ADVISORY PUBLIC NOTICE

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The Jacksonville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) consults with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (also referred to elsewhere as NOAA Fisheries) or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for projects and activities that have the potential to affect threatened or endangered species.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) listed Johnson's seagrass (Halophila johnsonii) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1998 and designated critical habitat on April 5, 2000. On April 14, 2022, NMFS published a final rule to delist Johnson's seagrass because newly obtained genetic data demonstrate that Johnson's seagrass is not a unique taxon but rather a clone of an Indo-Pacific species, Halophila ovalis. Therefore, Johnson's seagrass does not qualify for listing under the Endangered Species Act. The delisting became effective on May 16, 2022. To correspond with this action, NMFS also removed the critical habitat designation for Johnson's seagrass. Additional information can be found on NMFS’ website.

This change affects several areas of the Corps’ Regulatory Program in South Florida. This information supersedes any information previously disseminated by the Corps regarding the effect of the delisting on Corps programs. Corps staff were advised by NMFS to no longer request consultation, pursuant to Section 7, ESA, for effects of activities on this species or its formerly designated critical habitat. Johnson’s seagrass is still subject to consultation under the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Management and Conservation Act, as it may be considered essential fish habitat. The effects of the delisting on Corps program areas are listed below:

Jacksonville District Programmatic Biological Opinion (JAXBO)

• JAXBO Project Design Criteria (PDC), survey requirements, conditions, and attachments specific to Johnson’s seagrass are no longer applicable.
• The Corps will work on updating all applicable JAXBO PDC Checklists to remove all Johnson’s seagrass questions/sections. In the interim timeframe, applicants and agents can mark these as N/A or disregard.

South Atlantic Regional Biological Opinion (SARBO)

• SARBO Project Design Criteria (PDC), survey requirements, conditions, and attachments specific to Johnson’s seagrass are no longer applicable.

Pending Informal and Formal Consultations

• Any consultation that was pending with NMFS-PRD solely for the effects to Johnson’s seagrass are withdrawn from the individual consultation process and will be evaluated under the JAXBO, JAXBO Supersede process, or SARBO, whichever is applicable. Please be aware, Corps project managers may be sending out requests for JAXBO checklists for these pending applications. If you have any questions regarding your specific application, please contact your Corps project manager.

State Programmatic General Permit (SPGP)

• The Corps is working on modifying SPGP to remove Johnson’s seagrass conditions. However, beginning on the date of this public notice and until the SPGP is modified, applicants and agents can disregard conditions and project design criteria related specifically to Johnson’s seagrass. Implementing agencies should remove Johnson’s seagrass conditions or references from any SPGP permit templates and electronic systems used to issue verifications under SPGP VI-R1.
• Conditions and references applicable to all seagrasses still apply. (See Essential Fish Habitat, below)

SAJ-42

• The Corps anticipates that the delisting will increase the number of regulated activities that may qualify under this Programmatic General Permit (PGP) due to the removal of the JAXBO PDCs for Johnson’s seagrass. During this initial transition period, the Corps will be coordinating directly with Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resource Management (DERM) on an as needed basis to address any questions/concerns regarding projects that may now qualify for SAJ-42.

Essential Fish Habitat

• Johnson’s seagrass is still afforded protection under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act because the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council designates all seagrasses as Essential Fish Habitat and Habitat Areas of Particular Concern within their jurisdictional boundaries. NOAA Fisheries views this species as a long-established species in Southeastern Florida that provides ecological services consistent with other seagrass species and will still retain federal protection under this mechanism. Avoidance and minimization of impacts to seagrass resources will still be applicable as is consistent for the other non-listed native species.

For additional questions on this topic please contact the Corps POCs below for the corresponding areas or program.

Miami Dade County – Albert Gonzalez – albert.gonzalez@usace.army.mil
Broward and Palm Beach – Linda Knoeck - Linda.C.Knoeck@usace.army.mil
Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Brevard – Jake Zehnder – Jacob.A.Zehnder@usace.army.mil
SPGP – Heather Mason – Heather.M.Mason@usace.army.mil