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 2
Attn: Mr. Van Humphreys
1109 South Marion Avenue
Lake City, Florida 32025
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with the St. Johns River, Trout Creek, Black Creek, Bradley Creek, Governors Creek, Grog Branch, and Peters Creek. The project is located within Section 31, Township 4 South, Range 25 East; Sections 6-10, 14-17, 22, 23, 26, 35 and 40, Township 5 South, Range 25 East; Sections 2 and 11-13, Township 6 South, Range 25 East; Sections 18, 19, 30 and 38, Township 6 South, Range 26 East; and Section 47, Township 6 South, Range 27 East of Clay County, Florida. The project is also located within Sections 32-36, Township 5 South, Range 27 East; Sections 28 and 31-33, Township 5 South, Range 28 East; and Sections 1-5, 8, 9, and 38, Township 6 South, Range 27 East of St. Johns County, Florida.
Directions to the site are as follows: The project area extends from Interstate 95 in St. Johns County to Blanding Boulevard (State Road 21) in Clay County, Florida.
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES: Latitude 30.02748°
Longitude -81.6623°
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: Linear transportation.
Overall: The overall project purpose is construction of a new limited access roadway between I-95 and I-10 that reduces congestion on other major roadways in the region for daily commuters and provides additional storm-related evacuation capacity in St. Johns and Clay Counties.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: Multiple wetland, upland and developed land uses occur within the project boundary. Land use/land cover types were classified according to the Florida Land Use, Cover and Forms Classification System (FLUCFCS). Wetland types consist of Streams and Lake Swamps (FLUCFCS Code 615), Mixed Wetland Hardwoods (617), Cypress (621), Hydric Pine Flatwoods (625), Wetland Forested Mixed (630), Vegetated Non-Forested Wetlands (640), and Freshwater Marshes (641).
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to discharge fill material over 502.56 acres of waters of the United States (wetlands) to construct a multi-lane, limited access toll road that spans approximately 32 miles. In addition, the project would incur approximately 426.38 acres of secondary wetland impacts and 7.26 acres of temporary wetland impacts.
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:
This project has been designed to avoid and minimize wetlands to the greatest extent practicable. The attention afforded wetland impact avoidance and minimization began in 2001 with the initiation of the Regional Transportation Study – Connecting Clay and St. Johns County. Following the study, the project entered into the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) phase, which projected the approximate acreage of wetland impacts associated with several potential roadway alignments and associated interchanges. In 2007, a detailed wetland mapping of the roadway alignment was created, and was used by project engineers to preliminarily select pond sites and position the ponds so that little or no wetland impact would occur. The Federal Highway Administration completed a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on August 29, 2013. A Record of Decision was signed in support of the FEIS on April 7, 2014. These documents can be assessed at the following website:
http://firstcoastexpressway.com/documents-and-publications.shtml
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment:
The functional values of the on-site wetlands were established using the Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method (UMAM) and the Wetland Rapid Assessment Procedure (WRAP). These assessments conclude that the project would incur a total of 386.71 UMAM Functional Loss (FL) units. This includes 356.75 UMAM FL units for non-Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) jurisdictional wetland impacts and 29.95 UMAM FL units for EFH. The WRAP FL debits for non-EFH jurisdictional wetland impacts would be 350.86. Jurisdictional Corps wetland functional losses would be mitigated by the purchase of credits from federally approved mitigation banks whose service areas cover the wetland impact locations.
EFH impacts would be mitigated through a permittee-responsible mitigation plan developed by St. Johns River Water Management District as part of State of Florida’s Senate Bill coordination.
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: Shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum), Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus), Eastern Indigo snake (Drymarchon corais couper) and West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus).
The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus); and the Shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) or its designated critical habitat. The Corps will request National Marine Fisheries Service concurrence with this determination pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.
Eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon corais couperi): The potential impacts to the endangered Eastern Indigo snake were evaluated using The Eastern Indigo Snake Programmatic Effect Determination Key, August 2013. Use of the Eastern Indigo snake key resulted in the following sequential determination: A > B > C > D = “may affect” the Eastern Indigo snake. This is due to the proposed project will impact more than 25 active and inactive gopher tortoise burrows.
However, the applicant in coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) completed an eastern indigo snake survey utilizing the Survey Protocol for the Eastern Indigo Snake in North and Central Florida, in early 2016. The survey covered all potential indigo snake habitat as required by USFWS. No indigo snakes or their signs were detected. The applicant has committed to follow the USFWS approved Standard Protection Measures for the Eastern Indigo Snake during the clearing and construction phases of the project and to relocate all gopher tortoises and gopher tortoise commensal organisms. USFWS provided concurrence of the final indigo snake report for the project in September 2016. The Corps will request USFWS concurrence with a “not likely to adversely affect” determination pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.
West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus): Use of The Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, and the State of Florida Effect Determination Key for the Manatee in Florida, April 2013 resulted in the following sequential determination: A > B > C > G > N > O > P > “may affect, not likely to adversely affect.” This determination is based on the applicant following the standard manatee construction precautions for the proposed activity. By letter dated 25 April 2013, the FWS stated that for proposed in-water activities analyzed with the April 2013 version of this key in which the Corps reaches a “may affect, not likely to adversely affect” determination with respect to the manatee and/or its designated critical habitat, the FWS hereby concurs with the Corps determination in accordance with 50 CFR 402.14(b)1 and no further consultation with the FWS is required.
The Corps has determined the proposal would have no effect on any other listed threatened or endangered species or designated critical habitat.
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 35.72 acres of direct impacts and 6.11 acres of temporary impact acres of EFH. Our initial determination is that the proposed action would not have a substantial adverse impact on EFH or Federally managed fisheries. The applicant plans to implement EFH mitigation through a Senate Bill mitigation plan in coordination with St. Johns River Water Management District. 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. The applicant has performed extensive coordination with NMFS to quantify and evaluate EFH impacts associated with this project.
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. The new bridge crossings, including the new Shands Bridge crossing of the St. Johns River are under the regulatory jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard under Section 9 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899.
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, Post Office Box 4970, Jacksonville, Florida 32232 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, Mr. Randy Turner, in writing at the Jacksonville Permits Section, Post Office Box 4970, Jacksonville, Florida 32232, by electronic mail at Randy.L.Turner@usace.army.mil, by fax at (904) 232-1904, or by telephone at (904) 232-1670.
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.