20211409 Ver 1_Accept_U-6223_Div 4_20210921

September 20, 2021

Mr. Chad Coggins
NCDOT Division 4 Environmental Supervisor
North Carolina Department of Transportation
509 Ward Boulevard
Wilson, North Carolina 27895-3165

Dear Mr. Coggins:

Subject: Mitigation Acceptance Letter:

Division 4 Project TIP U-6223, Ranch Road Extension from Little Creek Church
Road to US 70 Business, Johnston County; WBS Element 49502

The purpose of this letter is to notify you that the North Carolina Department of Environmental
Quality – Division of Mitigation Services (NCDEQ-DMS) will provide the compensatory mitigation for the
subject project. Based on the information received from you on September 20, 2021, the impacts are
located in CU 03020201 of the Neuse River basin in the Northern Inner Coastal Plain (NICP) Eco-Region,
and are as follows:

Neuse
03020201
NICP
Stream Wetlands Buffer (Sq. Ft.)
Cold Cool Warm Riparian Non-
Riparian
Coastal
Marsh Zone 1 Zone 2
Impacts
(feet/acres) 0 0 207.0 0.490 0 0 1,197.0 3,759.0

All buffer mitigation requests and approvals are administrated through the Riparian Restoration
Buffer Fund. The NCDOT will be responsible to ensure that appropriate compensation for the buffer
mitigation will be provided in the agreed upon method of fund transfer. Upon receipt of the NCDWR’s
Buffer Authorization Certification, DMS will transfer funds from the NCDOT 2984 Fund into the Riparian
Restoration Buffer Fund. Upon completion of the transfer payment, NCDOT will have complete its
riparian buffer mitigation responsibility for TIP U-6223. Subsequently, DMS will conduct a review of
current NCDOT ILF Program mitigation projects in the river basin to determine if available buffer
mitigation credits exist prior to procuring new buffer assets. If there are buffer mitigation credits
available, then the Riparian Restoration Buffer Fund will purchase the appropriate amount of buffer
mitigation credits from the NCDOT ILF Program.

Mr. Chad Coggins
TIP U-6223 Acceptance
September 20, 2021
Page Two

This mitigation acceptance letter replaces the mitigation acceptance letter issued on
September 15, 2021. The impacts and associated mitigation needs were under projected by the NCDOT
in the 2021 impact data. NCDEQ-DMS will commit to implement sufficient compensatory mitigation
credits to offset the impacts associated with this project as determined by the regulatory agencies using
the delivery timeline listed in Section F.3.c.iii of the In-Lieu Fee Instrument dated July 28, 2010. If the
above referenced impact amounts are revised, then this mitigation acceptance letter will no longer be
valid and a new mitigation acceptance letter will be required from NCDEQ-DMS.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Ms. Beth Harmon at 919-
707-8420.

Sincerely,

James B. Stanfill
DMS Asset Management Supervisor

cc: Mr. Tom Steffens, USACE – Washington Regional Office
Mr. Rob Ridings, NCDWR – Raleigh
Ms. Linda Fitzpatrick, NCDOT – EAU
File: U-6223 – Division 4 Revised