Notice of Intent To Prepare Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Rebuild by Design Hudson River Project: Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge in the City of Hoboken, Township of Weehawken and City of Jersey City, New Jersey

This provides notice that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Rebuild by Design Hudson River Project: Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge (the Project) in the City of Hoboken, Township of Weehawken, and City of Jersey City, New Jersey. The Proposed Project was developed as a concept through the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force's Rebuild by Design (RBD) program, a design competition to promote the development of resiliency in the Sandy- affected region. The Proposed Project will consist of a four-part comprehensive strategy, including (1) hard infrastructure and soft landscape for coastal defense (Resist); (2) policy recommendations, guidelines and urban infrastructure to slow storm water runoff (Delay); (3) green and/ or grey infrastructure improvements to allow for greater storage of excess rainwater (Store); and (4) water pumps and alternative routes to support drainage (Discharge). The proposed project will occur throughout the City of Hoboken, with linkages to the adjoining communities in the Township of Weehawken and City of Jersey City. The Proposed Project was selected by HUD through the RBD competition, and HUD Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds have been allocated to it. CDBG-DR funding requires compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as stated in HUD's regulations as outlined in 24 CFR part 58. The Project is also subject to the Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508. HUD has further outlined the project's environmental review requirements in a Federal Register notice published on October 16, 2014 (79 FR 62182). The State of New Jersey, acting through the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, is the responsible entity that has assumed environmental responsibilities for the Sandy CDBG-DR programs in accordance with 24 CFR 58.1(b)(1). The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs has designated NJDEP to assist with the environmental review. NJDEP will prepare the EIS in accordance with HUD's procedures for NEPA found at 24 CFR part 58. This Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS (as defined at 40 CFR 1508.22) is in accordance with CEQ regulations, and represents the beginning of the public scoping process as outlined in 40 CFR 1501.7. As part of the public scoping process, a Draft Scope of Work will be prepared and submitted for public comment. The Draft Scope of Work will outline in detail the proposed Project actions as well as a description of areas of impact to be studied in the Draft EIS. The Draft Scope of Work will be finalized to reflect substantive comments received during the scoping comment period. After this is completed, the Draft EIS will be prepared and ultimately submitted for public comment. The Draft EIS will be circulated to the general public, as well as groups and government agencies that have been identified as having particular interest in the Proposed Project. A Notice of Availability will be published in the Federal Register and local media outlets at that time in accordance with HUD and CEQ regulations.