NAO-2024-02816 (USFWS - Chincoteague NWR, Chincoteague, Virginia)

FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The District Commander has received a joint permit application for Federal and State permits as described below:

APPLICANT
Bob Leffel
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
8231 Beach Road
Chincoteague, Virginia 23336

PROJECT LOCATION: 
The proposed project is located within the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island, situated between Chincoteague, Virginia and the Atlantic Ocean in Accomack County, Virginia. The project reference address is 8231 Beach Road, Chincoteague, Virginia 23336.

PROJECT SIZE: 191 acres

NEAREST WATERWAY: Assateague Channel

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE: 37.91940, -75.3252

PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE: 
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Beach Parking Relocation project is designed to relocate infrastructure and facilities needed to support the recreational beach including parking, access road, and facilities. The current recreational beach and parking lots have experienced severe damage over the years due to strong winds, waves, and storm surges in conjunction with high tides. Destruction of the existing recreational beach and parking lots is expected to reoccur on a regular basis in the future and more frequently. Therefore, in order to continue providing recreational beach access to visitors, relocation of the recreational beach is recommended.

The proposed work involves three main components proposed as part of the relocation of the recreational beach and parking lots: 1) access road; 2) parking lots; and 3) boardwalks/pathways.

The proposed work will permanently impact 1.522 acres of non-tidal emergent wetland, 0.963 acre of non-tidal scrub-shrub wetland, 0.011 acre of non-tidal forested wetland, and 0.509 acre of non-tidal waters of the U.S. The proposed work will temporarily impact 0.287 acre of non-tidal emergent wetland, 0.170 acre of non-tidal scrub-shrub wetland, and 0.009 acre of non-tidal waters of the U.S.

AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION: 
Jurisdictional waters and wetlands were identified during project planning and design, and impacts have been avoided wherever possible. Avoidance and minimization of the identified features has been a central focus of project design and development over the past eight (8) years. Initial designs had parking lots and roads located within jurisdictional features that have since been removed from the design and/or relocated to adjacent uplands to avoid impacts to wetlands. Additional access roads that would have resulted in additional impacts to jurisdictional features were eliminated from the design avoiding impacts to wetlands in these areas. All temporary staging areas were located in the upland outside of waters of the U.S. and wetlands. Previously proposed temporary impacts to forested wetlands and additional scrub-shrub wetlands were reduced and eliminated from the design.

The main access road width leading from the proposed roundabout was reduced to the minimum width for the vehicle road (24 feet) and pedestrian/bike path (10 feet). In areas where wetlands impacts were unavoidable, the alignment was shifted as much as possible to stay out of wetlands.

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION:
Mitigation for unavoidable permanent impacts is proposed at the prescribed ratios of 2:1 for forested wetland (PFO) impacts, 1.5:1 for scrub-shrub wetland (PSS) impacts, and 1:1 for emergent wetland (PEM) impacts. The applicant is proposing to purchase Advance Credits from a mitigation bank operated by The Nature Conservancy.

In addition, the applicant must obtain an Individual Section 401 Water Quality Certification or waiver from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) assuring that applicable laws and regulations pertaining to water quality are not violated. 

A copy of the joint permit application can be found on the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s website at: (https://webapps.mrc.virginia.gov/public/habitat/getPDF.php?id=20242623).

AUTHORITY:
( )       Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403).
(X)      Sections 401 and 404 of the Clean Water Act (Public Law 95-217) and Title 62.1 of the Code of Virginia.
( )       Section 103 of the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1413).
( )       Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 408 (Section 408)).

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 communities with Environmental Justice concerns, 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 (EIS) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act.  Preliminary review of the application indicates that no EIS will be required.

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: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is the lead Federal agency.

1. The 2025 Chincoteague NWR Beach Relocation Determination of NEPA Adequacy was signed on January 14, 2025. The determination of NEPA documentation adequacy found that there are no significant new circumstances or information relevant to impacts to the human environment that would require preparation of supplemental NEPA pursuant to 40 CFR 1502.9(d).
2. The applicant initiated coordination with the USFWS on November 8, 2024. The applicant searched the USFWS IPaC system and found potential for the Tricolored Bat, Eastern Black Rail, Piping Plover, Roseate Tern, Rufa Red Knot, Green Sea Turtle, Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle, Leatherback Sea Turtle, Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Seabeach Amaranth, and Monarch Butterfly within the project area. The applicant submitted for informal consultation with USFWS via the online project review. The USFWS provided concurrence with the applicant’s determinations provided of “Not Likely to Adversely Affect” listed species or critical habitat in email dated December 16, 2024.
3. The applicant has completed coordination with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR). On December 31, 2024, the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) provided concurrence concluding that the proposed project will have “No Adverse Effect.”
4. There is no Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) in the Corps area of responsibility for this project.
5. Based on initial records, the proposed project is not within an underserved and disadvantaged community.
6. For compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended for projects located in Virginia’s Coastal Zone, 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’s Coastal Zone Management Program (Virginia CZM Program), and obtain concurrence from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Office of Environmental Impact Review (OEIR). It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit a consistency certification to the OEIR for concurrence or objection, and proof of concurrence must be submitted to the Corps prior to final permit issuance. USACE has received documentation that the applicant submitted CZMA consistency documentation to DEQ on November 5, 2024.

VIRGINIA’S SECTION 401 WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION PROGRAM:
The Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 Certification Rule (Certification Rule, 40 CFR 121), effective September 11, 2020, requires certification, or waiver, for any license or permit that authorizes an activity that may result in a discharge. The scope of a CWA Section 401 certification is limited to ensuring that a discharge from a Federally licensed or permitted activity will comply with water quality requirements. To comply with the Virginia Section 401 Water Quality Certification Program and the Certification Rule, the applicant is responsible for adhering to the procedures outlined in the Certification Rule when requesting certification from the certifying authority, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. In accordance with Certification Rule part 121.12, the Corps will notify the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator when it has received a Department of the Army (DA) permit application and the related certification. The Administrator is responsible for determining whether the discharge may affect water quality in a neighboring jurisdiction. The DA permit may not be issued pending the conclusion of the Administrator’s determination of effects on neighboring jurisdictions.

COMMENT PERIOD: 
Comments on this project should be in writing and can be sent to  https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs/public-notices. or by regular mail, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN:  CENAO-WRR), 803 Front Street, Norfolk, VA  23510-1011, and should be received by the close of business on March 3, 2025.

PRIVACY AND 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

Mrs. Taylor Hollingsworth, Katherine.t.hollingsworth@usace.army.mil, (757) 201- 7044.

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