Seeking Public Comment NHPA/NEPA1 Joint Infrastructure Recovery Request (JIRR) New Orleans, LA JIRR Project, St. Charles Ave., New Orleans The City of New Orleans and the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans have submitted a combined Joint Infrastructure Recovery Request (JIRR) to FEMA to provide funds for a city-wide, multi-year program to repair, improve, and replace damage to roads, drainage and subsurface utilities resulting from Hurricane Katrina to pre-storm condition and functionality throughout the city. Information about the undertaking can be found at: https://roadwork.nola.gov/projects/. The Undertaking includes repairs to storm-damaged roads and underground utility lines such as: drainage system damage assessment, underground utility line point repair or replacement, incidental repairs, minor rehabilitation, and major rehabilitation and full roadway reconstruction. This may include repair or replacement of sidewalks, road pavement, curbs and gutters, driveway aprons, drainage inlet structures, manholes, connections, valves, hydrants, and the restoration of medians, parking lanes, bike lanes, other incidental paved areas, and installation of ADA-compliant handicapped ramps. There are 111 individual historic properties and 26 historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in Orleans Parish. Approximately 45,000 properties, representing almost 40% of the city's urbanized area, are within the boundaries of these historic districts. In addition, there are 705 recorded archaeological sites spanning from the Poverty Point Period (1700 B.C.E.) to the present, and 28 National Historic Landmarks, including the Garden District and the St. Charles Streetcar Line. Federal regulations require FEMA, as the funding agency, to determine if properties that may be affected are historic properties (listed in or eligible for listing in the NRHP); to assess the effects the project will have on historic properties; to seek ways to avoid, minimize, or mitigate any adverse effects to historic properties; and to evaluate the proposed action's potential for significant impacts to the human and natural environment. The City will hire an archaeologist and historic preservation specialist to monitor construction and advise the City on ways to avoid or minimize damage to significant streetscape features. The City will inventory examples of character defining streetscape features in NRHP-listed and eligible historic districts; and prepare historical contexts regarding New Orleans' streetscapes and archaeological properties. Any member of the public is encouraged to provide views on how the project may affect historic properties and ways that these effects may be avoided, minimized, or mitigated. FEMA requests your comments on the effects of the JIRR undertaking on historic properties. Please provide this information to FEMA by November 22, 2018. Comments can be posted at: (https://www.crt.state.la.us/culturalassets/fema106/) Or mailed to: FEMA Mail Center/Historic Preservation 1500 Main Street Baton Rouge, LA 70802 Post your comments soon - all comments must be posted or postmarked by November 22, 2018. 1 High winds and heavy rains of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent widespread flooding damaged many buildings in Orleans Parish, LA. FEMA is issuing this public notice as part of its responsibilities under the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's regulations, 36 CFR Part 800, implementing Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (NHPA). This notice applies to activities carried out by the Public Assistance (PA) program implemented under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C.§§5152-5206.