Final Public Notice:  Proposed FEMA Funding for Beachfront Signage

FINAL PUBLIC NOTICE

POSTED:  12:30 P.M., MONDAY, MAY 8, 2023

The City of Myrtle Beach 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:  City of Myrtle Beach
Project Title:  Project Number 700332 - Beach Signs; PA-04-SC-4677-PW-00095
Location of Proposed Work:

Special Flood Hazard Area Zone:  This project is for the repair of a beach signage located on the City of Myrtle Beach beachfront. The project is located within a VE Flood Zone. Confirmation of location in a Flood Zone was determined by the Horry County Effective Flood Insurance Rate Map, Panel Number 45051C0716K, 45051C0717K, 45051C0728K, 45051C0727K, dated 12/16/2021. 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, per the United States Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory.

Proposed Work and Purpose:  The City of Myrtle Beach plans to conduct repairs along the City of Myrtle Beach beachfront by replacing 36 aluminum “Sunny Swell” signs, 36 aluminum “Fireworks Prohibited” warning signs, and 36 square aluminum signposts. The purpose of this action is to restore the facilities to pre-disaster condition.

Project Alternatives:

Alternative #1 (No Action):  The ‘no action’ alternative would result in a negative impact for the City of Myrtle Beach because the signage being repaired for this project would provide warning advisory for visitors to the beach. The ‘no action’ alternative would leave the signage damaged which would potentially endanger the health and safety of the public because there would no longer be any advisory warning signs that would give warnings to the public of any beach dangers that the public should be aware of. Therefore, the ‘no action’ alternative is not a practicable solution.

Alternative #2 (Relocation of the Beach Signage):  Relocation of the beach signage was considered. However, this is not a practicable alternative because the City of Myrtle Beach beachfront is located within a VE Flood zone and the signs are dependent upon their connection to the beach and relocating them outside of the floodplain would prevent the signs from performing their function of providing advisory warnings to visitors to the beach. Therefore, this alternative is not a practicable solution.

Alternative #3 (Repair in-kind): The repair of the facility back to pre-disaster conditions was considered. This alternative is the most practicable alternative for the project because it would return the facility back to its pre-disaster functions. This would allow for the signs to continue performing its function of providing advisory warnings for visitors to the beach and thus help protect the health and safety of the public. Therefore, this alternative is the most practicable alternative.

Comment Period:  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
FEMA Region 4
3005 Chamblee-Tucker Road
Atlanta, Georgia  30341

Alternatively, comments may be emailed to FEMA-R4EHP@fema.dhs.gov.  Please send comments with the subject line [DR-4677-SC-00095 11988 COMMENT].

All comments are due by no later than 30 days of the posted date of this notice.