NAO-1990-02033

Published Oct. 18, 2019
Expiration date: 11/18/2019

Oct. 18, 2019
CENAO-WR-R
NAO-1990-02033/19-V1698

FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The district commander has received a joint application for federal and state permits as described below:

APPLICANT
Naval Air Station Oceana
Capt. Chad P. Vincelette, Commanding Officer, NAS Oceana
1750 Tomcat Blvd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23460-2191

WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF PROPOSED WORK: The project is located in wetlands that drain into Lake Redwing, a tributary to Ashville Bridge Creek, at Dam Neck Annex, Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The applicant proposes to impact 2.04 acres of forested wetlands for the Special Operations Forces Demolition Training Complex upgrade at Dam Neck Annex in Virginia Beach. Of that total, 0.37 acres of forested wetlands would be cleared and filled and 1.67 acres permanently converted from forested wetlands to emergent wetlands. The purpose of the proposed project is to construct additional breaching and containment walls, a grenade trainer and range support building to ensure that Naval Special Warfare personnel have the full capability to conduct grenade training and ability to meet their research, development, test and evaluation requirements. The applicant has indicated off-site alternatives would not meet their purpose and need. The applicant considered other on-site configurations, but they were rejected, since the other layouts would have additional wetland impacts. The applicant has proposed to mitigate for the impacts through the purchase of 2.41 credits (2:1 for fill impacts to forested wetlands and 1:1 for conversion impacts of forested wetlands) at an approved mitigation bank in the service area.

In addition to the required Department of the Army permit, the applicant must obtain a Virginia Water Protection Permit from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, assuring applicable laws and regulations pertaining to water quality are not violated. Project drawings are attached.

AUTHORITY: Permits are required pursuant to 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 a probable-impact evaluation, including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest. It will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefits that reasonably may be expected from the proposal must be balanced against their reasonably foreseeable detriments. All of the proposal's relevant factors will be considered, including conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands; cultural, fish, wildlife and flood-plain values; flood hazards, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation; water supply, conservation and quality; energy and mineral needs, safety, food and fiber production, property ownership and, in general, the people's needs and welfare. 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 proposed activity's direct, indirect and cumulative impacts. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps 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, the environment and other public-interest factors listed above. Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and/or Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. They are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and overall public interest in the proposed activity. Anyone may request a public hearing to consider this permit application by writing to the district commander within 30 days of this notice date, stating specific reasons for holding it. The district commander will then decide if a hearing should take place.

Preliminary review indicates: (1) no Environmental Impact Statement will be required; (2) the Navy has initiated coordination under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544, 87 Stat. 884, as amended); 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. The Navy has completed its review and determined the project will have no effect on historic properties.

For compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended for Tidewater projects, 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 and obtain concurrence from the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Environmental Impact Review. The Corps has not received applicant certification prior to this public notice's publication. It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit a consistency certification to the Office of Environmental Impact Review for concurrence or objection, and proof must be submitted to the Corps before final permit issuance. A federal consistency certification template can be found at www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/EnvironmentalImpactReview/FederalConsistencyReviews.aspx#cert. For more information or to obtain a list of the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program's enforceable policies, contact the Department of Environmental Quality's Office of Environmental Impact Review at 804-698-4330 or email bettina.sullivan@deq.virginia.gov or john.fisher@deq.virginia.gov.

COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be in writing. They can be sent by email to melissa.a.nash@usace.army.mil or regular mail, addressed to: Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-WR-R), 803 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510-1011. All comments should be received by close of business Nov. 18.

PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY: Comments and information, including submitter identity, provided in response to this public notice may be disclosed, reproduced and distributed at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discretion. Information submitted in connection with the public notice cannot be maintained as confidential by USACE. Submissions should not include any information the submitter seeks to preserve as confidential.

If you have questions about this project or the permit process, contact Melissa Nash at melissa.a.nash@usace.army.mil or 757-201-7489.

Attachment: Drawings