PN-26-05 NAB-2025-61578-M51(Leonard & Donna Bush/Living Shoreline)

                                                                                                                                                            PUBLIC NOTICE
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                     Applicant:                                                                                                                                         Published:  February 6, 2026                                                                                                                                       Len Bush                                                                                                                                                   Expires:  March 8, 2026                                                                                                                                        PN 26-05
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Baltimore District
                                                                                                                                    Permit Application No. NAB-2025-61578-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:  Len Bush
                        9729 Fairview Point Lane
                        Easton, MD 21601

AGENT:         Chris Becraft
                       Cedar Collective LLC
                       1413A Sharps Point Road
                       Annapolis, MD 21409

WATERWAY AND LOCATION:  The project would affect waters of the United States and navigable waters of the United States associated with Leeds Creek.  The project/review area is located along the Leeds Creek shoreline at 9729 Fairview Point Lane; at Latitude 38.820000 and Longitude -76.170000; in Easton, Talbot County, Maryland.

EXISTING CONDITIONS:  The 6,823-linear-foot estuarine shoreline along Leeds Creek is predominantly unprotected, featuring four sheltered coves and riparian forest buffers.  The property consists of agricultural land, upland grasses, and forested areas, with some fallen trees and small tidal marshes situated along the shoreline.

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic:  Shoreline stabilization.

Overall:  To protect an existing residential property from continued shoreline erosion at 9729 Fairview Point Lane in Easton, Talbot County, Maryland.

PROPOSED WORK:  The applicant requests authorization to stabilize approximately 6,823 linear-foot of shoreline by constructing 17 headland breakwater structures within an approximately 2-acre (ac) footprint of tidal waters, including approximately 571 square feet (sf) of tidal marsh.  The applicant proposes to discharge 3,250 cubic yards (cyds) of cobble, 6,500 cyds of sand to create approximately 0.79 ac of tidal marsh and 0.92 ac of vegetated dune; all extending a maximum of 111 feet channelward of the approximate mean high water shoreline.

All work is proposed in accordance with the attached plans as prepared by Cedar Collective dated October 2025, Sheets 1 through 28 of 28.  Please refer to Table 1 for a summary of aquatic resource impacts.

EFFECTS ON AQUATIC RESOURCES:

Table 1:  Aquatic Resource Impacts

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 applicant has incorporated avoidance and minimization measures to the maximum extent practicable.  Initial assessments considered structural stabilization and a "No Action" alternative; however, these were deemed non-viable due to statutory requirements and the critical need to halt buffer degradation.  A 35-foot channelward sill was also analyzed but found to be excessively impactful to both open water and emergent wetlands.  By refining the layout with strategic headland and point bar features, the proposed design reduces open water impacts by over 150,000 sf and limits wetland disturbance to 571 sf The applicant concludes this proposal is the smallest practicable design that achieves necessary shoreline resiliency.

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION:  The applicant has provided the following explanation why compensatory mitigation should not be required:

The applicant proposes that the project is self-mitigating and requests a waiver of compensatory mitigation requirements.  While the project involves 2.0 ac of fill within open water, it results in the establishment of 0.75 ac of tidal marsh.  The applicant asserts that the functional gain associated with establishing emergent wetlands, a resource of higher primary productivity, outweighs the loss of open water habitat.  Furthermore, the resiliency provided to the forested buffer prevents further sediment loading and habitat degradation, achieving a net ecological lift for the aquatic environment.

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 (IPaC) and the National Marine Fisheries Service Greater Atlantic Region 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 would have may affect but is not likely to adversely affect species or critical habitat potentially present in the action area in Table 2.

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

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 2.0 ac area of shallow, unvegetated, intertidal habitat and 571 sf of vegetated marsh.  The effects of the project are determined to be minimal and permanent.  These habitats are utilized by the following species and their various life stages:

Table 3:  Essential Fish Habitat-listed species and life stages potentially present in the project area.

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 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 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 March 8, 2026.  Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs.  The Corps point of contact for this project is Megan Spindler at megan.l.spindler@usace.army.mil.

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.