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 Power & Light
700 Universe Boulevard
Juno Beach, FL 33408
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with Moccasin Branch. The project site is located near 5401 Meadowbrook Road, south of State Road 207 in Sections 25 and 36, Township 8 South, Range 28 East, Elkton, St. Johns County, Florida.
Directions to the site are as follows: From downtown Jacksonville, travel south on Interstate 95 to exit 311 for State Road 207. Travel southwest on State Road 207 for approximately 4.7 miles and turn left on to Meadowbrook Road. Follow Meadowbrook Road for 0.67 miles until a dead end at an abandoned house on the project property.
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES: Latitude 29.765554°
Longitude -81.433598°
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: Energy production.
Overall: Construction of a solar energy facility in south central St. Johns County.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The subject property is currently an active silvicultural and agricultural operation encompassing approximately 846 acres. The subject property is bounded by agricultural operations and residential properties to the north, east, and west, and silvicultural operations to the south. Moccasin Branch, a tributary of the Deep Creek Conservation Area, meanders through the property along with a system of drainage ditches. Access to the property is from Meadowbrook Road and County Road 305. The subject property has been utilized for commercial silviculture and agricultural operations since the 1940s. The most recent timber harvest and subsequent replanting occurred over a significant portion of the property in 1999 based on aerial photographs.
Six large tracts of land on the subject property can be classified as row crops (approximately 294 acres). These areas have been used as agricultural land since the 1940s based on historical aerial photographs. Several of these areas were tilled during the site reconnaissance in preparation for planting cabbage or potatoes, and the other row crop areas were growing sorghum. Two small tracts of land adjacent to the row crops on the subject property can be classified as field crops (approximately 6 acres). These areas appeared to have been cleared and planted with bahia grass.
Shrub and brushland cover type is located near the western property boundary (approximately 4 acres) where the ground had been disturbed as a result of silvicultural practices with no replanting of pine trees. This area lacks a canopy layer and contains shrub vegetation dominated by dog fennel (Eupatorium capillifolium) and winged sumac (Rhus copallinum). The groundcover is comprised of blackberry (Rubus spp.).
A live oak community exists adjacent to the brushland community and encompasses approximately 6.6 acres. Live oak (Quercus virginiana) is predominant. The other canopy species observed includes slash pine (Pinus elliottii) and cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto). Red maple and sweet gum saplings are common understory species. The groundcover consists of fennel, blackberry, and saltbush (Baccharis halimifolia).
The coniferous plantations communities are almost exclusively pine forests artificially generated by planting seedling stock or seeds for silviculture management. These stands are characterized by high number of trees per acre and their uniform appearance. The latest cycle of tree harvesting and replanting occurred in 1999 over most of the uplands within the subject property. Approximately 174 acres of uplands were replanted in rows of pines. These areas are dominated by densely planted, semi-mature slash pines over a shrub layer of sweet gallberry, winged sumac, trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), beauty berry (Callicarpa Americana), and saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). The groundcover includes Japanese climbing fern (Lygodium japonicum), sword fern (Nephrolepis exaltata), grape vine (Vitis rotundifolia), greenbrier (Smilax spp.), bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), and panic grass (Panicum dichanthelium).
The hydric coniferous plantation community is similar to the coniferous plantation with a dominant canopy of artificially generated slash pine, but is distinguished by having a presence of hydric soils and sparse wetland vegetative components. This community encompasses approximately 92 acres and was observed in areas adjacent to stream and lake swamps and areas with lower topography within the landscape. The canopy is almost completely dominated by planted slash pine with an understory of scattered swamp bay (Persea palustris) and red maple saplings, saw palmetto, and wax myrtle.
The groundcover included cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea), Virginia chain fern
(Woodwardia virginica), and redroot (Lachnanthes caroliniana).
A rectangle shaped pond (approximately 1 acre) exists near the eastern property boundary. The pond has emergent vegetation that includes yellow cow-lilies (Nuphar spp.), dollar weed (Hydrocotyle spp.), and thalia (Thalia geniculate). Along the perimeter of the pond is red maple, pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), and wax myrtle.
A natural stream and lake swamps community occurs along the Moccasin Branch and tributaries of the subject property and encompasses approximately 217 acres. It contains predominantly hardwood species in the canopy including sweet gum, American elm, pond and bald cypress, cabbage palm, red maple, laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia), and water oak (Quercus nigra). The shrub layer consists of buttonbush, waterprimrose (Ludwigia spp.), wild taro (Colocasia esculenta), and wax myrtle. The groundcovers most common species are golden canna (Canna flaccida Salish), Virginia chain fern, and swamp fern (Blechnum serrulatum).
Mixed wetlands forest communities cover approximately 13 acres of the southwestern area of the subject property. They are dominated in the canopy crown by a mix of mature wetland hardwoods and conifers such as sweet bay magnolia, swamp bay, red maple, slash pine, pond cypress, and bald cypress. A diverse assemblage of understory shrub and groundcover vegetation species occurs within these wetlands. Some of the dominant species observed include wax myrtle, fetterbush (Leucothoe racemose), Virginia willow (Itea verginica), and sphagnum moss (Sphagnum macrophyllum).
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to discharge fill across approximately 1.45 acres of wetlands for the construction of a 74.5 megawatt solar photovoltaic energy production facility.
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:
Efforts to avoid and minimize wetland and surface water impacts initially focused on selection of a site that maximized acreage of uplands and provided opportunities to co-locate with existing infrastructure (transmission lines, access roads) to reduce the area of required construction disturbance. Within the selected site, further avoidance and minimization efforts focused upon locating the construction area so as to maximize utilization of previously-disturbed silviculture and agriculture uplands. Additionally, higher-quality bottomland and forested wetlands were avoided.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment:
Unavoidable wetland impacts will be compensated through the purchase of approximately 1.0 credit from the Sundew 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 (Mycteria americana), eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon corais couperi), and Florida scrub jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens). The Corps will request U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concurrence with this determination pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.
NOTE: This public notice is being issued based on information furnished by the applicant. This information has been verified and 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: 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, FL 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, Michael Ornella, in writing at the Jacksonville Permits Section, P.O. Box 4970, Jacksonville, FL 32232; by electronic mail at Michael.Ornella@usace.army.mil; by facsimile transmission at (904)232-1904; or, by telephone at (904)232-1498.
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.