Public Notice
U.S.
Army Corps In Reply to
Application Number
of Engineers CENAB-OPR-M
(Department of Natural Resources: Town of
Baltimore
District Ocean City/Ocean City Beach) 2015-61754
PN 16-17 Comment Period: April 13, 2016 to May 13, 2016
THE PURPOSE OF THIS PUBLIC NOTICE IS TO SOLICIT COMMENTS FROM THE
PUBLIC ABOUT THE WORK DESCRIBED BELOW. AT
THIS TIME, NO DECISION HAS BEEN MADE AS TO WHETHER OR NOT A PERMIT WILL BE
ISSUED.
The Baltimore District has received an application for a
Department of the Army (DA) permit pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and
Harbors Act of 1899 and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344), as
described below:
APPLICANT: Department of Natural Resources
c/o
Mr. Jordan R. Loran
Tawes
State Office Building, D-3
580
Taylor Avenue
Annapolis,
Maryland 21401-2397
LOCATION: The entire 10-mile length of Ocean City
Beach, in Ocean City, Worcester County, Maryland. The offshore borrow site is located
approximately 16,000 to 24,000 linear feet off-shore in the Atlantic
Ocean.
WORK: To dredge by hydraulic method approximately 200,000
cubic yards of sand from an offshore ocean borrow site located approximately 16,000
to 24,000 feet offshore. The sand would
be pumped for deposition along approximately 43,000 linear feet within a 260-foot
wide area of the existing beach to extend no more than 200 feet channelward of
the approximate mean high water shoreline for beach replenishment along the
entire 10 mile length of the Ocean City Beach. The applicant requests authorization for annual
dredging, as necessary, for a 10-year time span. These beach replenishment activities have
been occurring since 1988. Water depths
in the borrow site areas range from -29 feet to -52 feet mean low water.
All
work is to be completed in accordance with the proposed plan(s). More detailed impact plans are available upon
request. If you have any questions concerning
this matter, please contact Ms. Chikita Sanders of this office at (410)
962-5676 or via email at chikita.m.sanders@usace.army.mil.
As
part of the planning process for the proposed project, steps were taken to
ensure avoidance and minimization of impacts to waters of the United States to
the maximum extent practicable. The
applicant has proposed to remediate all temporary access impacts following
completion of the work. Compensatory
mitigation is not being proposed by the applicant for impacts to open water (tidal)
habitat.
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 effect essential fish
habitat (EFH).
The project site lies in or adjacent to EFH as described
under MSFCMA for Scopthalmus aquosus (windowpane flounder) juvenile and
adult; Pomatomus saltatrix (bluefish) juvenile and adult; Paralicthys
dentatus (summer flounder) larvae, juvenile, and adult; egg, larvae,
juvenile, and adult of Scomberomorus cavalla (king mackerel),
Scomberomorus maculatus (Spanish
mackerel), Rachycentron canadum (cobia), and Sciaenops
occelatus (red drum), all managed species under the MSFCMA.
The project has the potential to adversely affect EFH or
the species of concern by the alteration of spawning, nursery, forage and/or
shelter habitat as described under the MSFCMA for the species and life stages
identified above. The substrate at the
project does not support SAV. The
Baltimore District has made a preliminary determination that site-specific
impacts would not be substantial and an abbreviated consultation will be
conducted with NMFS. No mitigative
measures are recommended at this time to minimize adverse effects on EFH. This preliminary determination may be modified
if additional information indicates otherwise and could change the Corps’
preliminary determination.
The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an
evaluation of the probable impacts, 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 reasonable 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, economic, 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, mineral needs, and consideration of property ownership and in
general, the needs and welfare of the people.
The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an
evaluation of the probable impacts 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
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, 10 S.
Howard Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, within the comment period as
specified above to receive consideration.
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
Maryland Coastal Zone Program. This
certification statement is available for inspection in the District Office;
however, public comments relating to consistency must be received by the
Coastal Zone Division, Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800 Washington
Blvd. Suite 430, Baltimore, Maryland 21230, within the comment period as
specified above. It should be noted that
CZ Division has a statutory limit of 6 months in which 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 may affect Federal listed threatened or endangered species or
their critical habitat, pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, as
amended. The project location and
vicinity is not mapped as critical habitat for any known Federally-listed
threatened or endangered species; however, the waterway is known to be utilized
by transient individuals of the following species: Loggerhead sea turtles
(Caretta caretta); Kemp's Ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii); Leatherback
sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea); Green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas);
Shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum); and Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser
oxyrinchus). The Baltimore District will
initiate informal consultation under Section 7(a)(2) of the ESA. 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 requested permit.
The evaluation of the impact of the work described above on the
public interest will include application of the guidelines promulgated by the
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under authority of Section
404 of the Clean Water Act. Any person who has an interest, which may be
adversely affected by the issuance of this permit, may request a public
hearing. The District Engineer must
receive the request, which must be in writing to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Baltimore District, 10 S. Howard Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, within the
comment period as specified as above to receive consideration. Also, it must clearly state forth the
interest that may be adversely affected by this activity in the manner in which
the interest may be adversely affected.
It is requested that you communicate the foregoing 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