Apr 3, 2023
Below is the written response we received from NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. We will continue to follow this issue and keep you updated.
Response: I am confirming that Port Bay is not in the proposed sanctuary boundary. The landward boundary would follow the shoreline from Point 28 to Point 29 as identified in the proposed rule. The shoreline boundary would be the Low Water Datum. With regard to future dredging activities in the proposed sanctuary boundary (just outside the port), the proposed sanctuary regulations are narrowly focused on protecting underwater cultural resources. If an activity does not injure these sanctuary resources, it is not restricted or prohibited, and does not require a sanctuary permit.
Dredging activities are already regulated by New York State and the Corps of Engineers. It is our understanding that the Port Bay Improvement Association has permits from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and the Corps of Engineers for maintenance dredging. Therefore, consideration of the impact to cultural resources should already be incorporated into the permit review processes for both the state and the Corps of Engineers because they both have legal requirements to avoid damage to cultural resources.
NOAA recognizes that inlet dredging may extend some distance into Lake Ontario and overlap with the proposed sanctuary boundary. However, as indicated above, there is not a NOAA sanctuary permit required for dredging in this sanctuary, so NOAA would only be involved in the permitting process when it is determined that historical/cultural resources within the sanctuary may be impacted. As you mentioned, dredging has occurred in this area for many years. In these situations, it is unlikely that underwater cultural resources are present (or have already been impacted by the dredging activity), and therefore NOAA would not be involved in the permitting process for dredging.