19981299 Ver 1_Complete File_19981231

State of North Carolina
Department of Environment
and Natural Resources
Division of Water Quality
James B. Hunt, Jr., Governor
Wayne McDevitt, Secretary
A. Preston Howard, Jr., P.E., Director
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NC ENR
NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES
January 13, 1999
Gaston County
WQC 401 Project # 981299
APPROVAL of 401 Water Quality Certification
Bill Gilmore
NC DOT
PO Box 25201
Raleigh, NC 27611-5201
Dear Mr. Gilmore:
You have our approval, in accordance with the attached conditions, for the purpose of replacing bridge 66, as you
described in your application dated December 31, 1998. After reviewing your application, we have decided that this fill is
covered by General Water Quality Certification Number 3107. This Certification allows you to use Nationwide Permit
Number 23 when the Corps of Engineers issues it. In addition, you should get any other federal, state or local permits
before you go ahead with your project including (but not limited to) Sediment and Erosion Control, Coastal Stormwater,
Non-Discharge and Water Supply Watershed regulations. Also this approval will expire when the accompanying 404 or
CAMA permit expires unless otherwise specified in the General Certification.
This approval is only valid for the purpose and design that you described in your application. If you change your
project, you must notify us and send us a new application. If the property is sold, the new owner must be given a copy of
this Certification and approval letter and is thereby responsible for complying with all conditions. If total wetland fills for
this project (now or in the future) exceed one acre, compensatory mitigation may be required as described in 15A NCAC
2H .0506 (h). For this approval to be valid, you must follow the conditions listed in the attached certification.
If you do not accept any of the conditions of this certification, you may ask for an adjudicatory hearing. You must
act within 60 days of the date that you receive this letter. To ask for a hearing, send a written petition which conforms to
Chapter 150B of the North Carolina General Statutes to the Office of Administrative Hearings, P.O. Box 27447, Raleigh,
N.C. 276 1 1-7447. This certification and its conditions are final and binding unless you ask for a hearing.
This letter completes the review of the Division of Water Quality under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. If you
have any questions, please telephone John Dorsey at 919-733-1786.
Attachment
cc: Wilmington District Corps of Engineers
Corps of Engineers Asheville Field Office
Mooresville DWQ Regional Office
Mr. John Domey
Central Files
SincecaLk,
resto oward, Jr. P.E.
981299.1tr
Division of Water Quality • Environmental Sciences Branch
Environmental Sciences Branch, 4401 Reedy Creek Rd, Raleigh, NC 27607 Telephone [phone] FAX # [phone]
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STATE of NORTH CAROL
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
JAMES B. HUNT JR. P.O. BOX 25201, RALEIGH, N.C. 27611-5201
GOVERNOR
December 23, 1998
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Asheville Regulatory Field Office
151 Patton Avenue, Room 143
Asheville, NC 28801-5006
ATTN: Mr. Steve Lund
NCDOT Coordinator
Dear Sir:
E. NORRIS TOLSON
SECRETARY
SUBJECT: APPLICATION FOR A NATIONWIDE PERMIT 23 RENEWAL, FOR
REPLACEMENT OF BRIDGE NO. 66 OVER THE CATAWBA RIVER
ON NC 27, GASTON AND MECKLENBURG COUNTIES. TIP B-
1193.
On July 20, 1994, the North Carolina Department of Transportation received the
Nationwide Permit (NWP) No. 23, Action ID. 199302711, for the subject project. This
permit expired on July 20, 1996. The replacement of the Bridge No. 66 is scheduled to
be let in March 1998. Consequently, NCDOT needs to renew authorization for this work.
The information regarding the project description has not changed since the
distribution of the Categorical Exclusion Planning Document in a letter dated May 13,
1994. There will be no wetland impacts. Surface water impacts will be limited to five
bents placed in the river that will total less than 0.1 acre. The bridge will be replaced on
existing location and traffic will be maintained on the existing bridge.
The following Environmental Commitments were made during the planning phase
of the project and are reiterated here:
• The bridge has been designed to eliminate direct discharge of flow from the bridge
deck into the receiving water.
No instream or riparian area disturbance shall occur from March 1 through May 15 of
any year.
• A hazardous spill containment has been placed on the Gaston County side of the
bridge.

