Posted on April 3, 2023
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Jacksonville District, is accepting public comments on its draft memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the mitigation of two archaeological sites in the municipalities of Dorado and Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, as part of the Río de La Plata Flood Control Project.
The project aims to address the frequent flooding in the municipalities. Funding for the project came from a variety of sources, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, regular cost-shared construction funds and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. The project includes 4.8 miles of channel improvements, 6.22 miles of levees, the replacement of two bridges, recreation facilities and mitigation for the loss of environmental habitats.
Upon completion, the project is expected to provide more than $12 million in annual economic benefits and “100-year rainfall” flood protection downstream of PR-2, benefiting the towns of Dorado, Toa Baja, Toa Alta, Levittown, and the communities of Mameyal, Ingenio and Campanilla. The non-federal sponsor for the project is the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources.
The memorandum is between USACE and the Puerto Rico State Historic Preservation Office and establishes the process the federal agency will follow for compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservations Act to mitigate adverse effects caused by the remaining construction of the project.
“The views of the public are important to informed decision-making in the Section 106 process of the National Historic Preservation Act, and it is the responsibility of USACE to consider the views of the public in a manner that reflects the nature of the effects of the project on historic sites,” said the Río de la Plata Flood Control Project’s senior project manager, Lyan García.
