20181032 Ver 1_Notice of Draft Mitigation Plan Review_20200408

Strickland, Bev
From:
Browning, Kimberly D CIV USARMY CESAW (USA)
<[e-mail]>
Sent:
Wednesday, April 8, 2020 10:50 AM
To:
Tugwell, Todd J CIV USARMY CESAW (US); Haupt, Mac; Davis, Erin B; Wilson, Travis W.;
Brown, David W CIV USARMY CESAW (US); Bowers, Todd; Merritt, Katie; Byron
Hamstead ([e-mail]); Leslie, Andrea J; Crumbley, Tyler A CIV
USARMY CESAW (USA); Jones, M Scott (Scott) CIV USARMY CESAW (USA); McLendon,
C S CIV USARMY CESAW (USA)
Cc:
Wiesner, Paul; Reid, Matthew; Eric Neuhaus; Shawn Wilkerson
Subject:
[External] Notice of NCDMS Draft Mitigation Plan Review/ Banner Farm Site/
SAW-2018-01153/ Henderson Co.
Attachments:
NCIRT Mitigation Plan Review Process for NCDMS Projects 20180228.pdf
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
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Good morning,
I hope this finds everyone well. The below referenced Draft Mitigation Plan has been posted by NCDMS on the
Draft Mitigation Plan Review section of the DMS & IRT SharePoint Site. Per Section 332.8(g) of the 2008
Mitigation Rule, this review period will remain open for 30 calendar days from this email notification. Please
provide comments by 5 PM on the 30-day comment deadline shown below. When providing comments
please indicate if your concerns are great enough that you intend to initiate the Dispute Resolution Process
described in Section 332.8(3) of the Mitigation Rule. Comments provided after the 30-day comment deadline
(shown below) may not be considered. This comment period may be extended at the request of NCDMS if
they determine that additional time is necessary to make changes to the Draft Mitigation Plan.
At the conclusion of this comment period, a copy of all comments will be provided to NCDMS and the NCIRT of
the District Engineer's intent to approve or disapprove this project. More information, including instructions to
access and use the SharePoint Site, and a flow chart detailing the process are included in the document
attached to this email notice.
Project information is as follows:
Banner Farm Mitigation Site
DIMS Project # 100062
Institution Date: 4/20/2018
RFP 16-007334 (Issued: 9/8/2017)
French Broad River Basin
Cataloging Unit 06010105
Henderson County, North Carolinaerin
USACE Action ID: SAW- 2018-01153

DWR#: 20181032
Proposed Mitigation Project Credits:
6,294.000 SMU (cool)
34.800 WMU (riparian)
Full Delivery Provider: Wildlands Engineering Inc. (WEI) - Contact: Eric Neuhaus, PE I Water Resources
Engineer
0: 828.774.5547 x105 M: 865.207.8835
NCDEQ- DMS Project Manager: Matthew Reid, [e-mail], [phone]
The full Mitigation Plan has been uploaded to the IRT/ NCDEQ Share Point Mitigation Plan Review page and
can be accessed here:
IRTSharePoint page:
https://urldefense.com/v3/_https://ncconnect.sharepoint.com/sites/deq_ext/dwm_irt/SitePages/Home.asp
x_;!!HYmSToo!LcL7OKjNVcMFla36ltSf3rA-6pVL3tfbYM9SzAoYyQKBrhxtYj39woVVRRTnbBZuRjc$
BannerFarm_100062_M PDraft_2020.pdf
https://urldefense.com/v3/_https://ncconnect.sharepoint.com/sites/deq_ext/dwm_irt/IRT*20Upload*20Do
cuments*20Here/Banner*20Farm/Banner*20Farm_100062_MPDraft_2020.pdf_;JSUIJSU!!HYmSToo!LcL7OKj
NVcM Fla361tSf3rA-6pVL3tfbYM9SzAoYyQKBrhxtYj39woVVRRTnL4gBJsQ$
30-Day Comment Start Date: April 8, 2020
30-Day Comment Deadline: May 8, 2020
60-Day Intent to Approve Deadline: June 7, 2020
Please contact the Wilmington District Mitigation Office if you have questions.
Thanks
Kim
Kim Browning
Mitigation Project Manager, Regulatory Division I U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
3331 Heritage Trade Dr, Ste. 105 1 Wake Forest, NC 27587 1 919.554.4884 x60
BUILDING STRONG (r)er
*NOTE: I am currently teleworking and away from my office. Please contact me via email or at 919.413.6392.

