Canarsie Resilient

The ultimate purpose of this project is to empower Canarsie residents, community boards, activists, and volunteers to better leverage the lands they own, so that these lands can better serve the public in a changing climate with increasing challenges.

The project aims to do three things: 

(1) inventory the valuable publicly-owned outdoor spaces—from parklands to vacant lots—that, by virtue of their environmental importance or opportunity for development, are important to Canarsie's resiliency story; 

(2) demystify which agencies have jurisdiction over the lands and what the contours of their authority are;

(3) highlight the federal, state, and local laws most relevant to the use of these lands.

The future looks to bring more of the same challenges with flooding to Canarsie, as the latest flood map projections from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) place over 2/3rds of Canarsie homes in the new 1-in-100-year floodplain. (see below, but note that these maps are not final yet and the City has been contesting them)

In spite of all of this, Canarsie's geographic assets offer much hope for resilience. Coupled with the efforts of government agencies, researchers, and non-profits, as well as the grassroots community engagement of Canarsians, Canarsie's wealth of parks and natural spaces can actually be a tool in the face of rising sea levels and climate change. Yet, one of the unique challenges in Canarsie is the lack of coordination between the dozens of federal, state, and local agencies that all have different jurisdictional responsibilities over the lands that residents depend upon for resiliency. See for example this chart below, created by the National Park Service, showing the various agencies (over 25!) that have jurisdictional responsibilities in and around Jamaica Bay.

The challenge is simply empowering residents and community boards to know where to begin. If there is a problem with illegal dumping in the Fresh Creek Nature Preserve, who is in charge of that? What sort of language might an agency be responsive to, given their legislative directive and mission statement? What partnerships or cooperative management agreements can be leveraged? That's what this project begins to explore, with a guided tour of Canarsie and its surrounding public natural areas, in hopes of helping community members navigate the complex jurisdictional boundaries and regulatory schemes governing these spaces of resilience.

The National Park Service (NPS): An agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior established in 1916 pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., the NPS is very involved in the Canarsie area. NPS directly owns and controls 77% of Jamaica Bay's lands and water, manages the Gateway National Recreation Area (GNRA) and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, and through a  Cooperative Management Agreement (CMA)  with NYC Parks (authorized at 16 U.S.C. § 1a-2(1)(1)), is involved in many of the projects in City parks and preserves that abut the waterfront and GNRA.

As its mission mandates, the NPS seeks to engage the public in restoration efforts and advocates for ecosystem restoration, and has a particular focus on creating and encouraging recreational activities in its lands that provide public enjoyment. NPS is also responsible for reviewing and approving proposed designs and major developments that may affect NPS land and properties adjacent to the NPS, like Shirley Chisholm State Park, Spring Creek Park, Canarsie Pier, etc. Visit the GNRA Jamaica Bay Unit's website  here .

US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE): A part of the Department of Defense, the USACE exercises jurisdiction over all navigable waters of the United States, which in Canarsie would include Jamaica Bay, Paerdegat Basin, and Fresh Creek Basin. Whereas the NPS focus more on public engagement in our nation's natural lands, USACE advocates for ecosystem restoration by specializing in engineered solutions and gray infrastructure. USACE also has authority under the Clean Water Act to support ecosystem restoration projects and regulate environmental impacts of dredging and filling.

Gateway National Recreation Area Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. § 460cc et seq.): This act of Congress created the Gateway National Recreation Area and gave the National Park Service jurisdiction over it. The Congressional mandate of the Act requires the NPS "to preserve and protect for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations an area possessing outstanding natural and recreational features." This in turn helps explain so many of the NPS-supported recreational opportunities, and community members can point to the mandate as justification for any new recreational initiatives.

National Environmental Protection Act: This requires an assessment of the environmental impact of all permits and other major Federal actions, but delegates to the states authority to create similar processes as long as they at least meet the standards in NEPA. Thus, in New York, environmental review is governed by the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), and in New York City, by the City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) Manual.

NEPA environmental review entails less broad requirements than under CEQR. For instance it only applies to "major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment." Importantly, NEPA is also merely a disclosure statute, while SEQRA imposes more "action-forcing" or "substantive" requirements on state and local decision-makers, such as the requirement that feasible alternatives that have less of an impact on the environment are explored. NEPA sets the minimum standards, and both SEQRA and CEQR impose higher standards not inconsistent with the federal standards.

Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1948 (officially the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA)): The first federal legislation aimed at controlling water pollution, the CWA allows states to establish their own programs to implement the Act, so long as they are at least as stringent as the federal requirements and are approved by the EPA. NY State received authorization for its National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program, called the State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (SPDES), in 1975, and it now extends to federal facilities. However, NY state has not sought authority to implement the "Indirect Discharge" portions of CWA, so those are still under EPA control.

§ 402 regulates the discharge of pollutants to "waters of the United States" from pipes and other point sources, and contains an absolute prohibition on those discharges except as expressly allowed by a permit. The EPA has delegated authority to nearly every state to administer this program.

• § 404 contains the “dredge and fill” program administered by the Corps under the oversight of EPA. The CWA prohibits the placement of fill into or the excavation or dredging of material into “waters of the United States” without a Corps permit. Certain wetlands have been considered “waters of the United States” and thus within the permit requirement.
  • New York, like 47 other states, has not assumed Clean Water Act § 404 authority over wetlands. However, New York has assumed Clean Water Act § 401 authority to issue water quality certificates to ensure that wetlands fill permits issued by the USACE and other Federal permits are consistent with state law.

