SAJ-1997-02063 (SP-TMM)

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 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 Terri.M.Mashour@usace.army.mil.

APPLICANT: Sarah Campbell

                     City of Fernandina Beach

                     204 Ash Street

       Fernandina Beach, Florida 32034

WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect aquatic resources associated with the Amelia River.  The project site is located at 1 Front Street; at latitude 30.670586° and longitude -81.465770°; in Fernandina Beach, Nassau County, Florida.

EXISTING CONDITIONS: The system consists of an estuarine system. There is no marsh, mangrove, or submerged aquatic vegetation within the project boundary. The existing area is Fernandina Marina, which consists of fixed piers leading to long, linear floating docks with tie up slips, a restaurant, and a boat ramp. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetland Inventory mapping layer on the National Regulatory Viewer – South Atlantic Division Viewers – Florida Regulatory Viewer (Regulatory Viewer), the aquatic resource code identified within the proposed project area is E1UBL – Estuarine and Marine Deep Water. The land community type has been characterized pursuant to the Florida Department of Transportation publication Florida Land Use, Cover and Forms Classification System (FLUCFCS). The Amelia River is a tidal riverine system that is categorized as Streams and Waterways (FLUCFCS code 510).  

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic: The basic project purpose is to facilitate navigation.

Overall: The overall project purpose is to maintenance dredge the Fernandina Marina to provide safe passage of vessels between the marina and the Amelia River.

PROPOSED WORK:  The applicant seeks a 10-year authorization to conduct annual maintenance dredging of approximately 30,000-cubic-yards of sediment from a 3.5-acre area of Waters of the United States (open, tidal water) for a period of 10 years. The total cubic yards of spoil material to be dredged over the lifespan of the 10-year permit is 300,000. The average annual dredging event would be approximately 30,000-cubic yards (approximately 10 events). The dredging area would measure1,336-feet-long by 200-207-feet wide on the northern portion of the marina and 307-feet-wide towards the south and 340-feet-wide at the southernmost boundary. The area would be dredged to a depth of -8-feet mean low water plus a 2-foot allowable dredge over depth. The dredge would be conducted by mechanical means with excavators mounted to barges. The material would be transported via barge and disposed of at the Harbour Waterway Special District Upland Disposal Site at Reed Island.

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant has provided the following explanation why compensatory mitigation should not be required: “The marina basin has been previously dredged numerous times.”

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:

Should historic properties (i.e., properties listed in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places) be present within the Corps’ permit area, the proposed activity requiring the DA permit (the undertaking) is a type of activity that has no potential to cause an effect to an historic property.

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), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Section 7 Mapper, and the NMFS Critical Habitat Mapper and the National Regulatory Viewer 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.

The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect, but would be not likely to adversely affect the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus).  However, the proposed dredging activities are more than the 50,000-cubic-yards allowed in the Manatee Key. Therefore, the Corps will request U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concurrence with this determination pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. 

The Corps has determined the proposed project would have no effect on the Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) pursuant to the Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jacksonville Ecological Services Field Office and State of Florida Effect Determination Key For The Wood Stork In Central And North Peninsular Florida, September 2008.  Therefore, no additional consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is required. 

The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus), shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum), smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata), green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate), Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), and North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis). The Corps will review the proposed work to ensure that the project design would fall under the Jacksonville Biological Opinion. Therefore, no additional consultation may be required. 

The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the eastern indigo snake based on the Eastern Indigo Snake Effect Determination Key, January 25, 2010. Therefore, no additional consultation is required.

The Corps has determined the proposal would have no effect on the eastern black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis ssp. jamaicensis), monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), Rufa Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa), tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus), Whooping Crane (Grus americana). Therefore, no additional consultation is required.

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.

ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT: Pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1996, the Corps reviewed the project area, examined information provided by the applicant, and consulted available species information.

This notice initiates the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) consultation requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Our initial determination is that the proposed action may adversely affect EFH and/or fisheries managed by Fishery Management Councils and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Implementation of the proposed project would directly impact approximately 3.5 acres of open, tidal water. The effects of the project are determined to be minimal and permanent. These habitat(s) are utilized by the following species and their various life stages:

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: Based on the Florida State Plane coordinates provided by the applicant, the waterward edge of the proposed structure is 116 - 175 feet away from the near bottom edge of the Fernandina Harbor federal 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.

COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: Coastal Zone Consistency Concurrence is required from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 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 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 August 14, 2025. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to Terri Mashour at Terri.M.Mashour@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, Attention:  Terri Mashour, 701 San Marco Boulevard Jacksonville, Florida 32207.  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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