Permit Application No. NAO-2025-00979
FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers received a complete application on July 11, 2025, from Bridgeport Mitigation, LLC, proposing the establishment of the Bridgeport Mitigation Bank to offset impacts authorized as part of future federal and state permits. The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments and recommendations from the public, federal, state, and local agencies and officials, Indian tribes, and other interested parties concerning the work as described below.
SPONSOR
Bridgeport Mitigation LLC
Attn: James Parker
2805 Park Ave
Richmond, VA 23221
PROJECT/SITE LOCATION:
The proposed compensatory mitigation site (the Bank) is located south of Bridgeport Road in Buckingham County, Virginia. The Bank consists of predominantly upland pasture fields and unnamed tributaries to Sharps Creek and is located within the Middle James River Basin.
PROJECT SIZE: 155 Acres
NEAREST WATERWAY: Slate River; James River
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE: 37.707962°, -78.452193°
PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE:
The Sponsor is proposing 19,010 linear feet (LF) of stream channel restoration, 1,744 LF of stream enhancement, and 11,627 LF of stream channel preservation. All streams will be protected on both sides by 100-foot (FT) buffers, including 70.10 acres of stream buffer re-establishment, 2.53 acres of heavy buffer planting, and 69.62 acres of stream buffer preservation. The cattle present on site will be removed from all streams and buffers. The purpose of the mitigation project is to provide off-site compensatory mitigation for projects that result in unavoidable impacts to streams in the James River watershed.
The Sponsor proposes to generate a total of 35,879 Unified Stream Methodology (USM) credits upon completion of the activities approved under the mitigation work plan.
The Bank’s proposed Primary Service Area is comprised of the Middle James River Watershed within HUCs 02080203 (the same HUC as the Bank), 02080204, 02080205, and 020820207. The Bank’s proposed Secondary Service Area, within the James River Watershed, is comprised of 02080201, 02080202, and 02080208.
Oversight of the Project would be by an existing group of federal and state agency representatives. This interagency oversight group is known as the Interagency Review Team (IRT). The Norfolk District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and the Virginia Marine Resources (VMRC) Commission, chair the IRT.
The USACE, the DEQ, and the VMRC provide no guarantee that any individual or general permit will be granted authorization to use the Project to compensate for unavoidable wetland and stream impacts associated with a permit verified, authorized, or issued by the USACE, pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403), and/or by the DEQ pursuant to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act and Title 62.1 of the Code of Virginia and/or the VMRC pursuant to Title 28.2 of the Code of Virginia.
A copy of the Bridgeport Mitigation Bank Prospectus can be found on the USACE Regulatory In-lieu Fee and Bank Information Tracking System (RIBITS) website Public Notices (army.mil). https://ribits.ops.usace.army.mil/ords/f?p=107:622:1800163446844::NO
AUTHORITY: Issuance of public notices regarding proposed compensatory mitigation sites is required pursuant to Compensatory Mitigation for Losses of Aquatic Resources; Final Rule as published April 10, 2008, in the Federal Register, Vol. 73, No. 70, pages 19,594-19,705 (33 CFR 325 and 332 and 40 CFR 230). This is not an application for work in federally regulated waters; however, authorization under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) may be required for implementation of the proposed 155-acre site, if approved. No decision has been made as to whether this proposed mitigation bank will be approved.
FEDERAL EVALUATION OF APPLICATION: The USACE is soliciting comments from the public; federal, state, and local agencies and officials; Indian Tribes; and other interested parties to consider and evaluate this proposed Project. To make this decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, 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, and consideration of property ownership. If the Sponsor is advised and/or chooses to submit a draft mitigation banking instrument, USACE will use the comments received on this public notice to inform 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 Project 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.
ENDANGERED SPECIES: Our preliminary determination for the Mitigation Bank is that the proposed activity may affect but is not likely to adversely affect any federally endangered or threatened species or their critical habitat. However, pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531), the District Engineer is consulting with the appropriate Federal agency to determine the presence of, and potential impacts to, listed species in the project area or their critical habitat.
HISTORIC AND CULTURAL RESOURCES: Based upon a review of the latest published version of the National Register of Historic Places (NHRP), there are no known historic resources eligible for inclusion or included in the NRHP.
Additional information may change any of these findings.
ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT: 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 NMFS on all actions, or proposed actions, permitted, funded, or undertaken by the agency, that may adversely affect Essential Fish Habitat (EFH).
There is no EFH in the USACE area of responsibility.
VIRGINIA’S SECTION 401 WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION PROGRAM: The CWA Section 401 Certification Rule (Certification Rule, 40 CFR 121), effective September 11, 2020, requires certification, or waiver, for any license or permit that authorizes an activity that may result in a discharge. The scope of a CWA Section 401 certification is limited to ensuring that a discharge from a Federally licensed or permitted activity will comply with water quality requirements. To comply with the Virginia Section 401 Water Quality Certification Program and the Certification Rule, the applicant is responsible for adhering to the procedures outlined in the Certification Rule when requesting certification from the certifying authority, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. In accordance with Certification Rule part 121.12, the USACE will notify the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator when it has received a Department of the Army (DA) permit application and the related certification. The Administrator is responsible for determining whether the discharge may affect water quality in a neighboring jurisdiction. The DA permit may not be issued pending the conclusion of the Administrator’s determination of effects on neighboring jurisdictions.
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this Project should be in writing and can be sent by email to CENAO_REG_MitigationTeam@usace.army.mil, or to the following link https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs/public-notices or by regular mail, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-WRR), 803 Front Street, Norfolk, VA 23510-1011, and should be received by the close of business on September 10, 2025.
PRIVACY AND 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 USACE. Information that is submitted in connection with this Public Notice cannot be maintained as confidential by the USACE. Submissions should not include any information that the submitter seeks to preserve as confidential.
If you have any questions about this Project, contact:
Ms. Kimberly T. Isenhour, North Atlantic Division Mitigation SME, at
Kimberly.T.Isenhour@usace.army.mil and copy
CENAO_REG_MitigationTeam@usace.army.mil