Final Environmental Assessment and FONSI for the Coral Reef Conservation Grant Program

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The purpose of this Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) is to analyze: 1) the Coral Reef Conservation Grant Program (CRCGP); 2) annual issuance of guidelines for projects submitted to the CRCGP; and 3) typical future funded projects. This PEA describes the potential environmental impacts of the overall implementation of a legislatively authorized and funded multi-year CRCGP. The CRCGP provides funding to eligible coastal state and territorial government agencies, non-government organizations, educational institutions, individuals and international partners, to improve understanding of coral reef ecosystems, promote wise management and sustainable use, reduce threats contributing to the decline and loss of fragile coral reef resources and ecosystems, and restore the condition of coral reefs. The CRCGP, as authorized under the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (Act, 16 U.S.C. 6401 et seq., P.L. 106-562, see Appendix D), is intended to support a wide range of coral reef conservation projects, from developing sound science to enhancing compliance with management programs and increasing public knowledge of coral reefs.

The stated purposes of the Act, which was enacted on December 14, 2000, are:

1. To preserve, sustain and restore the condition of coral reef ecosystems;
2. To promote the wise management and sustainable use of coral reef ecosystems to benefit local communities and the Nation;
3. To develop sound scientific information on the condition of coral reef ecosystems and the threats to such ecosystems;
4. To assist in the preservation of coral reefs by supporting conservation programs, including projects that involve affected local communities and non-governmental organizations;
5. To provide financial resources for those programs and projects; and
6. To establish a formal mechanism for collecting and allocating monetary donations from the private sector to be used for coral reef conservation projects.

Achieving purposes 1-4 is intended to provide positive environmental, social and economic impacts to vulnerable coral reef environments and the users dependent on those ecosystems. Purposes 5-6 help provide the means for accomplishing those purposes.

Coral reefs are some of the most biologically rich and economically valuable ecosystems on Earth. They provide a wide variety of valuable products and services in the U.S. and in other countries, including:

• Economic stability and food security for millions of people;
• Chemicals and pharmaceuticals that contribute to improved human health;
• Environmental services such as shoreline protection;
• Areas of natural beauty and biodiversity; and
• Sources of revenue and employment through tourism and other industries.

Coral reef ecosystems are in serious jeopardy, primarily due to the impacts of a variety of human activities. Coral reefs are threatened by over-exploitation and destructive fishing practices; pollution and sedimentation associated with coastal development, deforestation, and agriculture; habitat loss from dredging and shoreline modification; vessel groundings and other direct physical impacts; invasive species; disease outbreaks; and other impacts associated with climate change such as coral bleaching, increased storm frequency and changing sea level. By some estimates, 27 percent of the world's reefs have effectively been lost, with 16 percent attributed to the massive climate-related coral bleaching event of 1998 and 11 percent lost due to human impacts1. The rapid decline and loss of these valuable marine ecosystems have significant social, economic, and environmental consequences in the U.S. and around the world.

The CRCGP supports projects under six categories through grants and cooperative agreements, including

1. U.S. state and territorial government management activities;
2. U.S. state and territorial government monitoring activities;
3. General coral reef conservation activities;
4. International coral reef conservation projects;
5. Projects to develop, improve or amend Fishery Management Plans (FMPs); and
6. Coral reef ecosystem research.

Each project is from 12-18 months in duration. The CRCGP funds and implements projects in Florida, Hawaii, Texas (Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary), Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Navassa Island, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, the U.S. Freely Associated States, and internationally in other countries with coral reefs.

The award of grants follows a specific process, which includes steps to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other applicable laws and regulations. The CRCGP grant process generally includes the following steps:

• An announcement of the opportunity for Federal funding is issued, which includes requirements for information pertaining to NEPA compliance.
• Organizations prepare and submit preproposals for project grants, which should include enough detail for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to make a NEPA compliance and documentation determination.
• The CRCGP evaluates the applications through a peer-review process and internal NOAA panel, including the information pertaining to NEPA compliance, using a standard evaluation worksheet.
• The CRCGP arrives at a decision on a suite of possible projects to recommend for funding.
• The CRCGP staff responsible for each of the six grants program categories use a NEPA checklist (see Appendix C) to document specific information and to determine if the project and potential impacts are addressed in this PEA. If so, no further environmental review is conducted other than completion of the NEPA checklist. If the project is not addressed in the PEA, an environmental impact review such as a Categorical Exclusion (CE), Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be completed as appropriate.
• The CRCGP staff work with each applicant to prepare the appropriate level of NEPA documentation (CE, EA, or EIS, as appropriate), if they have an application that falls outside of the PEA.
• Each award may have Special Award Conditions (SACs) that the CRCGP imposes on grantees with respect to environmental compliance.PURPOSE AND NEED