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
69 DARLINGTON AVENUE
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 28403-1343
CESAW-RG/Tugwell
SUBJECT: NCIRT Mitigation Plan Review Process for NCDMS Projects
From: Todd Tugwell, USACE Wilmington District NCIRT Chair
February 28, 2018
To: North Carolina Interagency Review Team and North Carolina Division of Mitigation Services
As the chair of the North Carolina Interagency Review Team (NCIRT), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Wilmington District (District) is required by the 2008 Final Mitigation Rule to provide the NCIRT with an
opportunity to comment on proposed mitigation plans. In order to achieve this review for all North Carolina
Division of Mitigation Services (NCDMS) projects instituted after the approval of their new instrument (July 28,
2010), a Mitigation Plan Review section has been established on NCDMS's SharePoint site. This process has been
set up to comply with the timeframes established in 33 CFR Section 332.8(g)(2) of the Mitigation Rule, which
explains the Streamlined Review Process. Review of proposed mitigation plans will now precede NCDMS's
submittal of permit applications, which will allow the District and NCIRT to comment on and, if necessary, modify
mitigation plans before permits are issued. This process will be routinely updated to include improvements and
comply with changes in the regulations. (Please note that an additional review may be conducted by the NC
Division of Water Resources (NCDWR), who is the lead agency and NCIRT co-chair for all projects that
also propose mitigation for state buffer or nutrient rules or mitigation related solely to Section 401 of the Clean
Water Act.)
For all Draft and Final Mitigation Plan and PCN submittals, NCDMS will submit a paper copy of the mitigation plan
and PCN, and a digital copy (disc containing PDF files of all materials) to the Wilmington District Mitigation Office
and the appropriate District Field Office county representative (available on the Wilmington District website
at http://www.saw.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory-Permit-Program/Contact). Paper and electronic copies
should also be provided to the appropriate NCDWR Office, as specified by NCDWR.
The following procedure has been set up for NCIRT review and comment for proposed NCDMS Mitigation Plans:
1. Obtain access to the IRT SharePoint site. In order to gain access to the site, you must contact Lindsay Crocker
with NCDMS by e-mail ([e-mail]) or by phone [phone]) to request an invitation.
2. Once you receive the e-mail invitation, click on the link provided to access the homepage. You must set up a
Microsoft account using the same e-mail address where you received the invitation. If you have designated
others to comment on mitigation plans, they must also contact NCDMS so they can gain access to
the site. Please provide the Corps with a list of all individuals designated to review plans as we have
established email distribution lists for different regions/counties. Lastly, if you do not want to
continue to receive these emails, please let us know and we will remove your name from the distribution
lists.

