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From: lisamarie carrubba ([email protected])

To: [email protected];

Date: Thu, July 29, 2010 12:45:49 PM

Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

Subject: Re: Federally Funded Shopping Mall Culebra

Mary Ann:

You are correct that projects with a federal nexus, including federal funding and permits, require section 7

consultation pursuant to the requirements of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) if the project will impact

listed species or their habitat. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Protected Resources Division

does not have a record of consultation with HUD or EPA for this project, which consists of the construction

of a small two-story building with space for 10 commercial facilities and parking. However, based on the

information you provided and after speaking with the biologist from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

(USFWS) who reviewed this project, the project is located on uplands adjacent to El Eden restaurant and

store and is not adjacent to the coast. Information from the USFWS project file indicates that neither the dry

creek that is east of the project site and drains toward Ensenada Honda, nor vegetation along the mountain

slope south and west of the project will be disturbed by the project. Only areas that were previously cleared

as part of the preparation of the project site will be impacted by the construction of the building, and earthenberms and other sediment control measures will be employed during project construction to minimize the

transport of sediment from the site during construction activities.

Given the project's location on uplands that are not adjacent to the coast, do not contain listed species under

NMFS' purview, and are not within coastal waters designated as critical habitat for green sea turtles and listed

coral species, HUD and/or EPA, as funding and permitting agencies, respectively, for the project, would not

need a section 7 consultation with NMFS for the project. If any listed species or their designated critical

habitat occur within the terrestrial footprint of this project, USFWS would be the Service with jurisdiction.

On the other hand, if, during construction of the shopping center, you provide evidence to NMFS that the

construction activity is resulting in sediment transport to nearshore waters and this is impacting listed seaturtles and/or listed corals, our law enforcement agent responsible for investigating cases in Culebra, Kenneth

Henline, can investigate to determine whether a NOAA enforcement action is warranted.

Thank you,

Lee

Dr. Lisamarie Carrubba

NOAA Fisheries

Caribbean Field Office

P.O. Box 1310

Boquern, PR 00622787-851-3700

787-851-5588 (fax)

CORALations wrote:

Dear NOAA:

This is to bring to your immediate attention the allocation offederal HUD funds in support of a strip-style shopping center on

the small island of Culebra, Puerto Rico. A notice referencing the release of federal funds appeared in a local paper on 13th of

July and was the first we learned of the federally funded project.

However, dramatic clearing in 2007 deforested much of the watershed of the site and resulted in sedimentation to coastal

http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=1&.rand=2bem

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waters was documented by our org.

It is not clear from the documents reviewed if this impact was associated with federal funding released from earlier phases of this

project, since the documents available for review are confusing at best and very incomplete, if, in fact, what we were shown was

the complete document.

This is urgent because Federal funds are scheduled to be allocated 15 days after the notice printed on the 13th meaning deadline

for comments is today at midnight.

Specifically, we are requesting a response from your agency indicating whether NMFS NOAA was involved in the

Section 7 review on this project given that all of Culebra is in the Coastal Zone and coastal waters are federally

listed as critical habitat, and,

we are hoping your agency can intervene if they have not enjoyed a section 7 review on the release of these Federal

Funds until NOAA does review.

While the announcement in the paper referenced no numbers, in the documents available for short notice review we found two

numbers matching the

same project description as written in the public notice:

04-AB-21-002, Fase I de III, Diseno y construccion del Centro de Comercio Playas Sardinas, en el Mun. de Culebra,

and

04-FC-21-002, Fase II de III, Diseno y constrccion del Centro de Comercio Playas Sardinas, en el Mun. de Culebra.

Federal funds are being allocated from OCAM for this shopping center on Culebra possibly this week based on the information in

the announcement on the 13th.

Oficina del Comisionado de Asunto Municipales

Apartado Postal 70167

San Juan, PR 00936-8167

787-754-1600 fax 787-753-8254

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

other relevant contacts:

Armando Fana

Acting Field Office Director

Federal Office of Housing and Urban DevelopmentSan Juan Field Office

Parque Las Americas I

235 Federico Costa Street, Suite 200

San Juan, PR 00918-1322

787-766-5400 Fax 787-766-5995

[email protected]

Certifying Officer is Hon. Abraham Pena Nieves note: the Mayor is very ill right now and not in the office,

Alcalde de Culebra

Apartado Postal 189

Culebra, PR 00775

787-742-3521, 742-3523

Fax 787-742-0111

THANK YOU,

Mary Ann LuckingDirector

CORALationsP.O. Box 750

Culebra, PR 00775www.coralations.org

1-877-77CORAL / 1-877-77(2-6725) (gratis / toll free)(o) 787-556-6234 email: [email protected]


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"How quickly it could all disappear! And how it is beginning to drive us further into where we hope are impenetrable places,

green secrets at the end of bad roads, head-lands where the next view is not of a hotel but of some long beach without a figure

and the hanging question of some fisherman's smoke at its far end..." Derek Walcott, Nobel Lecture 1992


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Carruba Response CentroComercios MARKUP

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