The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announces the availability of the “Revised Draft Integrated Hurricane Sandy General Re-evaluation Report/Environmental Impact Statement, and revised General Conformity Determination” for Rockaway, East Rockaway and Jamaica Bay.
This release opens a 45-day public comment period that will end October 22, 2018.
“ This report represents the next step in ensuring stakeholder alignment as we work to increase resiliency for the Rockaway and Jamaica Bay communities ,” said Col. Thomas Asbery, the Army Corps’ New York District Commander.
“We will continue to work with our stakeholders at the federal and non-federal levels to finalize this study towards construction to provide residents of Rockaway and surrounding communities with additional flood risk reduction measures increasing the safety of residents within the project area.”
“The City applauds the Corps’ diligent work to meet this milestone within the timeline agreed upon by Mayor Bill de Blasio and General Semonite, Army Corps’ Commanding General, last winter ,” said Jainey Bavishi, Director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency .
“As the City has long said, the Atlantic Shorefront project is crucial to stemming erosion on Rockaway Beach. The City also looks forward to seeing the Corps work with bay-side communities to refine the bayside measures proposed in this report. Moreover, we urge the Corps to work with partners at the City, State, and Federal level to continue to work toward solutions that address the resilience of Jamaica Bay in a comprehensive manner.”
The focus of this coastal storm risk management study is the tidally affected area within Rockaway Inlet, Rockaway Beach and Jamaica Bay.
The Revised Draft General Re-evaluation Report/and Environmental Impact Statement has been updated to incorporate changes from comments received on the previously-released Draft Integrated Feasibility Report.