Amendment 0002_Section 01 57 19- Monitoring and Protection Plan.pdf

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Monitoring and Protection of Seabeach Amaranth and Piping Plover

Atlantic Coast of New Jersey Sandy Hook to Barnegat Inlet Beach Erosion Control Project (BECP)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The FY26 include placement of approximately 1.4 million cubic yards of sand for both base and optional tasks.

The placement areas in Sea Bright stretches from about 1000’ north of the State Rt 36/Ocean Ave interchange in Highlands to Island View Way in Sea Bright.

The placement area in Monmouth Beach stretches from just north of Cottage Rd.

to Vista Ct. in Monmouth Beach.

The southern section stretches from Joline Ave to Whitman Terrace in Long Branch. The maximum total quantity of material to be placed would be approximately

1.4 million CY.

The Project footprint includes all sand placement and grading areas (i.e., the fill template including tapers), as well as all temporary access, staging, and storage areas.

In other words, the Project footprint covers the entire area of disturbance from the landward limit of the beach to the Mean Low Water line.

Seabeach Amaranth

1. Monitoring

If any Project activities are scheduled to occur during the growing season of seabeach amaranth (May 15 to December 1), the Corps will contact the Service after August 31 to request 2026 plant locations within the Project footprint and will monitor plant survival leading up to the start of the project. For any plants still alive in the Project footprint after August 31, a Corps or contract biologist, botanist, or designated representative will monitor survival once a week from September 1 to December 1, or until all plants have become buried or deceased from natural processes.

2. For any live plants in the Project footprint at the start of construction, the Corps will use symbolic (string-and-post) fencing to encircle each plant or group of plants, allowing a 3-meter buffer on all sides before the start of renourishment activities. The Corps will not use sand/snow fencing for this purpose. The Corps will:

a. Mark the fencing with flagging and signs.

b. Instruct all work crews to avoid fenced areas (e.g., do not enter on foot or via motor vehicle, do not stage or store materials or equipment in or near fencing, locate access routes away from fenced areas, do not stockpile or grade sand within 15 meters of fencing or as needed to avoid inducing sand erosion or deposition within the fenced area).

c. Remove symbolic fencing upon completion of work.

d. Undertake all practicable measures to avoid injury, burial, or premature death of plants.

e. Notify the Service as soon as possible if any plants are present in the placement area and cannot be avoided (see #3, below).

3. Transplantation of Plants Likely to be Destroyed In the event that seabeach amaranth is present in the placement area, and it is likely that the surrounding placed sand will encroach upon and smother the plant, the Corps proposes to transplant the individual plant to a similar habitat near or within the Project area to lessen the impact of placement on the population. Transplantation will include removal of an intact volume of sand to include the full extent of the roots. When necessary, this action will occur with Service cooperation as soon as possible after the plant is identified, and every attempt will be made to include the entire (undamaged) root system. Transplanted individuals will be monitored until their deaths, and the monitoring results will be provided to the Service.

4. Seed Bank Conservation

In areas of high plant density in the past 3 years (2024-2026), the Corps will stockpile the top layer of sand prior to renourishment, in order to preserve the seedbank. The stockpiles will be re-spread on the construction template upon completion of the Project.

To identify the target area(s) for seedbank conservation, the Corps and the Service will conduct a spatial assessment of 2024-2026 plant density, giving more weight to larger and more recent plants. Within the target area(s), the top layer of sand substrate will be “scraped” and stockpiled per the method below, which is based on a successful 2019 trial conducted by the Corps Philadelphia District. After the area has been graded to the design profile, the stockpiled “scraped sand” will be re-spread within the Project area (within a few months of scraping) in an area with suitable habitat conditions for seabeach amaranth.

Methods:

The top six to eight inches of surface sand will be scraped and stockpiled for future redistribution. The target areas for scraping, identified via the spatial analysis discussed above, will be staked out by survey teams ahead of time.

Scraping will take place as the beach fill progresses, typically a day or two before beach fill placement in each successive section of beach.

