February 18, 2024
CENAO-WRR
NAO-2021-000448
FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The District Commander has received a prospectus to establish a stream and wetland compensatory mitigation site for federal and state permits as described below.
SPONSOR
Rockland Environmental Concerns. LLC
Attn: Elizabeth Devlin
16306 Rockland Lane
Leesburg, Virginia 20175
MITIGATION SITE LOCATION:
The proposed compensatory mitigation site (Site), named Rockland Farm Mitigation Bank (Bank) is located on twelve (12) parcels, east of Route 15 in Loudoun County, Virginia. The Site currently consists of the agriculture, row crops and mature forest land. The Site is located along Limestone Branch, a tributary of the Potomac River.
PROJECT SIZE: ~126 acres
NEAREST WATERWAY: Potomac River
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE: 39.1623, -77.5321
PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE:
The Sponsor proposes to design, construct, establish, and operate the stream and wetland Site for the purpose of providing off-site compensatory mitigation for projects that result in unavoidable impacts to waters of the U.S. including wetlands (Project).
The Sponsor is proposing to generate 19.75 non-tidal wetland credits through non-tidal wetland creation (18.47 acres), wetland buffer (5.09 acres), and wetland enhancement (2.59 acres). The Sponsor proposes to generate approximately 6,984 Unified Stream Methodology (USM) credits through the enhancement of 18,109 linear feet (L.F.) of stream riparian areas. Work will occur by plugging existing drainage ditches and minor grading of the Site and planting 100-foot stream buffers with invasive species removal. The Site is located within Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) 0207008 in the Middle Potomac watershed within the Northern Piedmont Physiographic ecoregion. The Bank’s primary service area will include all HUCs 02070010, 02070011, within the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Oversight of the Project 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 USACE, the DEQ, and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) provide no guarantee that any individual or general permit will be granted authorization to use the Site to compensate for unavoidable wetland impacts associated with a permit verified, authorized, or issued by the USACE, pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403), by the DEQ pursuant to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act and Title 62.1 of the Code of Virginia and/or the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) pursuant to Title 28.2 of the Code of Virginia.
A copy of the prospectus can be found on the USACE Regulatory In-lieu Fee and Bank Information Tracking System (RIBITS) website Public Notices (army.mil).
FEDERAL EVALUATION OF APPLICATION:
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 Project. To make this decision, 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. USACE will use the comments received on this public notice to inform an Environmental Assessment and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act if the Sponsor is advised and/or chooses to submit a draft mitigation banking instrument. 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 Project 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.
This is not an application for work in waters of the United States.
ENDANGERED SPECIES:
After conducting the Norfolk District Endangered Species Act (ESA) Project Review Process, the USACE has made the preliminary determination that:
There may be an effect to listed/proposed/candidate species and/or designated/proposed critical habitat under the ESA of 1973. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Information and Planning and Consultation (IPaC) Official Species List and Species Conclusion Tables for review by the USFWS are available for review at Public Notices (army.mil).
Additional information might change any of these findings.
HISTORIC AND CULTURAL RESOURCES:
Historic Resources eligible for inclusion or included in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) are near and on the USACE permit area or would likely be affected by the proposal.
ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT:
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 NMFS on all actions, or proposed actions, permitted, funded, or undertaken by the agency, that may adversely affect Essential Fish Habitat (EFH).
There is no EFH in the USACE area of responsibility.
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 by either email to CENAO_REG_MitigationTeam@usace.army.mil, or to the following link https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs/public-notices or by regular mail, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-WRR), 920 Gardens Boulevard, Suite 103-B, Charlottesville, VA 22901, and should be received by the close of business on March 9, 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 USACE. Information that is submitted in connection with this Public Notice cannot be maintained as confidential by the USACE. Submissions should not include any information that the submitter seeks to preserve as confidential.
If you have any questions about this Project, contact:
Vinny Pero
CENAO_REG_MitigationTeam@usace.army.mil
757-297-0011