PUBLIC NOTICE
Applicant: Published: November 6, 2025
Mr. Hamilton Chaney Expires: December 6, 2025
Hensals Marina LLC
PN-25-39
Baltimore District
Permit Application No. NAB-2025-60948-M55
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:
WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States and navigable waters of the United States associated with Rockhold Creek. The project/review area is located in the existing Hensals Marina Basin at Hensals Marina in Deale, Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
EXISTING CONDITIONS: The applicant is proposing repairs, dredging, and upgrades to the existing Hensals Marina Basin in Deale, Maryland. The existing Hensals Marina Basin facilities are experiencing advanced deterioration. The purpose of the project is to provide upgrades to current facilities and a marina reconfiguration for piers that have been damaged or degraded over time. This will consist of a removal and replacement of existing piers, an existing bulkhead, marina office, boat ramp, and dredging of the existing marina basin. A secondary need for the project is to address the potential impacts due to future extreme weather events and land subsidence.
Basic: To reconfigure and improve existing marine infrastructure and to construct new marine infrastructure.
Overall: To dredge, reconfigure, and improve existing marine infrastructure and to construct new marine infrastructure within the Hensals Marina Basin in Rockhold Creek, in Deale, Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
To demolish and reconfigure an existing marina, replace an existing bulkhead 405 feet long by 1.5 feet wide, replace in kind an existing marina office with a 17 feet long by
31 feet wide platform, and a cover 12 feet above the mean high water line, replace a boat ramp approximately 23 feet long by 15 feet wide, and hydraulically or mechanically dredge an approximate 87,324 square foot area to a depth of -7.0 feet resulting in removal of approximately 7,477 cubic yards of material through a
5,550 linear foot dredge pipeline to be disposed of at Herrington Harbor North located at 370 Deale Road, Deale, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The applicant is also requesting subsequent maintenance dredging for a period of 10 years. All work will extend a maximum of 224 feet from the approximate mean high-water shoreline In Rockhold Creek, located at 6066 Drum Point Road, Deale, Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
The marina reconfiguration will consist of the following:
-Install a main pier floating dock 8 feet wide by 63 feet long;
-Install a floating “T” head pier 8 feet wide by 285 feet long;
-Install 8 floating finger piers 5 feet wide by 50 feet long;
-Install 6 floating finger piers 4 feet wide by 35 feet long;
-Install 1 floating finger pier 4 feet wide by 40 feet long;
-Install an aluminum gangway 5 feet wide by 15 feet long;
-Install a fixed pier 4 feet wide by 74 feet long with an “L” head 37 feet long by 6 feet wide with a 4 feet wide by 40 feet long finger pier;
-Install a fixed finger pier 15 feet long by 3 feet wide;
-Install a fixed pier 4 feet wide by 55 feet long;
-Install two fixed piers, each 4 feet wide by 25 feet long;
-Install a fixed pier 4 feet wide by 53 feet long;
-Install a fixed finger pier 4 feet wide by 36 feet long;
-Install a fixed finger pier 4 feet wide by 21 feet long;
-Install 33 mooring piles.
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 marina reconfiguration has been designed to match the existing footprint as closely as possible, while accommodating the current market for larger vessels and navigational safety.
For the bulkhead replacement, the new bulkhead will be installed as close to the existing as possible, within 18 inches of the existing bulkhead.
During project design, fixed docks were considered for the marina reconfiguration, which would have required additional piles. The floating docks were selected to reduce the pile count and reduce impacts of pile driving on Rockhold Creek. In total, this marina has 49 slips and is reducing to 46 slips.
COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant has provided the following explanation why compensatory mitigation should not be required: The applicant is not proposing to provide compensatory mitigation as the project scope has been reduced and impacts to waters of the United States have been minimized while meeting the project goals of reconfiguring and improving the existing infrastructure and constructing new marine infrastructure at the Hensals Marina Basin.
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.
No historic properties (i.e., properties listed in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places) are present within the Corps’ permit area; therefore, there will be no historic properties affected. The Corps subsequently requests concurrence from the State Historic Preservation Office and/or Tribal Historic Preservation Office.
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 (IPaC), National Marine Fisheries Service Section 7 Mapper, and the National Marine Fisheries Service Critical Habitat 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 below. No other ESA-listed species or critical habitat will be affected by the proposed action.
Table 1: Endangered Species Act-listed species and/or critical habitat potentially present in the action area.
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Species Common Name and/or Critical Habitat Name
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Scientific Name
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Federal Status
|
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Tricolor Bat
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Perimyotis subflavus
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Proposed Endangered
|
|
Monarch Butterfly
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Danaus Plexippus
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Candidate
|
|
Leatherback sea turtle
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Dermochelys coriacea
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Endangered
|
|
Kemp's ridley sea turtle
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Lepidochelys kempii
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Endangered
|
|
Green sea turtle
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Chelonia mydas
|
Threatened
|
|
Atlantic Sturgeon
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Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus
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Endangered
|
|
Loggerhead Sea Turtle
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Caretta caretta
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Threatened
|
|
Shortnose Sturgeon
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Acipenser brevirostrum
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Endangered
|
Pursuant to Section 7 Endangered Species Act, 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 2.21 acres of water column and river bottom sediments. 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 2:
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Species/Management Unit
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Life stages
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Red Hake
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Adult, Eggs, Larvae, Juvenile
|
|
Scup
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Adult, Juvenile
|
|
Summer Flounder
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Adult, Juvenile, Larvae
|
|
Windowpane Flounder
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Adult, Juvenile
|
|
Atlantic Butterfish
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Adult, Eggs, Larvae
|
|
Atlantic Herring
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Adult, Juvenile
|
|
Black Sea Bass
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Adult, Juvenile
|
|
Bluefish
|
Adult, Juvenile
|
|
Clearnose Skate
|
Adult, Juvenile
|
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 dredging is 25 feet away from the near bottom edge of the Rockhold Creek federal channel.
SECTION 408: The applicant will 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 alter, occupy, or use a Corps Civil Works project.
WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION: Water Quality Certification will 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, United State Environmental Protection Agency, 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 December 6, 2025. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to Gabriela Icaza at gabriela.e.icaza@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, Attention: Ms. Gabriela Icaza, Regulatory Branch, 2 Hopkins Plaza, Baltimore, Maryland 21201-2930. 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.