The scraped surface sand will be transferred to a dumpster or other container and stored, uncovered, on or near the beach. (Seabeach amaranth seeds require a period of cold exposure to break dormancy and germinate.)

The timing and location(s) of re-spreading will be determined in collaboration with the Service. The stockpiled material will be re-spread in as thin a layer as possible, seaward of the tow of dune, as close as possible to the original location from which the material was scraped. The re-spread areas will match the existing grade of the adjacent beach as closely as possible. Re-spread areas will be marked with stakes and flagging. Re-spreading will be done after completion of the beachfill but prior to May 15. In nesting areas, re-spreading will be done prior to March 15.

The Corps will return to the re-spread areas biweekly starting in June to monitor germination in coordination with the Service and the NJ Office of Natural Lands Management and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ.

Piping Plover

Nesting Areas for 2026 and 2027: North of Cottage Rd.

1. Project activities in this area taking place between March 1 and 15 will follow the monitoring protocol below.

2. Project activities in this area will be completed by March 15, including removal of all pipeline material, machinery, equipment, and construction crews, and grading of fill to the construction template.

Non-Nesting Areas for 2026 and 2027: South of Cottage Rd.

1. Project activities in this area will not be seasonally restricted.

2. Project activities in this area taking place after February 28 will follow the monitoring protocol below.

Contingency if Piping Plovers are Observed

If a piping plover is observed in the Project footprint at any time after March 1, the Corps will immediately implement the protective buffers listed below and promptly notify the Service to determine next steps.

Work will not be conducted within the buffers until the monitor can determine whether the plovers are migrants, or may establish breeding territories.

March 1-14: buffer will be 300 meters around the bird March 15-31: buffer will be 500 meters around the bird April 1 and beyond: buffer will be 1,000 meters around the bird

If any breeding behavior is observed, the area will be classified as a “nesting area,” which is defined as: 1,000 meters on either side of the entire area currently occupied by courting, territorial, incubating, or brood-rearing piping plovers, nests with eggs, or unfledged chicks, or any site so occupied during any of the most recent three nesting seasons (including the current one if territories have already been established for the year).

With written Service concurrence, work may proceed if no piping plovers – or no breeding behaviors -- have been observed for 2 weeks that included at least 8 days of surveying throughout the full tidal cycle.

Monitoring Protocol During the seasonal windows listed above, all Project activities will be carried out under the direction of a qualified endangered species monitor/s retained by the contractor.

The monitor will be a biologist with at least 40 hours of field experience observing piping plovers and documented experience locating, identifying, and monitoring them.

The biologist’s name, address, telephone number, and anticipated work schedule on the project will be submitted to the Corps for review and approval, in consultation with the Service, and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP) at least 10 working days before the start of the seasonal windows. Contractor monitoring work will also be supplemented by oversight provided by experienced Corps endangered species monitors, Ms. Katherine Amirr, and others. The Corps will ensure coordination between the monitor and the project engineer responsible for the oversight of construction activities. The Corps will name a single point of contact (POC) to communicate with the Service and the ENSP. The POC will coordinate closely with ENSP to ensure all Corps monitoring activities are compatible and complimentary with ENSP’s normal beach-nesting bird management program. The monitors shall maintain daily field notes and report on a weekly basis to the Corps biologist, the Service, Attention Wendy Walsh (wendy_walsh@fws.gov),

(609) 382-5274 and ENSP NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, Attention: Christina “Kashi” Davis (Christina.Davis@dep.nj.gov), (609) 628-1919.

The monitors shall maintain daily field notes and report findingson a daily basis to the Corps biologist beginning March 1, 2022. The Corps will ensure prompt transmission of the monitoring reports to the Service.

Before the start of work each day, a piping plover survey will be conducted of the entire current construction area, as well as any areas where work will commence within the next 4 days. In addition, the monitor will conduct daily observation of all piping plovers anywhere in the Project footprint while work is in progress. With Service concurrence, the Corps may modify survey and monitoring specifications based on site-specific considerations.

The nesting areas for 2028 will be determined on the 2027 breeding season and are subject to change.