FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) proposes to provide funding to the City of Marquette, Michigan (subrecipient), to relocate a section of Lakeshore Boulevard away from the shore of Lake Superior. The subrecipient applied for funding from FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Program to underwrite the proposed project. The PDM Program is authorized under Section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. § 5133. The PDM Program assists communities in implementing hazard mitigation measures as part of a sustained pre-disaster hazard mitigation program. The goal of the program is to reduce the overall risk of future hazard events to people and property and reduce reliance on federal funding in the case of future disasters.

The proposed project is located within the city limits of Marquette, Marquette County, Michigan. The City of Marquette is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on the western shore of Lake Superior.
The Proposed Action has two components: (1) relocation of Lakeshore Boulevard inland and (2) stabilization of the shoreline. The shoreline stabilization component would rebuild the existing stone revetment and repurpose the current location of the boulevard to restore natural habitats and provide improved public access to areas along the shore of Lake Superior. The FEMA grant would be applied to the first component.

The first component of the Proposed Action would relocate Lakeshore Boulevard 300 to 400 feet inland and elevate it 4 to 5 feet above its existing grade to mitigate against erosion and flooding from Lake Superior. The Road Relocation component of the Proposed Action would also extend sewer, water, and stormwater utilities in the project area, construct a stormwater detention pond southeast of the intersection of Lakeshore Boulevard and Wright Street, and realign street lighting.

The second component of the Proposed Action is referred to as the “Shoreline Restoration” and would be implemented between the relocated Lakeshore Boulevard and the shoreline of Lake Superior. This component of the Proposed Action would create 38 acres of natural coastal habitat and restore up to 3,500 linear feet of the revetment along Lake Superior. The Shoreline Restoration component would be implemented by the City of Marquette and Superior Watershed Partnership (SWP). SWP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides technical, educational, and monitoring assistance for Great Lakes protection initiatives. The Shoreline Restoration is not part of the FEMA-funded project but was included in the analysis presented in the EA because it is dependent on the relocation of Lakeshore Boulevard.

Along with a detailed description of the project, the Environmental Assessment (EA) describes the equipment, staging, and sequencing of construction.