2
Since the completion of the CE Planning Document that examined the Carolina
Heelsplitter (Lasmigona decorata) and Schweinitz's sunflower (Helianthus schweinitzii),
two plants, smooth coneflower (Echinacea laevigata) and Michaux's sumac (Rhus
michauxii), have been added to the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) Federally
Endangered and Threatened Species list for Mecklenburg County. In addition,
Schweinitz's sunflower has been added to the Gaston County list. New surveys
conducted for all the plants in both counties in the Fall of 1998 found no individuals of
any species within the project area.
The DOT requests a renewal of the NWP 23 permit. By copy of this letter, it is
also requested that a General Water Quality Certification be renewed by the North
Carolina Division of Water Quality. If you have any questions or need any additional
information, please contact Michael Wood at [phone].
Sincerely,

William D. Gilmore, P.E., Manager
Planning and Environmental Branch
WDG/mgNv
cc: Mr. David Franklin, ACOI
Mr. John Dorney, Division of Water Quality
Mr. Joe Mickey, N.C. Wildlife Resource Commission
Mr. William J. Rogers, P.E., Structure Design
Mr. Tom Shearin, P.E., Roadway Design
Mr. Whit Webb, P.E., Program Development
Mr. R. L. Hill, P.E., Highway Design
Mr. A. L. Hankins, P.E., Hydraulics
Mr. R. W. Spangler, P.E., Division 12 Engineer
Mr. B. G. Payne, P.E., Division 10 Engineer
Mr. Ron Elmore, Planning & Environmental

IN REPLY REFER TO
Regulatory Branch
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
P.O. BOX 1890
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 28402-1890
July 20, 1994
Action ID No. 199302711 and Nationwide Permit No. 23 (Approved Categorical
Exclusions)
Mr. B.J. O'Quinn
Planning and Environmental Branch
North Carolina Department of Transportation
Post Office Box 25201
Raleigh, North Carolina 27611-5201
Dear'Mr. O'Quinn:
Thank you for your inquiry of May 1, 1994, regarding your plan- to
replace Bridge No. 66 over the Catawba River on NC Highway 27 at the
Mecklenburg-Gaston Countv line east of Mt. Holly, Gaston County, Nort',
Carolina (TIP #B-11S3i.
For the purposes of the Corps of Engineers' Regulatorv Prograr,., Title
33, Code of Federal Regulations (CF,?'. Part 330.6, publisned in the Federal
Register on Novem,oer 22, 199, .fists nationwide permit-. Authorization,
pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1PQO and Section 404
of the Clean Water Act, was provided for activities undertaxen, assisted,
authorized, regulated, funded or financed, in whole or in part, by anoth-
Federal agency or department where tnat agency or department has netermined,
pursuant to the CEQ Regulation for the Implementing the Procedural Provisions
of the National Environmental Policy Act, that the activity, work or discharge
is categorically excluded from environmental documentation because it is
included within a category of actions which neither individually nor
cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment, and the
office of the Chief of Engineers has been furnishea notice of the agency's or
department's application for the categorical exclusion and concurs with tha._
determination.
Your work is authorized by this nationwide permit provided it is
accomplished in strict accordance with the enclosed conditions and provided
you receive a Section 401 water quality certification from the North Carolina
Division of Environmental Management (NCDEM). You should contact Mr. John
Dor^ey, telephone [phone], regardinu water quality certification. This
nationwide permit does not relieve you of the responsibility to obtain other
required State or local approval. Should construction activities require any
discharge of fill materials below the ordinary high water line of the river
that are not described in your submittal, then additional authorizations will
be required from this office.
This verification will be valid for two years from the date of this
letter unless the nationwide authorization is modified, reissued or revoked.
Also, this verification will remain valid for the two years if, during that
period, the nationwide permit authorization is reissued without modification
or the activity complies with an_,, subsequent modification of the nationwide
permit authorization. If during the two years, the nationwide permit
authorization expires or is suspended or revoked, or is modified, such that
the activity would no longer comply with the terms and conditions of the