NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY
FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT/ FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
Pohoiki Road and Highway 137 Road Repair and Water Line Installation
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 9 is issuing this notice to advise the public of the availability of the Final Environmental Assessment (Final EA) and FEMA’s Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The FONSI represents FEMA’s decision to implement the Pohoiki Road and Highway 137 Road Repair and Water Line Installation project.
The Final EA includes FEMA’s response to public comments on the Draft EA issued on August 2, 2023, and it updates the EA based on comment received. The Final EA and FONSI documents are consistent with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Directive 023-01, Revision 01, DHS Instruction 023-01-001-01, Revision 01, FEMA Directive 108-1, FEMA Instruction 108-1-1, and with existing national environmental policies and objectives set forth in section 101 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (NEPA), Council on Environmental Quality regulations, 40 CFR parts 1500–1508, the requirements of section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, and all other applicable special purpose laws.
The Proposed Action will not significantly affect the quality of the human environment or otherwise include any condition requiring consultation pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of NEPA, and that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is therefore not necessary. The FONSI documents FEMA’s decision to implement the Proposed Action alternative as detailed in, and supported by the Final EA. The Pohoiki Road and Highway 137 Road Repair and Water Line Installation will restore 9.1 miles of County of Hawai’i roads that were inundated with lava during the 2018 Kilauea eruption and replace 7.8 miles of public water lines that were also destroyed along the same County roads. The two projects are collectively evaluated as the Proposed Action in the Final EA.
The Final EA and FONSI are available for review at the following locations:
FEMA’s NEPA Repository website: https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/practitioners/environmental-historic/nepa/environmental-assessment-pohoiki-road
The County of Hawai’i’s Department of Public Works website:
https://www.dpw.hawaiicounty.gov/resources/bulletins#Engineering.
Hard copies of the Final EA/FONSI will be made available at two locations:
Hawai’i County Department of Public Works Office (Aupuni Center,
101 Pauahi Street, Suite 7, Hilo, HI 96720)
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)
(WHT1435915 11/03/23)
