PN-26-13 NAB-2024-61457-M51 (Windy Hill Farm - Phase 2/Living Shoreline)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            PUBLIC NOTICE
                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                     Baltimore District                                                                                                                               Published:  April 23, 2026 
                                                                                                                                     Permit Application                                                                                                                                  Expires:  May 23, 2026
                                                                                                                                     No.  NAB-2024-61457-M51
                                                                                                                                     PN-26-13
                                                                                                                                     

Interested parties are hereby notified that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District 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 and information necessary to evaluate the probable impact on the public interest regarding the proposed activity as described below and as shown on the enclosed drawings.

APPLICANT: Matthew Miller
                        410 Windy Hill Farm Lane
                       Centreville, MD 21617

LOCATION OF PROPOSED ACTIVITY:  The project would affect waters of the United States (WOTUS) and navigable WOTUS associated with the Corsica River.  The project area is located at 410 Windy Hill Farm Lane in Centreville, Queen Anne's County, Maryland (Latitude 39.074300; Longitude -76.097700).

PROPOSED ACTIVITY:  The applicant requests authorization to remove an existing wooden bulkhead and stabilize 393 linear feet (lf) of shoreline using a living shoreline design employing a headland and bay style design within a 0.38-acre area as follows:  construct a headland and bay style living shoreline structure by placing 1,738 cubic yards of fill (Sand, gravel, cobble, boulders, and wood chips) within 16,429 square feet (sf) of open water.  The project is expected to result in 13,096 sf of native low to high marsh habitat and 2,445 sf beach strand; all to extend a maximum of 85 feet channelward of the approximate mean high water line.  Approximately 290 sf of existing WOTUS would be converted to uplands to create wetland/upland transitional habitat.

All work is proposed in accordance with the attached plans as prepared by Underwood and Associates dated October 2, 2025.  Please refer to Table 1 below for a summary of aquatic resource impacts.

Table 1:  Aquatic Resource Impacts

MITIGATION:  The applicant has provided the following information to explain how impacts to WOTUS associated with the proposed activity would be avoided, minimized, and compensated for:

Avoidance/Minimization:  As part of the planning process for the proposed project, steps were taken to ensure avoidance and minimization of impacts to aquatic resources to the maximum extent practicable based on the existing site and projected future site conditions, including reducing the headland fill elevation, grading as far upland as feasible while protecting the existing mature trees, and incorporating outcrops to allow for a steeper slope in order to minimizing channelward fill.

Compensation:  Impacts to WOTUS will be compensated through the creation of diverse habitats on-site where open water is proposed to be filled.  Open water is recognized as the most rapidly growing habitat in Chesapeake Bay due to rising sea levels.  This project will transform one habitat (open water) into a variety of habitats, including low marsh, open beach strand, high marsh, and transitional zones.  The tidal interface between land and water will be more gradual, facilitating marsh migration opportunities beyond the project’s design life, in response to ongoing sea level rise.

The USACE will determine the type and amount of compensatory mitigation necessary to offset losses of WOTUS which may result from the proposed activity in accordance with 33 CFR § 332.

HISTORIC PROPERTIES/CULTURAL RESOURCES:  Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (54 U.S.C. § 306108), requires federal agencies to consult with the appropriate State and/or Tribal Historic Preservation Officers to take into account the effects of actions they undertake or permit on historic properties listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

The USACE evaluated the undertaking pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act utilizing 36 CFR § 800 and program-specific regulations and procedures found at 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; 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 the State and/or Tribal Historic Preservation Officers and other interested parties to provide any information they may have regarding historic properties.

The USACE’s final eligibility and effect 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, and with full consideration given to the proposed undertaking’s potential direct and indirect effects on historic properties within the USACE-identified permit area.

ENDANGERED SPECIES:  Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. § 1536) requires federal agencies to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service National Marine Fisheries Service and United States Fish and Wildlife Service on all actions that may affect a species listed (or proposed for listing) under the Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered or that may adversely modify designated critical habitat (or critical habitat proposed such designation).  USACE’s preliminary review indicates the described activity may affect a threatened or endangered species or designated critical habitat listed in Table 2 below.  USACE will complete the required consultation under Section 7 prior to finalizing a permit decision.

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

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:  Section 305(b)(2) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act as amended (16 U.S.C. § 1855), requires federal agencies to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service on all actions, or proposed actions, permitted, funded, or undertaken by the agency, that may adversely affect Essential Fish Habitat.  Pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1996, the USACE reviewed the project area, examined information provided by the applicant, and consulted available species information.  The USACE’s preliminary review indicates the described activity would adversely affect Essential Fish Habitat at the project location or in the vicinity for species listed in Table 3 below.  The USACE will complete the required consultation under Section 305(b)(2) prior to finalizing a permit decision.

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

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 U.S.C. § 408) because the activity, in whole or in part, would not alter, occupy, or use a USACE Civil Works project.

WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION:  An Individual Water Quality Certification may be required from the Maryland Department of the Environment pursuant to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1341).

COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT:  A federal consistency decision may be required from the State of Maryland pursuant to Section 307 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. § 1451).  A permit for the described work will not be issued until a consistency decision has been issued from the State of Maryland, if required.

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 USACE jurisdiction has not been verified by USACE 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, aesthetics, 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.  A permit will be granted unless its issuance is found to be contrary to the public interest.

COMMENTS:  The USACE is soliciting comments from the public; federal, state, and local agencies and officials; Tribal Nations; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity.  Any comments received will be considered by the USACE to determine whether to issue, modify, condition, or deny a permit for this proposed activity. 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.  Any comments or objections which are received during this period may be forwarded to the applicant for possible resolution before the determination is made whether to issue or deny the requested permit.  Please note that all comments received will become part of the administrative record and are subject to public release under the Freedom of Information Act.

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.

The Baltimore District will receive written comments on the proposed activity, as outlined above, until May 23, 2026.  Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs/public-notices.  The USACE point of contact for this project is Ms. Megan Spindler at megan.l.spindler@usace.army.mil.