SAJ-2025-00529 (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 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). 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:    Scott Garner

                          Dixie County

                          17600 SE Highway 19

            Cross City, Florida 32628

WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect aquatic resources associated with the Gulf of America. The project site is located at SE Highway 157; at latitude 29.39359° and longitude -83.202085°; in Horseshoe Beach, Dixie County, Florida.

EXISTING CONDITIONS: The project site is at the location of Shired Island Beach Park, at the previous location of the fishing pier before it was destroyed during Hurricane Idalia. The site is located at an island off the west coast of Florida that is surrounded on the east by wetlands associated with Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge and on the west by the Gulf of America. The site includes the Gulf of America, which is Estuarine and Deepwater (E1UBL) per the National Wetlands Inventory mapping and open sandy beach with palm trees.      

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic:  Shoreline stabilization.

Overall: The overall project purpose is to stabilize the shoreline at Shired Island Beach Park, Dixie County, Florida.  

PROPOSED WORK:  The applicant requests authorization to place 1,800-cubic-yards of sand into 0.60-acre of open, tidal water from the mean high water line to 91.7-feet  waterward of the mean high water line and to place 1,400-cubic-yards of sand into 0.10-acre between the mean high water line and the high tide line for shoreline stabilization. The sand placement would be 320 feet in length. The design beach fill template includes a berm of variable berm widths ranging from 41.5 feet to 87 feet with a crest elevation of 5.6 feet NAVD88, and a 200H:1V (horizontal: vertical) beach berm slope with transition to a 15H:1V seaward slope from the berm crest to the toe of fill. The sand source is beach compatible sand from the Horseshoe Beach Dredged Material Management Area.

An additional 6,800-cubic-yards of material would be placed into 0.38-acre of uplands that are not jurisdictional to the Corps, but would be reviewed under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act.

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 work shall be conducted in a manner that does not cause violations of state water quality standards. The contractor shall implement best management practices for erosion and pollution control to prevent violations of state water quality standards. The contractor shall perform turbidity monitoring as required by the Permits during in-water placement of sand.”

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant has provided the following explanation why compensatory mitigation should not be required: There would be no fill to a special aquatic site.

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.

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 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.

Table 1: ESA-listed species and/or critical habitat potentially present in the action area. [Use the table/blue text if you selected option 2 in the above statement.]

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 0.60-acre of the open, tidal water of the Gulf of America. The effects of the project are determined to be minimal and temporary. 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: 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. The project was authorized on August 26, 2025, under Florida Department of Environmental Protection Consolidated Joint Coastal Permit and Sovereign Submerged Lands Authorization, permit number 0457741-001-JC for Shired Island Beach Hurricane Repair.

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. The project was authorized on August 26, 2025, under Florida Department of Environmental Protection Consolidated Joint Coastal Permit and Sovereign Submerged Lands Authorization, permit number 0457741-001-JC for Shired Island Beach Hurricane Repair.

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. Evaluation of the impact of the activity on the public interest will also include application of the guidelines promulgated by the Administrator, EPA, under authority of Section 404(b) of the Clean Water Act or the criteria established under authority of Section 102(a) of the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972. 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 October 20, 2025. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs/public-notices or to Terri M. 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 M. Mashour, 701 San Marco Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida, 32081.  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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