Pennsylvania Code
Pennsylvania Code & Bulletin
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

• No statutes or acts will be found at this website.

The Pennsylvania Bulletin website includes the following: Rulemakings by State agencies; Proposed Rulemakings by State agencies; State agency notices; the Governor’s Proclamations and Executive Orders; Actions by the General Assembly; and Statewide and local court rules.

PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 22-606

NOTICES

DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Federal Consistency under the Coastal Zone Management Act; Erie Harbor North Pier Repair Project

[52 Pa.B. 2426]
[Saturday, April 23, 2022]

 This notice is published under section 306(d)(14) of the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA) (16 U.S.C.A. § 1455(d)(14)), relating to public participation in consistency determinations. The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) Coastal Resources Management Program has received notice that the United States Army Corps of Engineers (applicant) is proposing the Erie Harbor North Pier Repair Project (Project).

 The proposed Project includes two primary repair needs in the form of a failed section of the timber crib and concrete cap as well as sheet pile separation. A third issue identified as cracking of the concrete cap at the east head of the structure will also be evaluated for severity and repair need. These issues are further detailed as follows:

 1. Timber crib failure: An approximate 40-foot section of the North Pier has partially collapsed to the east of the United States Coast Guard Erie Station embayment. This section was built in 1899 and consists of timber crib filled with stone and a series of piles driven approximately 1 foot waterward of the crib and supports a horizontal timber and concrete cap that has separated from the piles and settled. The timber crib failure would be encased between parallel sheet pile walls connected with tie rods and capped with reinforced concrete similar to the repairs completed to the east and west of the failed section. The sheet pile encasement would be implemented for approximately 250 feet of the North Pier and tie in directly with sheet pile encasement completed to the east of the failed area. New sheet pile would be installed within a few feet of the face of the existing structure and match the offset and alignment of the encasement repair complete to the east of the failure.

 2. Sheet pile separation: Separation of the sheet pile is occurring east of the collapsed section along the North Pier. This separation occurs where there are failures of the bolts attaching the seawall to the whaler, allowing the sheets to bend toward the channel without restraint. Sheet pile separation would be repaired by replacing the existing bolts reconnecting to the existing wales or by installing new bolts, or both to directly connect the sheet pile to the existing concrete cap. The new bolts would be used to draw the sheet pile back to the cap where possible. Another alternative considered was to use new steel brackets to connect the sheet pile to the existing wale. In areas where the sheet cannot be drawn back to the cap and where new brackets are installed the void would be filled with grout or concrete. The grout/concrete would be placed within the sheet pile and above water with no material being allowed to enter the water.

 3. Cracked concrete cap: Cracking of the concrete cap was noted at the east head of the structure during period inspection of the North Pier during the summer of 2021. The crack will be monitored as a part of this Project to determine the need for repair.

 This Project is subject to Department review for Federal consistency because it is a Federal agency activity and will have reasonably foreseeable effects on this Commonwealth's coastal resources or uses.

 In accordance with section 307 of the CZMA (16 U.S.C.A. § 1456) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) regulations at 15 CFR Part 930, Subpart C (relating to consistency for Federal agency activities), the applicant has determined that the proposed activity will be conducted in a manner consistent with the applicable enforceable policies of the Commonwealth's NOAA-approved Coastal Resources Management Program. Interested parties may request a copy of the Federal Consistency Determination from the Department contact listed as follows.

 Questions regarding this review can be directed to Matthew Walderon, Federal Consistency Coordinator, at RA-Fed_Consistency@pa.gov or (717) 772-2196.

 The Department will consider all comments received on or before Saturday, May 7, 2022, before issuing a final Federal consistency concurrence or objection. Comments submitted by facsimile will not be accepted. Comments, including comments submitted by e-mail, must include the commentator's name and address. Commentators are encouraged to submit comments using the Department's online eComment tool at www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/eComment. Written comments can be submitted by e-mail to ecomment@pa.gov or by mail to the Department of Environmental Protection, Policy Office, 400 Market Street, P.O. Box 2063, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2063.

PATRICK McDONNELL, 
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 22-606. Filed for public inspection April 22, 2022, 9:00 a.m.]


No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.

This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.