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 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. §403) as described below:
APPLICANT: Mark Wood
1286 Ponte Vedra Boulevard
Ponte Vedra, Florida 32082
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with the Guana River. The project site is located at 1286 Ponte Vedra Boulevard, in Section 23, Township 4 South, Range 29 East, Ponte Vedra, St. Johns County, Florida.
Directions to the site are as follows: Traveling from Jacksonville take Interstate 95 south to State Road 202 East. Travel east to State Road A1A. Turn south onto A1A and follow A1A South to the project site located at 1286 Ponte Vedra Boulevard/A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal Byway.
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES: Latitude 30.136447°
Longitude -81.353039°
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: The basic project purpose is navigation.
Overall: The overall project purpose is to create a manmade canal on the applicant’s parcel for additional navigation from the parcel.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The project site is a private single-family parcel located in a residential area along the Guana River. The parcel currently has a residence and private single-family dock. The parcel is composed of wetlands, uplands, and a previously dredged canal that contains aquatic vegetation. The soils on the parcel are Tisonia mucky peat, Satellite fine sand, and Fripp-Satellite complex. The aquatic vegetation in the 0.11 acre dredge area is Chinese Tallow, Primrose Willow, Dollarweed, and Cattail. The parcel is bordered by vacant parcels to the north and south, Ponte Vedra Boulevard to the east, and the Guana River to the west.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to dredge 350 cubic yards of material to a depth of 3 feet below Ordinary Low Water to create a residential canal on their property. The dredge area consists of Chinese Tallow, Primrose Willow, Dollarweed, and Cattail. The dredged material would be dewatered on the on-site uplands and then placed around the property as landscaping berms. Discharge water would return to the dredge basin and floating turbidity barriers would be used during construction.
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:
The revised dredge depth, from meeting with the Guana Reserve Manager will be a foot deeper to provide mosquito fish habitat. This increases the dredge volume to 350 cu. yds. Spoil will be excavated and dewatered in the uplands, then placed around the property as landscaping berms in the area depicted in Figure 3. There's an existing landscape berm in that area that we'll add to. Discharge water will return to the dredge basin, filtered by and providing nutrients to the buffer and wetland vegetation, then protecting the lake via floating turbidity barrier.
A turbidity barrier will surround the mouth of the canal entrance preventing any other discharge or release of pollutants during construction or alteration that will cause or contribute to water quality standards being violated. This will be in place for the duration of dewatering and construction activities. Turbidity will be monitored throughout construction and dewatering to ensure the floating turbidity barrier is functioning properly and all applicable water quality standards are met.
All disturbed surfaces will be stabilized (re-planted, sodded, hay bales, etc.) as soon as practicably possible, to prevent erosion and turbidity inputs. Proper construction access will be provided for equipment to ensure that rutting from vehicular traffic does not occur and if it does it will be restored to match adjacent grades. Construction equipment will be maintained to ensure that oils, greases, gasoline, or other pollutants are not released into wetlands or other surface waters.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment:
Since the applicant only dredged a small area of brackish marsh that enhances the opportunity for mosquito fish to feed (per the DEP) and that area will remain a wetland, no mitigation is proposed. The DEP also required no mitigation.
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 proposal would have no effect on any 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. Our initial determination is that the proposed action would not have a substantial adverse impact on EFH or Federally managed fisheries in the Guana 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: 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 Jacksonville Permits Section, P.O. Box 4970, Jacksonville, Florida 32232, 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, Paula R. Johnson, in writing at the Jacksonville Permits Section, P.O. Box 4970, Jacksonville, Florida 32232; by electronic mail at paula.r.johnson@usace.army.mil or by telephone at (904)232-2503.
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.