SAJ-2024-04558 (SP-GMH)

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/or Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. §403). The purpose of this public notice is to solicit comments from the public regarding the work described below:

If you are interested in receiving additional project drawings associated with this public notice, please send an e-mail to the project manager by electronic mail at Geena.M.Hill@usace.army.mil

SPONSOR:    Treasure Island Mitigation Preserve, LLC

                     Ryan Deibler

                     15315 Indian Head Drive

        Tampa, FL 33618

AGENT:         GreenSource Environmental Professionals, Inc.

                     Ryan Deibler

                     15315 Indian Head Drive

                     Tampa, FL 33618

WATERWAY AND LOCATION:  The proposed project, identified as the 123-acre Treasure Island Mitigation Bank (TIMB), is located on the N side of Treasure Island Road and west of N Treasure Island Avenue in Section 4, Township 19 South, Range 25 East; at Latitude 28.863810 and Longitude -81.823595; in Leesburg, Lake County, Florida.

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY:  Pursuant to 33 CFR 332.8(d)(4), the Corps has posted a full copy of the TIMB prospectus online so that it is available for review by the public.  The prospectus may be downloaded from the Regulatory In-Lieu Fee and Bank Information Tracking System (RIBITS) at web address: https://ribits.ops.usace.army.mil/ords/f?p=107:2.

Once on the RIBITS homepage, select "Jacksonville" from the "ALL DISTRICTS" drop down menu located in the lower left corner of the screen. Once the district filter has been selected, click on the “Banks & ILF Sites” link located in the Navigation box (upper left corner). This will generate a list of projects, scroll down the list and click on the “Treasure Island MB” link. On this page, click on the "Cyber Repository" link located on the menu bar above the General Information box, then click on the Prospectus Documents folder to access the prospectus associated with the TIMB project.

If you are unable to access the web address, a copy of the prospectus is available upon request to the project manager listed at the end of this public notice.

PROJECT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:  The applicant seeks authorization to preserve, restore, and manage wetland and upland communities on the 123-acre property. The primary ecological goal of the TIMB is to restore the vegetative and hydrologic conditions within the forested and herbaceous communities through rehabilitation and re-establishment mitigation activities, which include backfilling existing on-site ditches, excavating former wetland areas, invasive and nuisance species control, seeding and planting native plant species, restoring hydrologic flows, reducing woody vegetation, and prescribed burning. Specific objectives include:

• Rehabilitation of 11.22 acres of bottomland forest.
• Rehabilitation of 19.80 acres of freshwater marsh.
• Rehabilitation of 8.35 acres of wet prairie.
• Re-establishment of 73.93 acres of improved pasture to wet prairie.
• Rehabilitation of 9.49 acres of improved pasture to pine flatwoods.

ECOLOGICAL SUITABILITY:  A review of available information indicates that the property likely historically consisted of forested swamp habitat surrounded by mesic flatwoods. Hydrologic alterations, silviculture, and citrus grove operations were evident based on the 1941 historical aerial imagery and the wetlands on-site were impacted and drained over time via excavated ditches. The site is currently utilized for cattle ranching and consists of primarily improved pasture across the site and a portion of forested swamp or bottomland forest habitat in the northeastern corner of the site. Hydrologic alterations throughout the site have resulted in impacted hydrologic connectivity between wetland habitats since most of the water that collects on-site drains through agricultural discharges directly into Emeralda Marsh Conservation Area and Lake Griffin. Additional existing natural communities may include floodplain marsh and wet prairie. Dirt roads, spoil areas, and ditches are included in the altered landcover types.

ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF THE BANK:  The proposed TIMB would be established and operated by Treasure Island Mitigation Preserve, LLC as the Sponsor with the assistance of GreenSource Environmental Professionals, Inc. as the Agent. The property that comprises the TIMB is owned by Treasure Island Mitigation Preserve, LLC. A conservation easement in favor of SJRWMD would be applied to the entirety of the 123 acres of TIMB upon approval. Following TIMB successful implementation and attainment of final success criteria, long-term management activities will be implemented to ensure the sustainability of TIMB. In addition, the Sponsor will provide sufficient financial assurances to ensure construction and long-term management of the proposed TIMB.

