Public Notice Notifications

The Jacksonville District currently has five categories of public notice notification mailing lists. If you wish to receive email notifications when new public notices are added to this page, please send a request to Regulatory Webmaster.  Each category is described below. Be sure to specify which list(s) you want to be included on.

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-2020-02565 (SP-KAE)

Published Sept. 23, 2020
Expiration date: 10/14/2020

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) as described below:

APPLICANT:  Florida Power & Light Company (FPL)
                       Mr. Franck Leblanc
                       15430 Endeavor Drive, MS# D01-JW
                       Jupiter, Florida 33478

WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project site is located on the east side of Tennessee Road, in an abandoned agricultural field, approximately 1-mile south of Palm Drive, in Section 29, Township 57 South, Range 39 East, in Florida City, Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Directions to the site are as follows: From Ronald Reagan Turnpike merge onto US-1 South and continue to E Palm Drive. Turn east onto E Palm Dr and continue for 1 mile to SW 67th Ave. Turn south on SW 67th Ave and continue for 1 mile to the project site. The site will be to the east, north of the SW 67th Ave and SW 360 Street intersection.

APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES:  Latitude: 25.434811°
                                                                          Longitude: -80.453390º

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic: The basic project purpose is utility infrastructure maintenance.

Overall: The overall project purpose is a hardening initiative of the existing electric distribution infrastructure to make the energy grid stronger and more storm resilient along the Card Sound Road area, in southern Miami-Dade County.

EXISTING CONDITIONS: The project site is located on the east side of Tennessee Road, approximately 1-mile south of Palm Drive, in an abandoned banana plantation. The site is typical of agricultural fields with raised planted beds and low furrows. There is a stormwater drainage ditch along the lot’s frontage on Tennessee Road; this ditch contains an ordinary high water mark and is overgrown with Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolia). The project site contains both uplands, containing predominantly banana trees (Musa spp.), cabbage palms (Sabal palmetto), and Brazilian pepper, and wetlands, consisting mostly of Brazilian pepper, Carolina willow (Salix caroliniana), and shoebutton ardisia (Ardisia elliptica). The project site is surrounded by undeveloped lands to the south and east, agricultural fields to the north, and Tennessee Road to the west.

PROPOSED WORK: The work affecting waters of the United States is part of an overall project known as FPL Farmlife Substation. The project involves the filling of approximately 1.92 acres of wetlands for the expansion of the substation yard and stormwater facilities and the already conducted temporary impacts to 3.51-acres of non-tidal wetlands. Temporary impacts occurred due to the use of construction
matting, perimeter silt fencing, and the removal of exotic vegetation as required by
Miami-Dade County during the installation of the substation and associated structures. The 3.51 acres has already been regraded and allowed to naturally revegetate. The project contains appropriate sediment and erosion control measures to meet State water quality and stormwater standards.

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: Elimination and reduction of wetland impacts focused on combining the distribution yard with the existing transmission yard to make the expanded area as small as possible. Only the minimum fill necessary will be placed in wetlands. Proposed temporary impacts will remove exotic vegetation from an area that is overgrown with shoebutton ardisia and Brazilian pepper, which will allow for native vegetation to recolonize the area. The use of the appropriate construction best management practices will ensure that the proposed project does not have an adverse effect on fish and wildlife and State water quality standards.

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment: “The loss of wetland functions is proposed to be offset through purchase of 0.85 credit from Everglades Mitigation Bank.”

CULTURAL RESOURCES:
The Corps is aware of historic property/properties within or in close proximity of the permit area. The Corps will initiate consultation with the State Historic Preservation Office and those federally recognized tribes with concerns in Florida and the Permit Area, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation as applicable pursuant to 33 CFR 325, Appendix C and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, by separate letter.

ENDANGERED SPECIES:
The Corps has determined the proposal may affect the Florida bonneted bat (Eumops floridanus) and the Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi). The Corps will request initiation of formal consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act by separate letter.

The Corps has determined the proposal would have no effect on any other listed threatened or endangered species or designated critical habitat.

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 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 Palm Beach Gardens Field Office, 4400 PGA Boulevard, Ste 500, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410 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, Kelly Egan, in writing at the Palm Beach Gardens Field Office, 4400 PGA Boulevard, Ste 500, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410; by electronic mail at Kelly.A.Egan@usace.army.mil; or, by telephone at (561) 472-3514.

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.