SAJ-2024-02673 (SP-TLB)

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). 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 Taylor.L.Bryant@usace.army.mil

APPLICANT: Hillsborough County Utilities

                     925 E. Twiggs Street

      Tampa, FL 33602

WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect aquatic resources associated with Old Tampa Bay watershed.  The project site is located at 11005 Dale Stitik Rd; at latitude 28.068568° and longitude -82.606979°; in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida.

EXISTING CONDITIONS: The project site, including the Northwest Regional Water Reclamation Facility (NWRWRF) is owned and operated by Hillsborough County. Historically, before this site location became a facility, it was pastureland with mixed wetland characteristics. Some agricultural use was observed on older aerials before the site officially became a county water reclamation facility. Today the site is dominated by facility structures and includes various wetland cover types. The majority of the upland areas are made up of the existing facility, including associated roadways, infrastructure and a stockpile area used for the facility supplies and materials. A portion of the uplands adjacent to the proposed access roads is characterized as upland hardwood forest and is vegetated with live oak (Quercus virginiana), Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolia), beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), and dogfennel (Eupatorium capillifolium). A majority of the property is made up of wetlands. These wetland areas are comprised of a variety of wetland types, including reservoirs, mixed wetland hardwoods, cypress, wetland forested mixed, vegetated non-forested wetlands, wet prairies, and emergent aquatic vegetation. The most common wetland type found adjacent to the proposed access roads locations is characterized as mixed wetland hardwoods. These areas are generally vegetated by water oak (Quercus nigra), American elm (Ulmus americana), Carolina willow (Salix caroliniana), laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia), red maple (Acer rubrum), wax myrtle (Morella cerifera), Virginia chain fern (Woodwardia virginica), and torpedograss (Panicum repens).

Located within an area of mixed use in Hillsborough County, the project area is close to recreational facilities such as Ed Radice Park to the north, the Old Memorial Golf Club to the east, and residential developments to the west and south.  

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic:  To establish and improve roadway access to the existing facility.

Overall:  Establish and improve access roads to facilitate ingress and egress to and from the Northwest Regional Waterway Facility in the City of Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida.

PROPOSED WORK: The applicant requests authorization for the construction of approximately 4,000 linear feet of new paved rural roadway to improve access to the NWRWRF. The proposed roadways will connect the existing NWRWRF access road to Citrus Park Drive at two locations. The proposed western road is approximately 1,720 linear feet (0.32 mi) in length and will providing access to the tank farm.  The proposed eastern road is approximately 2,730 linear feet (0.52 mi) in length and will serve the administration building. A standard rural roadway cross-section is proposed for both roadways, with two 12-foot-wide drive lanes (a 24-foot paved width). The proposed construction requires impacts to 0.85 acre of freshwater, forest wetland.

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 primary purpose of the access roadways is so that traffic may enter the plant from Citrus Park Drive (recently extended) and close the current access through Ed Radice Park. Deliveries to the plant include hazardous materials delivered using tractor trailers, which creates a safety issue with the park traffic. Based on the current layout of the plant, the site requires two access roadways for delivery of materials to the correct side of the plant. The project has been designed per the typical section agreed to with the Hillsborough County Transportation Department during the Preliminary Engineering phase with a design speed of 30MPH. Motorized gates with cul de sac style turn arounds will be constructed at the south end of each drive. Work includes demolition of existing stabilized driveways and muck removal and construction of the new roadways, associated stormwater management system, and relocation of existing utilities, as required. the proposed roadway alignments were designed to follow the existing, stabilized roadway as much as the roadway design standards would allow.

Along the western roadway, the alignment and pond locations were placed to minimize wetland impacts, as there are existing wetlands on either side of the existing drive. Along the eastern driveway, the alignment had to deviate from the existing drive alignment at two locations as the roadway design speed of 30 MPH was agreed upon with the Transportation Department during the preliminary engineering phase of the project:

1. At the south end, the access roadway needed to connect at a near 90-degree angle with Citrus Park Drive.
2. The curve north of station 215+00 has a minimum radius of 275 feet to meet the requirements of the design speed.

Both deviations create unavoidable wetland impacts.

The proposed alignments have been chosen for several reasons in regard to safety and minimization of wetland involvement. The first and most important is to eliminate the potential safety concern (hazardous materials) to park patrons from the north side of the existing facility. Second reason is that existing gravel/concrete trails already existed in the current proposed footprint and these areas have already been disturbed by these features. This proposed route also eliminated increased wetland involvement since the west and east sides of the facility are primarily made up of wetlands.

Lastly, walls were included in the project area where needed to allow existing flow to continue within the wetlands or to avoid construction within existing conservation easements.

The wetland impacts were minimized to the greatest extent possible by utilizing existing trails (already disturbed) and upland areas to allow for proper safety standards of the roadways.”

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

The applicant proposes to purchase 0.54 palustrine forested credits from a federally-approved mitigation bank to offset the unavoidable impact to 0.85 acre of wetlands.

CULTURAL RESOURCES:  The Corps 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, federally recognized tribes and other interested parties.

ENDANGERED SPECIES: The Corps has performed an initial review of the application 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, but is not likely to adversely affect, the species listed below.  No other ESA-listed species or critical habitat will be affect by the proposed action.  No critical habitat is present on the project site.

Pursuant to Section 7 ESA, any required consultation with the Service(s) will be conducted in accordance with 50 CFR part 402. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the lead Federal agency for ESA consultation for the proposed action. Any required consultation will be completed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

This notice serves as request to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 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 not 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 not alter, occupy, or use a Corps Civil Works project.

WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION: Water Quality Certification is required from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). The project is being reviewed under FDEP Application No. #29-0336928-012-EI.

COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: Coastal Zone Consistency Concurrence is required from FDEP. 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 applicant. 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. A permit will be granted unless its issuance is found to be contrary to the public interest.

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 July 16, 2025. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to T. Lanaé Bryant at Taylor.L.Bryant@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, Attention:  T. Lanaé Bryant, 10117 Princess Palm Ave., Suite 120 Tampa, FL 33610.  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.

Click here for public notice and graphics