20110720 Ver 2_USFWS Comments_20121203

United States Department of the Interior
Mr Andy Williams
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
Raleigh Field Office
Post Office Box 33726
Raleigh, North Carolina 27636 -3726
November 20, 2012
U S Army Corps of Engineers
Raleigh Regulatory Field Office
3331 Heritage Trade Drive, Suite 105
Wake Forest, North Carolina 27587
wo V-Z--
1 D
DEC 3 2012
NR -WATER QUALITY
Subject Environmental Banc & Exchange, LLC Cedar Grove Mitigation Site
Neu -Con Umbrella Mitigation Bank. Orange County, NC
Action ID #SAW- 2012 -00294
Dear Mr Williams
This letter provides the comments of the U S Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) on the
November 7, 2012 Public Notice, requesting comments on the mitigation plan for the
Cedar Grove Mitigation Site, which is proposed to be included in the Neu -Con Umbrella
Bank by Environmental Banc & Exchange, LLC (EBX) In the public notice, the Corps
has made a determination that there will be no effect to threatened and endangered
species from the proposed project The Service has reviewed the public notice and the
mitigation plan for the project These comments are submitted in accordance with the
Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (FWCA) (48 Stat 401, as amended, 16 U S C 661 -
667d) Comments related to the FWCA are to be used in your determination of
compliance with 404(b)(1) guidelines (40 CFR 230) and in your public interest review
(33 CFR 320 4) in relation to the protection of fish and wildlife resources Additional
comments are provided regarding the District Engineer's determination of project
impacts pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended
(16 U S C 1531 -1543)
Project Area and Proposed Activities
The project area is a 131.5 -acre parcel, located northwest of Hillsborough along the East
Fork Eno River, in the Neuse River watershed (03020201) Historically, the project site
was a golf course and driving range, and ponds were constructed along the channel
The project sponsor proposes to restore approximately 3,781 linear feet of perennial
streams, 1,541 linear feet of intermittent streams, and 880 linear feet of piped or

2 J
otherwise altered ephemeral channels A 63 -acre conservation easement, including a
200 -foot buffer around most of the streams, is proposed A 1 1 mitigation ratio is
proposed for all restored stream reaches The proposed Geographic Service Area (GSA)
is the entire Neuse River watershed (03020201)
Federally Protected Species
The Service has reviewed available information on federally- threatened or endangered
species known to occur in Orange County
As we stated in our February 16, 2012 letter, it appears that the project is not likely to
adversely affect federally listed species or their critical habitat as defined by the ESA
We believe that the requirements of Section 7(a)(2) of the ESA have been satisfied for
this project Please remember that obligations under the ESA must be reconsidered if (1)
new information identifies impacts of this action that may affect listed species or critical
habitat in a manner not previously considered, (2) this action is modified in a manner that
was no considered in this review, or, (3) a new species is listed or critical habitat
determined that may be affected by the identified action
General Comments
Although we appreciate the value of ephemeral channels in the removal of nutrients and
other potential pollutants in runoff, it is unclear in the prospectus how the ephemeral
channels will be made jurisdictional under the Clean Water Act (CWA), and therefore
eligible for mitigation credit The source of water and expected hydrology of the stream
reaches should be thoroughly discussed in the mitigation plan After reviewing this
information, the IRT should discuss whether and how much credit should be given for
each stream reach
On Page 14, the prospectus states that the central pond (Pond C) will have a separate
conservation easement (CE) which restricts the use of the pond for irrigation purposes,
and requires the primary pond outfall to pull water from the bottom portion of the water
column Although the pond is subject to the Neuse River Buffer Rules, it doesn't appear
that the buffer around Pond C will be planted with vegetation or protected from
vegetation removal The plans and restrictions for this central pond should be clarified in
future documents
We assume that the Umbrella Mitigation Banking Instrument (MBI) for the Neu -Con
Umbrella Mitigation Bank may need to be revised to incorporate this bank in the Upper
Neuse watershed. We look forward to working with the IRT agencies on the review of
the mitigation plan and the UMBI for this bank site Thank you for the opportunity to

�1
P
review and provide comments on the proposed action If you have any questions
regarding the project, please contact Kathy Matthews at (919) 856 -4520, extension 27 or
kathryn_matthews @fws gov
cc Eric Kulz, NCDENR, Raleigh
Shari Bryant, NCWRC
Since
r� r
Pete Aenj amin
Field Supervisor