July 15, 2016
CENAO-WR-R
NAO-2015-01390/16-V0996
FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The District Commander has received a joint application for Federal and State permits as described below:
APPLICANT
NVR, Inc.
11700 Plaza American Drive, Suite 500
Reston, Virginia 20190
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The project site is within the Horsepen Run and Sugarland Run watersheds and is located in the southwestern quadrant of the intersection between the Dulles Toll Road (Route 267) and Monroe Street (Route 666) in Fairfax County, Virginia.
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The applicant proposes the construction of Woodland Park East, a mixed-use residential and commercial development, and East-West Drive, a collector road to connect to the proposed Herndon Metro Station. The project consist of grading and filling associated with the construction of a collector road, a mixed-use development, including townhomes, multi-family two-over-twos, condominiums, apartments, office space with retail and outdoor recreation space.
The purpose of the proposed Woodland Park East project is to construct a mixed use residential and commercial development on a site with Dulles Toll Road frontage and located in close proximity to a Metrorail (Metro) station in Fairfax County, Virginia. Because the project area is located within a half mile of the proposed Herndon Metro Station, Fairfax County, through the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan has documented a need for an improved road network to facilitate traffic flow, and higher density uses on the Woodland Park East site.
The proposed project would permanently impact 2.20 acres of jurisdictional wetlands. Permanent impacts are to 1.96 acres of palustrine forested wetland (PFO) and 0.24 acre of palustrine emergent wetlands (PEM). The applicant proposes to mitigate these impacts offsite through the purchase of 4.16 wetland mitigation credits from the Grasslands Mitigation Bank or another approved bank.
In addition to the required Department of the Army permit, the applicant must obtain a Virginia Water Protection Permit/401certification from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality assuring that 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 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) after conducting the NAO ESA Project Review Process, 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 is attached for review and comment by Fish and Wildlife Service; and (3) based on review of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources’ Data Sharing System, archeological and architectural resources were found within and near the project limits. Two of the sites have been significantly disturbed and/or destroyed and are not eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places; therefore, the project will have no effect on historic properties listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. 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). We have not received a certification from the applicant prior to publication of this public notice. 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.
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be in writing and can be sent by either email to theresita.m.crockett-augustine@usace.army.mil or by regular mail, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-WR-R), 18139 Triangle Shopping Center, Suite 213, Dumfries, Virginia 22026 and should be received by the close of business on August 15, 2016.
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, please call: Ms. Theresita Crockett-Augustine at 703-221-9736 or email at theresita.m.crockett-augustine@usace.army.mil.
FOR THE DISTRICT COMMANDER:
Tucker Smith
Chief, Northern Virginia
Regulatory Section
Enclosures