JOINT FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL
PUBLIC NOTICE
May 13, 2026
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Florida Division of Emergency Management have received the following application for Federal grant funding. Final notice is hereby given of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) consideration to provide funding in the form of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Funds will be provided in accordance with Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Public Law 93-288, as amended.
Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), federal actions must be reviewed and evaluated for feasible alternatives and for social, economic, historic, environmental, legal, and safety considerations. Under Executive Order (EO) 11988 and EO 11990 FEMA is required to consider alternatives to and to provide public notice of any proposed actions in or affecting floodplains or wetlands.
Funding for the proposed project will be conditional upon compliance with all applicable federal, tribal, state and local laws, regulations, floodplain standards, permit requirements and conditions.
Applicant:
Charlotte County
Project Title:
HMGP 4828-(256) Charlotte County, West Port Water Reclamation Facility, Generator
Location of Proposed Work:
The area affected by this project consists of homes in the following locations:
Cattle Dock Point Rd, Port Charlotte, FL 33981
Proposed Work and Purpose:
The project proposes to provide protection by purchasing and installing two (2) permanent generators with a capacity of 1,000 kW or the adequate sizes determined by the vendor and/or an electrical engineer during the bid process to appropriately support the critical infrastructure. The project shall include all required electrical and ancillary components necessary for the installation and integration of the generators. The project includes replacing the facility's two (2) existing generators (400 kW each) which do not meet the minimum capacity required to meet the facility's needs in the event of an outage. An interruption in the electric power supply would result in a loss of wastewater service and sewer overflow events. This project shall allow the Water Reclamation Facility to maintain operations during future emergency events that could cause power outages.
Project Alternatives:
The alternatives to the project that have been and will be considered are 1) the no action alternative and 2) this alternative involves rehabilitating the existing 400 kW Generac diesel generators and install paralleling switchgear along with an advanced load-shedding control system. These alternatives to the proposed project are not viable because under Alternative 1) if the no action alternative is taken, the risk of generator failure or overload during a utility power outage would remain high. In the event of a hurricane or major disaster, a loss of backup power could result in the partial or complete shutdown of essential treatment processes, including influent screening, aeration, disinfection, and effluent pumping. This would jeopardize compliance with the facility’s Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) permit and could lead to the discharge of untreated or partially treated wastewater into nearby water bodies, resulting in environmental contamination, public health risks, and regulatory fines.; and Alternative 2) this alternative was not selected because it does not offer a permanent or comprehensive solution to the facility’s power vulnerability.
Comment Period:
Comments are solicited from the public; local, state or federal agencies; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of the proposed project. The comments should be made in writing and addressed to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Bureau of Mitigation, 2489 Shumard Oak Blvd., Tallahassee, FL 32399-2100. These are due within 15 days of this notice. The State will forward comments to applicable regulatory agencies as needed. Interested persons may submit comments, obtain more detailed information about the proposed action, or request a copy of the findings by contacting:
Syndi Merriman, Grants Analyst
941-764-4560
Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners
Syndi.Merriman@CharlotteCountyFL.gov
State Environmental Specialist Team
Florida Division of Emergency Management
MitigationEnvironmental@em.myflorida.com