April 11, 2024
CENAO-WRR
NAO-2023-02174 (Hogans Belt Mitigation Bank)
FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The District Engineer received a prospectus to establish a wetland compensatory mitigation site for federal and state permits as described below:
SPONSOR
Davey Mitigation
c/o Davey Resource Group, Inc.
Attn: TJ Mascia
5300 Wellington Branch Drive
Gainesville, Virginia 20155
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK:
The proposed compensatory mitigation site (Site) consists of two sections separated by Evergreen Mills Road (Route 621) and the existing Loudoun County Wetland and Stream Bank. The Site is located within Loudoun County. The total Site is approximately 89 acres and currently consists of Sycolin Creek, unimproved roads, upland forests, forested and scrub/shrub wetlands, fields (previous agricultural use including row crops) and ponds. The Site is located within the Potomac River Basin.
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE: 39.05381 N, -77.57408 W
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE:
The Sponsor proposes to design, construct, establish, and operate Hogans Belt Mitigation Bank (Bank). The purpose of the Bank is to provide off-site compensatory mitigation for projects that result in unavoidable impacts to waters of the U.S. including wetlands.
The sponsor is proposing 35.03 wetland credits be generated through wetland creation (22.6 acres), wetland enhancement (24.7 acres), wetland preservation (1 acre), upland buffer reforestation (25.9 acres), and forest preservation (7.1 acres) across two project areas.
The Bank is located within Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) 02070008. The Bank’s primary service area will include all of HUCs 02070008 and 02070010 within Virginia. The Bank’s secondary service area will include all of HUC 02070011 within Virginia.
Oversight of Bank 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) and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) chair the IRT.
The actual approval of the use of the Bank for a specific project is the decision of USACE pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and/or by DEQ and the Virginia Marine Resource Commission (VMRC) pursuant to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act and Title 28.2 and Title 62.1 of the Code of Virginia. USACE and DEQ provide no guarantee that any individual or general permit will be granted authorization to use the Bank to compensate for unavoidable wetland impacts associated with a proposed permit.
AUTHORITY:
Issuance of a public notice regarding proposed compensatory mitigation sites is required pursuant to the “Compensatory Mitigation for Losses of Aquatic Resources; Final Rule,” (Rule) as published in the April 10, 2008, Federal Register, Vol. 73, No. 70, Pages 19594-19705 (33 CFR Parts 325 and 332).
FEDERAL EVALUATION OF PROPOSAL:
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 Bank. This is not an application for work in waters of the United States. USACE is evaluating this proposal and will consider any comments received. 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.
Preliminary review indicates that: (1) no environmental impact statement would be required; (2) after conducting the Norfolk District ESA Project Review Process, the proposed activities may affect – not likely to adversely affect species listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Official Species List and Species Conclusion Table are located at Public Notices (army.mil); and (3) there are known properties eligible for inclusion or included in the National Register of Historic Places in the Bank property. 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: Richmond Field Office), Dr. Herman W. Hudson III, at the address below, or via email at Herman.W.Hudson@usace.army.mil and should be received by the close of business on May 11, 2024. The Prospectus and Drawings can be viewed at: Public Notices (army.mil).
If you have any questions about this Bank, please contact:
Herman W. Hudson III, PhD
9100 Arboretum Pkwy, Suite 235
Richmond, Virginia 23236
757-201-7808
Herman.W.Hudson@usace.army.mil