Public Notice
U.S. Army Corps In Reply to Application Number
of Engineers CENAB-OPR-P-2015-01502-P05 (PA
DCNR Sunbury Fabridam Bag 1
Baltimore District & Bag 7 Replacement)
PN16-20 Comment Period: April 22, 2016 to May 22, 2016
THE PURPOSE OF THIS
PUBLIC NOTICE IS TO SOLICIT COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC REGARDING THE WORK DESCRIBED
BELOW. NO DECISION HAS BEEN MADE AS TO
WHETHER OR NOT A PERMIT WILL BE ISSUED AT THIS TIME.
This District has received an application for a
Department of the Army permit pursuant to Section
10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and/or Section 404 of the Clean
Water Act (33. U.S.C. 1344) as described below:
APPLICANT: Marcus Snyder
PA Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources
Bureau of Facility Design and Construction
8th Floor, Rachel Carson State
Office Building
P.O. Box 8451
Harrisburg, PA 17105 -8451
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: In
the Susquehanna River at the Adam T. Bower Inflatable Dam at Sunbury,
Northumberland County (western side of the dam), and in Shamokin Dam, Snyder
County (eastern side of the dam), Pennsylvania
PROPOSED WORK AND
PURPOSE: The applicant proposes, in
accordance with the attached plans, to construct two temporary causeways to
replace two inflatable bags at the inflatable dam at Sunbury on the Susquehanna
River. The bags that will be replaced
are bag #1 on the eastern shore of the Susquehanna River and bag #7 on the western
shore of the Susquehanna River. The temporary causeways will be constructed
with R-7 rip rap chocked with R-3 riprap at the surface for driving. The rip rap material will be clean limestone
or sandstone. The total temporary
impacts for both temporary causeways will be 1.495 acres (0.653 acres on east
side and 0.842 acres on west side). No
mitigation is proposed since the impacts will be temporary.
All work would be completed
in accordance with the enclosed plan(s) (Enclosures 1-7). If you have any questions concerning this
matter, please contact Ms. Marion Gall at marion.gall@usace.army.mil, telephone 814-235-1761, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, State College Field Office,1631 South Atherton Street, Suite 101
State College, Pennsylvania 16801.
The decision whether to issue
a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impacts, 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 benefit, which reasonable 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 the
cumulative effects thereof; among those are conservation, economic, aesthetics,
general environmental concerns, wetlands, cultural values, fish and wildlife
values, flood hazards, flood plain values, land use, navigation, shoreline
erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water
quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, and
consideration of property ownership and in general, the needs and welfare of
the people.
The Corps of Engineers 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 of Engineers to
determine whether to issue, modify, condition or deny a permit for this
proposal. To make this decision,
comments are used to assess impacts on 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 and/or an Environmental
Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. Comments provided will become part of the
public record for this action. Comments
are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the
overall public interest of the proposed activity. Written comments concerning the work described
above related to the factors listed above or other pertinent factors must be
received by the District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore
District, Regulatory Field Office,
1631 South Atherton Street, Suite 101, State College, PA 16801 within the
comment period specified above.
ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT: The
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA), as amended
by the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996 (Public Law 04-267), requires all
Federal agencies to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
on all actions, or proposed actions, permitted, funded, or undertaken by the
agency that may adversely affect Essential Fish Habitat (EFH). The Corps has determined this project will
not affect any EFH.
WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION: The applicant
is required to obtain a water quality certification in accordance with Section
401 of the Clean Water Act from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection. The Section 401 certifying
agency has a statutory limit of one year from the date of this public notice to
make its decision.
COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS: Where
applicable, the applicant has certified in this application that the proposed
activity complies with and will be conducted in a manner consistent with the
approved Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program.
By this public notice, we are requesting the State concurrence or
objection to the applicant’s consistency statement. It should be noted that the CZM Program has a
statutory limit of 6 months to make its consistency determination.
The applicant must obtain any
State or local government permits which may be required.
A preliminary review of this
application indicates that the proposed work will not affect Federal listed threatened
or endangered species or their critical habitat, pursuant to Section 7 of the
Endangered Species Act, as amended. As
the evaluation of this application continues, additional information may become
available which could modify this preliminary determination.
Review of the latest
published version of the National Register of Historic Places indicates that no
registered properties listed as eligible for inclusion, therein, are located at
the site of the proposed work. Currently
unknown archeological, scientific, prehistoric, or historical data may be lost
or destroyed by the work to be accomplished under the request permit.
The evaluation of the impact
of this project on the public interest will include application of the
guidelines promulgated by the Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, under authority of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
Any person who has an
interest which may be adversely affected by the issuance of this permit may
request a public hearing. The request,
which must be in writing, must be received by the District Engineer, U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, Regulatory Field Office, 1631 South
Atherton Street, Suite 101, State College, PA 16801, within the comment period
as specified above to receive consideration.
Also it must clearly set forth the interest which may be adversely
affected by this activity and the manner in which the interest may be adversely
affected.
It is requested that you
communicate this information concerning the proposed work to any persons know
by you to be interested and not being known to this office, who did not receive
a copy of this notice.
Wade
B. Chandler
Chief,
Pennsylvania Section
Regulatory
Branch