Public Notice Notifications

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Florida - This includes all public notices for projects being reviewed for Standard Permits within the State of Florida.

Antilles - This includes all public notices for projects being reviewed for Standard Permits within the Antilles area (this includes Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands).

Tropical Storms & Other Emergencies - These public notices provide information on procedures for emergency permitting requirements due to specific tropical storm events or other emergency situations.

Special Issues - These are public notices that involve the Regulatory program but which are generally not limited to one particular geographic area. These would include public notices for the establishment or modification of Restricted Areas/Danger Zones, re-issuance of General Permits or Nationwide Permits, changes to guidance and policies, etc.

Administrative Penalty - These public notices provide information associated with Administrative Penalties. An Administrative Penalty can be assessed to address violations associated with issued Department of the Army permits.

SAJ-2018-02093 (SP-SWA)

Published Aug. 20, 2018
Expiration date: 9/10/2018
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The Jacksonville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has received an application for a Department of the Army permit pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §1344) and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. §403) as described below:

APPLICANT:  City of Pensacola
                       c/o: Keith Wilkins, Assistant City Administrator
                       222 West Main Street
                       Pensacola, Florida 32502

WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with Pensacola Bay. The project site is located in Pensacola Bay south of Bayfront Parkway.

Directions to the site are as follows: From Interstate 110 south, take exit 1B. Turn south on 9th Avenue and travel 0.3 mile to Bayfront Parkway. The project site is located in Pensacola Bay adjacent to Bayfront Parkway.

APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES:  Latitude 30.411638°
                                                                          Longitude -87.201491°

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic: Living Shoreline.

Overall: Construct a living shoreline in Pensacola Bay for habitat restoration in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

EXISTING CONDITIONS: The site is located in Pensacola Bay and is directly adjacent to the existing Project Greenshores Phase II. The area consists of sandy bay bottom and three existing graded riprap submerged breakwaters that were constructed as part of the previous Project Greenshores project. Two of the rock breakwaters were fully constructed and one was partially constructed. A submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) survey was conducted on August 3, 2015 and identified a small patch of widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima) located at the northern extent of the project area and would not be impacted by the proposed project. Borrow Area 1 is located southwest of the project site on submerged bottom. It consists of very loose to loose sand to a depth of 2 feet below the bay bottom and medium-dense sands between 2 feet and 10 feet below the bay bottom. Borrow Area 2 is an upland site located adjacent to Bayou Texar.

PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to create a living shoreline consisting of 9.2 acres of salt marsh habitat and 3.5 acres of breakwaters. The salt marsh creation would consist of three marsh parcels: Marsh Parcel 1 (2.23 acres); Marsh Parcel 2 (3.79 acres) and Marsh Parcel 3 (3.17 acres). The marsh parcels would be filled with approximately 103,000 cubic yards of sand to appropriate marsh elevations. The sandy fill material would be sourced from a submerged borrow area (Borrow Area 1) adjacent to the project site and an upland borrow area (Borrow Area 2) adjacent to Bayou Texar. Approximately 80,000 cubic yards of sand would be hydraulically dredged from Borrow Area 1 to a depth of -12 feet NAVD88. The material would be pumped to the marsh parcels and placed using a spreader device at the end of the pipeline. Approximately 23,000 cubic yards of material would be excavated from Borrow Area 2. The material would be placed on barges and transported to the project site for placement. Once appropriate marsh elevations are achieved, the marsh parcels would be planted with saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) and black needle rush (Juncus roemerianus). Six breakwaters would be constructed using approximately 20,000 cubic yards of graded riprap to reduce incoming wave energy at the marsh parcels and provide benthic habitat. Two breakwaters (D and F, as shown on Exhibit Number 04) would be constructed on existing submerged breakwaters in order to raise the grade of the breakwater to an elevation suitable for reducing incoming wave energy. The graded riprap would be transported to the project site by barge and placed by a barge operated excavator.

AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION INFORMATION – The applicant has provided the following information in support of efforts to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment:

The applicant selected a site that is devoid of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV’s) and hard bottom formations.

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment:

No compensatory mitigation is proposed.

CULTURAL RESOURCES: Cultural resources are present within the project area. The Corps is developing measures in consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer to avoid impacts to these resources.

ENDANGERED SPECIES: The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata), Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) or its designated critical habitat and the following species of swimming sea turtles: green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricate), Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and loggerhead (Caretta caretta). The Corps will request U.S. Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries Service concurrence with this determination pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.

ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT (EFH): This notice initiates consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service on EFH as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1996. The proposal would impact approximately 12.7 acres of non-vegetated estuarine bottom utilized by various life stages of red drum, reef fish, coastal migratory pelagic and shrimp. Our initial determination is that the proposed action would not have a substantial adverse impact on EFH or Federally managed fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. Our final determination relative to project impacts and the need for mitigation measures is subject to review by and coordination with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

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 jurisdictional line has not been verified by Corps personnel.

AUTHORIZATION FROM OTHER AGENCIES: Water Quality Certification may be required from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and/or one of the state Water Management Districts.

COMMENTS regarding the potential authorization of the work proposed should be submitted in writing to the attention of the District Engineer through the Pensacola Permits Section, 41 North Jefferson Street, Suite 301, Pensacola, Florida 32502, within 21 days from the date of this notice.

The decision whether to issue or deny this permit application will be based on the information received from this public notice and the evaluation of the probable impact to the associated wetlands. This is based on an analysis of the applicant's avoidance and minimization efforts for the project, as well as the compensatory mitigation proposed.

QUESTIONS concerning this application should be directed to the project manager, Steve Andrews Jr., in writing at the Pensacola Permits Section, 41 North Jefferson Street, Suite 301, Pensacola, Florida 32502, by electronic mail at stephen.w.andrews@usace.army.mil, by fax at (850) 433-8160, or by telephone at (850) 439-0707.

IMPACT ON NATURAL RESOURCES: Coordination with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Marine Fisheries Services, and other Federal, State, and local agencies, environmental groups, and concerned citizens generally yields pertinent environmental information that is instrumental in determining the impact the proposed action will have on the natural resources of the area.

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.

The US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) 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 impacts of this proposed activity. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps to determine whether to issue, modify, condition, or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this determination, comments are used to assess impacts to endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above. Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.

COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: In Florida, the State approval constitutes compliance with the approved Coastal Zone Management Plan. In Puerto Rico, a Coastal Zone Management Consistency Concurrence is required from the Puerto Rico Planning Board. In the Virgin Islands, the Department of Planning and Natural Resources permit constitutes compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Plan.

REQUEST FOR PUBLIC HEARING: Any person may request a public hearing. The request must be submitted in writing to the District Engineer within the designated comment period of the notice and must state the specific reasons for requesting the public hearing.