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: CITY OF LAKE WALES
201 WEST CENTRAL AVENUE
LAKE WALES, FL 33853
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with the Peace Creek Drainage Canal. The project site is located within the Lake Wales Airport Property, at the western end of the existing east-west runway in the City of Lake Wales, Polk County, Florida, in Sections 3, 4, 8 and 9 of Township 30 South and Range 27 East.
Directions to the site are as follows: From the intersection of State Road 60 (West Polk Avenue) and U.S. Highway 27 in the City of Lake Wales, proceed west on SR-60 approximately 1.5 miles. Turn left on South Airport Road.
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES: Latitude 27.887678° N
Longitude 81.624282° W
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: To realign an airport taxiway, extend a runway, and provide Runway Safety Areas.
Overall: To conduct improvements at Lake Wales Airport to increase capacity and bring the facility into compliance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety standards. Extension of the runway will allow for the airport to accommodate business jets. To comply with FFA safety standards, the taxiway must be realigned to meet taxiway-runway offsets and Runway Safety Areas of minimum size must be established on both ends of the runway.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The project area is currently used for cattle grazing. The on-site wetlands include freshwater marsh and wet prairie. The freshwater marsh is dominated by a mix of lance-leaf arrowhead (Sagittaria lancifolia) and pickerel weed (Pontedaria cordata). The wet prairie is dominated by bahia grass (Paspalum notatum).
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks after-the-fact authorization to realign a taxiway for a distance of 1,900 feet and establish a Runway Safety Area at the eastern end of the runway, requiring impacts to 16.23 acres of waters of the United States, including 5.82 acres of wetlands and 10.41 acres of open water.
The applicant also seeks authorization to extend an existing runway/taxiway an additional 1,400 feet and create a 600’ X 300’ Runway Safety Area / Runway Object Free Area at the terminus of the extended runway/taxiway. This aspect of the project requires direct impacts to 10.52 acres of waters of the United States, including 7.06 acres of freshwater marsh, 3.09 acres of wet prairie, and 0.37 acre of man-made ditch.
In total, the airport improvements described above will impact 26.75 acres of waters of the United States, including 15.97 acres of wetlands and 10.78 acres of open water.
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:
Runway Safety Area Improvements – The proposed project was designed such that impacts to wetlands on-site have been minimized to the greatest extent possible while still completing the required FAA standard improvements to the airport runway safety and object free areas. Furthermore, no alternate location can be substituted as the current alignment; Runway 24 cannot be repositioned to avoid impacts to wetland areas.
Taxiway Improvements – The proposed project was designed such that impacts to wetlands on-site have been minimized to the greatest extent possible.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment:
The applicant proposes to purchase 9.22 credits from the Boran Ranch Mitigation Bank.
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 Corps has determined the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the wood stork, Eastern indigo snake, sand-skink, and blue-tail skink. The Corps will request the concurrence of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with this determination pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.
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. Our initial determination is that the proposed action would not have a substantial adverse impact on EFH or federally managed fisheries in the Peace River and Charlotte River. 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.
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: The Southwest Florida Water Management District issued Environmental Resource Permit Nos. 43003693.005, 43003693.006, and 43003693.007, respectively, for the taxiway realignment, eastern Runway Safety Area, and western runway extension and Runway Safety Area.
COMMENTS regarding the potential authorization of the work proposed should be submitted in writing to the attention of the District Engineer through the Enforcement Section, 10117 Princess Palm Avenue, Suite 120, Tampa, FL 33610 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, Tracy Hurst, in writing at the Enforcement Section, 10117 Princess Palm Avenue, Suite 120, Tampa, FL 33610; by electronic mail at Tracy.E.Hurst@usace.army.mil; by facsimile transmission at (813)769-7061; or, by telephone at (813)769-7063.
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.