Federal Emergency Management Agency
PUBLIC NOTICE
Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Assessment

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is proposing to assist in the funding of a project in the County of Hawai’i, Hawai’i. Funding would be provided through the Public Assistance Program as authorized by Section 428 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Assistance and Emergency Relief Act. FEMA has prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed project pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and FEMA’s implementing Instruction. The Draft EA evaluates alternatives for compliance with applicable environmental laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act, Executive Orders 11990 (Protection of Wetlands), 11988 (Floodplain Management), and 12898 (Environmental Justice). This notice also serves as notification under Hawai’i’s Chapter 6E historic preservation regulations. The alternatives evaluated in the draft EA are: (1) No Action, and (2) the Proposed Action to realign and reconstruct approximately 9.1 miles of roads and install approximately 7.8 miles of water lines following inundation of the project area by lava from the 2018 Kilauea volcano eruption.

The draft EA is available for agency and public review on FEMA’s website at https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/practitioners/environmental-historic/nepa-repository and the County’s website at
https://www.dpw.hawaiicounty.gov/resources/bulletins#Engineering.

Hard copies of the draft EA are available at two locations: Hawai’i County Department of Public Works Office (Aupuni Center, 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 7, Hilo, HI 96720), and Hawai’i County Department of Public Works Office (West Hawai’i Civic Center, 75-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Bldg. D, 1st Floor, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740). If no substantive issues are identified during the comment period on the draft EA, FEMA will adopt the EA as final, issue a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), and fund the project. If substantive comments are received, FEMA will evaluate and address those comments in a Final EA or as part of the FONSI documentation and may consider whether changes to the grant or project implementation are appropriate. The FONSI will be posted to the same websites as listed above. FEMA will not publish another public notice for this project unless a final EA is published.

Interested parties are invited to submit written comments on the draft EA by Tuesday, September 5, 2023. Comments should be mailed to: Regional Environmental Officer, FEMA Region 9, 1111 Broadway, Suite 1200, Oakland, CA 94607-4052. Comments may also be submitted via e-mail (preferred) to fema-rix-ehp-documents@fema.dhs.gov; please include “Puna Road Repair and Water Line Installation” in your subject line.
(WHT1425149 8/03/23)