The district commander has received a joint application for federal and state permits as described below:
APPLICANT
City of Newport News
Newport News Waterworks (NNWW)
Attn: Mr. Neil Morgan, City Manger
2400 Washington Avenue, 10th Floor
Newport News, Va 23607
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The project is located in Lee Hall Reservoir and Beaverdam Creek, a tributary to the Warwick River, at the Newport News Waterworks (NNWW) Lee Hall Reservoir, in Newport News, Va.
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: Changes to the Virginia Dam Safety Regulations, instituted by the Commonwealth of Virginia, in 2002 and 2008 resulted in the Lee Hall Reservoir’s Lower Dam and CSX Causeway being classified as “regulated structures.” These structures are subsequently regulated through the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (VDCR) Division of Dam Safety and must safely function under 90 percent of the Probable Maximum Flood. Engineers determined that both dam structures are non-conforming and undersized to perform under this regulation. Additionally, both structures are classified as high-hazard potential structures. Therefore, the purpose and need of this project is to engineer, design, and construct modifications to insure public safety and bring the entire system into compliance with the Virginia Dam Safety Regulations.
This project will include a total of 9.46 acres of permanent impacts to palustrine wetlands, 1,376 linear feet of permanent stream channel impacts, 0.29 acres of temporary impacts to palustrine wetlands, and 88 linear feet of temporary stream channel impacts. Impacts include permanent flooding of 6.93 acres of forested wetlands and 585 linear feet of stream channel. Additional permanent impacts include 0.13 acres of PUB fill and 0.95 acres of forested conversion impacts to emergent wetlands. The 1,376 linear feet of permanent stream impacts includes the filling of 791 linear feet of channel behind the dam toe, 47 feet of which will be relocated to accommodate a new culvert location. Temporary impacts include 0.17 acres of PEM wetlands, 0.02 acres of PUB wetlands associated with a new boat ramp, and 88 linear feet of stream channel. A portion of an old road causeway in the reservoir will be removed resulting in dredging of soil from the reservoir (738 CY). Since most of the wetland and stream impacts are associated with adjusting the normal pool elevation to 19.0 feet, the extent of impacts resulting from inundation of existing wetland features around the Lower Pool may be lessened should portions of the wetlands adapt to the wetter conditions and retain some functional qualities.
NNWW performed a multi‐year study of various alternatives, and found no alternatives to completely avoid impacts to some waters, wetlands, and cultural resources. Of the various alternatives analyzed, NNWW identified a least damaging, practicable alternative, taking into consideration the avoidance and minimization of environmental impacts and the public interest. Since increasing the upper pool is generally undesirable due to potential adverse environmental and cultural resources impacts, the new lower pool is likely to be limited to a level at 19.0 feet. This approach minimizes the potential impacts of the project and generally limits the disturbed area to the lower pool. The proposed work will avoid impacts to Civil War cultural resources to the maximum extent possible, and NNWW will compensate for unavoidable impacts to streams and wetlands at off‐site locations. To offset immediate flooding and fill impacts to vegetated wetlands, NNWW proposes to mitigate those unavoidable impacts by the purchase of credits from a private mitigation bank. To mitigate for stream impacts, NNWW proposes the restoration of an entrenched perennial stream channel named Baptist Run on land owned by NNWW north of the Lee Hall Reservoir.
NNWW did conduct historic and cultural resource inventories at the Lower Dam and along the shoreline area of the Lower Pool to determine potential impacts of the preferred alternative. A Phase I cultural resource study resulted in the finding of several historic resources, the most significant of which includes Civil War Confederate earthworks, rifle pits, and freshwater wells along the western shoreline associated with the Battle of Yorktown, Peninsula Campaign of 1862. NNWW found these defensive earthworks to have significant importance in the skirmish at Lee’s Mill which occurred in April of 1862. While raising the pool elevation will inundate three, small, 19th century water wells and two small ponds found in the lower elevations, the proposed work will not impact the remaining Civil War resources, and alterations to the reservoir should not adversely affect the battlefield.
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 (DEQ) 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) 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) while known properties eligible for inclusion or included in the National Register of Historic Places are in or near the permit area, it appears that those historic and cultural resources will not likely be adversely affected by the proposal. Based on our species “no effect” determination, no further coordination with the Fish and Wildlife Service is required. 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 Virginia's coastal zone (Tidewater) will be conducted in a manner consistent with the Virginia Coastal Resources Management Program (VCP) and obtain concurrence from the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Environmental Impact Review. We have not received a certification statement from the applicant prior to publication of this public notice. It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit a certification statement 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 statement can be found here:
http://www.deq.state.va.us/Programs/EnvironmentalImpactReview/FederalConsistencyReviews.aspx#cert
For more information or to obtain a list of the enforceable programs of the VCP, contact the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Environmental Impact Review at (804) 698-4330 or e-mail: elirons@deq.virginia.gov.
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be made in writing or email, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-WR-R (Evans)), 803 Front Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23510-1096, should be received by the close of business on June 3, 2013, and include the project number NAO-2011-1767.
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 John Evans at john.d.evans@usace.army.mil, or 757-201-7794.
FOR THE DISTRICT COMMANDER:
Peter Kube
Chief, Western Virginia Regulatory Section