Public Notice Distribution List

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NAO-2004-1985

Published Aug. 21, 2015
Expiration date: 9/21/2015

The district commander has received a joint permit application for federal and state permits for work as described below:

APPLICANT

Katie Shannon
City of Virginia Beach / Department of Public Works and Engineering
2405 Courthouse Drive
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23456

WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The project is located in waters and wetlands associated with the hydrologic unit code (HUC) 03010205 (North Landing River watershed/Chowan and Dismal Swamp basin and Albermarle Sound sub-basin in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The applicant has proposed to impact 3.962 acres of non-tidal jurisdictional features including forested, scrub shrub, and emergent wetlands; open waters; and waters of the United States. The applicant has proposed to mitigate for impacts that could not be avoided or minimized via 4.606 wetland credits from the Great Dismal Swamp Restoration Bank/Davis Wetland Bank (HUC) 03010205.  On-site mitigation will be achieved via replanting with native species for temporary impacts and conversion of forested to scrub shrub impacts.

The proposed project site is intended to extend Elbow Road, connecting existing Dam Neck Road on the east, south of Farm Bureau Live at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater and travel westward about 2.2 miles to its proposed intersection with Indian River Road. The new roadway alignments and roadway/bridge improvements will ultimately consist of four (4) lanes (two eastbound, and two westbound) with pre-fabricated concrete arch spanning the North Landing River and Canal Number 4 (Salem Canal). The bridge over the North Landing River will be relocated and replaced with a span across the majority of the surrounding floodplain.

The proposed project footprint includes improvements to the intersection of Elbow Road, Dam Neck Road, and Salem Road; however, no wetland impacts are associated with this particular portion of the propose project. Lastly, the proposed project is to improve the conveyance of water through a ditch from an existing outfall structure in a city-owned right-of-way and adjacent to private home owners.

In addition to the required Department of the Army permit, the applicant must obtain a Virginia Water Protection Permit/401 certification from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality assuring that applicable laws and regulations pertaining to water quality are not violated, a permit from the Virginia Beach Planning/Wetlands Board 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) and to 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 US Army 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 US Army 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) after conducting the NAO ESA Project Review Process, no listed/proposed/candidate species and/or designated/proposed critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544, 87 Stat. 884), as amended) will be affected. Based on this no-effect determination, no further coordination with the US Fish and Wildlife Service is required; and (3) no known properties eligible for inclusion or included in the National Register of Historic Places are 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 for projects located in Tidewater, 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 Coastal Zone Management Program (VCP) and obtain concurrence from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Office of Environmental Impact Review (OEIR). We have not received a certification from the applicant prior to publication of this public notice. It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit a consistency certification to the Office of Environmental Impact Review 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 here: http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/EnvironmentalImpactReview/FederalConsistencyReviews.aspx#cert . For more information or to obtain a list of the enforceable policies of the VCP, contact the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Environmental Impact Review at (804) 698-4330 or e-mail: john.fisher@deq.virginia.gov.

COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be made in writing, addressed to the Norfolk District, US Army Corps of Engineers (ATTN:  CENAO-WRR-C), 803 Front Street, Norfolk, Virginia  23510-1096, and should be received by the close of business on Sept. 21, 2015.

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 Scharlene Floyd at 757-201-7367 or email her at scharlene.a.floyd@usace.army.mil.