Programmatic Environmental Assessment draft, Jan 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

stipulation that the entire states of New York and New Jersey are deemed national disaster areas and are designated FEMA Disaster Response (DR)-1391.

1.2 OVERVIEW This draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) has been prepared to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500 through 1508), and FEMA regulations for NEPA compliance (44 CFR Part 10). The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act typically does not require full-blown NEPA analyses prior to funding approval in cases where restoration to pre-disaster conditions is contemplated. The circumstances surrounding the WTC disaster DR-1391 are deemed extraordinary and NEPA analyses are deemed necessary even though eligible projects may meet statutory or categorical exclusions defined by law. In accordance with NEPA and CEQ regulations, the goals and policies defined in NEPA have been integrated into up-front project planning so that environmental issues can be identified and considered during early project decision-making. FEMA and CEQ regulations encourage use of “tiering” whenever appropriate to eliminate repetitive discussions of issues and to focus on the actual issues pertinent for discussion at each level of environmental review. Tiering is accomplished through the preparation of a broadly focused PEA that discusses the impact of a projects or actions that are similar in action or location followed by more narrowly defined environmental studies concentrating on specific issues and specific projects, as necessary.

Although pertinent federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances were followed during the initial emergency response actions, this PEA does not address emergency response and recovery actions, such as debris recovery and disposal, interim utility line repair, traffic management, and overtime for government employees working to restore public services.

This draft PEA analyses the potential impacts related to federal projects that would repair or replace damaged infrastructiu-e identified primarily during responsible party and stakeholder agency coordination initiated through work groups and subcommittees of the Federal Task Force to Rebuild New York City. Funding would be provided for DR-1391 recovery and hazard mitigation projects under two FEMA programs: the Public Assistance (PA) Program and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).

1.3 PURPOSE AND NEED The proposed action is the restoration of the WTC site and related infrastructure to pre­ disaster conditions in the area of impact in lower Manhattan. The proposed action includes projects developed to replace infrastructure as it had previously existed and to mitigate and prevent or minimize the effects of future terrorist attacks. The activities to restore and rebuild lower Manhattan to pre-disaster conditions would occur after the emergency response and recovery operations are concluded. In general, restoration would begin as soon as debris is removed and appropriate recovery planning is completed

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