NAO-2018-1574 (Mountain Valley Pipeline - Southgate Amendment Project, Pittsylvania County and Franklin County, Virginia)

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The purpose of this notice is to advise the public that the following request associated with Mountain Valley Pipeline – South Gate project has been submitted for a Department of the Army (DA) permit under the provisions of, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. In Executive Order (EO) 14156 the President declared a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621) based upon the finding that the United States’ insufficient energy production, transportation, refining, and generation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to our Nation’s economy, national security, and foreign policy. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Norfolk District has found that this permit request meets the terms of EO 14156 and is therefore subject to special emergency permitting procedures to address an energy supply situation which would result in an unacceptable hazard to life, a significant loss of property, or an immediate, unforeseen, and significant economic hardship if corrective action requiring a permit is not undertaken within a time period less than the normal time needed to process the application under standard procedures. The Norfolk District will implement the special processing procedures approved by North Atlantic Division in accordance with 33 CFR § 325.2(e)(4); however, the applicant has requested that, where practical, the project review be completed under standard permitting procedures.

This public notice is a revision to the public notice published on April 30, 2025. This revision only covers the portion of the project within the Norfolk District Corps of Engineers area of responsibility. These updates reflect changes in the total impacts, resulting from design changes and the applicant's decision to implement permittee responsible mitigation in addition to purchasing mitigation bank credits, as opposed to the initial plan of procuring all mitigation exclusively from an approved mitigation bank, to meet mitigation requirements in the State of Virginia.

APPLICANT:
Jeffrey Klinefelter
Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC 2200 Energy Drive
Canonsburg, PA 15317

AGENT:        
Lori Ferry
Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc. 1431 Opus Place
Downers Grove, IL 60515

WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with the Dan River and its tributaries and Snow Creek. The project area associated with the pipeline construction as depicted on the map below starts at the proposed Lambert Interconnect in Pittsylvania County, Virginia (36.830743° N, 79.344083° W.), and ends at the proposed delivery interconnect points Dan River Interconnect #1 and Dan River Interconnect #2 in Rockingham County, North Carolina (36.491436°N, -79.682773°W). The permittee responsible mitigation site is located in Franklin County, Virginia (36.85669, -79.743788). The proposed project crosses two (2) Corps Regulatory District boundaries: including the Norfolk District and the Wilmington District.

Approximately 26.1 miles of the pipeline, 10.8 miles of access roads, and the permittee responsible mitigation site are sited within the Corps Norfolk District. Proposed activities subject to Section 404 regulation within the Norfolk District’s regulatory boundary would occur within streams and wetlands within watersheds of the Dan River, Banister River, and Snow Creek.

Approximately 5.2 miles of the pipeline and 4.5 miles of access roads are sited within the Corps Wilmington District. Proposed activities subject to Section 404 regulation within the Wilmington District’s regulatory boundary would occur within streams and wetlands within watersheds of the Dan River.

PROPOSED WORK and PURPOSE: The applicant requests authorization from the Norfolk District and the Wilmington District to construct 31.3 miles of 30-inch diameter natural gas pipeline to transport natural gas from an interconnection point with the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, Virginia to an interconnection point with the East Tennessee Natural Gas, LLC system (East Tennessee) in Rockingham North, Carolina, and then to two new delivery points in Rockingham County, North Carolina. In addition, the project will construct a permittee responsible mitigation site to mitigate for unavoidable impacts to Waters of the U.S. within the state of Virginia. The overall proposed project would result in the permanent discharge of dredged and/or fill material into 114 linear feet (0.0093 acre) of streams; the temporary discharge into 6,417 linear feet (0.785 acre) of streams and 8.1535 acres of wetlands; and the permanent conversion of 8.8971 acres of forested and scrub-shrub wetlands to emergent wetlands.

The applicant has requested a DA authorization for the following activities within the Norfolk District:

• Temporary discharge of dredged and/or fill material into 5,648 linear feet of streams; 8.48 acres of palustrine emergent (PEM) wetlands and the permanent conversion of 0.9623 acre of palustrine scrub-shrub (PSS) wetlands; and 5.42 acres of palustrine-forested (PFO) wetlands.
• Permanent discharge of dredged and/or fill material into 62 linear feet (0.0055 acre) of streams and 0.04 acres of PEM wetlands.

The applicant has requested a DA authorization for the following activities within the Wilmington District:

• Temporary discharge of dredged and/or fill material into 722 linear feet (0.0604 acres) of streams; 2.9494 acres of PEM wetlands; and the permanent conversion of 0.3575 acre of PSS wetlands and 2.5461 acres of PFO wetlands.
• Permanent discharge of dredged and/or fill material into 52 linear feet (0.0038 acre) of streams. The applicant indicates there would be no permanent discharge of dredged and/or fill material into jurisdictional wetlands.

AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION: The applicant has provided the following information in support of efforts to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment: The applicant has avoided and minimized impacts to jurisdictional resources by boring under wetlands and streams where feasible, by constructing the pipeline as close to perpendicular as possible to stream and wetland crossings, by utilizing existing access roads where possible, and by reducing the construction right of way width at stream and wetland crossings where it is practicable to do so. The applicant made multiple route modifications to avoid and minimize impacts to streams and wetlands throughout the application process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

A copy of the joint permit application for the entirety of the proposed project route can be found on the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s website at: https://webapps.mrc.virginia.gov/public/habitat/search_permits.php?id=20250752&msg=454

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment: To compensate for unavoidable impacts within the Norfolk District area of responsibility the applicant proposes to mitigate for the conversion of 0.9623 acres of PSS wetlands and

5.42 acres of PFO wetlands at a 1:1 ratio and the permanent impact of 0.04 acre of PEM wetlands, which require 6.39 wetland credits, by a combination of permittee responsible mitigation and the purchase of wetland credits from the Copper Hill Mitigation Bank and/or the Beaverdam Mitigation Bank. To mitigate for the impact to 62 linear feet of stream the applicant proposes to purchase 45 stream credits from either the Copper Hill Mitigation Bank and/or the Beaverdam Mitigation Bank. The applicant proposes to construct a permittee responsible mitigation site that will result in 4.75 acres of wetland credits through the enhancement of an existing PEM wetland and creation of new PFO wetland. The remaining 1.52 credits will be purchased from the Copper Hill Mitigation Bank and/or the Beaverdam Mitigation Bank.

To compensate for unavoidable impacts within the Wilmington District area of responsibility the applicant proposes to mitigate for the conversion of 0.3575 acres of PSS wetlands and 2.5461 acres of PFO wetlands at a 1:1 ratio by purchasing 2.9 wetland credits from the North Carolina Division of Mitigation Services In-Lieu Fee Program. The applicant is proposing to mitigate for permanent impacts to 52 linear feet of stream by purchasing credits at a 1:1 ratio from the North Carolina Division of Mitigation Services In-Lieu Fee Program.

CULTURAL RESOURCES: Pursuant to 36 CFR 800.2(a)(2) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is the lead Federal agency responsible for compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act for the proposed action associated with the construction of the pipeline. Any required consultation will be completed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

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 for the permittee responsible mitigation site. 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:

No historic properties (i.e., properties listed in or 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. 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: 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. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is the lead Federal agency for ESA consultation for the proposed action associated with the construction of the pipeline. Any required consultation will be completed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for this portion of the project.

The Corps has performed an initial review of the application for the permittee responsible mitigation site, 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.

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 and the NMFS.

ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT:

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is the lead Federal agency for Essential Fish Habitat consultation for the proposed action. Any required consultation will be completed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

There is no EFH in the Corps area of responsibility.

NAVIGATION: The proposed 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 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 field 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.