Georgetown County has applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance (PA) Program funding through South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD) 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, 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.
Sub-Applicant: Georgetown County
Project Title: Project Number 702061 - Hurricane Ian Parks and Rec Facilities' Repairs; PA-04-SC-4677-PW-00157
Location of Proposed Work:
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Murrells Inlet Boat Landing |
4139 US #17 Business Murrells Inlet, SC. 29576 |
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Special Flood Hazard Area Zone:
This project is for the repair of the Murrells Inlet Boat Landing located in Georgetown County. The project is located within a VE Flood Zone. Confirmation of location in a Flood Zone was determined by the Georgetown County Effective Flood Insurance Rate Map, Panel Number 45043C0241G, dated 05/09/2023. The proposed work conforms to all applicable State of South Carolina and local floodplain regulations. There is a potential for the facility to be impacted by future flooding events due to its location within the VE Flood Zone. The proposed work will take place in designated wetlands (E1UBL, Estuarine and Marine Deepwater dated 2006), per the United States Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory.
Proposed Work and Purpose:
Georgetown County plans to repair the Murrells Inlet Boat Landing back to pre-disaster conditions. The Murrells Inlet Boat Landing repairs consist of the replacement of a floating dock ramp plate, an aluminum frame floating dock guide roller, 12 bumper stops, 4 boat dock and parking signs, 4 treated wood signposts, 7 vertical bumper stops, wood fence rails and fence boards. No mitigation has been proposed for the project.
Alternative #1 (No Action): The 'no action' alternative would ultimately result in a negative impact on Georgetown County because the facility would remain damaged and be unavailable and unsafe for the public to utilize for recreation. The Murrells Inlet Boat Landing provides beneficial values to the floodplain because the facility promotes open space usage and allows for boats to be launched into the inlet for recreation. The ‘no action’ alternative would prevent the facility from continuing to perform its intended function and would not provide any beneficial usage to floodplain and wetland. Furthermore, the ‘no action’ alternative would leave the facility damaged which would compromise the integrity of the boat landing. This would create a potential risk of failure for any boats that are launched from this facility and would in turn create a hazard for the public. Therefore, the ‘no action’ alternative is not a practicable solution.
Alternative #2 (Relocation): Relocation of the facility outside of the floodplain was considered. The Murrells Inlet Boat Landing is a facility that is dependent upon its connection to open water to perform it’s intended function of allowing boats to be launched into the inlet. The entirety of the waterway along Murrells Inlet is within a VE flood zone and there would be no practicable alternative location to relocate the facility outside of the floodplain while also allowing the facility to maintain it’s function. Therefore the ‘relocation’ alternative is also not a practicable solution.
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
3005 Chamblee-Tucker Road
Alternatively, comments may be emailed to: FEMA-R4EHP@fema.dhs.gov. Please send comments with the subject line [DR-4677-SC-00157 11988 COMMENT].
All comments are due by no later than 30 days of the posted date of this notice.
POSTED ON: AUGUST 10, 2023