NY State Constitution Art. XIV, §§ 1, 4: A governing policy behind many NYS environmental actions is rooted in the actual text of NY state's Constitution, including the state's "Forever Wild" Clause, the original text of which read, “The lands of the state, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the forest preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private, nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed.”

At § 4, the Constitution goes on to provide the following: "The policy of the state shall be to conserve and protect its natural resources and scenic beauty...The legislature, in implementing this policy, shall include adequate provision for the abatement of air and water pollution ..., the protection of agricultural lands, wetlands and shorelines, and the development and regulation of water resources."

State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA): All agency actions or actions that require state agency approval or funding, with the exception of what DEC calls "Type II actions", are governed by the State’s “baby NEPA” law the  State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), ECL § 8-0101 to -0117, 6 NYCRR Part 617 , which requires an assessment of potential impacts and the avoidance or mitigation of any impacts. The Court of Appeals has held that SEQRA applies to a wider range of actions than NEPA. Additionally, the meaning of the term "environment" is broader than that employed by NEPA, because it includes social and economic impacts, not solely factors that have an impact on the physical environment. For more details, you can consult the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation's  SEQRA Manual . Note, however, that most of the locations in the above map follow the City's version of SEQRA, CEQR, described below.

Tidal Wetlands Act of 1973: This act protects tidal wetlands, following the EPA's guidance pursuant to the Clean Water Act, but regulates more area than Federal law because it extends protections to buffer areas that are adjacent to wetlands. The law is implemented through DEC regulations promulgated at 6 NYCRR Part 661. There is no acreage threshold for jurisdiction under the Tidal Wetlands Act, meaning that all tidal wetlands are regulated regardless of size. The Tidal Wetlands Act also regulates adjacent areas up to 300 feet upland of the wetland boundary except in New York City, where the buffer area is limited to 150 feet. Tidal wetlands maps are inventoried and maintained in DEC Regional Offices. Accordingly, if DEC has not mapped a wetland, they cannot exercise jurisdiction over it. For more information about the act, visit the DEC's webpage  HERE .

Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan (JBWPP): City Council amended the Administrative Code of the City of New York in 2005 with the passage of Local Law 71, which required the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to create the Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan and an advisory committee for the water/sewershed of Jamaica Bay. The JBWPP was then created in earnest to address the rapidly disappearing marshland and critical habitats for Jamaica Bay wildlife, and to restore and maintain water quality in and around the bay. The  original plan  included over 120 different strategies in areas such as stormwater management, water quality, and public education and outreach. Initiatives in the JBWPP of great relevance to Canarsie include the Paerdegat Basin restoration work and wastewater treatment plant improvements.

NYC's Waterfront Revitalization Program: Because of how close they are to the waterfront, all locations included in this story map, with the exception of federal lands, are within NYC's Coastal Zone Boundary and are therefore subject to NYC's Waterfront Revitalization Program (WRP) policies and procedures. You can read guidance around NYC's WRP  HERE .

The NYC WRP was created pursuant to NY state's Waterfront Revitalization of Coastal Areas and Inland Waterway Act (the Waterways Act), which established the NYS DOS as the administrator of NYS's Coastal Management Program (CMP) and also allowed for the creation of optional local government waterfront revitalization programs (LWRP), which the New York City Waterfront Revitalization Program (WRP) is an example of. This state law, in turn, was created pursuant to the federal Coastal Zone Management Act.

City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR): CEQRA implements SEQRA (see above) in NYC. CEQR review is required whenever ANY city agency directly undertakes, funds, or approves an action that may have a significant impact on the environment. Under CEQR, "action" includes (1) projects/physical activities such as construction or other activities; (2) agency planning and policy making activities that commit the agency to a definite course of future decisions; or (3) adoption of agency rules, regulations, or procedures, including local laws, codes, ordinances, executive orders, and resolutions. "Environment" is defined as the physical conditions that will be affected by a proposed action, including land, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, noise, objects of historic or aesthetic significance, existing patterns of population concentration, distribution, or growth, existing community or neighborhood character and human health. For more details, you can read the  CEQR Technical Manual .

Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP): The Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) is a public review process required in NYC anytime someone wishes to change the allowable uses of a piece of land (i.e. rezoning) or take  other actions . The process requires a series of public hearings and project review by the community board, borough president, and ultimately CPC, City Council, and the Mayor. These last three entities, however, are the only ones that have mandatory authorities over the process; the community board and borough president votes are non-binding. In general, the Department of City Planning (DCP) is the lead organization overseeing ULURP, but ultimately all ULURP applications require the approval of the City Planning Commission (CPC). For more information on the process, see DCP's official website  HERE  or a helpful diagram explaining the process made by the Center for Urban Pedagogy  HERE .

NYC Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR): § 533 of the NYC Charter charges Commissioner of Parks with responsibility for the management, maintenance, and operation of City parks and recreation facilities under the jurisdiction of Parks. DPR also has the authority to plan, develop, conduct, and enter into arrangements with public or private organizations to ensure the beneficial use of Parks for the people of the City. Read more at the  NYC Parks website .

Community Boards: The most grass-roots unit of local government in NYC, community boards shape our neighborhoods and impact the lives of all New Yorkers. In the land use context, CBs review and comment on proposed land use actions and designs within each Community District prior to plans going to DCP. You can find more Brooklyn community board information  HERE , or read about NYC community boards more generally  HERE .

• Continue to add relevant links and cross-references to supplement and streamline this tool
• Include ALL public lands, not just parks and natural spaces or spaces of environmental significance, e.g. NYCHA housing, public schools, public libraries, etc.
• Expand this to all neighborhoods surrounding Jamaica Bay, or all of New York City