Public Notice of 63rd Street Pumping Station Power & Flood Resilience Project
Posted January 27, 2023PUBLIC NOTICE
Federal Emergency Management Agency
In accordance with 44 CFR §9.8 for Executive Orders 11988 & 11990
63rd Street Pumping Station Power and Flood Resilience Project
City of Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey
Notification is hereby given to the public of the intent of the Department of Homeland Security-Federal Emergency Management Agency (DHS-FEMA) to provide federal funding to the City of Bayonne as Subrecipient for financial assistance. The City is requesting funds to provide backup power to pump infrastructure. Funds are being requested through the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Program. The purpose of the BRIC program is to support states, local communities, tribes, and territories as they undertake hazard mitigation projects, reducing the risks they face from disasters and natural hazards. This notification is given in accordance with Executive Order (EO) 11988 (Floodplain Management), EO 11990 (Protection of Wetlands), Federal Coastal Zone Management Act, and 44 CFR Part 9, regulations for implementing EO 11988-11990.
The City of Bayonne has submitted an application to mitigate potential flooding associated with outages by providing a continuous standby backup power source to one of the municipalities’ pump stations. The project includes five (5) components:
- Furnishing and installing a new permanent 500 kW diesel generator with a 900-gallon fuel tank storage to mitigate recurrent and sometimes long-term power outages.
- Flood mitigation measures to protect the generator from potential flooding and water damage. The generator unit will be protected from water damage by being placed on an elevated concrete pad. The elevation of the newly installed generator unit is based on protection from 500-year flood events.
- Electrical improvements to facilitate service and monitoring of the new generator.
- Pump station building roof replacement and modifications to meet code requirements triggered by the electrical and flood mitigation activity.
- Installation of new fence and bollards for protection of the generator equipment.
This action would take place within the 100-year floodplain, AE zone, per the current preliminary flood insurance rate map. This indicates that the proposed action has the potential to affect, or be affected by, the floodplain. Protection of this pump facility will effectively reduce the risk of flood damage and loss of life. FEMA has determined that this investment of funds to reduce flood risk is in the public interest.
Comments about this project, potential alternatives, and floodplain and/or wetland impacts may be submitted in writing within 15 days of the date of this publication to: FEMA Region 2, Attn: Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation, 26 Federal Plaza, New York, NY, 10278 or via email to FEMAR2COMMENT@fema.dhs.gov. If substantive comments are received, FEMA will evaluate and address the comments as part of the environmental documentation for this project.