Project Description
Under the direction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM, the cooperating federal agency), Taylor Engineering developed a regulatory Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for St. Lucie County’s 3.4 mile long shore protection project (SPP) along Hutchinson Island. Impacts would occur to hardbottom habitat in the nearshore environment as well as to the offshore sand shoal habitat that could supply the sand. The EIS also considered the possibility of impacts from use of upland sand sources. Though completed for regulatory purposes, the EIS also supported a USACE feasibility study to consider a federal project at the same general location.
Taylor Engineering provided the following as part of the EIS:
- Project management
- USACE standard documents to guide the EIS process (Statement of Work, QA/QC Plan, Public Participation Plan)
- Development and facilitation of public and interagency meetings for scoping of and public comment on the EIS
- Collection and assessment of available natural resources data
- Draft and final EIS (DEIS and FEIS) documents
- Responses to public and USACE comments on the DEIS and FEIS
- Support for NEPA consultations with National Marine Fisheries Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service
- Draft Record of Decision (ROD)
