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Home My WebLink About19960975 Ver 3_Other Agency Comments_20120227O DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WILMINGTON DISTRICT CORPS OF ENGINEERS 69 DARLINGTON AVENUE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA 28403 -1343 SLY TO ATTENTION OF February 23 2012 Regulatory Division Action ID No SAW 2008 00851 Mr Phil Edwards Columbus County Municipal Airport 467 Airport Road Whiteville, North Carolina 28472 Dear Mr Edwards ok I C) 1l J v 3 219@20W721 FEB272012 DENR WATER OJALITy wFTLANG'� AND STOR"ATER BRANCH Please reference your Individual Permit application for Department of the Army (DA) authorization to construct a parallel taxiway and connection taxiways improve a runway safety area relocate on site mitigation wetlands to an off site location and install a culverted road crossing at the Columbus County Municipal Airport located at 467 Airport Road in Whrteville Columbus County North Carolina involving the permanent loss of 16 57 acres wetlands and 30 linear feet of stream and the temporary discharge of dredged and/or fill material into 0 03 acre of wetlands On February 6 1990 the Department of the Army (DA) and the U S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) establishing procedures to determine the type and level of mitigation necessary to comply with Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines This MOA provides for first avoiding impacts to waters and wetlands through the selection of the least damaging practical alternative second taking appropriate and practical steps to reduce impacts on waters and wetlands, and finally, compensation for remaining unavoidable impacts to the extent appropriate and practical To enable us to process your application in compliance with the MOA we request that you provide the following additional information a Permits for work within wetlands or other special aquatic sites are available only if the proposed work is the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative Please furnish information regarding any other alternatives including upland alternatives to the work for which you have applied and provide justification that your selected plan is the least damaging to water or wetland areas b It is necessary for you to have taken all appropriate and practicable steps to minimize wetland losses Please indicate all that you have done especially regarding development and modification of plans and proposed construction techniques to minimize adverse impacts J 2 c The MOA requires that appropriate and practicable mitigation will be required for all unavoidable adverse impacts remaining after the applicant has employed all appropriate and practicable minimization Please indicate your plan to mitigate for the projected, unavoidable loss of waters or wetlands or provide information as to the absence of any such appropriate and practicable measures a The compensatory mitigation information provided in your February 3 2012 Individual Permit application partially addressed this requirement As directed in 33 CFR 332, the EPA Mitigation Rule compensatory mitigation must first be satisfied by mitigation bank if available secondly by in lieu fee program and lastly by on site restoration creation or preservation Given that the wetlands proposed for impact occur within the service area of the Stone Farm Mitigation Bank compensatory wetland mitigation must be satisfied through purchasing wetland credits at this mitigation bank In order to confirm that Stone Farm has the appropriate wetland credit types available please note that each wetland area proposed for impact must be categorized as its appropriate type based on the North Carolina Wetland Assessment Method (NCWAM) If Stone Farm does not have one or more of the appropriate wetland types available these credits must be purchased from the North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program (NCEEP) b Typically the mitigation ratio for off site credit purchase is 2 1 mitigation to impact In this case a permanent loss of 7 97 acre of wetlands is proposed for a discharge of fill material related to taxiway construction and Runway Safety Area (RSA) improvements, an off site credit purchase of 2 1 mitigation to impact will be required unless otherwise justified An additional permanent loss of 8 6 acre of wetlands is proposed by draining on site mitigation wetlands required as part of the October 28 1996 Nationwide 26 Permit (NWT 26) venfication The mitigation amount required will be based on the wetland acreage impact currently proposed rather than the original wetland impacts authorized by the NWP 26 As such an off site credit purchase of 2 1 mitigation to impact will be required unless otherwise justified c Please quantify and further explain the proposed clearing and permanent maintenance of wetland areas within the Runway Protection Zone (RPZ) with respect to FAA requirements Is this proposed activity required as part of the same regulations that dictate RSA standards? If the purpose of the wetland clearing activity in the RPZ is independent of the other proposed actions requiring Department of Army authorization please clearly explain how If the proposed wetland clearing activity in the RPZ is linked to the proposed actions requiring Department of Army authorization please submit a compensatory mitigation for the loss of wetland function due to permanent conversion of forested wetlands to herbaceous wetlands 3 The aforementioned requested information is essential to the expeditious processing of your application please forwarded this information to us within two (2) weeks of your receipt of this letter In addition you should be aware that State and Federal commenting agencies might recommend design modifications If you have any questions regarding these matters please contact me at (910) 251 4469 or David E Bailey2@usace army mil Copies Furnished Mr John M Massey Talbert & Bright Inc 4810 Shelley Drive Wilmington North Carolina 28405 Ms Jennifer Derby Chief Wetlands Protection Section Water Management Division U S Environmental Protection Agency Region IV 61 Forsyth Street Atlanta Georgia 30303 Mr Jeffrey Garnett Wetlands and Marine Regulatory Section Water Protection Division U S Environmental Protection Agency Region IV 61 Forsyth Street, SW Atlanta Georgia 30303 Sincerely David E Bailey Regulatory Specialist Wilmington Regulatory Field Office Mr Pete Benjamin U S Fish and Wildlife Service Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Post Office Box 33726 Raleigh North Carolina 27636 3726 Mr Ian McMillan / North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Webscape Unit 1650 Mail Service Center Raleigh North Carolina 27699 1650