January 6, 2016
CENAO-WRR-W
NAO-2013-02285
FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The District Commander received a joint application for federal and state permits as described below:
APPLICANT
G.A. & F.C. Wagman Inc
Mr. David W. Lyle
26000 Simpson Road
North Dinwiddie, Virginia 23803
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The project would occur on unnamed tributaries to Fishing Creek, Middle James-Buffalo River Basin, in the City of Lynchburg, Virginia. The project involves the construction of an interchange connecting the south end of Odd Fellows Road with Route 460.
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The applicant proposes to place fill material in waters of the United States (U.S.) to construct a road in two segments. The primary purpose for the Project is to address existing and future operational safety, access, economic development and system connectivity needs in the eastern part of the City of Lynchburg. The applicant states that the Project would directly address access issues, congestion levels and heavy truck movements on city streets. The project is a design/build project contracted to G.A. & F.C. Wagman inc. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) completed an Environmental Assessment (EA) in December 2012. FHWA is the lead Federal Agency for this project.
Segment A improvements include the extension of Odd Fellows Road, a new interchange at Route 460, improvements to Route 460, and a roundabout near the intersection of Odd Fellows Road and Top Ridge Road. The roundabout would connect to roads associated with future expansions at Liberty University (Phase 3 of the project). This segment of road would be approximately 1.0 miles.
Segment B1 improvements include reconstruction of Odd Fellows Road from the construction limits of Segment A to Mayflower Drive, and a new roundabout at the intersection of Odd Fellows Road and Mayflower Drive. The typical section on Odd Fellows Road consists of three lanes with curb and gutter, a sidewalk, and a shared use path. The total length for Segment B is approximately 0.7 miles.
The applicant proposes to permanently impact 1.05 acres of wetlands, including 0.44 acres of palustrine forested (PFO) wetlands, 0.35 acres of palustrine scrub shrub (PSS) wetlands, and 0.26 acres of palustrine emergent (PEM) wetlands, and 2,842 linear feet of stream channel in 14 different stream reaches, including 2,679 linear feet of perennial stream channel, 73 linear feet of intermittent stream channel, and 90 linear feet of ephemeral stream channel. In addition, the applicant proposes to temporarily impact approximately 85 linear feet of intermittant stream channel.
Avoidance and minimization efforts consist primarily of reducing the fill slopes associated with Ramp C and Ramp D by using guardrails and steeper side slopes and locating Best Management Practice (BMP) outfalls outside of streams and wetlands.
The applicant proposed to compensate for unavoidable impacts to waters of the United States through the purchase of 3,057 stream credits and 1.66 wetlands credits from an approved mitigation bank servicing the Middle James-Buffalo River
Watershed (8 Digit HUC: 02080203). The stream mitigation was formulated using the Unified Stream Methodology (USM), an approved methodology for calculating stream mitigation in the Norfolk District. The wetlands credits were formulated using the Norfolk District mitigation guidance, compensation ratios of 2:1 for PFO impact, 1.5:1 for PSS impact, and 1:1 for PEM impact and PFO conversion impacts.
Project plans and drawings are included with this Notice.
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 would be required; (2) after conducting the NAO ESA Project Review Process, there may be a 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) that would be affected. Coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may be 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.
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be made in writing, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-WRR-W),Charlottesville Field Office, 920 Gardens Boulevard, Suite 103-B, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901, and should be received by the close of business February 6, 2016.
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
Vinny Pero via email at vincent.d.pero@usace.army.mil or phone at 434.973.0568.