PROPOSED SERVICE AREA:  The proposed service area is the Ocklawaha River

Basin (HUC-8 No. 03080102). The TIMB is located in the drainage basin of the Ocklawaha River.

AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION: The applicant has provided the following information in support of efforts to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment: The project is proposed for the establishment of a third-party wetland mitigation bank and the sponsor indicates no impacts to wetlands. Restoration techniques of backfilling ditches, low water crossing construction, and excavating areas to re-establish hydrology are proposed.

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment: The project is proposed as a restoration project for the establishment of a third-party wetland mitigation bank.

CULTURAL RESOURCES: The Corps evaluated the undertaking pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) utilizing its existing program-specific regulations and procedures along with 36 CFR Part 800. The Corps’ program-specific procedures include 33 CFR 325, Appendix C, and revised interim guidance issued in 2005 and 2007, respectively. The District Engineer consulted district files and records and the latest published version of the National Register of Historic Places and initially determines that:

          The Corps will be requesting that a cultural resources assessment survey (CRAS) be conducted by an archeologist that meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Qualification Standards to identify and evaluate cultural resources within the project area.  A report documenting the CRAS field work and results, in accordance with 36 CFR § 800.4(b)(1) and with Chapter 1A-46 Florida Administrative Code, must be submitted to the Corps project manager for this application, in the form of one electronic copy.  A bound copy must be sent to the Florida SHPO.  The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines on Archeological Documentation can provide technical guidance pertinent to the development of the Report.  Upon receipt of the Report, the Corps will initiate consultation with the appropriate entities which may include the Florida State Historic Preservation Office, federally recognized tribes, and concerned non-governmental organizations for cultural resource issues.

The District Engineer’s final eligibility and effect determination will be based upon coordination with the SHPO and/or THPO, as appropriate and required, and with full consideration given to the proposed undertaking’s potential direct and indirect effects on historic properties within the Corps-identified permit area.

ENDANGERED SPECIES: The Corps has performed an initial review of the application, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Information for Planning and Consultation (IPaC) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Section 7 Mapper to determine if any threatened, endangered, proposed, or candidate species, as well as the proposed and final designated critical habitat may occur in the vicinity of the proposed project. Based on this initial review, the Corps has made a preliminary determination that the proposed project may affect species and critical habitat listed below. No other ESA-listed species or critical habitat will be affected by the proposed action.

Pursuant to Section 7 ESA, any required consultation with the Service(s) will be conducted in accordance with 50 CFR part 402. This notice serves as request to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service for any additional information on whether any listed or proposed to be listed endangered or threatened species or critical habitat may be present in the area which would be affected by the proposed activity.

NAVIGATION: The proposed structure or activity is not located in the vicinity of a federal navigation channel.

SECTION 408: The applicant will require permission under Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 USC 408) because the activity, in whole or in part,   would alter, occupy, or use a Corps Civil Works project.

WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION: Water Quality Certification may be required from the St. Johns River Water Management District.

COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: Coastal Zone Consistency Concurrence is required from the St. Johns River Water Management District. In Florida, the State approval constitutes compliance with the approved Coastal Zone Management Plan.

NOTE:  This public notice is being issued based on information furnished by the sponsor. This information has not been verified or evaluated to ensure compliance with laws and regulation governing the regulatory program. The geographic extent of aquatic resources within the proposed project area that either are, or are presumed to be, within the Corps jurisdiction has not been verified by Corps personnel.

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.

COMMENTS: The 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 used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment (EA) and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.

The Jacksonville District will receive written comments on the proposed work, as outlined above, until May 2, 2025. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to Geena Hill at Geena.M.Hill@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, Attention:  Geena Hill, US Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Division, ATTN: Geena Hill, Mitigation Programs Team PO Box 4970 Jacksonville, FL 32232-0019.  Please refer to the permit application number in your comments.

Any person may request, in writing, within the comment period specified in this notice, that a public hearing be held to consider the application. Requests for public hearings shall state, with particularity, the reasons for holding a public hearing. Requests for a public hearing will be granted, unless the District Engineer determines that the issues raised are insubstantial or there is otherwise no valid interest to be served by a hearing.

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