HEP Habitat Status Report 2001.Pdf
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New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program Habitat Workgroup ;1 regional partnership of federal, state, interstate, and local agencies, citizens, and scientists working together to protect and restore the habitat and living resources of the estuary, its tributaries, and the New York/Nc•F]ersey Bight City of New York/Parks & Recreation Natural Resources Group Rudolph W. Giuliani, Maym Henry J. Stem, Commissioner Marc A. Matsil, Chief, Natllfal Resources Group Chair, Habitat Workgroup, NY/NJ Harbor Estuary Program Status Report Sponsors National Pish and Wildlife Foundation City of New York/Parks & Recreation U.S. Environmental Protection Agency New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey City Parks Foundation HydroQual, Inc. Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. Lawler, Matusky & Skelly Engineers, LLP This document is approved by the New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary Prowam Policr Committee. The Policy Committee's membership includes the U.S. linvironmental Protection !lgency, U.S. ,lrmr Corps of!ingineers, New York State Department of nnvimnmental Conservation, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New York Local Government Representative (New York C'i~1· Dep;~rtment of Enl'imnmentnl Protection), Newjcrsey lJ>enl Government Rcpresentati1·e (Newark V?atershed Conservation and De,·elopment Corporation), and a Rcprcsent;JtiFe of the Citizens/Scientific and Technical Advisory Committees. Funds for this project were pnwided through settlement funds from the National Pish and \Vildlif(: Foundation. April 2001 Cover: Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). North Brother Island. Bronx Opposite: Pelham Bay Park, Bronx New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program Habitat Workgroup 2001 Status Report Table of Contents 4 Introduction 8 Section 1: Acquisition and Restoration Priorities 9 I. HEP Priority Watersheds 9 A. Arthur Kill 11 B. Hackensack Meadowlands 12 C. Jamaica Bay 13 II. Priority Acquisition and Restoration Sites 22 Addenda to the HEP Priority Acquisition and Restoration Sites List 24 Priority Acquisition and Restoration Funding 30 III. Significant Habitats and Habitat Complexes of the New York Bight Watershed 31 IV. Acquisitions by Watershed 31 A. Arthur I<:ill 33 B. Jamaica Bay 33 C. Raritan Bay 38 D. Raritan River 38 E. Long Island Sound 40 V. Restorations by Watershed 40 A. Arthur I<:ill 45 B. Hackensack River 46 C. Jamaica Bay 50 D. Long Island Sound 55 E. New York Harbor 56 F. Passaic River 56 G. Raritan Bay 58 H. Hudson River 59 I. Ongoing Army Corps Studies 61 J. NY /NJ Baykeeper Hudson-Raritan Oyster Restoration Project 62 K The Composting and Restoration Program (CARP) 62 L. NYC Parks/Greenbelt Native Plant Center and Rare Plant Propagation Program 63 VI. Funding Sources for Habitat Acquisition and Restoration 63 A. New York State Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act 65 B. Jamaica Bay Damages Account 65 C. Garden State Preservation Trust Act 65 D. Department of the Interior Funds 2 Table of Contents 66 Section 2: Watershed Planning and Protection of Critical Watersheds 67 I. National Wetlands Inventory: Northwest Staten Island 69 II. Watershed-Based Issues Maps 70 A. Jamaica Bay Issues Map 73 B. Arthur Kill Issues Map 76 Ill. Zoning Options for Enhanced Habitat Protection 76 A. Significant Habitat Designations 77 B. Means of Protection Currently in Use in New York State 81 C. Progressive Environmental Programs of Other Municipalities 84 Section 3: Restoration and Monitoring Protocols 86 I. Salt Marsh Monitoring Protocol 93 II. Forest Monitoring Protocol 104 III. Specifications for Plantings 125 IV. Evaluation of Mitigation Success Rates 126 Section 4: Wetland Permitting Coordination and Protection 127 I. NYS Wetland Permitting Agreement of Coordination 132 Section 5: Habitat Restoration and Stewardship Training 133 I. Landfill Restoration Symposium 133 II. NY /NJ Baykeeper Urban Stream Restoration Training Workshop 134 III. Bronx River Bioengineering Workshop 134 IV. Project WET 134 V. Watershed Stewards Program 136 Section 6: For Further Information 142 Appendix 1: Funding Resources for Habitat Restoration 156 Appendix 2: Letter to President Clinton 158 Appendix 3: Harbor Estuary Program International Landfill Restoration Symposium 158 Abstracts 17 5 Speaker Biographies 184 Appendix 4: US EPA- National Estuary Programs 186 Appendix 5: Acronyms 3 Introduction The New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program (HEP) was formed to protect the har bor's watersheds and to restore a healthy and productive ecosystem to full beneficial uses. A dynamic system covering 42,128 square kilometers, the New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary and Bight extend from the limits of tidal influence to the harbor transect. The area supports a diverse biotic assemblage within a sprawling urban landscape. HEP, one of 28 National Estuary Programs established under Section 320 of the Clean Water Act, is a unique regional partnership of citizens, scientists, and federal, state, interstate, and local agencies. The HEP Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) serves as a blueprint for the management of the harbor and bight. It includes long-term strategies and inter mediate actions designed to protect, restore, and enhance habitat. It offers guidance for develop ment of management strategies to prevent pollution and reduce toxins, pathogens, nutrients, and floatable debris. