Public Notice
U.S.
Army Corps In Reply to Application Number
of Engineers CENAB-OP-RMS (MD DNR-SMOOT
BAY )2015-61463
Baltimore District
PN 16-28
Comment Period: May 3, 2016 to June 3, 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: Joseph W. Love
MD DNR Inland Fisheries
580 Taylor Avenue, B-2
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
LOCATION: In the Smoot Bay area of the Potomac River,
just south of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge at the National Harbor in Prince
George’s County, Maryland.
WORK: The applicant proposes to emplace 80 concrete
reef balls within a total 1.4 acre area and to emplace anchored tree limbs and
woody debris within a total 0.92-acre area in an approximately 440-foot by
385-foot by 275-foot triangular shaped area (0.84 acre area) to extend a
maximum of 257 feet channelward of the approximate mean high water (MHW) shoreline
identified as Project Area 1 and an approximately 100-foot wide by 200-foot
long (0.56 acre area) to extend a maximum of 257 feet channelward of the
approximate MHW shoreline identified as Project Area 2. The reef balls weighing approximately 200 pounds
are not proposed to be anchored to the substrate. The woody debris and tree
limbs would be anchored to concrete blocks or to concrete poured into cardboard
forms.
All
work is to be completed in accordance with the proposed plan(s). If you have any questions concerning this
matter, please contact Mr. Steve Harman of this office at (410) 962-6082 or via
email at steve.harman@usace.army.mil.
(Note:
If you wish to receive a copy of the full set of plans, please contact Mr.
Steve Harman, Regulatory Project Manager at the contact information listed
above, or Ms. Melody Quinn at 410-962-4500 to make arrangements for obtaining a
copy).
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 by replacing an existing boat ramp within the
waterway. Compensatory mitigation is not being proposed by the applicant for impacts
to open water (inter-tidal and sub-tidal) habitat.
The purpose of
the project is to improve survival of young rockfish and recruitment in the
upper tidal freshwaters of the Potomac River.
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
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 will not affect listed 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 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, 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. Comments
must clearly set forth the interest which may be adversely affected by this
activity relative to the proposed work and the manner in which the interest may
be adversely affected. The previously
authorized and completed activities are not being evaluated as new work
Activities that were previously authorized and not constructed that have valid
DA authorization are not considered new work since the DA permit for those
activities does not expire until September 30, 2015 and those activities would
be superseded, if a new permit is issued.
No decision has been made as to whether or not a permit will be issued.
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