The City of Jacksonville has applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance (PA) funding through the North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) as a sub-recipient.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), federal actions must be reviewed and evaluated for feasible alternatives and for social, economic, historic, environmental, legal, and safety considerations. Under Executive Order (EO) 11988 and EO 11990, FEMA is required to consider alternatives to and to provide a public notice of any proposed actions in or affecting floodplains or wetlands. EO 12898 also requires FEMA to provide the opportunity for public participation in the planning process and to consider potential impacts to minority and low-income populations. This notice may also fulfill requirements under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).

Funding for the proposed project will be conditional upon compliance with all applicable federal, tribal, state, and local laws, regulations, floodplain standards, permit requirements and conditions.

Applicant: The City of Jacksonville

Project Title: [77334] Ellis Blvd Pump Station - Generator and Pump Controls

Location of Proposed Work: 

Special Flood Hazard Area Zone:

This project is for the Ellis Blvd Pump Station located in an AE floodway. Confirmation of location in the floodplain was made by reference to Onslow County Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map, Panel 3720438600K, dated 06/30/2016. The proposed work conforms to all applicable State of North Carolina and local floodplain regulations. The proposed work will be done on existing structures and will have no effect on the local floodplain. The proposed work has the potential to be impacted by flooding in the future but is functionally dependent on its location in the floodplain. The proposed work will take place in a Freshwater Forested/Shrub Wetland per the United States Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory but will have little potential to impact or affect wetland values.

Proposed Work and Purpose:

The City of Jacksonville is requesting funds to replace a generator, pumps, motors, chlorination system, and other components at the Ellis Blvd Pump Station. These actions will have mitigation to minimize future damages by elevating the bypass pump, chlorination system/biofilter, and backup generator above the base flood elevation (BFE). The purpose of this project is to replace and better protect equipment that supports the critical action of waste water treatment in the City of Jacksonville.

Project Alternatives:

 Alternative #1 (No Action): If no action is taken to protect this public facility, it will impact the function of wastewater treatment in the City of Jacksonville.  

Alternative #2: (Relocation) Relocating structures outside of the flood zone was evaluated. This pump station is a piece of a connected system and therefore it is not practicable to move these structures out of the flood zone.

Comment Period:

Comments are solicited from the public; local, state or federal agencies, and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of the proposed project. The comments should be made in writing and addressed to:

FEMA Internal 11988 Reviewer

FEMA Region 4

3003 Chamblee-Tucker Road

Atlanta, Georgia, 30341

Alternatively, comments may be emailed to: FEMA-R4EHP@fema.dhs.gov. Please send comments with the subject line [DR-4393-NC-01598 11988 COMMENT].

All comments are due by no later than 30 days of the posted date of this notice.

POSTED ON: (June 16, 2020)

End of Notice