidal, and submerged lands along a 26-mile stretch of 
the 32-mile barrier island--part of a much larger system of barrier 
islands and bluffs stretching from New York City to the very eastern 
end of Long Island at Montauk Point.
    On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy created three breaches in the 
barrier island system off the south shore of Long Island, New York, 
including one within the Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness 
Area (Fire Island Wilderness) within the Seashore. Managing a breach in 
designated wilderness is different from managing breaches outside 
wilderness areas, as the NPS must manage federal wilderness to preserve 
wilderness character. The existing Breach Contingency Plan is the only 
guidance currently in effect to address breaches along coastal Long 
Island from Fire Island Inlet east to Montauk Point but it does not 
adequately address management of breaches in the Fire Island 
Wilderness. As a result, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Seashore prepared a draft 
Fire Island Wilderness Breach Management Plan and Environmental Impact 
Statement (draft Breach Plan/EIS) to develop a management strategy for 
the breach in the Fire Island Wilderness that would ensure the 
continued integrity of the wilderness character; protect the natural 
and cultural features of the Seashore and its surrounding ecosystems; 
protect human life; and manage the risk of economic and physical damage 
to the surrounding areas. The draft Breach Plan/EIS was prepared in 
cooperation with the US Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, and 
the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.
    The NPS released the draft Breach Plan/EIS for public and agency 
review and comment beginning on October 27, 2016 and ending on December 
12, 2016. The draft Breach Plan/EIS evaluated two action alternatives 
(1 and 3) and the no-action alternative (2). Each alternative presented 
a different management strategy to address the breach in the Fire 
Island Wilderness.
    Alternative 1 (Closure Using Mechanical Processes) would

[[Page 60214]]

mechanically close the breach as soon as possible.
    Alternative 2 (Status Determined Entirely by Natural Processes) is 
the no-action alternative and allows the management of the breach under 
natural processes, to include evolution and potential growth and/or 
natural closure.
    Alternative 3 (No Human Intervention unless Established Criteria 
are Exceeded) is identified as the NPS preferred alternative. This 
alternative allows the evolution, growth, and/or closure of the breach 
to be determined by natural barrier island processes, and human 
intervention to close the breach would occur only ``to prevent loss of 
life, flooding, and other severe economic and physical damage to the 
Great South Bay and surrounding areas,'' as allowed by the Otis Pike 
Fire Island High Dune Wilderness Act. Monitoring data collected since 
2012 and professional judgment of physical scientists studying the 
breach have been used to determine that the three criteria described 
below are the most logical indicators to alert Seashore staff to 
changes in the breach that could elevate the risk of severe storm 
damage in the form of loss of life, flooding, and other severe economic 
and physical damage, which could lead to a decision to close the breach 
under Alternative 3:
     Criterion 1: Geologic Controls. Erosion-resistant clay to 
the east and west of the breach serve as geologic controls for the 
breach. If the breach migrates beyond these geologic controls, growth 
of the breach will be less predictable.
     Criterion 2: Cross-Sectional Area. Originally, the cross-
sectional area of the breach increased rapidly; however, the breach has 
reached a dynamic equilibrium in which the cross-sectional area has 
fluctuated between 300 and 600 square meters. A cross-sectional area 
within or below this range represents a condition in which the effects 
of the breach are understood. An increase in cross-sectional area above 
this range will indicate breach growth and a condition in which the 
evolution of the breach is less predictable and impacts to the 
surrounding areas may change.
    After reviewing and considering all comments received on the draft 
Breach Plan/EIS, the NPS has prepared the final Breach Plan/EIS. The 
final Breach Plan/EIS identifies Alternative 3 as the NPS preferred 
alternative with one change from the draft Breach Plan/EIS. The 
description of alternative 3 was edited in the final Breach Plan/EIS to 
include one additional criterion suggested by commenters:
     Criterion 3: Water Level as Measured by Tide Gauges. Data 
from tide gauges in Great South Bay will be reviewed to identify 
changes in the tidal prism, which could indicate a change in the breach 
conditions.
    Other changes made as a result of comments consisted of clarifying 
text added to the final Breach Plan/EIS that did not substantively 
change the range of alternatives considered or the environmental 
consequences of implementing any of the alternatives. Appendix C of the 
final Breach Plan/EIS discusses the comments received on the draft 
Breach Plan/EIS and provides NPS responses to substantive comments.

    Dated: August 7, 2017.
Cindy MacLeod,
Acting Regional Director, Northeast Region, National Park Service.

    Editorial note: This document was received for publication by 
the Office of the Federal Register on December 13, 2017.

[FR Doc. 2017-27244 Filed 12-18-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P