Lee County Southwest Florida
joint federal, state, local public notice
When: Friday, June 7, 2019
Where:
The area affected by this project consists of homes in the following locations:
Properties along all streets within the bounds of SR 82, CR 884 (Colonial Blvd.; Lee Blvd.), and Sunshine Ave. S
The area affected by this project consists of homes in the following locations:
Properties along all streets within the bounds of SR 82, CR 884 (Colonial Blvd.; Lee Blvd.), and Sunshine Ave. S
When: May 7, 2019
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Florida Division of Emergency Management have received the following application for Federal grant funding. Final notice is hereby given of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) consideration to provide funding in the form of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Funds will be provided in accordance with Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Public Law 93-288, as amended.
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 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 or low-income populations.
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:
Florida Forest Service
Project Title:
HMGP-5178- 16- Fire Management Assistance
Location of Proposed Work:
The area affected by this project consists of homes in the following locations:
Properties along all streets within the bounds of SR 82, CR 884 (Colonial Blvd.; Lee Blvd.), and Sunshine Ave. S
Proposed Work and Purpose:
Creation of defensible space corridors from street to street through undeveloped areas of heavy vegetation (hazardous fire fuels) within the bounds mentioned above. The purpose is to reduce severity and intensity of wildfire in the wildland urban interface for SW Lehigh Acres. This will improve wildfire response and suppression, increase the protection of property and lives for those living in the wildland urban interface of SW Lehigh Acres.
Project Alternatives:
The alternatives to the project that have been and will be considered are 1) the no action alternative and 2) conducting prescribed burns through larger areas of undeveloped land. These alternatives to the proposed project are not viable because under Alternative 1) the costs of wildfire caused property loss and damage is cost prohibitive for the community and damages the community continuity and Alternative 2) prescribed burning in this area will require multiple occurrences and that poses a potential visibility and smoke exposure risk to schools and healthcare facilities, and therefore not practicable.
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 the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Bureau of Mitigation, 2555 Shumard Oak Blvd., Tallahassee, FL 32399-2100. These are due within 30 days of this notice (or June 7, 2019). The State will forward comments to applicable regulatory agencies as needed. Interested persons may submit comments, obtain more detailed information about the proposed action, or request a copy of the findings by contacting:
Melinda Avni/ Wildfire Mitigation Specialist (239) (690-8018)
Florida Forest Service Melinda.Avni@FreshFromFlorida.com
Kayla Born, State Environmental Specialist (850) 815-4582
Florida Division of Emergency Management Kayla.Born@em.myflorida.com