19970616 Ver 1_Approval Letter_19971006

State of North Carolina
Department of Environment,
• •
Health and Natural Resources
Division of Water Quality
14
James B. Hunt, Jr., Governor
Wayne McDevitt, Secretary
p E H N A. Preston Howard, Jr., P.E., Director
October 6, 1997
DWQ Project #97-0616
Watauga !County
T.I.P. No. R-0529BA, BB & BD
H. Franklin Vick, P.E., Manager.
Planning and Environmental Branch
North Carolina Department of Transportation
#1 Wilmington Street
Raleigh, North Carolina, 27611
Dear Mr. Vick:
The Division of Water Quality has reviewed your plans for the discharge
of fill material into 1.08 acres of wetlands plus loss of 5635 linear feet of
perennial streams for the US 421 widening and relocation project from South
Fork New River to the Blue Ridge Parkway in Watauga County. At this tirme,
this project has not yet been placed on Public Notice by the U.S. Army Corrps of
Engineers. This project has been inspected on two occasions (July 24 and
August 19, 1997) by Mr. Ron Linville of our Winston-Salem Regional Office and
Ms. Cyndi Bell of our central Raleigh office. Based on this review, we hawe
identified significant uses which would be removed by this project. Thesc uses
include water storage, pollutant removal, aquatic life in streams and wildlife
habitat. Furthermore, insufficient evidence is present in our files to conclude
that your project must be built as planned in waters and wetlands in
accordance with 15A NCAC 2H.0506. Unless we receive this additional
information, we will have to move toward denial of your 401 Certification as
required by 15A NAACO 211.0507(e) when we receive the public notice, anal will
place this project on hold as incomplete. Until we receive additional
information, we are requesting (by copy of this letter) that the U.S. Arm3y
Corps of Engineers place your project on administrative hold once the pmblic
notice is issued.
Please provide us with information supporting your position that -this
project must be constructed as planned and that you have no practical
alternative to placing fill in these waters and wetlands. Specifically, we have
asked that you demonstrate avoidance and minimization for the bog locatted in
the path of the Old US 60 relocation along Stations 10+180 LT/RT-, 10+573 LT -L-,
0+370 LT/RT-, and 0+559 RT -YIOREV-. This issue was discussed at the
September 18, 1997 permit meeting in Raleigh, at which time we were told that
documentation of this avoidance/minimization effort would be forthcomiing.
To date, we have not received an engineering discussion regarding this impact
site. You should be aware that this evidence is necessary to complete our-
review and records. Also, during the August 19, 1997 field review conducated by
Environmental Sciences Branch 4401 Reedy Creek Road Raleigh, Nartth Carolina 27607
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NCDOT, we informed you that the entire bog site at Old US 60 should be listed as
an impact site, not just the footprint of the slope stake line. The Old US 60
Relocation, as proposed, would completely bisect this wetland, completely
altering its hydrology and utility as wildlife habitat, and would therefore
jeopardize the integrity of the entire system. Therefore, we believe that the
0.28 hectare (0.69 acre) area you listed in your impact summary must be
increased to include the entire wetland.
This project will require compensatory wetland and stream mitigation as
described in 15A NCAC 2H.0506(h). You have proposed acquisition of Sparta
Bog in Ashe County to satisfy all wetland and some stream mitigation
requirements. Your permit application contains a general description of this
potential mitigation site, and you have assured us that a report on the site's
wetland and stream mitigation potential is forthcoming. We look forward to
reviewing this proposal, and are hopeful that the site will have merit for your
purposes; however, we cannot act on your application until we are provided
more specific details of your mitigation plan. Sparta Bog is located in the New
River Basin, while the project corridor lies within the Yadkin - Pee Dee River
Basin. You should be aware that this discrepancy may affect the acceptability
of this mitigation site for this particular project. Therefore, mitigation ratios
would likely be increased for out-of-basin mitigation. In your planning for
Sparta Bog, keep in mind that in accordance with 15A NCAC 2H.0506(h)(6), a
minimum of 1:1 restoration or creation of wetlands must be provided in the
mitigation package. Also please note that the Wetland Restoration Fund is
available to use to satisfy stream and wetland mitigation requirements for this
project. In limited instances, donation of land to the Wetland Restoration
Program or to other public or private nonprofit conservation organizations
may be approved by the Department. This may be an option to consider with
respect to Sparta Bog.
Please call me at [phone] to discuss these matters if necessary. Until a
mitigation plan is provided and we receive the public notice, this application
is considered to be incomplete and our processing time will not start.
We recommend that you not impact any wetlands or waters on your project
until a 401 Water Quality Certification has been issued from Raleigh. The
issuance of a Corps of Engineers 404 Permit does not mean that your project
can project can proceed. According to the Clean Water Act, the 404 Permit is
not valid until a 401 Certification is also issued. If DWQ staff observe impacts
which are not allowable, you will be required to remove the fill and restore
the site to its original condition. I can be reached at [phone] if you have
any questions about the 401 Certification process.
Si erel
Joh R. Domey
W er Quality C tftcation Program
cc: Winston-Salem Regional Office
Central Files
970616.rovst