3. Once NCDMS is ready to begin the review of a Draft Mitigation Plan, they will email the District Mitigation
Office that a plan has been posted for review, and send a paper copy and a digital copy (pdf) of the plan to
the mitigation office. Once the paper copy has been received, we will send out an email to all NCIRT
members (using regional distribution lists) that a plan is available for download from the portal, with
instructions and timeframes for conducting the review. A flow chart detailing this process is attached.
4. The address for the IRT SharePoint site is:
https://ncconnect.sharepoint.com/sites/deg ext/dwm in/default.aspx
A. Draft Mitigation Plans will be posted on the left side of this page. Clicking on the file beside the name of
the plan will open anew page under Draft Mitigation Plan Review where you will seethe mitigation plan and
a word document. Click on the mitigation plan pdf to access the plan for viewing or printing. The plan
may also be downloaded and saved.
B. Once you have completed your review, click on the word document to post comments. Click on edit
document to open the document. You may choose to edit in Word or in your browser. Please
remember to include the date, agency name, and your name with your comments.
C. You may also choose to upload a document with your comments under the Draft Mitigation Plan Review
section. Uploaded documents should be titled to indicate the contents and author.
D. NCDMS may post responses to comments on this page, so if you post a comment you should check back for a
response from NCDMS. The responses from NCDMS that get posted on the portal will be coordinated so that
only certain individuals will post response (e.g., NCDMS Project Mangers). This is necessary to provide
consistency and reduce the number of posts for a given project.
E. This site will list multiple Draft Mitigation Plans at any given time, but plans may be removed once the
comment period is complete or a plan has been withdrawn. Final Mitigation Plans will be posted on
NCDMS's documents page. A link, entitled "Project Documents" has been added to the NCDMS webpage
at https://deg.nc.gov/about/divisions/mitigation-services/dms-projects. Click on DMS project documents
to open the excel file with links to project plans and monitoring reports.
5. Reviewers will have 30 days to review the Draft Mitigation Plan and post comments. An extension to this
timeframe may be requested by NCDMS if they or their providers need more time to accommodate necessary
changes to the Draft Mitigation Plan based on comments they have received. Additionally, NCIRT members
may also request an extension to this timeframe, but NCIRT extension requests must be approved by the
District Mitigation Office in consultation with NCDMS. The review period may be extended to accommodate
office or on -site meetings necessary to address concerns of NCIRT members. Time extensions will generally be
limited in an effort to ensure that delays in reviewing Draft Mitigation Plans are minimized.
Posted comments will be immediately available on the SharePoint site to both the NCDMS and all NCIRT
members. We will attempt to resolve minor issues within the 30-day process if at all possible. NCDMS may
also post comments on the SharePoint site to address certain concerns/comments or to commit to addressing
concerns in the Final Mitigation Plan. NCDMS may choose to withdraw Draft Mitigation Plans from the
SharePoint site based on comments received during the 30-day comment period. Any withdrawn mitigation
plans must restart the review process from the beginning. If plans are withdrawn by NCDMS, we will notify
the NCIRT that the mitigation plan is no longer available for comment.

Please note that the posted Draft Mitigation Plan will not necessarily be updated to reflect changes based
on the comments, so be sure to review comments made by other NCIRT members and by NCDMS to see if
an issue has already been addressed. Also, if you have a concern regarding a project that is serious enough
that you would consider initiating the Dispute Resolution Process described in Section 332.8(e) of the
Mitigation Rule, please be sure to state this in your comment. Comments should be made only by specific
individuals identified by the NCIRT members to conduct these reviews on behalf of their agency. This is
critical to keep the process moving and to keep agency comments consistent. If there are others who you
would like to comment on a particular plan, please let us know. PLEASE DO NOT SEND THESE EMAILS OUT
TO OTHERS IN YOUR AGENCY FOR THEM TO MAKE COMMENT WITHOUT FIRST DISCUSSING THIS WITH US.
COMMENTS COMING FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT DESIGNATED AS THE NCIRT REPRESENTATIVE FOR THEIR
AGENCY MAY NOT BE CONSIDERED.
6. At the end of the 30-day comment process (or the end of the extension) and within 60 days of sending out
the initial email beginning the review, we will review the comments and provide the NCIRT members with a
notice of our intent to approve or disapprove the mitigation plan. NCDMS will be copied with this notice.
Once we have notified the NCIRT of our intent to approve or disapprove a project, NCDMS may not
withdraw plans from this process without starting the review from the beginning.
7. If the NCIRT reviewing agencies choose to do so, they may notify us (District Mitigation Office) that they are
initiating the dispute resolution process. We must receive this notification within 15 days from the date of
our notice of intent to approve or disapprove a project. This process is intended to address major concerns
with mitigation plans, and can only be initiated by a letter from senior official of the agency. Please do not
initiate this process without trying to resolve concerns during the 30-day comment period first — this is not
intended to be procedure used to extend the review process or address minor concerns. If the dispute
resolution process is initiated during this step, we will follow the procedures outlined in Section 332.8(e) of
the Mitigation Rule, in which case the following steps will be delayed until the resolution of this process.
8. At the end of the 15-day dispute resolution notification period (or following the completion of the dispute
resolution process), we will provide NCDMS with notice of approval or disapproval of the mitigation plan,
with a copy provided to all NCIRT members. This notice will include all comments generated during the 30-
day comment period, and it will identify all issues that must be addressed in the Final Mitigation Plan. Any
major issues that were not resolved during the comment process may lead to disapproval. If a project is
disapproved, the issues or concerns will have to be addressed and the project must be resubmitted for
review, starting the process over.
9. NCDMS coordinates with the mitigation provider to finalize the mitigation plan and incorporate the
comments/concerns.
10. NCDMS submits the Nationwide Permit (NWP) 27 Preconstruction Notification Application (PCN) application
along with the Final Mitigation Plan to the District mitigation office and NCDWR (and DCM if appropriate) for
404/401/CAMA approval. If it is determined that the project does not require a Department of the Army
permit, NCDMS must still provide a copy of the Final Mitigation Plan, along with a copy of the approval
letter, to the District mitigation office at least 30 days in advance of beginning construction of the project.
The following apply to permit applications submitted for NCDMS projects:
A. NCDMS must be listed as the permit applicant.
B. Full -delivery providers or contracted design firms maybe listed as authorized agents.
C. The application and mitigation plan will be submitted by NCDMS, not the providers.

