20040639 Ver 1_Monitoring Report Review_20110104

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North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Division of Water Quality
Beverly Eaves Perdue Coleen H. Sullins
Governor Director
January 4, 2010
Mr. Rick Benton
Halifax-Northampton Regional Airport Authority
P.O. Box 38
Roanoke Rapids, NC 27870-2809
Re: Halifax-Northampton Regional Airport
Year 5 Mitigation Monitoring Report
Halifax County
DWQ #04-0639
Dee Freeman
Secretary
The Division of Water Quality (DWQ) 401 Oversight and Express Review Permitting Unit has reviewed
the Monitoring Report for the above-referenced site. Our comments on the report are as follows:
• The vegetation monitoring for the wetland restoration area appears to meet the success criteria of
an average of 260 stems per acre after five years.
The tree density in the buffer restoration area is 275 trees per acre. While the report states that
"The vegetative success criteria set forth in the mitigation plan have been met for both sites
(wetland and buffer) for the fifth year (as the plan prescribed)....", the 401 Water Quality
Certification and Tar-Pamlico Buffer Authorization, issued on June 18, 2004, states that the
required tree density is 320 stems per acre (15A NCAC .02B .0260 (9)(d)(ii). In addition, a letter
dated July 24, 2004 from Terry G. Bumpus (LPA Group of North Carolina) to John Dorney
(DWQ) states that "trees will be monitored to ensure that a minimum of 320 trees per acre will be
alive in the buffer areas at the end of five years".
If this buffer restoration site is to serve as compensatory mitigation to offset impacts approved in your
Buffer Authorization, the success criteria must be met. Your options are to do supplemental planting to
sufficiently meet the 320 stems per acre requirement and monitoring the site for an additional two (2)
years, or to abandon the site and purchase buffer mitigation credits from either an approved private buffer
mitigation bank or the N.C. Ecosystem Enhancement Program.
Failure to provide adequate compensatory mitigation for authorized buffer impacts would represent a
violation of the Tar-Pamlico Riparian Buffer Rules.
Within 30 days of your receipt of this letter, please submit a written response describing your plan for
complying with-the success criteria for the buffer mitigation site, and a schedule for completing the
replanting work.
In addition, the wetland mitigation portion of the project will not be considered by DWQ to be closed out
until a copy of the recorded conservation easement is provided.
Please feel free to contact Eric Kulz at [phone] if you have any questions regarding this project or
our comments.
401 Oversight/Express Review Permitting Unit
1650 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1650 One
Phone: [phone] \ FAX: [phone] NorthCarolina
Internet: http://portal.nWenr.org/web/wq/ws
An Equal Opportunity \ Affirmative Action Employer ?atura!ly
Mr. Benton, Halifax-Northampton Regional Airport
Year 5 Mitigation Monitoring Report
Page 2 of 2
January 4, 2011
Since ly,
Ian McMillan, Acting Supervisor
401 Oversight and Express Review Program
cc: File Copy (Eric Kulz)
Lauren Witherspoon - DWQ Raleigh Regional Office
Cyndi Karoly - DWQ Wetlands and Stormwater Branch
James Lastinger - USACE, Raleigh Regulatory Field Office
Edward J. Smail - LPA Group Incorporated, 700 Huger Street, P.O. Box 5805, Columbia, SC 29250
Filename: 040639HalifaxNorthamptonRegionalAitport(Halifax)5YearMitigationMonitoringReport