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-2022-01114 (SP-CGK)

USACE Jacksonville District Regulatory
Published Sept. 22, 2022
Expiration date: 10/22/2022
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: Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management
Attn.: Deborah Drum
2300 North Jog Road, 4th Floor
Riviera Beach, FL 33404

WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with the Lake Worth Lagoon. The project sites are located in Sections 34, 27 Township 44 South, and Range 43 East, Palm Beach, Florida.

APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES:

Northern Site:
Latitude: 26.609609°
Longitude: -80.041596°

Southern Site:
Latitude: 26.5982185°
Longitude: -80.0429272°

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic: The basic project purpose is to create oyster reef habitat.

Overall: The overall project purpose is to create oyster reef habitat over an existing dredge hole in Palm Beach County, Florida.

EXISTING CONDITIONS:

The project sites are located within the Lake Worth Lagoon, which are tidal waters assessable to fish and aquatic wildlife species as well as federally listed species such as manatees, sea turtles, smalltooth sawfish, and giant manta rays.


The proposed project consists of two individual sites that are approximately 17 acres in total. The northern site is approximately 11.3 acres in size and the southern site is 5.7 acres. A benthic resource survey was conducted on June 28 and 29, 2022, which reported that the project sites composed of mostly unconsolidated fine silty/clay with some fine grain sand and shell hash. No resources, such as seagrasses, corals, sponges, or live oysters were observed. Existing depths at these sites range from -8.0 and -10.0 North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD).

PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to transport approximately 200,000 cubic yards (cyds) of dredged material consisting of broken up coquina rock and sand (approximately 50/50 ratio) from the South Lake Worth Inlet sand trap (currently being reviewed under application SAJ-2000-02301)- to the 17-acre project sites. Specifically, 143,000 cyds of dredged material would be placed in the northern 11.3-acre site and 57,000 cyds of material placed in the southern 5.7-acre site. The oyster reef formation is anticipated to occur through natural recruitment, following the placement of dredged material. Additionally, warning signs would be installed around
the site perimeters.

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:

• Turbidity curtains would be used during construction. Additionally, turbidity monitoring would be carried out every 4 hours during in-water constriction and not to exceed 29 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU’s)
• Applicant would adhere to the Standard Manatee Construction Conditions and the JaxBO Protected Species Project Design Criteria

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION –

The applicant has provided the following explanation why compensatory mitigation should not be required:

The project would not result in adverse impacts to aquatic resources, therefore compensatory mitigation is not required. The project is a habitat creation project to enhance the aquatic environment of Lake Worth Lagoon.

CULTURAL RESOURCES:

The Corps is evaluating the undertaking for effects to historic properties as required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. This public notice serves to inform the public of the proposed undertaking and invites comments including those from local, State, and Federal government Agencies with respect to historic resources. Our final determination relative to historic resource impacts may be subject to additional coordination with the State Historic Preservation Officer, those federally recognized tribes with concerns in Florida and the Permit Area, and other interested parties.

ENDANGERED SPECIES:

The Corps has determined initially that the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus), Loggerhead (Caretta caretta), Green (Chelonia mydas), and Kemp’s Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles, Smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata), and the Giant Manta Ray (Mobula birostris). The Corps will evaluate the proposed work and request concurrence from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service by separate letter.

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 17 acres of barren submerged bottom utilized by various life stages of penaeid shrimp complex, reef fish, stone crab, spiny lobster, migratory/pelagic fish, and snapper/grouper complex. Our initial determination is that the proposed action would not have a substantial adverse impact on EFH or Federally managed fisheries in the South Atlantic Region. 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.

NAVIGATION: The proposed project would occur within the setback of a federal navigation channel.

SECTION 408: The Corps has not determined whether the applicant will require permission under Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act (33 USC 408) because the activity, in whole or in part, would potentially alter, occupy, or use a Corps Civil Works project. If the Corps determined that permission under Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act is required, the applicant will be notified.

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.

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 Permits Section, 4400 PGA Boulevard, Suite 500, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 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, Christian Karvounis, in writing at the Palm Beach Gardens Permits Section, 4400 PGA Boulevard, Suite 500, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410; by e-mail at Christian.G.Karvounis@usace.army.mil; or, by telephone at (561)-472-3508.

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.

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.