D. The permit application must include a copy of the Final Mitigation Plan and a copy of the mitigation plan
approval letter identifying all the required modifications to the mitigation plan, including references to
where the comment responses are addressed in the mitigation plan (page number and paragraph or
figure). Failure to include the approval letter will result in the permit application being returned to
NCDMS.
E. District review will focus primarily on the applicability of NWP 27. This review will also verify that any
comments provided in the approval letter are addressed in the Final Mitigation Plan, which is why it is
critical to identify the location that comments are addressed in the mitigation plan. Failure to adequately
address concerns included in the approval letter may result in a delay in the issuance of the NWP 27 until
those concerns are adequately addressed, or the inclusion of permit conditions in the permit
authorization to address the stated concerns.
11. NWP 27 authorization is verified; project construction can begin. NCDMS is responsible for ensuring
compliance with the permit conditions, including returning the Post -Construction Compliance Form
(attached to the permit) at the completion of the authorized work.
Approval of the project and/or issuance of the permit authorization does not guarantee that the project will
generate the requested amount of mitigation credit. Unforeseen issues may arise during construction or
monitoring of the project may require maintenance and may lead to changes in the credit amounts proposed
in the mitigation plan.
For questions regarding this process, please contact the District Mitigation Office. Contact information is below:
Contact Todd Tugwell at [phone] extension 58 or by e-mail to [e-mail]
Contact Andrea Hughes at [phone] extension 59 or by e-mail to [e-mail]
Contact Kim Browning at [phone] extension 60 or by e-mail to [e-mail]

Mitigation Comment & Approval
Streamlined Review Process, 33 CFR 332.8(g)(2,
START
DMS posts mitigation plan to sharepoint,
provides paper copy to USACE/DWR
DMS emails notification to District
DMS withdraws Engineer and provides link for review
project from review
process to address
comments �
DE forwards email to IRT and USACE
county PMs
Yes IRT reviews mitigation plan and
posts comments on SharePoint
Do IRT members
identify serious DE reviews comments and attempts to
concerns with resolve concerns with DMS
mitigation plan? �__
O—> DE notifies IRT & DMS of Intent to
Approve or Disapprove
Process
Start of 60 days
DMS modifies
project to address
comments
Within 30 days of receipt
of email from DE
DE may extend
timeline per DMS o
IRT reauest
Within 60 days of email YeS
notification to DE, unless
extension is granted
Within 15 days of DE
notification of intent to
approve/disapprove
Do
Proceed with dispute
RT members initiate
Yes—► resolution process per 33
dispute resolution
CFR 332.8(e)*
process?
DMS decides
whether to
Does DE
N
Approve?
revise and
No
resubmit project
Yes
Does DE
DMS Completes MitigationDDWR
Approve.
Yeses Comment Process & Sends
NO
Application to USACE and/or
No
February 28, 2018 Revisions
Mitigation Plan Comment Process
End of Process
FID. IMP.PR0.01.01.01 Page 1 of 1
* DE must be
notified by letter from a senior official of the agency represented on the
Owner: 06/29/2011
IRT within 15
days of receipt of DE's notification of intent to approve the modification
Jurek, Jeff Rev. 0
per 33 CFR 332.8(e)