Chief’s Report Signed for East Rockaway Inlet

Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, USACE Commanding General, has signed the Chief’s Report for the Atlantic Coast of New York East Rockaway Inlet to Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay Hurricane Sandy Reformulation Study—a crucial milestone for the proposed project.

The project calls for the construction of nature based and structural features to be constructed on the Jamaica Bay shoreline to address coastal storm surge flooding in the Rockaways.

A seawall, as well as new and extended groins with beach restoration and re-nourishment will be constructed along the Atlantic Ocean shorefront.

“Forwarding this Report to Secretary James for review and approval brings us one step closer to getting on the road to construction,” said Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, Chief of Engineers.

“This Chief’s Report is the next step leading to project implementation and represents the culmination of years of hard work by our team and our partners at all levels of government both federal and non-federal,” said Col. Thomas D. Asbery, commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District.

The Atlantic Coast of New York East Rockaway Inlet to Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay Study is a partnership between the Army Corps and the non-Federal Sponsor, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and in cooperation with New York City.

The Corps, state and city have a long history of working together to provide flood risk reduction measures for these communities—recently placing 348,000 cubic yards of sand at Rockaway Beach in April 2019 to combat erosion issues due to recent Nor’easters.

The next step will be the submission of the Chief’s Report to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, for final approval.

The $590 million project is authorized for construction using the P.L. 113-2 (Sandy) funding at 100% full Federal cost.