The district commander has received a joint application for federal and state permits as described below:
APPLICANT
City of Norfolk
c/o Edwin L. Rosenberg
508 City Hall Building
810 Union Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The project is located in the Chesapeake Bay, a tributary to the Atlantic Ocean, in the West Ocean View area of Norfolk, from approximately 4th View Street south to Ocean View Beach Park in Norfolk, Va.
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The applicant proposes to demolish eleven derelict timber groins, replace a derelict timber groin with a new rock/sheet pile groin and construct a beach nourishment project from approximately 3rd View Street to Ocean View Beach Park in the West Ocean View area of Norfolk. The eleven timber groins to be demolished are depicted on the drawings and will be pulled out in their entirety. Methods of removal are to be proposed by the contractor, and water jets may be used. For the beach nourishment, 46,800 cubic yards of sandy material will be placed in an area totaling 311,940 square feet (7.16 acres); with 16,550 cubic yards (126,675 square feet), between mean high water and mean low water and 6,250 cy (72,754 square feet), placed below mean low water. The sand will be obtained from an approved upland source that meets certain specifications. Approximately 4,700 truck loads are anticipated and the staging and construction area will be located at Sarah Constant Shrine Park. One timber groin will be replaced with a rock/sheet pile groin extending 150 feet in total bottom length, 88 feet channelward of mean high water. The rock for the groin will impact approximately 2,788 square feet (0.27 acre) of subaqueous bottom, with a total of 750 cubic yards of armor stone. The project purpose is to abate a chronic shoreline erosion problem and to increase storm surge and wave protection to public and private properties. Because the fill activities are associated with large stone and beach-quality sand, turbidity issues are expected to be minor and temporary.
Alternatives Analysis: Extensive shoreline change modeling was performed by the City’s consultant using GENESIS-T for the existing conditions and to investigate potential alternatives to mitigate erosion at areas of concern and stabilize the shoreline, creating equivalent protection along the beach. GENESIS-T model results indicate that an ideal shoreline which improved the shoreline position, swimmer safety, aesthetic at the public beach, and allows for City maintenance vehicle access can be achieved with the removal of all groins eat of the pier, reconstruction of one groin between Sarah Constant Shrine Park and the 200 Block, and a beach nourishment project. Based on the historical shoreline analysis, and the modeling results, the recommend alternative for West Ocean View consists of removal of the existing groin field east of the pier, reconstruction of a new groin in between the 200 Block and Sarah Constant Shrine Park and a 46,800 cubic yards nourishment project. The proposed preferred alternative seeks to balance the need for improve the safety and aesthetics of the beach while maintaining and/or improving the shoreline position at the public beach and providing City maintenance vehicle access in front of the 200 Block. The basic alternatives examined were to keep the existing conditions, remove the existing groin field, remove just a portion of the existing groins in conjunction with beach nourishment, remove the existing groin field and add offshore breakwaters, and remove the existing groin field and construct one small groin in combination with beach nourishment. Numerous alternatives were modeled with GENESIS-T and the results were compared based on the goals of improving the shoreline position, and safety, at Sarah Constant Shrine Park and the 200 Block.
Applicant’s Mitigation Statement: No adverse impacts are expected from this project and the area will only be temporarily impacted during construction. Following construction, all areas will be returned to existing or improved conditions. Best Management Practices will be used throughout construction to minimize any potential impacts to the area. The result of the project will be a safer, healthier shoreline; therefore, mitigation should not be required for this project.
In addition to the required Department of the Army permit, the applicant must obtain a Virginia Water Protection Permit/401 certification or waiver from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality assuring that applicable laws and regulations pertaining to water quality are not violated and a permit from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. Project drawings are attached.
AUTHORITY: Permits are required pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403), Sections 401 and 404 of the Clean Water Act (Public Law 95-217) and
Title 62.1 of the Code of Virginia.
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 classification, 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 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 pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. 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: (l) no environmental impact statement will be required; (2) databases indicate that federally listed piping plover (Charadrius melodus), loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), and Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) may be present but our preliminary determination is that no species of fish, wildlife, or plant (or their critical habitat) listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (PL 93-205) will be affected; and (3) one archeological site (eligibility for National Register unknown) is located within the project boundaries. There are no other properties eligible for inclusion or included in the National Register of Historic Places in or near the permit area, or would likely be affected by the proposal. Additional information might change any of these findings. For compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, the applicant must certify that federally licensed or permitted activities affecting Virginia's coastal zone (Tidewater) will be conducted in a manner consistent with the Virginia Coastal Resources Management Program (VCP). For more information or to obtain a list of the enforceable programs of the VCP, contact the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Environmental Impact Review at (804) 698-4330 or e-mail: elirons@deq.virginia.gov.
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 National Marine Fisheries Service on all actions, or proposed actions, permitted, funded, or undertaken by the agency, that may adversely affect Essential Fish Habitat (EFH). The Chesapeake Bay contains Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) for the eggs, larvae, juvenile, and adult life stages of eleven species including windowpane flounder (Scophthalmus aquosus), bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix), Atlantic butterfish (Peprilus triacanthus), summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus), black sea bass (Centropristis striata), king mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla), Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus), cobia (Rachycentron canadum), red drum (Sciaenops occelatus), dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus), and sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus), as well as Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPC) for sandbar shark. The habitat which this project would affect consists of shallow water with sandy bottoms and man-made rip rap structures. The proposed project is described in Proposed Work and Purpose, above. Impacts to EFH are should be temporary and minor in nature, with limited turbidity due to intertidal sand placement. Our assessment of the project leads us to a preliminary determination that it will not have a substantial adverse effect on EFH and therefore expanded EFH consultation is not required. Our rationale for this preliminary determination is based on the expected short-term nature of the direct impacts, minimal increases in turbidity, minor changes in water temperature or salinity caused by the proposed work, and the absence of vegetated wetlands, submerged aquatic vegetation, and anadromous fish spawning habitat. Based on comments from the National Marine Fisheries Service in response to this public notice, further EFH consultation may be necessary.
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be made in writing, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers CENAO-WR-R, attention George Janek, 803 Front Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23510-1096, and should be received by the close of business on Feb. 13, 2013. You may also submit written comments to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), attention Justine Woodward, Habitat Management Division, 2600 Washington Avenue, Third Floor, Newport News, Virginia 23607. To ensure Corps of Engineers’ consideration of your comments, please copy the Corps by letter or email on comments submitted directly to VMRC.
PRIVACY & 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 Audrey Cotnoir at 757-549-8819 or by email at audrey.l.cotnoir@usace.army.mil.
FOR THE DISTRICT COMMANDER:
Kimberly A. Prisco-Baggett, MBA
Chief, Eastern Virginia
Regulatory Section