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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20110303 Ver 1_Approval Letter_20110427e??' NCDENR North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Beverly Eaves Perdue Governor Approval of 401 Water Quality Certification with Additional Conditions Mr. J. J. Swain, Jr., P.E. Division 13 Engineer North Carolina Department of Transportation Post Office Box 3279 Asheville, North Carolina, 28802 Dear Mr. Swain: Dee Freeman Secretary April 27, 2011 Madison County DWQ Project 20110303 NCSR 1354 (Bruce Road) You have our approval, in accordance with the conditions listed below, for the following impacts in an unnamed tributary to Gabriel Creek for the purpose of widening NCSR 1354 (Bruce Road ) in Madison County: Stream Impacts in the French Broad River Basin Site Permanent Fill Temporary Permanent Temporary Total Stream in Intermittent Impacts in Fill in Impacts in Stream Impacts Stream (linear Intermittent Perennial Perennial Impact Requiring ft) Stream Stream Stream (linear ft) Mitigation linear ft linear ft linear ft linear ft Site 1 0 0 20 10 30 0 Total 0 0 20 10 30 0 Total Permanent Stream Impacts for Project: 20 lin. ft. Total Temporary Stream Impacts for Project: 10 linear ft. The project should be constructed in accordance with your application dated March 28, 2011 (received April 4, 2011), including the environmental commitments made in the application letter. After reviewing your application, we have decided that these impacts are covered by General Water Quality Certification No. 3820, corresponding to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nationwide Permit Number 14. In addition, you should acquire any other federal, state or local permits before you proceed with your project including (but not limited to) Sediment and Erosion Control, Non-Discharge and Water Supply Watershed regulations. This approval is valid solely for the purpose and design described in your application (unless modified below). Should your project change, you must notify the DWQ and submit 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, or if total impacts to streams (now or in the future) exceed 150 linear feet, compensatory mitigation may be required as described in 15A NCAC 2H .0506 (h) (6) and (7). For this approval to be valid, you must follow the conditions listed in the attached certification and any additional conditions listed below. SURFACE WATER PROTECTION SECTION -ASHEVILLE REGIONAL OFFICE Location: 2090 U.S. Highway 70, Swannanoa, North Carolina 28778 Phone: 828-29645001 FAX: 828-299-70431 Customer Service: 1-877823-6748 Internet: www,ncvvaterquality.org An Equal Opportunity 1 Affirmative Action Employer Division of Water Quality Coleen H. Sullins Director NorthCarolina Naturaiirf C I Mr. J. J. Swain, Jr., P.E. April 27, 2011 Page Two Condition(s) of Certification: 1. There shall be no excavation from, or waste disposal into, jurisdictional wetlands or waters associated with this permit without appropriate modification. Should waste or borrow sites, or access roads to waste or borrow sites, be located in wetlands or streams, compensatory mitigation will be required since that is a direct impact from road construction activities. 2. Sediment and erosion control measures shall not be placed in wetlands or waters unless otherwise approved by this Certification. If placement of sediment and erosion control devices in wetlands and waters is unavoidable, they shall be removed and the natural grade restored upon completion of the project. 3. Erosion and sediment control practices must be in full compliance with all specifications governing the proper design, installation and operation and maintenance of.such Best Management Practices in order to protect surface waters standards: a. The erosion and sediment control measures for the project must be designed, installed, operated, and maintained in accordance with the most recent version of the North Carolina Sediment and Erosion Control Planning and Design Manual. b. The design, installation, operation, and maintenance of the sediment and erosion control measures must be such that they equal, or exceed, the requirements specified in the most recent version of the North Carolina Sediment and Erosion Control Manual. The devices shall be maintained on all construction sites, borrow sites, and waste pile (spoil) projects, including contractor-owned or leased borrow pits associated with the project. c. For borrow pit sites, the erosion and sediment control measures must be designed, installed, operated, and maintained in accordance with the most recent version of the North Carolina Surface Mining Manual. d. The reclamation measures and implementation must comply with the reclamation in accordance with the requirements of the Sedimentation Pollution Control Act. 4. Unless otherwise approved in this certification, placement of culverts and other structures in open waters and streams shall be placed below the elevation of the streambed by one foot for all culverts with a diameter greater than 48 inches, and 20 percent of the culvert diameter for culverts having a diameter less than 48 inches, to allow low flow passage of water and aquatic life. Design and placement of culverts and other structures including temporary erosion control measures shall not be conducted in a manner that may result in dis-equilibrium of wetlands or streambeds or banks, adjacent to or upstream and down stream of the above structures. The applicant is required to provide evidence that the equilibrium is being maintained if requested in writing by NCDWQ. If this condition is unable to be met due to bedrock or other limiting features encountered during construction, please contact NCDWQ for guidance on how to proceed and to determine whether or not a permit modification will be required. S. If multiple pipes or barrels are required, they shall be designed to mimic natural stream cross section as closely as possible including pipes or barrels at flood plain elevation and/or sills where appropriate. Widening the stream channel should be avoided. Stream channel widening at the inlet or outlet end of structures typically decreases water velocity causing sediment deposition that requires increased maintenance and disrupts aquatic life passage. 