Greater New Orleans Hurricane & Storm Damage Risk Reduction Mitigation
NEW ORLEANS, LA – After review of comments and recommendations received during the public review period, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, has finalized the Programmatic Individual Environmental Report #36 (PIER #36) titled “Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity (LPV) Hurricane Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS) Mitigation, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist and St. Tammany Parishes, Louisiana”. Responses to comments received during the public comment period are included in Appendix Q of the Final PIER #36.
Final PIER #36 evaluates the alternative plans to compensate for unavoidable habitat impacts that resulted from construction of the LPV HSDRRS. As part of the evaluation, the PIER identifies the Recommended Plan for mitigating impacts to a variety of habitats. At this time, only certain features of the Recommended Plan are being proposed for implementation, namely the purchase of mitigation bank credits to compensate for impacts to non-refuge bottomland hardwood forests and non-refuge swamp. Other features will be recommended for implementation in subsequent environmental documents, called TIERs. Impacts from construction of the LPV HSDRRS are described in Individual Environmental Reports 1-11, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25-32, 35 and their associated Supplemental IERs (IERS).
The Final PIER #36 can be viewed online at www.nolaenvironmental.gov under projects. Hard copies may be requested by sending an email to mvnenvironmental@usace.army.mil.
Questions or comments concerning the document should be addressed to:
Elizabeth Behrens
Regional Planning and Environmental Division
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
P.O. Box 60267
New Orleans, LA 70160-0267
Phone: 504-862-2025
Fax: 504-862-2088
E-mail: mvnenvironmental@usace.army.mil.
For more information or to sign up to be on a public meeting notification list please visit the following Web site: www.nolaenvironmental.gov.
Release no. 13-081