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: Palm Beach County
Attention: Deborah Drum
2300 N. Jog Road
West Palm Beach, Florida 33411
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with Atlantic Ocean. The project sites are located within the Atlantic Ocean, located east of the Palm Beach County Shoreline as depicted in Table 1.
Directions to the site are as follows: See Table 1
APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES:
Table 1. Artificial reef location, SAJ number, water depths, clearance, and size of deployment area.
PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic: The basic project purpose is artificial reef deployment and reef enhancement.
Overall: The overall project purpose is to provide additional reef habitat to enhance coral and fish habitat within eighteen deployment areas in the Atlantic Ocean, east of Palm Beach County, Florida.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The project is located in previously authorized artificial reef deployment sites in the Atlantic Ocean off Palm Beach County. The description of the benthic habitat is predominately unconsolidated sand substrate separated by bands of hardbottom and coral benthic habitats.
PROJECT HISTORY: The Department of the Army permit dated July 7, 2008 authorized the construction of 13 artificial reefs at five sites off Jupiter, Juno, Palm Beach, Boynton and Boca Raton, Florida. By email dated January 10, 2013, the Corps informed the Permittee that the existing permit required modification as advised by the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Charting Division. The Corps issued a modification on July 26, 2013 under permit no. SAJ-2006-07012(MOD-LCK), which specified the location and minimum clearance for the 13 artificial reefs. On December 23, 2014 the Corps modified the project to revised location and minimum clearance for Boynton Inlet Site O. On December 22, 2016, the Corps issued Modification #3 under SAJ-2006-07012 (SP-JKA), which authorized 17 artificial reef sites, including the new site, Breaker’s East Reef. The Corps issued Modification #4 dated June 5, 2017, which authorized an 18th artificial reef deployment area, 3-mile Reef and extended the expiration date of the permit for all 18 artificial reefs to February 14, 2023.
The applicant has requested a reauthorization for the deployment of materials within the same footprint. In the past each of the previous artificial reef sites had a different naming convention, using letters, or even combined sites, so the total number of authorized sites varied. The new system will assign a SAJ number to each one of the 18 deployment areas as shown in Table 1. There are no new deployment areas proposed and no changes to existing previously authorized deployment areas.
PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks re-authorization for the eighteen (18) existing artificial reef deployment areas for a period of ten years. Materials may include pre-fabricated concrete and concrete modular pieces, heavy gauge steel pieces, limestone boulders, and maritime vessels, and other approved marine substrate. Material placement will occur in areas devoid of hardbottom habitat and other benthic resources.
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:
• Prior to all deployments and pre-construction survey of the reef placement area will be conducted to ensure there are no hardbottom resources present within the deployment site, or within a 50-foot buffer area around the site. If such resources are found, the deployment target will be relocated away from those resources, into an area that meets the criteria.
• Reef structures, materials, and installation methods shall be designed and deployed to prevent entanglement and entrapment of listed species.
• Reef materials or modules will weigh more than 500 pounds. Reef materials shall be clean and free from asphalt, creosote, petroleum, other hydrocarbons and toxic residues, loose free-floating material or other deleterious substances. All artificial reef materials and/or structures will be selected, designed, constructed, and deployed to create stable and durable marine habitat.
• Applicant agrees to adhere to the Comply with JAXBO PDC’s for In-Water Activities, and the PDCs listed in Activity 7
• Comply with the Standard Manatee Conditions for In-Water Work – 2011
• All deployments will be conducted during daylight hours
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION –The applicant has provided the following explanation why compensatory mitigation should not be required:
All artificial reef material deployed will be placed on a sandy substrate and therefore no existing corals or other hardbottom habitats will be impacted. Therefore compensatory mitigation should not be required.
CULTURAL RESOURCES: The Corps is aware of recorded historic resources within or adjacent to the permit area and is evaluating the undertaking for effects to historic properties as required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. This public notice serves to inform the public of the proposed undertaking and invites comments including those from local, State, and Federal government Agencies with respect to historic resources. Our final determination relative to historic resource impacts may be subject to additional coordination with the State Historic Preservation Officer, those federally recognized tribes with concerns in Florida and the Permit Area, and other interested parties.
ENDANGERED SPECIES:
The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus); Swimming sea turtles: (green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), and Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta)); smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata); Loggerhead constricted breeding and migratory critical habitat (LOGG-N-19); Giant Manta Ray (Mobula birostris); and Northern right whale (Eubalaena glacialis). The Corps will request U.S. Fish and Wildlife/National Marine Fisheries Service concurrence with this determination pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, by separate letter.
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 11,448.5 acres of sand through the discharge of artificial reef material, utilized by various life stages of utilized by various life stages of penaeid shrimp complex, reef fish, stone crab, spiny lobster, migratory/pelagic fish, and snapper/grouper complex. Our initial determination is that the proposed action would not have a substantial adverse impact on EFH or Federally managed fisheries in the South Atlantic Region. 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.
NAVIGATION: The proposed project is not located within a Federal project and the Corps has determined that the proposed projects would not have an adverse effect to navigation.
SECTION 408: The applicant will not require permission under Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act (33 USC 408) because the activity, in whole or in part, would not alter, occupy, or use a Corps Civil Works 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 been verified by Corps personnel.
COMMENTS regarding the potential authorization of the work proposed should be submitted in writing to the attention of the District Engineer through the Palm Beach Gardens Permits Section, 4400 PGA Boulevard, suite 500, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 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, Jerilyn Ashworth, in writing at the Palm Beach Gardens Permits Section, 4400 PGA Boulevard, Suite 500, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410; by electronic mail at Jerilyn.Ashworth@usace.army.mil; or, by telephone at (561)472-3516.
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.
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.
WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION: Water Quality Certification may be required from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for projects located within 3 miles of the coastline.
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.