October 18, 2007
CENAO-REG
07-V1585
(NAO-2007-03062)
JOINT FEDERAL/STATE PUBLIC NOTICE
The District Commander, the Virginia
Marine Resources Commission, and the Virginia Department of Environmental
Quality have received a joint application for Federal and State permits as
described below:
APPLICANT
City of
c/o Shana J. Conley, P.E.
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK:
The project is located in the Western Branch of the
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE:
The applicant proposes to perform both new and maintenance dredging in
the Western Branch of the
Department of the Army Permit 96-0688
authorized the hydraulic removal of 71,000 cubic yards of material to provide a
5-foot deep channel with a 60-foot bottom width from Station 0
+00 TO 226+00 and a 4 foot deep channel
with a 30 foot bottom width from Station 226+00 to 263+00. Up to one foot of
allowable overdredge depth was permitted as long as
the post-dredging depth did not exceed 0.5 feet more than the design depth. The
dredging was performed in 1999/2000 and the Corps’ permit for this work is
valid until December 31, 2008.
Since the dredging was completed, some
locations in the upper reaches have silted in faster than other areas. Therefore, the proposed new work includes
widening the channel from Stations 226+00 to 263+00 to a 40-foot bottom width
and deepening it to -5 feet with a 1 foot overdredge depth. The new work will be advanced maintenance in
order to reduce the number of future dredging cycles. Also, one small segment from Station 140+00
to 153+50 was shifted in order to reduce dredging requirements.
A total of 68,000 cubic yards of sandy material
will be dredged by mechanical method as maintenance of the existing permitted
channel. An additional 12,000 cubic yards of
material will be mechanically dredged from the channel as new dredging. The proposed new work (within the 4x buffer)
does not convert any designated shallow water habitat to deep water habitat,
does not impact any vegetated wetlands or shellfish leases, and is not in the
area covered by the time of year restrictions in the original permit. Previous permit conditions included time of
year restrictions for those areas downstream of Hebden
Cove for March through November, as well as removal of shellfish in active
lease areas prior to dredging those sections. Dredging was not permitted in
those areas that were already 5 feet deep. These same restrictions would apply
to this permit unless otherwise stipulated by State and Federal agencies. The City anticipates the need to perform
maintenance dredging every 10 years after this cycle. The dredged material will be transferred by barge
to the proposed staging area where it will be offloaded and trucked for
disposal to the Whitehurst Borrow Pit located off
The proposed permanent transfer station
is located adjacent to the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp
Facility at Crab Creek. The proposed location is on existing municipal property
that has historically been used for stockpiling dredged material for trucking to
other locations as needed. The shoreline
will be stabilized with a 170-foot long steel sheet pile bulkhead constructed
landward of the mean high water line. Approximately 6,520 cubic yards of sandy material
will be dredged and excavated to establish an 8-foot deep basin directly channelward of the bulkhead. No vegetated wetlands will be
impacted by the project as proposed. The basin will connect to the existing 8-foot
deep channel in Crab Creek. The City’s purpose for this work is to establish a permanent
transfer site to offload material from numerous dredging projects throughout
the Eastern and Western branches of the
In addition to the required Department of
the Army permit, the applicant must obtain a permit from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to encroach upon
State bottoms, 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.
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
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 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) no species of fish,
wildlife, or plant (or their critical habitat) listed as endangered or
threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (PL 93-205) will be
affected; 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, the applicant must
certify that federally licensed or permitted activities affecting
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 Chesapeake Bay in the vicinity of this
project contains Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) for the egg, larvae,
juvenile, and adult life stages of 16 species including: red hake, windowpane
flounder, Atlantic sea herring, bluefish, Atlantic butterfish, summer flounder,
scup, black sea bass, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, cobia, red drum, sand
tiger shark, Atlantic sharpnose shark, dusky shark,
and sandbar shark. The habitat
that this project would affect consists of shallow and deep water areas. The proposed project is described in Proposed
Work and Purpose, above. The proposed project will involve the dredging of
sandy material from both habitats indicated above. Our
assessment of the project leads us to a preliminary determination that it will
not have a substantial adverse effect on EFH and therefore expanded EFH
consultation is not required. Based on
comments from the National Marine Fisheries Service in response to this public
notice, further EFH consultation may be necessary.
STATE EVALUATION OF APPLICATION:
To comply with Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (the Act), any
applicant for a Corps permit for a proposal which may result in a discharge to
State waters must provide the Corps with a certification from the Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
The DEQ must certify that water quality will be maintained in accordance
with State Water Control Law (state law) and that the activity will comply with
the applicable provisions of Sections 301, 302, 303, and 306 and 307 of the
Act. A certification must set forth any
effluent limitations and other limitations, conditions and/or requirements
needed to assure compliance with the Act itself and with other appropriate requirements
of state law. In
The
decision to issue a State permit to encroach on State-owned bottoms will be
based on the effects of the proposal on other reasonable and permissible uses
of State waters and State-owned bottom lands, its effect on the marine and
fisheries resources of the Commonwealth, vegetated wetlands and adjacent and
nearby properties, its anticipated public and private benefits as well as
giving due consideration to standards of water quality. (For a marina or boat yard for commercial
use, a plan for sewage treatment or disposal facilities must be approved by the
State Department of Health.) Any project
which is protested by any individual or agency will be considered by the
Commission at a public hearing held in
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be made in
writing, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-TS-G),
If
you have any questions about this project or the permit process, call one of
the following people:
Pamela
Painter 757 201-7654
Mark Kalnins
757 518-2160
Virginia
Marine Resources Commission
Justin Worrell 757 247-8063
FOR
THE DISTRICT COMMANDER:
Lynette R. Rhodes
Chief,
Attachment: Drawings