20061274 Ver 2_Other Agency Comments_20070522

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DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
,~'~~ WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
~~~~~ PO BOX 1890
WILMINGTON NC 28402-1890
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May 17, 2007
Regulatory Division
Action ID No. 200600208 ~ a ~ ~~~, s,~ ~~~~;t~r-~ ~~
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iviAY 2 ~~ Z0~?
Environmental Services, Inc.
Attn: Josh Witherspoon
524 South New Hope Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27610
E1~GJF~ -',~1RT~R Q~JF;'-?3Y
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Dear Sir:
Please reference your request for a Department of the Army authorization and a State Water
Quality Certification to construct phase II of Turtle Creek Subdivision in Pender County, which
would involve the impact to 2.236 acres of jurisdictional wetlands and 701inear feet of stream
channel.
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 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 fmally, 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. The modifications sought
here should include modifications onsite such as limiting the size of the development thus avoiding a
significant portion of wetlands. Document able evidence will be needed clearly making the link as to
which proposal will be the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative.

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c. The MOA requires that appropriate and practicable mitigation will be required for all
unavoidable adverse impacts remaining after all appropriate and practicable minimization has
been employed. 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.
The aforementioned, requested information is essential to the expeditious processing of your
application and should be forwarded to us within two (2) weeks of your receipt of this letter.
Also, you should be aware that State and Federal commenting agencies may recommend
design modifications.
If you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me at [phone].
Sincerely,
Brad Shaver
Regulatory Specialist
Wilmington Regulatory Field Office
Copies Furnished:
DCNC North Carolina I, LLC
2528 Independence Boulevard
Wilmington, North Carolina 28401
Ms. Becky Fox
Wetlands Regulatory Section -Region IV
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1307 Firefly Road
ittier, North Carolina 28789-8783
s. Cyndi Karoly
Division of Water Quality
N.C. Department of Environment
and Natural Resource
2321 Crabtree Boulevard, Suite 250
Raleigh, North Carolina 27604-2260
Mr. John Hammond
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Fish and Wildlife Enhancement
Post Office Box 33726
Raleigh, North Carolina 27636-3726
Ms. Shari L. Bryant
N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission
1721 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1721
Mr. Ron Sechler
National Marine Fisheries Service
Pivers Island
Beaufort, North Carolina 28516