A.
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched the Rebuild by Design (RBD) competition in the summer of 2013 to develop ideas to improve physical, ecological, economic, and social resilience in regions affected by Superstorm Sandy. The City of Hoboken's proposed project was one of the competition's six winning concepts, developed with the goal of reducing frequent flooding due to storm surge, high tide, and heavy rainfall. HUD awarded $230,000,000 to the State of New Jersey for the project in the municipalities of Hoboken, Weehawken, and Jersey City.
The project takes a multifaceted approach intended to address flooding from both major storm surges and high tides as well as from heavy rainfall events. The project's comprehensive approach to resilience consists of four integrated components:
(1)
Resist: a combination of hard infrastructure (such as bulkheads, floodwalls and seawalls) and soft landscaping features (such as berms and/or levees which could be used as parks) that act as barriers along the coast during exceptionally high tide and/or storm surge events;
(2)
Delay: policy recommendations, guidelines and urban green infrastructure to slow stormwater runoff;
(3)
Store: green and grey infrastructure improvements, such as bioretention basins, swales, and green roofs, that slow down and capture stormwater, and which will complement the efforts of the City of Hoboken's existing Green Infrastructure Strategic Plan; and
(4)
Discharge: enhancements to Hoboken's existing stormwater management system, including the identification and upgrading of existing stormwater/sewer lines, outfalls and pumping stations.
B.
Trees and other woody vegetation, such as shrubs and vines, can create both structural and seepage instabilities, prevent adequate inspection, and create obstacles to maintenance and flood-fighting/flood-control activities. Therefore, vegetation surrounding the "resist" structure must be regulated. Vegetation must be regulated for the following reasons:
(1)
To allow proper inspection, surveillance, and monitoring of all structures and adjacent areas for seepage, cracking, sinkholes, settlement, displacement, and other signs of distress.
(2)
To allow access for normal and emergency operation and maintenance activities.
(3)
To prevent root-related damage to structures, such as shortened seepage paths through embankments and/or foundations; voids in embankments and/or foundations due to decayed roots or fallen trees; clogged seepage collector systems; and expansion of cracks or joints in concrete walls, spillway floors, and canal linings.
(4)
To limit those habitat characteristics that encourage the creation of animal burrows.
(5)
To allow full design-discharge capability of waterways, spillway inlet and outlet channels, outlet-works discharge channels, and other open conveyance channels.
(6)
To avoid any incidental growth and subsequent presence of endangered species that might prohibit activities necessary for O&M or access.