New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages Final General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Assessment Norfolk District December 2019 The Port Authority of NY& NJ 803 Front Street 4 World Trade Center Norfolk, VA 23510 New York, NY 10007 New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages Final General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Assessment Cooperating agencies: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration/National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Coast Guard, NY Division of Historic Preservation, NY State Department of Environmental Conservation Department U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS CIVIL WORKS MISSION Dedicated to providing quality, responsive service to the nation in peace and war. U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS NAVIGATION MISSION Provide safe, reliable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable waterborne transportation systems for movement of commerce, national security, and recreation. U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS ENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING PRINCIPLES Foster sustainability as a way of life throughout the organization. Proactively consider environmental consequences of all U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) activities and act accordingly. Create mutually supporting economic and environmentally sustainable solutions. Continue to meet our corporate responsibility and accountability under the law for activities undertaken by the USACE, which may impact human and natural environment. Consider the environment in employing a risk management and systems approach throughout the life cycles of projects and programs. Leverage scientific, economic, and social knowledge to understand the environmental context and effects of USACE actions in a collaborative manner. Employ an open, transparent process that respects views of individuals and groups interested in USACE activities. New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages Final General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Assessment COVER SHEET New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Assessment LEAD AGENCY: Department of the Army U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District COOPERATING AGENCIES: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration/National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Coast Guard, NY Division of Historic Preservation, NY State Department of Environmental Conservation Department ABSTRACT: The New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages Study Area includes the harbor anchorages and dredged material disposal sites. Alternative plans combined multiple structural and nonstructural measures to improve the efficiency of the existing navigation system. Currently, larger vessels calling on the port exceed the maximum dimensions of the anchorages (-47 ft. MLLW and length of 1100 ft.) and are unable to fully utilize the anchorages in the event of channel closures (i.e. weather (visibility or high wind). This results in navigation inefficiencies as ships are required to re-transiting back to the ocean. These inefficiencies are projected to continue in the future as vessel sizes are expected to increase. The Recommend Plan (also referred to as the Action Plan and/or Preferred Alternative is the National Economic Development (NED) Plan which includes: • Deepening the Gravesend Anchorage to a required depth of -50 feet (MLLW); • Widening the Gravesend Anchorage to 3,000 feet and associated modifications of the Approach Area; • Maximum designed swing area up to 3,600 feet. The Preferred Alternative includes construction and maintenance of these features. Dredged material placement/disposal will occur at the Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS). The project construction is anticipated to be completed by 2025 (or earlier depending on funding capability) and following construction, anchorage depth would be maintained at the authorized depth going forward. New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages Final General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Assessment EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The results of engineering, economic, environmental, and real estate investigations performed for this General Reevaluation Study (GRR), a continuation of a prior (2000) Feasibility Study (FS), are being used to determine if improvements to the constructed federal project are warranted and if necessary, seek additional authorization where not already granted for navigation system improvements at New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages (Figure 1). The Port Authority of NY and New Jersey (PANYNJ) requested the re-evaluation of the original project (USACE 2000) which was authorized under Section 435 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1996 (Public Law 104-303). This authorization led to the 2000 Corps Feasibility Study (FS) which led to deepening of the federal channels to an average depth of 50 feet. The 2000 study did not address improvements to harbor anchorages. The original authorization included authority to conduct a comprehensive study of the navigational needs at the Port of New York and New Jersey. The prior FS and current GRR study tiered off the prior FS is being conducted under Section 216 of the Flood Control Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-611), which authorizes the review of completed projects in the interest of navigation and related purposes to determine the feasibility of additional navigational and anchorage needs for further port improvement. New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages Final General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Impact Assessment Figure 1: New York and New Jersey Anchorages ii New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages Final General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Impact Assessment DESCRIPTION OF REPORT This General Reevaluation Report (GRR) and Environmental Assessment (EA) documents the Feasibility Study process and presents the results of investigations and analyses conducted to evaluate modifications to the existing federal navigation system to improve its ability to efficiently serve the current and future vessel fleet and process the forecasted cargo volumes. It presents: (1) a survey of existing and future conditions; (2) an evaluation of related problems and opportunities; (3) development of potential alternatives; (4) a comparison of costs, benefits, adverse impacts, and feasibility of those alternatives; and (5) identification of a National Economic Development (NED) Plan and Recommended Plan. PURPOSE AND NEED The purpose of this investigation is to examine if modification to the Federal anchorages will improve navigation conditions for deep draft ships using the port now and in the future and provide transportation cost savings. Currently, larger vessels calling on the port exceed the maximum dimensions of the anchorages (-47 ft. MLLW and length of 1100 ft.) and are unable to fully utilize the anchorages in the event of channel closures (i.e. weather visibility or high wind). This results in navigation inefficiencies as ships are required to re-transit back to the ocean. These inefficiencies are projected to continue in the future as vessel sizes are expected to increase. ALTERNATIVES AND RECOMMENDED PLAN Utilizing the USACE Planning Process as specified in ER 1105-2-100, plan formulation was conducted with a focus on achieving the federal objective of water and related land resources project planning, which is to contribute to the NED consistent with protecting the Nation's environment, pursuant to national environmental statutes, applicable executive orders, and other federal planning requirements. Plan formulation also considers all effects, beneficial or adverse, to each of the four evaluation accounts identified in the Principles and Guidelines (1983), which are NED, Environmental Quality, Regional Economic Development, and Other Social Effects. Alternative plans combining multiple structural and nonstructural measures to improve the safety and efficiency of the navigation system were considered to determine whether the federal government should participate in implementing navigation improvements and to determine which alternative maximizes NED while minimizing environmental impact. The expected returns to the NED benefits are calculated. NED benefits are generated by addressing inefficiencies in the existing transportation system to lower transportation costs. Net benefits are calculated by subtracting the total cost to construct and maintain the improvements over a 50-year study period from the total transportation cost savings that would be generated by the proposed improvements over that period. The NED Plan is the alternative that reasonably maximizes net NED benefits while remaining consistent with the federal objective of protecting the nation’s environment. Where two cost-effective plans produce similar net benefits, the less costly plan is identified as the NED plan, even though the level of outputs may be less. The NED Plan is the Recommended Plan for implementation. In this study, multiple alternatives were developed that generated annual net economic benefits. After careful consideration, the USACE identified the environmentally acceptable alternative that reasonably maximizes project benefits and includes: • Deepening the Gravesend Anchorage to a required depth of -50 feet (MLLW); iii New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages Final General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Impact Assessment • Widening the Gravesend Anchorage to 3,000 feet and associated modifications of the Approach Area; • Maximum designed swing area up to 3,600 feet. The Recommended Plan Alternative (RP) includes construction