February 16, 2017
CENAO-WR-R
NAO-2016-0080
FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The District Commander has received two joint permit applications from the City of Norfolk. The applications, with VMRC project numbers 16-0321 and 16-0042, are being combined and reviewed by the Norfolk District under project number NAO-2016-0080. The proposed work is described below:
APPLICANT
City of Norfolk
Attn: Ronald H. Williams Jr.
City Hall Bldg
810 Union Street, Room 101
Norfolk, VA 23510
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The proposed project is located in the Lafayette River, East of Regent Road and West of Granby Street as well as West of West Belvedere road in Norfolk, Virginia.
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The applicant proposes to perform new dredging of the channels known as the West Belvedere Channel and the Regent Channel and install daymarkers in order to provide recreational boat access for the general public and properties located along both of these channels in the Lafayette River. The method of dredging will be mechanical, either bucket or lamshell.
As proposed, this project will authorize the dredging of 105,430 square feet (sf) of subaqueous bottom and 12,325 sf of non-vegetated tidal wetlands (mudflats) for a total dredge area of 117,755 sf. The proposed dredging will remove a total of 12,200 cubic yards (cy) of material. The dredged material will be barged to the rehandling basin at Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area (CIDMMA). There will not be any land staging areas associated with the dredging portion of the project. All dredging and transport will take place over the water.The material will be mechanically dredged (an excavator on a barge) and placed in a scow barge. There will be a two foot minimum freeboard between the dredged material and the top of the barge to prevent spillage during transport. The barge will then traverse the Norfolk Harbor to the Rehandling Basin at the CIDMMA for disposal.
The proposed channels were designed and placed to minimize impacts to wetlands and accommodate the existing and proposed private “driveway” channels connecting to the West Belvedere and Regent Road channel.There are 31 properties that will connect to these proposed channels via “driveways” and are being reviewed under project number NAO-2016-1089. Details for the resident driveway channels can be found online at http://www.nao.usace.army.mil/Media/Public-Notices/ project number NAO-2016-1089.
The City of Norfolk is proposing to mitigate the mudflat impacts that will result from both the municipal dredging and the surrounding property owners connecting to the municipal channels. Currently the proposed driveway dredging (NAO-2016-1089) and the municipal dredging will impact a total of 29,620 sf of mudflats. The city is proposing to create 12,000 sf of tidal wetlands and 8,000 sf of oyster reef habitat. 24,000 sf of impacts to mudflats will be compensated at a 0.5 to 1 ratio with the creation of 12,000 sf of vegetated tidal wetlands. The remaining 5,620 sf of mudflats will be mitigated at a 1:1 ratio with the creation of 5,620 sf of oyster reef creation. As proposed there will be surplus of oyster reef created in the amount of 2,380 sf of oyster reef creation for a total of 8,000 sf of oyster reef habitat. A narrative and drawings for this mitigation plan is attached.
In addition to the required Department of the Army permit, the applicant must obtain a Virginia Water Protection Permit/401 certification from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality assuring that applicable laws and regulations pertaining to water quality are not violated and a permit from the Norfolk Wetlands Board. Project drawings are attached.
AUTHORITY: Permits are required pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403), Sections 401 and 404 of the Clean Water Act (Public Law 95-217) and Title 62.1 of the Code of Virginia.
FEDERAL EVALUATION OF APPLICATION: The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest. The decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources.The benefits which reasonably may be expected from the proposal must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. All of the proposal's relevant factors will be considered, including conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, cultural values, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, flood plain values, land use classification, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, consideration of property ownership and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people. The Environmental Protection Agency's "Guidelines for Specification of Disposal Sites for Dredged or Fill Material" will also be applied (Section 404(b)(1) of the Clean Water Act).
The Corps of Engineers is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, state, and local agencies and officials; Indian Tribes; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of this proposed activity. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps of Engineers to determine whether to issue, modify, condition or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above. Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity. Anyone may request a public hearing to consider this permit application by writing to the District Commander within 30 days of the date of this notice, stating specific reasons for holding the public hearing. The District Commander will then decide if a hearing should be held.
Preliminary review indicates that: (l) no environmental impact statement will be required; (2) there may be an affect to listed/proposed/candidate species and/or designated/proposed critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Official Species List and Species Conclusion Table are attached for review and comment by Fish and Wildlife Service; and (3) no known properties eligible for inclusion or included in the National Register of Historic Places are in or near the permit area, or would likely be affected by the proposal. Additional information might change any of these findings.
For compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended for projects located in Tidewater, the applicant must certify that federally licensed or permitted activities affecting Virginia's coastal uses or resources will be conducted in a manner consistent with the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program (VCP) and obtain concurrence from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Office of Environmental Impact Review (OEIR). The applicant’s consistency certification is attached to this Public Notice and we are requesting review by DEQ-OEIR for concurrence or objection. It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit a consistency certification to the Office of Environmental Impact Review for concurrence or objection and proof of concurrence must be submitted to the Corps prior to final permit issuance. A template federal consistency certification can be found here:
http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/EnvironmentalImpactReview/FederalConsistencyReviews.aspx#cert
For more information or to obtain a list of the enforceable policies of the VCP, contact the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Environmental Impact Review at (804) 698-4330 or e-mail: bettina.sullivan@deq.virginia.gov or john.fisher@deq.virginia.gov.
The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-267), requires all Federal agencies to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service on all actions, or proposed actions, permitted, funded, or undertaken by the agency, that may adversely affect Essential Fish Habitat (EFH). The Lafayette River contains Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) for all life stages of 12 species including windowpane flounder (Scopthalmus aquosus), bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix), Atlantic butterfish (Peprilus triacanthus), summer flounder (Paralicthys dentatus), black sea bass (Centropristus striata),king mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla), Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus), cobia (Rachycentron canadum), red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), dusky shark (Charcharinus obscurus), sandbar shark (Charcharinus plumbeus), Atlantic angel shark (Squatina dumeril), and . The habitat which this project would affect consists of shallow water areas and mudflats. There is an absence of submerged aquatic vegetation and anadromous fish spawning habitat. The proposed project is described in Proposed Work and Purpose, above. Based on comments from the National Marine Fisheries Service in response to this public notice, further EFH consultation may be necessary.
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be made in writing, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-WR-R), 803 Front Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23510-1011, and should be received by the close of business on March 20, 2017.
PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY: Comments and information, including the identity of the submitter, submitted in response to this Public Notice may be disclosed, reproduced, and distributed at the discretion of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Information that is submitted in connection with this Public Notice cannot be maintained as confidential by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Submissions should not include any information that the submitter seeks to preserve as confidential.
If you have any questions about this project or the permit process, contact Mr. Brian Denson at brian.c.denson@usace.army.mil or (757) 201-7792.