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the CCMP in March 1997. The EPA Region II Administrator and the Governors of New York and New Jersey signed it in August 1997. This report is a celebration of the environmental achievements of the participants in the Harbor Estuary Program: government agencies, conservation organizations, and individuals. It is also a warning. Despite our best efforts, bulldozers are poised to develop many of the region's natural lands. Cumulative urban impacts - including channelization, sediment deposition, relative sea level rise, and nutrient loading- have taken their toll, eroding marshes in Jamaica Bay and the Arthur Kill. These ecosystems serve as reminders of our natural legacy. They protect the economic interests of our neighborhoods with their ability to absorb flood flows from cata strophic weather events and bioremediate contaminants. They reduce the sediment and nutrient burdens of the NY /NJ Harbor - while supporting remarkable wildlife populations. Habitat is the central focus of the CCMP because of its critical importance to the environmental health of the region. The HEP Habitat Workgroup (HWG) was formed to fulfill the habitat objectives of the CCMP. The habitat program seeks to restore and maintain an ecosystem that supports an optimum diversity of living resources on a sustained basis; preserve and restore eco logically important habitat and open space; encourage watershed planning to protect habitat; fos ter public awareness and appreciation of the natural environment; minimize erosion and decrease soil and water loading of sediment and pollutants to the harbor/bight; and increase public access, consistent with maintaining the harbor ecosystem. There has been great debate in the HWG about wetland regulatory guidelines. The present guidelines -resulting in one-to-one or three-to-one mitigation replacement acreage in public works projects and damages claims - are too conservative. \'Ve are uncertain that wetlands mitigation as it is practiced maintains the goal of no loss or no net loss. 4 Introduction In 1999, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (F&WS), working with the HWG, released its vision ary report Significant Habitats and Ha/Jitat Complexes of the NeuJ York Bzrsht Watershed. The report iden tifies regionally significant habitats and species populations, and threats to them both. The ongo ing HWG prerogative, the HEP Acquisition and Restoration Priority Map, targets sites within these habitats. It provides the foundation for many of the habitat-oriented projects in the NY /NJ Harbor. Sixty acquisition sites and 88 restoration projects have been identified. More than $100 million is committed to HEP priority habitat restoration and acquisition proj ects. The NYS Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act and the City of New York awarded $20 million to NYC Parks and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to restore HEP pri ority sites. Natural resources damages claims, public works mitigations, and grants are funding several of New York City's most comprehensive forest restorations, as well as salt marsh and freshwater wetland and riparian projects in the Arthur Kill, Jamaica Bay, and Long Island Sound. NYC Parks/Natural Resources Group is overseeing an additional $40 million in restoration proj ects with monies recovered from damages claims, public works mitigations, and grants. NYS DEC has channeled monies for public works mitigations and damages into several HEP priority sites, including the Alley Pond Park watershed, Terra-Peninsula Preserve, and Dreier-Offerman Park. The Army Corps of Engineers, teaming up with several partners, has initiated restoration studies for Jamaica Bay, the Bronx River, and the NY /NJ Harbor. These include many HEP restoration priorities. Over the past t!ve years, the City has acquired more than 1,500 acres of natural land in HEP priority watersheds. These arc now part of the NYC Parks emerald empire. In New Jersey, there is great anticipation of the implementation of the Garden State Preservation Trust Act, which will protect significant natural areas forever. NJ DEP recently acquired property at the headwaters of the Rahway River,