Public Notice Notifications

The Jacksonville District currently has five categories of public notice notification mailing lists. If you wish to receive email notifications when new public notices are added to this page, please send a request to Regulatory Webmaster.  Each category is described below. Be sure to specify which list(s) you want to be included on.

Florida - This includes all public notices for projects being reviewed for Standard Permits within the State of Florida.

Antilles - This includes all public notices for projects being reviewed for Standard Permits within the Antilles area (this includes Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands).

Tropical Storms & Other Emergencies - These public notices provide information on procedures for emergency permitting requirements due to specific tropical storm events or other emergency situations.

Special Issues - These are public notices that involve the Regulatory program but which are generally not limited to one particular geographic area. These would include public notices for the establishment or modification of Restricted Areas/Danger Zones, re-issuance of General Permits or Nationwide Permits, changes to guidance and policies, etc.

Administrative Penalty - These public notices provide information associated with Administrative Penalties. An Administrative Penalty can be assessed to address violations associated with issued Department of the Army permits.

SAJ-2018-01235(SP-RPR)

Published Dec. 7, 2018
Expiration date: 1/7/2019

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: Nassau County
                      ATTN: Ms. Rebecca Hiers Bray, Engineering Services
                      96161 Nassau Place
                     Yulee, Florida 32097

WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States (wetlands) and roadside ditches associated with tributaries of the Nassau River: Mills Creek to the north and Little Mills Creek to the south of the project corridor. The project site is located along a 7.7 mile long section of County Road 115 (Old Dixie Highway), between Callahan and Hilliard, in Sections 2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 19, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, and 34, Townships 2 and 3 North, Ranges 24 and 25 East, Nassau County, Florida.

APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES:

Latitude:     30.622723°
Longitude: -81.875695°

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic: The basic project purpose is roadside improvements.

Overall: The overall project purpose is to establish traffic safety measures and drainage improvements along County Road 115 (Old Dixie Highway).

EXISTING CONDITIONS: The project site encompasses several communities identified by the Florida Land Use, Cover and Forms Classification System (FLUCFCS) developed by the Florida Department of Transportation.

Uplands – 72.271 acres of highway (FLUCFCS 814)

The area between the edge of the asphalt and the top-of-bank of the road side ditch comprises mown road shoulder vegetated with such species as bahia grass (Paspalum notatum) and a wide variety of weed species such as Florida betony (Stachys floridana), wild geranium (Geranium carolinianum), crabgrass (Digitaria spp.), and various other grasses.

Wetlands and Surface Waters – 3.279 acres consist of 1.074 acres of ditches (FLUCFCS 510), and 2.205 acres of wetland-cut ditches and inland ponds and sloughs (FLUCFCS 510 and FLUCFCS 616).

The maintained ditches consist of species such as alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides), spike rush (Eleocharis spp.), climbing hemp vine (Mikania scandens), and soft rush (Juncus effusus).

The canopy in the wetlands includes such species as red maple (Acer rubrum), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia), sweet bay (Magnolia virginiana), and slash pine (Pinus elliottii). The understory and ground cover vegetation include such species as fetterbush (Lyonia lucida), titi (Cyrilla racemiflora), cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea), netted chain fern (Woodwardia areolata), and sphagnum moss (Sphagnum sp.). The wetland lines in many areas along the road extend into the mowed road side and along the outer (landward) edges of wetland-cut road side ditches. There is an overhead electric power line that extends along the eastern side of the road. The wetlands under this power line are herbaceous and periodically mown.

PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to discharge fill material over 1.02 acres of wetlands and wetland-cut roadside ditches, and 0.854 acre of upland-cut roadside ditches, to facilitate the addition of asphalt pavement along the outer edges of the existing travel lanes, a 5-foot wide section of asphalt pavement along each side of the road for emergency pull-offs, and the replacement of existing culverts.

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:

Work would occur within the existing road right-of-way. The road improvements were designed to avoid and minimize wetland impacts as much as possible.

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment:

Compensatory mitigation would be accomplished through the purchase of palustrine forested federal credits from Longleaf Mitigation Bank (SAJ-2003-00640).

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:

Red Cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis): The project site is approximately 6-12 miles from the nearest identified nest or cluster location for red-cockaded woodpecker; and, within the consultation area identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Corps for this species. Habitat for red-cockaded woodpecker typically incorporates mature pine woodlands (not wetlands); and, optimal habitat is characterized as a broad savanna with a scattered overstory of large pines and a dense groundcover containing a diversity of grass and shrub species. Nesting and roosting occur in cavity trees that are almost exclusively old, living, flat-topped pine trees. The project site does not encompass typical or optimum habitat; or, trees capable of supporting cavities. Further, as significant forested habitat is located near the project site, it is likely that this species would only opportunistically forage at the site, which the development of the site would not hinder; therefore the Corps has determined no effect to the woodpecker.

The Corps executed a Resources At Risk (RAR) report. The RAR did not indicate that the site is utilized by, or contains habitat critical to, any other federally listed threatened or endangered species. The Corps also reviewed geospatial data and other available information. The Corps has not received or discovered any information that the project site is utilized by, or contains habitat critical to, any other federally listed threatened or endangered species.

ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT (EFH): There is no essential fish habitat within the project area.

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, 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, Renee Riker, in writing at the Jacksonville Permits Section, Post Office Box 4970, Jacksonville, Florida 32232; by electronic mail at renee.p.riker@usace.army.mil; by facsimile transmission at (904)232-1904; or, by telephone at (904)232-1497.

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.