July 17, 2020
CENAO-WR-R
NAO-2007-00380
FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The district commander has received a joint application for federal and state permits as described below:
APPLICANT
Virginia Department of Transportation
Attn: Angel Deem
1401 East Broad St.
Richmond, VA 23219
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF PROPOSED WORK: The project is in Marrowbone and Matrimony creeks, tributaries to the Dan River, starting 0.5 miles north of the North Carolina state line on existing Route 220, extending 8 miles north to Route 58 and west of existing Route 220, south of Martinsville in Henry County, Virginia.
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The applicant proposes to address transportation needs along the Route 220 corridor between the North Carolina state line and Route 58 near Martinsville.
The preferred alternative consists of about 8 miles of a new access-controlled roadway alignment west of existing Route 220. Access would be provided at two new interchanges and a modified interchange at Route 220/Route 58 and Joseph Martin Highway. A portion of existing Route 220 would be reconstructed for approximately 0.5 miles from the North Carolina State line and also incorporate access control.
The proposed work would result in permanent fill impacts to 3.24 acres of wetlands, including 1.51 acres of forested wetlands (1.21 acres of impacts from cut/fill and 0.30 acres of conversion), 0.33 acres of scrub/shrub wetlands, 0.46 acres of emergent wetlands and 0.95 acres of open water. In addition, the proposed work would permanently impact 17,835 linear feet of streams (15,450 linear feet of perennial streams and 2,385 linear feet of intermittent streams).
The project will also likely result in temporary impacts to streams and wetlands. However, at this stage in project design, it is not possible to quantify temporary impacts. Therefore, all impacts will be considered permanent at this time. As the future design process progresses, temporary impacts will be identified and calculated, which is expected to result in a reduction of permanent impacts to streams and wetlands.
The applicant has worked to avoid and minimize impacts to streams and wetlands. This includes the use of bridges for five stream crossings and interchange reconfiguration, which reduced potential wetlands impacts by 2.4 acres and potential impacts to streams by 5,565 linear feet. This project is not currently funded for additional design, but should that occur, additional measures such as reducing or eliminating the median through wetland areas, incorporating retaining walls (if applicable) and using minimal fill slopes will be examined as means to further reduce streams and wetlands impacts.
To mitigate for unavoidable impacts to streams, the applicant proposes to provide 20,872 linear feet of credits from existing approved stream-mitigation banks that service the watershed in which the impacts are proposed. The applicant proposes to purchase 4.63 acres of credits from an approved wetland-mitigation bank.
The Joint Permit Application and its associated attachments can be found on the Virginia Marine Resources Commission Applications website under “Additional Docs” (the permit application is in seven parts due to its large size): JPA 20-1168 at – https://webapps.mrc.virginia.gov/public/habitat/search_permits.php?s_AppNumber=20201168&s_LastName=&DateReceived_start=2020-01-01&DateReceived_end=2020-07-09&s_LocalityCode=&s_WaterwayCode=&s_Status=&s_LWBCM=&BeachNourishment=0&Boatramp=0&Boatslips=0&BoatHouse=0&Bridge=0&Breakwater=0&Bulkhead=0&BulkheadMaintenance=0&CrabPound=0&ChannelModif=0&OverheadCrossing=0&SubaqueousCrossing=0&ShellfishAquaculture=0&marshtoeStr=0&groinfillStr=0&gabionStr=0&sillfillStr=0&Culvert=0&DredgingNew=0&DredgingMaintenance=0&Groin=0&Jetty=0&Mooring=0&Pier=0&Railway=0&Riprap=0&RiprapMaintenance=0&RoofedStructure=0&Sill=0&livingStr=0&bioStr=0&breakwtrStr=0&coreStr=0&fillplantStr=0.
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, assuring applicable laws and regulations pertaining to water quality are not violated.
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 to issue a permit will be based on a probable-impact evaluation, including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest. It will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefits that 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, fish, wildlife and flood-plain values; flood hazards, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation; water supply, conservation and quality; energy and mineral needs, safety, food and fiber production, property ownership and, in general, the people’s needs and welfare. 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 proposed activity’s direct, indirect and cumulative impacts. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps 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, the general environment and other public-interest factors listed above. Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and/or Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. They are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and overall public interest in the proposed activity. Anyone may request a public hearing to consider this permit application by writing to the district commander within 30 days of this notice date, stating specific reasons for holding it. The district commander will then decide if a hearing should take place.
Preliminary review indicates: (1) A Draft Environmental Impact Statement has been completed and public comments are being accepted at this time; (2) The northern long-eared bat may be affected, but the 4(d) key was completed and no further coordination with the Fish and Wildlife Service is required; (3) Three known architectural resources are present within the proposed project’s area of potential effect. No archaeological resources are known to exist in the direct or potential effect areas. Upon completion of the Draft EIS, the Federal Highway Administration and Virginia Department of Transportation will assess the proposed project’s effects on historic resources and coordinate findings with the State Historic Preservation Office. Additional information might change any of these findings.
For compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended for Tidewater projects, 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 and obtain concurrence from the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Environmental Impact Review. The Corps has not received applicant certification prior to this public notice’s publication. It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit a consistency certification to the Office of Environmental Impact Review for concurrence or objection, and proof must be submitted to the Corps before final permit issuance. A federal consistency certification template can be found at www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/EnvironmentalImpactReview/FederalConsistencyReviews.aspx#cert. For more information or to obtain a list of the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program’s enforceable policies, contact the Department of Environmental Quality’s Office of Environmental Impact Review at 804-698-4330 or email bettina.sullivan@deq.virginia.gov or john.fisher@deq.virginia.gov.
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be in writing. They can be sent by email to robert.a.berg@usace.army.mil or regular mail, addressed to: Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: Robert Berg), 803 Front St., Norfolk, Virginia 23510-1011. All comments should be received by close of business Aug. 17.
PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY: Comments and information, including submitter identity, provided in response to this public notice may be disclosed, reproduced and distributed at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discretion. Information submitted in connection with the public notice cannot be maintained as confidential by USACE. Submissions should not include any information the submitter seeks to preserve as confidential.
If you have questions about this project or the permit process, contact Robert Berg at robert.a.berg@usace.army.mil or 757-201-7793.