6. All work in or adjacent to stream waters shall be conducted in a dry work area. Approved BMP measures from the most current version of NCDOT Construction and Maintenance Activities manual such as sandbags, rock berms, cofferdams and other diversion structures shall be used to prevent excavation in flowing water. 7. The stream channel shall be excavated no deeper than the natural bed material of the stream, to the maximum extent practicable. Efforts must be made to minimize impacts to the stream banks, as well as to vegetation responsible for maintaining stream bank stability. Any applicable riparian buffer impact for access to stream channel shall be temporary and be revegetated with native riparian species. 8. The dimension, pattern and profile of the stream, above and below the crossing, shall not be modified. Disturbed floodplains and streams shall be restored to natural geomorphic conditions. Mr. J. J. Swain, Jr., P.E. April 27, 2011 Page Three 9. Native riparian vegetation (e.g. rhododendron, dog hobble, willows, alders, sycamores, dogwoods, black walnut and red maple) must be reestablished within the construction limits of the project by the end of the growing season following completion of construction. 10. The use of rip-rap above the Normal High Water Mark shall be minimized. Any rip-rap placed for stream stabilization shall be placed in stream channels in such a manner that it does not impede aquatic life passage. 11. Rip-rap shall not be placed in the active thalweg channel or placed in the streambed in a manner that precludes aquatic life passage. Bioengineering boulders or structures should be properly designed, sized and installed. 12. Heavy equipment shall be operated from the banks rather than in the stream channels in order to minimize sedimentation and reduce the introduction of other pollutants into the stream. 13. All mechanized equipment operated near surface waters must be regularly inspected and maintained to prevent contamination of stream waters from fuels, lubricants, hydraulic fluids, or other toxic materials. 14. The Permittee shall ensure that the final design drawings adhere to the permit and to the permit drawings submitted for approval. 15. Discharging hydroseed mixtures and washing out hydroseeders and other equipment in or adjacent to surface waters is prohibited. 16. If concrete is used during construction, a dry work area shall be maintained to prevent direct contact between curing concrete and stream water. Water that inadvertently contacts uncured concrete shall not be discharged to surface waters due to the potential for elevated pH and possible aquatic life and fish kills. 17. No rock, sand or other materials shall be dredged from the stream channel, except where authorized by this certification. 18. All fill slopes located in jurisdictional wetlands shall be placed at slopes no flatter than 3:1, unless otherwise authorized by this certification. 19. During the construction of the project, no staging of equipment of any kind is permitted in waters of the U.S., or protected riparian buffers. 20. The outside buffer, wetland or water boundary located within the construction corridor approved by this authorization shall be clearly marked by highly visible fencing prior to any land disturbing activities. Impacts to areas within the fencing are prohibited unless otherwise authorized by this certification. 21. The permittee and its authorized agents shall conduct its activities in a manner consistent with State water quality standards (including any requirements resulting from compliance with §303(d) of the Clean Water Act) and any other appropriate requirements of State and Federal law. If NCDWQ determines that such standards or laws are not being met (including the failure to sustain a designated or achieved use) or that State of Federal law is being violated, or that further conditions are necessary to assure compliance, NCDWQ may reevaluate and modify this certification. 22. The issuance of this certification does not exempt the Permittee form complying with any and all statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances that may be imposed by other government agencies (i.e. local, state, and federal) having jurisdiction, including but not limited to applicable buffer rules, stormwater management rules, soil erosion and sedimentation control requirements, etc. 23. The Permittee shall report any violations of this certification to the Division of Water Quality within 24-hours of discovery. 24. Upon completion of the project (including any impacts at associated borrow or waste sites), the NCDOT Division Engineer shall complete and return the enclosed "Certification of Completion Form" to notify NCDWQ when all work included in the §401 Certification has been completed. Violations of any condition herein set forth may result in revocation of this Certification and may result in criminal and/or civil penalties. This Certification shall become null and void unless the above conditions are made conditions of the Federal 404 and/or Coastal Area Management Act Permit. This Certification shall expire upon the expiration of the 404 or CAMA permit.