20121106_RE_ _External_ FW_ Division 11 projects voided-last_20200617

Wanucha, Dave
From:Harmon, Beth
Sent:Wednesday, June 17, 2020 1:18 PM
To:Wanucha, Dave; Hining, Kevin J; Beckwith, Loretta A CIV USARMY CESAW (USA)
Cc:Matthews, Monte K CIV USARMY CESAW (USA); Fitzpatrick, Linda F
Subject:RE: \[External\] FW: Division 11 projects voided-last
Works for DMS. I’ll remove those projects and associated debits from our data.

Thanks.

Beth Harmon
NCDOT Coordinator
Division of Mitigation Services
Department of Environmental Quality

919-707-8420 office
[e-mail]

1652 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1652

Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.

From: Wanucha, Dave
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 12:46 PM
To: Hining, Kevin J <[e-mail]>; Beckwith, Loretta A CIV USARMY CESAW (USA)
<[e-mail]>; Harmon, Beth <[e-mail]>
Cc: Matthews, Monte K CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) <[e-mail]>; Fitzpatrick, Linda F
<[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: \[External\] FW: Division 11 projects voided

Sound like a plan. I’ll void the referenced projects from our files. Mitigation was not required by DWR so the
mitigation issue is moot. Thanks again Kevin.

Dave W.

Division of Water Resources
401 & Buffer Transportation Permitting
NC Department of Envirionmental Quality

336-776-9703 office
336-403-5655 mobile
[e-mail]
1

NC DEQ Winston Salem Regional Office
450 West Hanes Mill Road, Suite 300
Winston Salem, NC 27106

Based on the current guidance to minimize the spread of COVID-19, the Department of Environmental Quality has
adjusted operations to protect the health and safety of the staff and public. Many employees are working remotely or
are on staggered shifts. To accommodate these staffing changes, all DEQ office locations are limiting public access to
appointments only. Please check with the appropriate staff before visiting our offices, as we may be able to handle your
requests by phone or email. We appreciate your patience as we continue to serve the public during this challenging
time.

From: Hining, Kevin J <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 11:51 AM
To: Beckwith, Loretta A CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) <[e-mail]>; Harmon, Beth
<[e-mail]>; Wanucha, Dave <[e-mail]>
Cc: Matthews, Monte K CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) <[e-mail]>; Fitzpatrick, Linda F
<[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: \[External\] FW: Division 11 projects voided

Thanks a bunch for everyone’s help freeing up those credits, since the projects never occurred and have been
canceled. Also, sorry for any confusion I may have caused regarding the possibility of transferring those credits

Thanks again,

Kevin

Kevin Hining
Division 11 Environmental Officer
North Carolina Department of Transportation

828-386-7202 cell
[e-mail]

801 Statesville Rd.
PO Box 250
North Wilkesboro, NC 28659

Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
_____________________________________________________________

2

From: Beckwith, Loretta A CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 11:25 AM
To: Harmon, Beth <[e-mail]>; Hining, Kevin J <[e-mail]>; Wanucha, Dave
<[e-mail]>
Cc: Matthews, Monte K CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) <[e-mail]>; Fitzpatrick, Linda F
<[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: \[External\] FW: Division 11 projects voided

CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless you verify. Send all suspicious email as an attachment to
[e-mail]

That’s acceptable to the USACE.

Thank you!

Lori

Lori Beckwith
Regulatory Project Manager
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Wilmington District
Asheville Regulatory Field Office
828-271-7980, ext. 4223

From: Harmon, Beth <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 11:22 AM
To: Beckwith, Loretta A CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) <[e-mail]>; Hining, Kevin J
<[e-mail]>; Wanucha, Dave <[e-mail]>
Cc: Matthews, Monte K CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) <[e-mail]>; Fitzpatrick, Linda F
<[e-mail]>
Subject: \[Non-DoD Source\] RE: \[External\] FW: Division 11 projects voided

I can use the emails I received from Division 11 and you as long as that is acceptable to you and DWR. I will print them
off and add to my files on these three projects.

Beth.

Beth Harmon
NCDOT Coordinator
Division of Mitigation Services
Department of Environmental Quality

919-707-8420 office
[e-mail]

1652 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1652

3

Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.

From: Beckwith, Loretta A CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) \[mailto:[e-mail]\]
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 11:19 AM
To: Harmon, Beth <[e-mail]>; Hining, Kevin J <[e-mail]>; Wanucha, Dave
<[e-mail]>
Cc: Matthews, Monte K CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) <[e-mail]>; Fitzpatrick, Linda F
<[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: \[External\] FW: Division 11 projects voided

CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless you verify. Send all suspicious email as an attachment to
[e-mail]

Hello Everyone,

Just to make sure that we all understand each other –

As I noted below, “NCDOT did not construct these projects; as such, the impacts to waters of the U.S. that
required compensatory mitigation did not occur and the specified mitigation is not required by the USACE.”
Since the projects were not constructed and those VLs (authorizations) have expired, the permits are no
longer valid and the associated compensatory mitigation requirements for those 3 projects is no longer
required by the USACE.

Beth – do you also need something from Division 11 and DWR that notes this? Do you need any other
information from the USACE?

