New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages Draft General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Assessment Norfolk District June 2019 The Port Authority of NY& NJ 803 Front Street 4 World Trade Center Norfolk, VA 23510 New York, NY 10007 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 New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Assessment 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 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 safety and efficiency of the existing navigation system. Navigation concerns include three main types of problems: limited channel depth that causes navigation inefficiencies, channel width that does not allow safe meeting of vessels, and existing anchorages which are insufficient to fully accommodate the existing vessel fleet. The Tentatively Selected 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 approximately -50 feet; • Widening the Gravesend Anchorage to approximately 3,000 feet and associated modifications of the Approach Area; • Associated operation and maintenance activities; The Preferred Alternative includes construction and maintenance of these features. Dredged material placement/disposal could 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 over the 50 year lifecycle of the project. New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Assessment EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The results of engineering, economic, environmental, and real estate investigations performed for this 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 project 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 study which led to deepening of the federal channels to an average depth of 50 feet. The study in 2000 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. This study 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 needs and anchorages further port deepening. New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Impact Assessment Figure 1: New York and New Jersey Anchorages ii New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages 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 identify whether the authorized project is still in the federal interest and if additional deepening and/or widening is warranted. The investigation includes evaluating measures which would improve the operational efficiency of commercial vessels currently using the anchorages during navigation of the federal navigation channels. Since the authorization of the current configuration of the anchorages in 1965 the anchorage depths have been maintained with limited periodic maintenance. The project was not included the recent Harbor deepening authorization of 2000 whereby the adjacent channels were deepened beyond the authorized depths of the anchorages. The need for this investigation arises from inefficiencies currently experienced by commercial vessels in harbor where the current fleet exceeds the maximum dimensions of the anchorages. These inefficiencies are projected to continue in the future as vessel sizes are expected to increase. Anchorage improvement modifications will result in reduced transportation cost by allowing the larger containerships in the fleet to use the anchorage as opposed to returning to the ocean once inbound. ALTERNATIVES AND TENTATIVELY SELECTED 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 iii New York and New Jersey Harbor Anchorages General Reevaluation Report and Environmental Impact Assessment 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 approximately -50 feet;