Public Notice
U.S. Army Corps In Reply to Application Number
of
Engineers CENAB-OR-M (WSSC/CLINTON TRANSMISSION MAIN)
Baltimore District 2015-61045
PN 16-14 Comment Period: March 11,
2016 to March 25, 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: Ling Li
Washington Suburban
Sanitary Commission
14501 Sweitzer Lane
Laurel, Maryland
20707-5901
LOCATION: In nontidal Waters of
the U.S., including unnamed tributaries and wetlands contiguous and adjacent to
unnamed tributaries of Piscataway Creek and Piscataway Creek between Maryland 5
(Branch Ave) at Maryland 223 (Woodyard Road) to Maryland 373 (Accokeek Road)
Clinton, Prince George’s Counties in Maryland.
WORK: To install a new 4.5 mile 30-inch to
42-inch water transmission line by cut and cover trenching method and to
horizontally directional drill within a 6-foot wide by 78-foot long area approximately
12 feet below the bed of the Piscataway Creek main stem most of which is within
the existing WSSC right-of-way (ROW) permanently impacting approximately 12,595
square feet of nontidal wetlands for the 20-foot wide buffer clearing of the
alignment ROW and temporarily impacting approximately 58,367 square feet (1.34
acres) of nontidal wetlands and 1,865 square feet along 133 linear feet of
streams for the clearing and replanting outside of the 20-foot buffer along the
alignment and for the directional drilling under the Piscataway Creek main stem. All work is to be completed in accordance
with the proposed plan(s). If you have any questions concerning this matter
or wish to receive a copy of the entire plan package, please contact
Mrs. Erica Schmidt of
this office at (410) 962-6029 or via email at erica.schmidt@usace.army.mil. Any questions or concerns about your property
may be directed to Ms. Ling Li, WSSC at 301-206-8745 or Ling.Li@wsscwater.com.
Efforts
were made to avoid, to the extent possible, the long and short-term adverse
impacts associated with the proposed project.
The proposed impacts were reduced by proposing to connect to existing
infrastructure wherever possible and to place new infrastructure in uplands
where possible. Site layout for this project was based upon existing route
corridors that would most practicably avoid and minimize impacts to
jurisdictional waters. The applicant has proposed to use Horizontal Directional
Drilling to cross Piscataway Creek. Restoration
of all temporary impacts to preconstruction contours and allowing natural
re-vegetation to occur is proposed. The applicant proposed to reforest the area
outside the 10-foot offset area within the limit of disturbance (LOD). The impacts have been minimized to the
maximum extent practicable.
The
applicant would stockpile the wetland material within the ROW and backfill the
wetland areas with the original soil and allow for the wetland to regenerate.
The applicant is not proposing to cause a loss of wetlands. The applicant proposes
to reforest the area outside the 10-foot offset from the pipe (total 20-foot
wide) within the LOD.
The purpose of the
project is increased water supply within the Clinton Pressure Zone increasing
the capacity of the system to move water from the zone supply connections in
the north to the growing southern areas in Prince George’s County. The new main
will provide the primary supply connection to the new Brandywine Elevated Water
Storage Tank that will be constructed on Maryland Route 5 north of Moores Road.
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 project site does not lie in or adjacent
to EFH as described under the MSFCMA.
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 benefit
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 the cumulative effects thereof; among those are conservation,
economics, 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,
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 are also used to determine the need
for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the
proposed activity.
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, P.O. Box 1715, Baltimore,
Maryland, 21203 within the comment period specified above.
The
applicant is required to obtain a water quality certification in accordance
with Section 401 of the Clean Water Act from the Maryland Department of the
Environment. Any written comments
concerning the work described above which relate to water quality certification
must be received by the Wetlands and Waterways Program, Maryland Department of
the Environment, 1800
Washington
Blvd., Suite 430, Baltimore, Maryland 21230 within the comment period as
specified above to receive consideration.
The 401 certifying agency has a statutory limit of one year to make its
decision.
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.
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, P.O. Box 1715, 21203-1715, 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 known by you to be interested and not being known to this
office, who did not receive a copy of this notice.
FOR
THE DISTRICT ENGINEER:
KATHY
B. ANDERSON
Chief,
Maryland Section Southern