TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: This district 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: Ghulam Qadir, P.E.
Orange County Public Works
4200 South John Young Parkway
Orlando, Florida 32389
WATERWAY & LOCATION: The project would affect surface waters and wetlands connected to Boggy Creek along Boggy Creek Road from South Access Road/Jeff Fuqua Blvd., north to Wetherbee Road in Section 21, Township 24S, Range 30E, Orange County, Florida.
Directions to the site are as follows: From Jacksonville take I-95 south and exit onto State Road 482 (Beeline) and go east to County Road 530/527A (Boggy Creek Road) and go south to its intersection with Wetherbee Road.
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES
Latitude 28.39146 North
Longitude -81.32185 West
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: Transportation
Overall: Improve roadway carrying capacity by increasing the number of vehicle lanes.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: On-site land use forms were classified using the Florida Land Use, Cover, and Forms Classification System (FLUCCS) as defined by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT, 1999). The area surrounding this section of Boggy Creek Road consists of:
FLUCCS 814 – Roads and Highways
This land use type consists of the existing Boggy Creek Road right-of-way, including the improved roadway, bridge, stormwater management structures, and maintained right-of-way.
FLUCCS 510 – Streams and Waterways
Several portions of man-made drainage ditches span each side of the existing Boggy Creek Road, the majority of which are located between Boggy Creek Road and the Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) railroad to the east, and are classified as Other Surface Waters (OSW). Portions nearest the proposed bridge exhibit a dense midstory of Carolina willow (Salix caroliniana), Peruvian primrose (Ludwigia peruviana), and elderberry (Sambucus nigra). Portions further from the proposed bridge lack a midstory and are dominated by torpedo grass (Panicum repens), cattail (Typha sp.), pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata), and duck potato (Sagittaria sp.). These ditches are hydrologically connected to the on-site portion of the Boggy Creek Swamp canal.
FLUCCS 512 – Channelized Waterway
Channelized Boggy Creek. The canal is primarily comprised of open water, with various opportunistic and invasive hydrophytic vegetative species occupying the banks and narrow littoral fringes, as well as forming floating mats of vegetation.
FLUCCS 617 –Mixed Wetland Hardwoods
Boggy Creek Swamp is dominated by a mixed canopy of native hydrophytic hardwood species, and a midstory displaying significant invasion by exotic vegetation, primarily Peruvian primrose (Ludwigia peruviana). Native species include cypress (Taxodium sp.), red maple (Acer rubrum), sweet bay (Magnolia virginica), swamp bay (Persea palustris), slash pine (Pinus elliottii), gallberry (Ilex glabra), wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera),
elderberry, and various ferns.
.
PROPOSED WORK: The work includes widening 1.29 miles of the existing two-lane Boggy Creek Road to a four-land divided highway by impacting 1.27 acres of surface waters and 0.66 acres of wetlands.
AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION INFORMATION: Due to the limitations of linear roadway projects, impacts to wetlands and surface waters are unavoidable. The only available alternative is to construct the new bridge and road widening along
the northeast side of the existing bridge and roadway, and jurisdictional impacts are therefore unavoidable. Using this alternative, site plan modifications (such as decreasing fill slopes for the new roadway approaches, including installation of sheet piles and/or retaining walls) have been explored for the proposed project and have minimized impacts to on-site jurisdictional waters where possible.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant has indicated that Orange County will purchase 0.63 Federal WRAP credits from the TM Econ OC Phase IV Mitigation Bank to offset the direct and secondary unavoidable wetland and surface water impacts.
CULTURAL RESOURCES: The Corps is not aware of any known historic properties within the permit area. By copy of this public notice, the Corps is providing information for review. Our final determination relative to historic resource impacts is subject to review by and coordination with the State Historic Preservation Officer and those federally recognized tribes with concerns in Florida and the Permit Area.
ENDANGERED SPECIES: The property is located within the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) Consultation Area for the Everglades Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus), Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway), Florida Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), Red Cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis), Florida Scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens), Wood Stork (Mycteria americana), Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon corais couperi) and Sand Skink (Neoseps reynoldsi). Based on habitat preferences, location of the project site and surrounding development the Corps has determined that the project would have no effect on the Everglades Snail Kite, Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, Red Cockaded Woodpecker, Crested Caracara, Florida Scrub Jay and Sand Skink. Our final determination is subject to review by the USFWS.
The Corps completed an evaluation of the project based upon the May 18, 2010 South Florida Ecological Services Field Offices Programmatic Concurrence for use with the Wood Stork. Use of the Key for the Wood Stork resulted in the following sequential determination: A (Project impacts suitable foraging habitat more than 0.47 miles from a colony site) >B (Project impacts more than 0.5 acres of SFH) >C (Project impacts to SFH within a CFA of a colony) > D (Project impacts to SFH have been avoided and minimized and compensation is proposed in accordance with the mitigation rule) = Not Likely to Adversely Affect (NLAA). Based upon the NLAA determination for the Wood Stork no further coordination is required.
The Corps completed an evaluation of the project based upon the August 13, 2013 updated addendum to the January 2010 North and South Florida Ecological Services Field Offices Programmatic Concurrence for the Eastern Indigo Snake. Use of the Key for the Eastern Indigo Snake resulted in the following sequential determination: A (The project is not located in open water or salt marsh.) >B (The permit will be conditioned for use of the Service’s Standard Protection Measures for the Eastern Indigo snake during site preparation and project construction.) >C (There are gopher tortoise burrows, hole, cavities, or other refugia where a snake could be buried or trapped and injured during project activities.) > D(Project impats less than 25 acres of xeric habitat) > E (Permit will be conditioned such that holes, cavities, and snake refugia other than gopher tortoise burrows will be inspected each morning) = Not Likely to Adversely Affect (NLAA) with the applicant adherence to the Standard Protection Measures for the Eastern Indigo Snake. Based upon the NLAA determination for the Eastern Indigo Snake no further coordination is required.
ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT (EFH): The project involves impacts to freshwater wetlands and ditches in an interior county. A review of the National Marine Fisheries Service EFH Habitat Protection Mapper Web site reveals that the project does not occur in the vicinity of EFH designated by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council of NMFS. The Corps has determined that the proposed project will not have an impact on EFH.
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: The project has been reviewed and approved by the South Florida Water Management District under application # 170105-11.
COMMENTS regarding the application should be submitted in writing to the District Engineer at the above address 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.
If you have any questions concerning this application, you may contact Jim Carr at the letterhead address, by electronic mail at james.l.carr@usace.army.mil , or by telephone at 321-504-3771, extension 26.