July 9, 2019
CENAO-WR-R
NAO-2019-00356/19-V0267
FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The District Commander has received a joint application for Federal and State permits as described below:
APPLICANT
Emery Chickey
707 Greensboro Avenue
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The project is located in a manmade a tributary to Lake Rudee, at 707 Greensboro Avenue in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The applicant proposes to dredge 760 cubic yards of material to a depth of -3.5 MLLW from a 10-foot to 15-foot wide by 300-foot long access channel for navigation starting at 707 Greensboro Avenue in Virginia Beach, VA. The dredge cut and the 2x buffer would impact 0.08 acres of non-vegetated wetlands and 0.09 acres of subaqueous bottom. The applicant proposes to either hydraulically dredge and pipe the material to the disposal area in Lake Rudee or mechanically dredge the material, transfer it to trucks, and dispose the material at the Whitehurst Dredged Material Management Area (DMMA). The applicant has not proposed mitigation. However, the applicant has contracted with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) to perform a benthic analysis within the dredging footprint. VIMS will provide information regarding abundance, diversity and oxidized layers in the sediment. The mitigation requirement may be based on the results of the analysis.
In addition to the required Department of the Army permit, the applicant must obtain 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 and a permit from the Virginia Beach Wetlands Board. 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 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, 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, no 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) will be affected. Based on this “no effect” determination, no further coordination with the Fish and Wildlife Service is 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.
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). The applicant’s consistency certification is attached to this Public Notice and we are requesting review by DEQ-OEIR for concurrence or objection (the six-month consistency review clock begins when OEIR receives complete information to coordinate the review. 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.
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). Lake Rudee contains Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) for the all life stages of 19 species including, Atlantic Sharpnose Shark (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae), red hake (Urophycis chuss), Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias), witch flounder (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus), Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna lewini), scup (Stenotomus chrysops) Sand Tiger Shark (Carcharias Taurus), windowpane flounder (Scopthalmus aquosus), Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) dusky shark (Charcharinus obscurus), Black sea bass (Centropristis striata), Summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus), red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), Sandbar Shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus), Cobia (Rachycentron canadum), King mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla), and Atlantic Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus). The habitat which this project would affect consists of 0.08 acres of non-vegetated wetlands and 0.09 acres of subaqueous bottom. The proposed project is described in Proposed Work and Purpose, 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 should not be required. Our rationale for this preliminary determination is based on the expected short-term nature of the direct impacts from dredging this small area and the minimal increases in turbidity during dredging. However, we will be coordinating the results of the survey of the non-vegetated areas with National Marine Fisheries Service. Based on comments from the National Marine Fisheries Service in response to this public notice, further EFH consultation may be necessary.
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be in writing and can be sent by either email to melissa.a.nash@usace.army.mil, or by regular mail, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-WR-R), 803 Front Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23510-1011, and should be received by the close of business on August 9, 2019.
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 Melissa Nash at melissa.a.nash@usace.army.mil or 757-201-7489.
Attachment: Drawings