Thank you,

Lori

From: Harmon, Beth <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 11:06 AM
To: Beckwith, Loretta A CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) <[e-mail]>
Cc: Hining, Kevin J <[e-mail]>; Matthews, Monte K CIV USARMY CESAW (USA)
<[e-mail]>; Wanucha, Dave <[e-mail]>; Fitzpatrick, Linda F
<[e-mail]>
Subject: \[Non-DoD Source\] RE: \[External\] FW: Division 11 projects voided

Hello everyone – I think there is some confusion on what DMS would need to undo the current mitigation debits
associated with the three bridge replacement projects. I exchanged emails with Kevin yesterday regarding these three
projects. He indicated to me that the three bridge replacement projects in question were never constructed and the
impacts to these waters did not occur. He also mentioned these three bridges were going to be rolled into one new
project but the details related to this new larger scale project were not yet available. He did want to know if the stream
mitigation credits applied to these three bridge projects could be transferred to the new larger scale project. I told him
we cannot “transfer” mitigation credits but that we could undo the debits on these three bridge projects if the permits
4

were voided or rescinded by the issuing agency(ies) and the associated mitigation requirements were also deemed
invalid. DMS cannot do anything without documentation that states the permit authorizations are null and void and any
associated mitigation requirement is no longer required.

I hope that helps. Please let me know if there are any questions or more information needed from me.

Thanks.
Beth.

Beth Harmon
NCDOT Coordinator
Division of Mitigation Services
Department of Environmental Quality

919-707-8420 office
[e-mail]

1652 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1652

Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.

From: Beckwith, Loretta A CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) \[mailto:[e-mail]\]
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 10:15 AM
To: Harmon, Beth <[e-mail]>
Cc: Hining, Kevin J <[e-mail]>; Matthews, Monte K CIV USARMY CESAW (USA)
<[e-mail]>; Wanucha, Dave <[e-mail]>
Subject: \[External\] FW: Division 11 projects voided

CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless you verify. Send all suspicious email as an attachment to
[e-mail]

Good morning Beth,

Kevin Hining from Division 11 contacted me about three NWP verification letters (VLs) issued by this office in
2012 and 2013 and the associated compensatory mitigation. The USACE file numbers are SAW-2013-00222,
SAW-2012-02022, and SAW-2013-00192 and the NWP VLs and signed MRTFs are attached. These NWP VLs
expired in 2017.

NCDOT did not construct these projects; as such, the impacts to waters of the U.S. that required
compensatory mitigation did not occur and the specified mitigation is not required by the USACE.

For your consideration - while Division 11 has noted that they will eventually submit an application that covers
these three areas, we don’t know when this will be, we don’t know what the proposed impacts will be, we
don’t know what the required mitigation will be (if the USACE authorizes the project), and we can’t commit to
authorizing a project prior to a complete evaluation of an application, so transferring these credits from the 3
5

projects to a future project (for these same areas) may not be ideal vs. resolving the mitigation issue some
other way between DMS and NCDOT.

Please let me know if you need additional information from me.

Thank you,

Lori

Lori Beckwith
Regulatory Project Manager
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Wilmington District
Asheville Regulatory Field Office
828-271-7980, ext. 4223

From: Hining, Kevin J <[e-mail]>
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2020 1:19 PM
To: Beckwith, Loretta A CIV USARMY CESAW (USA) <[e-mail]>; Wanucha, Dave
<[e-mail]>
Subject: \[Non-DoD Source\] Division 11 projects voided

Hey Lori and Dave,

(Lori – sorry this email is in some ways a repeat of what I already asked you, but figured I’d just send one email to both
you and Dave. Plus, I was able to speak to Beth Harmon.)

Several years ago, Division 11 proposed to replace three bridges with culverts on Justus Rd., in Watauga County. The
projects were permitted and mitigation was obtained for all three projects. However, due to RW issues, the projects fell
through and the proposed work on the three bridges never occurred. The permits have since expired for the projects
(all three expired in 2017).

NCDOT has proposed a new project for this road, where we plan to realign the road, bypassing those three bridges. This
new project will have jurisdictional impacts, primarily in the way of pipe extensions. I’m in the early stages of preparing
as permit for the project, but my first order of business is to see if we can free up the mitigation credits we originally
acquired for the three bridge projects, for use on this new project.

I’ve spoken to Beth Harmon with Mitigation Services and she indicated that we can transfer/free up those mitigation
credits for use on the new project, but first I need to contact USACE and NCDWR and let them know that the three
previously permitted projects were never started and that we would like to void them. Beth indicated she would need
something in writing from both agency’s (USACE and NCDWR) saying that the respective 404 and 401 permits had been
voided. Is that something that you can provide me? Let me know if you need additional information or if I should
contact someone else.

Finally, I’ve attached the 401 and 404 permits for the three projects, as well as the mitigation transfer letters.

Thanks in advance for any assistance,

6

Kevin

Kevin Hining
Division 11 Environmental Officer
North Carolina Department of Transportation

828-386-7202 cell
[e-mail]

801 Statesville Rd.
PO Box 250
North Wilkesboro, NC 28659

Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
_____________________________________________________________

Email correspondence to and from this sender is subject to the N.C. Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
7