Implementing Sediment Management at the Seashore

The National Park Service (NPS) has published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for sediment management at Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore).

The purpose of the EIS is to develop a streamlined framework for implementing sediment management at the Seashore, including the method, location, and frequency for sediment management actions that may be permitted over the next 20 years.

According to their official announcement, “the Seashore has received various requests and anticipates future requests to issue special use permits for protecting roads, bridges, electrical transmission facilities, and other public transportation facilities; repairing island damages, including breaches that also affect transportation; and restoring habitat through the placement of dredged materials along eroded sections of barrier islands.”

A sediment management framework is needed to assist the Seashore in addressing this request and others, while avoiding and minimizing impacts that may be associated with such actions conducted by NPS and other agencies to mitigate shoreline erosion.

The framework is needed to limit impacts to the Seashore and provide timely response for localized beach nourishment efforts in the face of increased storm events and projected sea-level rise. Similarly, sediment management strategies may be used for specific habitat restoration projects.

As part of the EIS process, the NPS looks forward to collaborating with several cooperating agencies, including: the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Dare County, the Fish and Wildlife Service, Hyde County, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.