PUBLIC NOTICE 
Federal Emergency Management Agency 
Draft Environmental Assessment 
Round Top Road Community Housing Site, Athens Township, Bradford County, PA 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 
has prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and FEMA’s implementing regulations.  The Draft EA has been prepared for a proposed temporary community housing site for residents displaced by flooding in Bradford County. 
Section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act authorizes FEMA to provide emergency and temporary housing for eligible disaster victims whose homes are uninhabitable or destroyed as a result of a declared disaster event (FEMA-4030-DR-PA).  From September 4-11, 2011, heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Lee caused flooding in eastern and central Pennsylvania.  Rainfall for this period ranged from 5.5 to 15 inches in a 48-hour period.  Major rivers and their tributaries overflowed their banks inundating hundreds of communities in the Susquehanna and Delaware River watersheds for nearly a week. 
Direct housing assistance includes the provision of a manufactured housing unit on an available private, commercial park or community site location.  Most of this demand will be met by placing a mobile home on an applicant’s private site if the site is located outside a floodplain, or providing a mobile home on an available pad leased in a commercial park.  However, once these options are exhausted, FEMA estimates many applicants will still require housing, resulting in the need to develop a temporary (up to 18 months) community housing site. 
The Draft EA evaluates project alternatives and compliance with applicable environmental laws and Executive Orders #11990 (Protection of Wetlands), #11988 (Floodplain Management), and #12898 (Environmental Justice). 
The proposed temporary community housing site is approximately 7 acres in size, and is currently an undeveloped area located on Round Top Road, Athens Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania (Latitude 41.93058, Longitude -76.53624). 
Due to the emergency nature of this action, the public comment period will be brief, from October 15, 2011 to October 18, 2011. The Draft EA is available for public review at the Disaster Recovery Center (DRC), Towanda Fire Hall, 101 Elm Street, Towanda, PA 18848.    The DRC hours are 10:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Saturday.  Comments on the Draft EA will not be taken at the DRC, however.  The Draft EA is also available on FEMA’s website at: 
 http://www.fema.gov/plan/ehp/envdocuments/index.shtm under Region III. 
Comments on the Draft EA can be faxed to 717-651-4586.Verbal comments can be provided by calling 717-671-3617 or emailed to: FEMA-Region3-EHP@fema.dhs.gov  If no substantive comments are received relative to the proposed action’s environmental effects, the Draft EA will become final and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) will be issued.