The purpose of the proposed action is to support local and national partnerships with resource management agencies, educational institutions, non-government organizations and community groups through which coral reef conservation actions are realized. For more than a decade, scientists, policy makers, and national leaders have been expressing a growing concern over the deterioration of coral reef ecosystems due to the impacts of rising temperatures, increasing coastal development, and persistent overfishing of reef systems. The CRCGP serves as one means to address these issues by supporting projects within local jurisdictions that provide information needed to understand the status and trends of coral reef ecosystems, identifying and implementing techniques and approaches to mitigate threats or improve management, and educating user groups on the importance of reefs and actions they can take to conserve reefs. Viable and healthy coral reefs are important to maintaining healthy fish stocks. Effective conservation, management and restoration projects for coral reefs would help rebuild fisheries stocks and recover certain threatened and endangered species. In addition, conservation of coral reefs is necessary to ensure that these valuable resources are available to future generations that are dependent on these resources for their livelihood and for cultural and social values.

PROPOSED ACTION AND ALTERNATIVES

The proposed action is to award grant funds to various groups for coral reef conservation activities involving one or more of the following categories: state and territory management, state and territory monitoring, general coral reef conservation, projects to develop, improve or amend FMPs international coral reef conservation, and ecosystem research. Due to the broad scope of each of these grant programs, each category is described by thematic area and project type.

The state and territory management category would include implementation of projects to mitigate impacts associated with fishing, land-based pollution, marine pollution, global climate change, natural stressors and extreme events, invasive species, and overuse for recreational or other purposes. Project types include, but are not limited to implementation and evaluation of marine protected areas (MPAs), coastal zone management initiatives, development and implementation of restoration and mitigation efforts, mapping and characterization of coral reefs and associated habitats, and implementation of Local Action Strategies.

The state and territory monitoring category would include implementation of projects to characterize and evaluate the status and trends of benthic habitats, biological community structure and water quality. Project types include efforts to characterize the condition of benthic coral reef habitats, map benthic habitats using aerial photography and satellite imagery, evaluation of the status and trends in fishes, corals, commercially and ecologically important coral reef invertebrates, and algae, and water and substrate quality.

The general coral reef conservation category would include implementation of projects to preserve, sustain and restore the condition of coral reef ecosystems, promote the wise management and sustainable use of coral reef resources, increase public knowledge and awareness of coral reef ecosystems and issues regarding their conservation, and develop sound scientific information on the condition of coral reef ecosystems and the threats to such ecosystems. Project types include biological monitoring, ecosystem research, development of restoration approaches, fisheries and MPA management, reduction of pollution, capacity building, and education and outreach.

The projects to develop, improve or amend FMPs category would include implementation of projects to obtain information needed to promote sustainable use of coral reef resources and non-destructive fishing practices. Project types include identification, mapping and characterization of essential fish habitat (EFH), monitoring reef fish stocks, efforts to reduce overfishing and adverse effects of fishing and fishing gear, assessment of effectiveness of fishing regulations, education and outreach to recreational and commercial fishers, and studies on ecosystem-scale processes.

The international coral reef conservation category addresses national priorities in international coral reef conservation. This category would include implementation of projects to shape and develop comprehensive and environmentally sound coral reef policy, strengthen international conventions, and foster strategic partnerships to address international threats to coral reef ecosystems. Projects types include efforts to promote effective watershed management and reduce land-based sources of pollution, implementation of coral reef protected areas (MPAs) and evaluation of the effectiveness of management of MPA’s, monitoring of coral reef condition, and socio-economic monitoring.

The ecosystem research category would include implementation of research projects on overfishing, pollution, coral disease and bleaching, invasive species, and the impact of these stressors on coral reef ecosystems, fisheries population dynamics and ecology, effects of anthropogenic stressors on benthic invertebrates, impacts and spread of invasive species, and evaluation of management actions and strategies.

Other possible alternatives include the no action alternative, i.e., not providing funds to eligible grant recipients to conduct approved coral reef activities and conditional approval of awards that do not immediately meet all of the requirements.

AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT

A primary objective of the CRCGP is to promote sound science to improve the understanding of coral reef ecosystems and to identify and implement strategies to mitigate threats responsible for the decline of coral reefs. The jurisdiction of the program covers all areas with shallow water coral reef ecosystems including coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds and other associated habitats within the insular U.S., U.S. territories, Freely Associated States, and other countries, that include, or directly or indirectly influence the benthic invertebrates, algae and fishes that utilize these habitats.

The PEA describes the physical, biological and social environments of coral reefs and associated habitats. The following resources are described: corals, coral reefs and coral reef ecosystems, mangroves and seagrass beds, water quality, socioeconomics and environmental justice, living marine resources and EFH, and endangered species.

SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

The positive environmental consequences of the implementation of the preferred alternative include enhanced conservation and management measures intended to protect fragile coral reefs and their ecosystems. Negative consequences are expected to be minimal, including temporary impacts associated with field research (e.g., sample collection), and monitoring programs (e.g., installation of permanent markers). Management techniques such as new regulations and increased law enforcement to reduce fishing effort and eliminate destructive gears and/or prohibit the take of vulnerable coral reef resources could also potentially have temporary negative economic impacts for local fishermen.

The cumulative negative impacts associated with multiple grants that are funded within individual jurisdictions are expected to be minimal and insignificant. In some cases individual applicants receive annual funding for various projects that occur in the same location (e.g., State and Territorial Monitoring) however, these activities are non-invasive, do not involve manipulations of the environment, and only have temporary minor impacts while conducting the work (e.g., diver presence temporarily affects behavior of fishes) which disappear once the divers leave the water. In other cases, multiple projects will be funded within one jurisdiction over the life of this CRCGP, but the activities are not carried out in exactly the same location or do not involve the same organisms (e.g., one group may monitor water quality and another monitors fish and benthic communities). If any activities involve substantial modifications of these environments (e.g., restoration) or manipulations of organisms found in these environments (e.g., removal of invasive or pest species or reintroduction of missing trophic groups), subsequent activities proposed for these same locations would be analyzed in detail to ensure that they will not affect the success of previous activities or have cumulative negative impacts in that location.

The cumulative environmental consequences of achieving grant and individual project objectives over the life of the CRCGP will be positive with respect to dealing with anthropogenic impacts to coral. However, funding of these grants does not ensure significant improvements of the environment because: 1) cause of decline may be natural and outside of management control; 2) projects typically focus on a very small spatial scale and many of the threats may be regional or global; 3) projects may identify various options to mitigate decline but because most coral reef resources are in state and territorial waters the implementation of effective conservation and management measures is the sole responsibility of the respective state or territorial management agency; and 4) there are multiple stressors impacting reefs, not all of which may be under NOAA’s mandate, and most projects only focus on addressing particular stressors.

CONCLUSIONS

This PEA considers the potential environmental, economic and social impacts of providing funds for coral reef conservation projects under the CRCGP. The proposed action would include funding grants that included the management, monitoring, ecosystem research, restoration, public education, and capacity building activities identified, and preferably a combination of these activities under each grant. The proposed action is needed to preserve, sustain and restore coral reef ecosystems, to promote wise management and sustainable use, and to educate user groups and stakeholders in appropriate conservation measures for coral reefs of the U.S. and internationally.

This PEA finds that annual implementation of the CRCGP through the work undertaken by grant recipients would not have any significant adverse impacts on coral reef resources. The proposed action will produce environmentally positive benefits as the funds are directed towards activities identified in the Coral Reef Conservation Act and the National Action Strategy, and will help mitigate anthropogenic impacts and potentially reverse the decline of coral reef ecosystems.

All grant applications will be reviewed by the Responsible Program Officer for compliance with NEPA and other environmental requirements through a review of the application and environmental information supplied by grant applicants and other interested parties as stated in the Annual Fiscal Year Funding Guidance. Based on past experience of program implementation and for anticipated future activities and projects, CRCGP grant proposals have at most, minor, temporary immediate or direct negative effects to the environment and are classified as CEs (i.e., certain categories of actions that individually or cumulatively do not have the potential to pose significant impacts on the quality of the human environment). These types of projects are therefore exempted from both further environmental review and requirements to prepare environmental review documents (40 D.F.R. 1508.4, NAO 4.01.c). Such projects can be funded as soon as funds are disbursed to the recipients. Generally, there are no further environmental compliance requirements for these projects and no additional NEPA review is anticipated for these grant awards. Should such review indicate the potential for controversy or greater environmental impacts beyond what is described in this PEA, then further NEPA review will be implemented.

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