Environmental Assessment for the Closure of Support Center New York, Governors Island, New York, Final

U.S. Coast Guard, Civil Engineering Unit Providence; Tetra Tech, San Francisco CA

This document is the final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed closure of U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard) Support Center New York on Governors Island (Governors Island) and the relocation of commands to other facilities within the New York Harbor region. This document is intended to assist the Coast Guard in making an informed closure decision. Should the decision be made to close Governors Island, further environmental documentation would be prepared to evaluate disposal and reuse of the facility. The organization of this document is essentially the same as that of the draft EA with the exception that a section assessing the existing conditions and environmental impacts of the relocation sites has been added. In addition, comments received during agency and public review of the draft EA are presented and directly addressed in Appendix C. Text revisions made in response to these comments have been incorporated into this document as appropriate. This EA is prepared under the guidance of Coast Guard direction COMDTINST M16475.1B. Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, the EA evaluates the closure of Governors Island for potential environmental impacts including land use, infrastructure (traffic and utilities), socioeconomics, public services, hazardous materials, noise, air quality, geology and soils, water resources, biological resources, and cultural resources. Governors Island is located in New York Harbor, south of Manhattan and west of Brooklyn. It houses the largest Coast Guard facility in the world, Support Center New York, which provides support for tenant commands stationed on the island. The 172-acre island is surrounded by a seawall and is accessed by ferry from Manhattan.