FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The District Engineer received a joint permit application for Federal and State permits as described below
APPLICANT
Luck Stone Corporation
Attn: Mr. Doug Yeabower
515 Stone Mill Drive
Manakin-Sabot, Virginia 23103
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The proposed project would occur on unnamed tributaries to White Run and wetlands adjacent to the tributaries. The proposed project is located in the Rapidan-Upper Rappahannock watershed. The site is located at 221 Luck Stone Road, Ruckersville, Greene County, Virginia.
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The applicant proposes to place fill into waters of the United States (U.S.) in order to expand the existing Greene Plant crushed stone quarry. Luck Stone proposes to extract the additional mineral reserves located adjacent to and northwest of the existing quarry for the stated purpose of meeting a current demand for aggregates as well as allowing the quarry to operate for the next 100 years without any future impacts to waters of the U.S.
The applicant proposes to permanently impact 0.11 acres of palustrine forested (PFO) wetlands and 4,266 linear feet of stream. Stream impacts consist of 334 linear feet of ephemeral channel, 333 linear feet of intermittent channel and 3,599 linear feet of perennial channel.
The applicant proposes to mitigate for the impacts to waters of the U.S. through the purchase of compensatory wetland and stream credits through an approved mitigation bank servicing the Rapidan-Upper Rappahannock watershed. The total compensatory mitigation proposed is 0.22 wetland credits and 3,674 stream credits.
The wetlands credits were formulated using the Norfolk District mitigation guidance, compensation ratios of 2:1 for PFO impact, 1.5:1 for PSS impact, and 1:1 for PEM impact and PFO conversion impacts. The stream mitigation was formulated using the Unified Stream Methodology (USM), an approved methodology for calculating stream mitigation in the Norfolk District.
Project plans and drawings are included with this notice.
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 would be required; (2) after conducting the NAO ESA Project Review Process, there may be a listed/proposed/candidate species and/or designated/proposed critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544, 87 Stat. 884), as amended) that would be affected. Coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may be required; 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.
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be made in writing, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-WRR-W),Charlottesville Field Office, 920 Gardens Boulevard, Suite 103-B, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901, and should be received by the close of business September 28, 2017.
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
Vinny Pero via email at vincent.d.pero@usace.army.mil or phone at 434.973.0568.