The district commander has received a joint permit application for federal and state permits for work as described below:
APPLICANT
Lane / Corman Joint Venture
c/o Ken Prince
90 Fieldstone Court
Cheshire, Connecticut 06410
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The project is located in waters of the United States including wetlands associated with the hydrologic unit code (HUC) 02080204 – Rivanna River/James River basin and Chesapeake Bay sub-basin in Albemarle County, Virginia. The proposed project extends on new alignment between Hilton Heights Road (Route 1438) and Towncenter Drive (Route 1719) for approximately 2.46 miles and running parallel to and west of Seminole Trail (Route 29 Business). Longitude 38.07.00 / Longitude -78.26.56.
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The applicant has proposed to impact 1,989 linear feet (15,738 square feet) of streams and 0.1601 acres of PFO wetlands at seven jurisdictional crossings. The proposed project does not impact the South Fork of the Rivanna River or any of its associated wetlands. The applicant has proposed to mitigate for all unavoidable or minimized impacts via the purchase of wetland and credits from approved stream and wetland mitigation banks within the appropriate (HUC).
The proposed project, Berkmar Drive Extension, will include increased capacity and mobility, improve safety and improve operational deficiencies along the US Route 29 corridor. The project will construct a roadway on new location using an urban typical section with 2-11 foot lanes curb and gutter, a 10-foot wide shared-use path along North Bound Lane and a 5-foot wide sidewalk along the South Bound Lanes with a 7.5 foot utility green strip, landscaping, and stormwater management basins. The proposed SWMs are not located within any waters of the US.
See attached documents. pages 1-5, entitled, “Route 29 Solutions – Berkmar Drive Extended – Albemarle County” for additional information regarding the proposed projects purpose and need, preliminary LEDPA determination and alternatives analysis and avoidance and minimization. Projects drawings are also attached with mapping(s). Also included with this Public Notice are the Water Quality Impact Table and the Stream Assessment Summary Table for the stream impacts.
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.
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.
The US Army Corps of Engineers/Regulatory Branch has been designated as the lead federal agency to fulfill the collective federal responsibilities under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (PL 93-205), Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (PL 89-665), and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996 (PL 104-267). A preliminary review indicates that: (l) no environmental impact statement will be required; (2) there may be an effect to the listed threatened species Northern long-eared Bat (Myotis septentrionalis) and the listed endangered James Spinymussel (Pleuobema collina) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (PL 93-205); 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 Nov. 1, 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.