PN-25-34 NAB-2025-60646-M51 (Michael and Lynn Runk/Maintenance Dredging)

                                                                                                                                             PUBLIC NOTICE
                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                    Applicant:                                           Published:  October 17, 2025
                                                                                                                    Michael Runk, Sr.                               Expires:  November 16, 2025
                                                                                                                     PN-25-34
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Baltimore District
                                                                                                                    Permit Application No. NAB-2025-60646-M51

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:  The Baltimore 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:

APPLICANT:    Michael Runk, Sr.
                          1180 Legos Choice Court
                          West Minster, MD 21157

AGENT:           Albert McCullough
                          Sustainable Science LLC
                          410 S. Second Street
                          Denton, MD 21629

WATERWAY AND LOCATION:  The project would affect waters of the United States and navigable waters of the United States associated with Isle of Wight Bay.  The project area is located at 13056 Riggin Ridge Road; at Latitude 38.346940 and Longitude -75.095280; in West Ocean City, Worcester County, Maryland.

EXISTING CONDITIONS:  The privately owned waterfront property, situated off a canal to the Isle of Wight Bay, contains residential structures, maintained lawn area, navigational structures (e.g., bulkhead, boat slips, piers, and boat ramp), and a marsh bordered on one side by a stone sill.

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic:  Prevent shoaling in the adjacent canal.

Overall:  Improve and maintain the navigability and functionality of the adjacent canal by preventing shoaling.

PROPOSED WORK:  The applicant requests authorization to construct a 14-foot-wide stone jetty extending a maximum of 174 feet channelward of the approximate mean high-water shoreline.

All work is proposed in accordance with the attached plans as prepared by Sustainable Science, LLC. dated February 16, 2025, last revised July 31, 2025.  Please refer to table 1 below for a summary of aquatic resources impacts.

Table1:  Effects on Aquatic Resources

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 proposed jetty is the minimum size necessary to reduce shoaling within the adjacent canal, and no sensitive resources are present in the proposed project area.

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION:  The applicant has provided the following explanation as to why compensatory mitigation should not be required:  No compensatory mitigation is proposed as the loss of waters associated with the proposed project is less than 1/10-acre of waters of the United States.  The overall project would result in minimal environmental impact to the aquatic ecosystem as the work is limited to a tidal canal.

CULTURAL RESOURCES:  The Corps evaluated the undertaking pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act 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:

No resources listed in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places are known to be present in the vicinity of the proposed work; however, the permit area has not been formally surveyed for the presence of cultural resources.  Additional work may be necessary to identify and assess any cultural resources that may be present.  This notice serves as a request to State Historic Preservation Office, Tribal Historic Preservation Office, and/or other interested parties to provide any information they may have regarding historic properties.

The District Engineer’s final eligibility and effect determination will be based upon coordination with the State Historic Preservation Office and/or Tribal Historic Preservation Office, 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 United States Fish and Wildlife Service Information for Planning and Consultation and National Marine Fisheries Service Greater Atlantic Fisheries Office 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 within the boundary 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 in Table 2. No other Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed species or critical habitat will be affected by the proposed action.

Table 2:  ESA-listed species and/or critical habitat potentially present in the action area.

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 United States 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 consultation requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.  Our initial determination is that the proposed action may adversely affect Essential Fish Habitat and/or fisheries managed by Fishery Management Councils and the National Marine Fisheries Service.  Implementation of the proposed project would directly impact approximately 0.06 acres of intertidal and open water habitat.  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:

Table 3:  Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and management Act Essential Fish Habitat Species

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 Maryland State Plane coordinates provided by the applicant, the waterward edge of the proposed structure is 850 feet away from the near bottom edge of the Isle of Wight Bay 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.

WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION:  Water Quality Certification may be required from the Maryland Department of the Environment.

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.  Evaluation of the impact of the activity on the public interest will also include application of the guidelines promulgated by the Administrator, Environmental Protection Aagency, 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 and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act.  Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.

The Baltimore District will receive written comments on the proposed work, as outlined above, until November 16, 2025.  Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to Ms. Megan Spindler at megan.l.spindler@usace.army.mil.  Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, Attention:  Ms. Megan Spindler, 218 N Washington Street, Suite 304, Easton, MD 21601.  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.