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-2020-04160(SP-FMD)

JACKSONVILLE DISTRICT
Published July 9, 2021
Expiration date: 8/7/2021

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: Florida Department of Transportation, District 5

                      Attn: Casey Lyon   

                      Casey Lyon, M.S.

                      719 S. Woodland Blvd.

                      DeLand, FL 32720

WATERWAY AND LOCATION:  The project would affect waters of the United States associated with Indian River Lagoon. The project site is located alongside the Max Brewer Memorial Parkway in Titusville, Brevard County Florida.  

Directions to the site are as follows:  From Titusville, head east on A Max Brewer Memorial Parkway over the A. Max Brewer Bridge (Indian River Lagoon). The project area starts at the first parking lot on the right after coming over the bridge.

APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES:         Latitude:       28.643505 °

                                                                                 Longitude:  -80.696727 °

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic:  Linear Transportation.

Overall:  The purpose of the Space Coast Trail would be to serve as a major component of the Coast to Coast (C2C) Trail and the St. Johns River-to-Sea Loop Trail, providing the easternmost section of the C2C trail between Titusville and the Atlantic Ocean and connectivity for the St. Johns River-to-Sea Loop Trail.

EXISTING CONDITIONS:  The wetland system consists of a saltwater and freshwater systems.  The onsite vegetation consists of a mix of upland species such as Brazilian pepper on the upper slopes of the Max Brewer Memorial Parkway and mangrove, marshes, swamps and prairies in the aquatic environment..  The existing area surrounding the project area consists of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) property and Canaveral National Seashore (CANA) property.

PROPOSED WORK:  The applicant seeks authorization to permanently fill 13.03 acres of wetlands and Waters of the U.S. to construct an approximately 11 mile scenic recreational paved trail through the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) and Canaveral National Seashore (CANA), on NASA property.

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:

Specific impact avoidance / minimization elements have been incorporated into the project design. These include the following:

2:1 fill slopes will be utilized along the trail to reduce the impact footprint within the wetland communities.

The trail width was minimized to reduce the impact footprint within the wetland communities.

A safety rail was added to the back side of the sidewalk along the south side of the eastern causeway which allowed the tie-down slope to be steepened from a 1:6 to a 1:2 slope. This reduced the impact footprint within the mangrove community from approximate Station Number 355+00 to 365+00.

Contractor staging, and storage areas will be coordinated with the FDOT, USFWS and CANA staff and will be placed in previously disturbed or paved areas.

The FDOT will require the selected contractor to identify wetland resources adjacent to the project’s limits-of-construction with the direction to install and maintain best management practices (BMP’s) to ensure that construction activities will not cause unacceptable, adverse secondary impacts.

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

The mitigation plan will offset the wetland impacts within Regulatory Basins 20/HUC 03080202 that are not offset by mitigation bank credits in the respective basins. Impacts will be offset by the restoration and enhancement of additional conservation lands. Approximately 5,440 feet of roadside berms along Biolab Road are proposed to be removed to restore hydrologic connections within the Canaveral National Seashore and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  A 12-step permittee responsible plan will be completed once the initial economic assessments are complete and FDOT approves the plan.

CULTURAL RESOURCES: A Cultural Resource Assessment Survey (CRAS) was conducted as part of the FDOT’s PD&E Study. The purpose of the CRAS was to locate and identify any cultural resources within the Area of Potential Effect (APE) and to assess their significance in terms of eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The CRAS was conducted in accordance with the requirements set forth in 36 CFR Section 60.4. Both the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) have reviewed and approved the CRAS conducted for this project. On June 24, 2020, the SHPO concurred that the project results in a finding of no adverse effect.

ENDANGERED SPECIES: Coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was conducted during the project’s PD&E phase. The USFWS reviewed the project’s Wetland Evaluation/Essential Fish Habitat/Endangered Species Biological Assessment report that examined the potential effects on listed wildlife species with regards to several of different horizontal and vertical alignments for the proposed bridge replacement. A request for concurrence letter was transmitted to the USFWS on September 8, 2016. The USFWS responded with their concurrence, by signature, on October 31, 2016.

ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT (EFH):  FDOT initiated Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation with NMFS on March 23, 2017. As part of the consultation effort, FDOT sent a Natural Resource Assessment that included an Endangered Species Biological Assessment. Coordination with the NMFS concluded with issuance of a Biological Opinion (BO) on October 4, 2017.

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 Panama City Permits Section, 41 N Jefferson St., Suite 301, Pensacola, FL  32502-5644 within 30 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, Franklin M. Dimitroff in writing at the Panama City Permits Section, 41 N Jefferson St., Suite 301 Pensacola, FL 32502-5644; or by electronic mail at Franklin.M.Dimitroff@usace.army.mil; or by telephone at (850) 433-8732 Ext. 7. 

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.