NAO-2024-02685 (Desper Creek Technology Campus, Lousia, Virginia)

Permit Application No. NAO-2024-02685

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The Norfolk District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has received an application for a Department of the Army permit pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §1344). The purpose of this public notice is to solicit comments from the public regarding the work described below:

APPLICANT:
Amazon Data Services, Inc.
410 Terry Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109

AGENT:        
Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc.
5300 Wellington Branch Drive, Suite 100
Gainesville, VA 20155

WATERWAY AND LOCATION:  The project would affect waters of the United States associated with Desper Creek and Northeast Creek.  The project/review area is approximately 190 acres and is located east of Mt. Airy Road, generally south of Route 33 at Latitude 37.973349 and Longitude -77.952386, in Louisa County, Virginia.

PROPOSED WORK and PURPOSE:  The applicant requests authorization to construct a Data Center Campus, to be known as Desper Creek Technology Campus, and associated infrastructure, including, utilities, parking, and stormwater management ponds, within the Louisa County Technology District. As proposed, the project will permanently impact 2.35 acres of palustrine forested wetlands (PFO), 1.31 acres of palustrine scrub-shrub wetlands, 1.79 acres of palustrine emergent wetlands (PEM), 530 linear feet of perennial stream channel (R3), 1,587 linear feet of intermittent stream channel (R4); permanently convert 0.46 acre of PFO to PEM; and temporarily impact 0.11 acre of PEM and 244 linear feet of R3.

AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION: The applicant has provided the following information in support of efforts to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment which the Corps is currently evaluating: one substation has been eliminated from earlier designs, which results in a reduction in impacts to aquatic resources; the location of the proposed data center buildings is dictated by the required County 300-foot set back and the Applicant’s own proprietary building specifications; the required storm water ponds will be constructed in uplands; and an Erosion and Sediment Control plan will be prepared and implemented to prevent secondary impacts to the aquatic resources.  

A copy of the joint permit application can be found on the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s website Application

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment: The purchase of 8.92 wetland credits from the New Kent Environmental Bank and 2,592 stream credits from the South Anna River at Ashland Mill Dam Mitigation Bank.

Compensation Requirements – Vegetated Wetlands

Compensation Requirements and Mitigation Phasing – Streams

CULTURAL RESOURCES:

The Corps evaluated the undertaking pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) utilizing its existing program-specific regulations and procedures along with 36 CFR Part 800. The Corps’ program-specific procedures include 33 CFR 325, Appendix C, and revised interim guidance issued in 2005 and 2007. The District Engineer consulted district files and records and the latest published version of the National Register of Historic Places and initially determines that:

Cultural resources that have been determined not eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places are present within the Corps’ permit area; therefore, there will be no historic properties affected by the proposed work. The Corps subsequently requests concurrence from the State Historic Preservation Office and/or Tribal Historic Preservation Office.

The District Engineer’s final eligibility and effect determination will be based upon coordination with the SHPO and/or Tribal Historic Preservation Office, as appropriate and required, and with full consideration given to the proposed undertaking’s potential direct and indirect effects on historic properties within the Corps-identified permit area.

ENDANGERED SPECIES: The Corps has performed an initial review of the application, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Information for Planning and Consultation (IPaC), to determine if any threatened, endangered, proposed, or candidate species, and the proposed and final designated critical habitat may occur in the vicinity of the proposed project. Based on this initial review, the Corps has made a preliminary determination that the proposed project will not affect any listed species or critical habitat

ESA-listed species and/or critical habitat potentially present in the action area. [Use the table/blue text if you selected option 2 in the above statement.]

Pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) any required consultation with the Service(s) will be conducted in accordance with 50 CFR part 402.

This notice serves as request to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for any additional information on whether any listed or proposed to be listed endangered or threatened species or critical habitat may be present in the area which would be affected by the proposed activity.

The USFWS Information and Planning and Consultation (IPaC) Official Species List and Species Conclusion Table are attached for review and comment by the USFWS.

ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT:

There is no EFH in the Corps area of responsibilit

NAVIGATION: The proposed structure or activity is not located in the vicinity of a federal navigation channel.

VIRGINIA’S COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM: 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 at eir@deq.virginia.gov 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 in the Federal Consistency Manual here: https://www.deq.virginia.gov/our-programs/environmental-impact-review/federal-consistency.

For more information or to obtain a list of the enforceable policies of the Virginia CZM Program, contact the DEQ-OEIR at (804) 659-1915 or e-mail: bettina.rayfield@deq.virginia.gov.

No concurrence is required because the project is not located within Virginia’s Coastal Zone.

WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION: Water Quality Certification may be required from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. 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.

NOTE:  This public notice is being issued based on information furnished by the applicant. This information has not been verified or evaluated to ensure compliance with laws and regulation governing the regulatory program. The geographic extent of aquatic resources within the proposed project area that either are, or are presumed to be, within the Corps jurisdiction has been verified by Corps personnel.

EVALUATION: 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. That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefits, which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal, must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. All factors which may be relevant to the proposal will be considered including cumulative impacts thereof; among these are conservation, economics, esthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, historical properties, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, floodplain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food, and fiber production, mineral needs, considerations of property ownership, and in general, the needs and welfare of the people. Evaluation of the impact of the activity on the public interest will also include application of the guidelines promulgated by the Administrator, EPA, under authority of Section 404(b) of the Clean Water Act or the criteria established under authority of Section 102(a) of the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972.  A permit will be granted unless its issuance is found to be contrary to the public interest.

COMMENTS: The Corps 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 impacts of this proposed activity. 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 determination, comments are used to assess impacts to 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 (EA) and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.

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.

The Norfolk District will receive written comments on the proposed work, as outlined above, until October 16, 2025. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs. The Corps point of contact for this project is Dr. Silvia B. Gazzera, silvia.b.gazzera@usace.army.mil.

Any person may request, in writing, within the comment period specified in this notice, that a public hearing be held to consider the application. Requests for public hearings shall state, with particularity, the reasons for holding a public hearing. Requests for a public hearing will be granted, unless the District Engineer determines that the issues raised are insubstantial or there is otherwise no valid interest to be served by a hearing.