20041865 Ver 1_Other Agency Comments_20041202

V IN REPLY REFER TO

Regulatory Division
Action ID No. 200510060
William T. Robbins
Post Office Box 1100
Grandy, North Carolina 27939
Dear Mr. Robbins:
IEC 0 2 2004
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On July 24, 2000, we renewed General Permit No. 198000291 (copy enclosed), which
provides Federal authorization for construction activities that receive authorization from the State
of North Carolina.
A review of your application received November 29, 2004, for Department of the Army
(DA) authorization to place fill material within a manmade basin, on property located off State
Road 1186, in the Walnut Island Subdivision, adjacent to the Currituck Sound, near Grandy, in
Currituck County, North Carolina, indicates it to be a candidate for Federal authorization under
this general permit. Accordingly, the administrative processing of your application will be
accomplished by the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management. Comments from Federal
review agencies will be furnished to the State.
If your application must be withdrawn from this general permit process for any reason, you
will be informed regarding its further management. If there are no unresolved differences in
State-Federal positions or policies, the final action taken on your application by the State will
result in your receiving written notice from us that your application is consistent with the general
permit and you may commence your activity. Only after receiving such confirmation should you
begin work.
On February 6, 1990, the 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 the 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 minimize
impacts on waters and wetlands; and finally, compensating for any remaining unavoidable
impacts to the extent appropriate and practical. To enable us to process your application in full
compliance with this MOA, we request that you provide the following additional information:
6q - ISL:S
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
Washingtnn Raplllatnry RPM Offir:a
P.O. Box 1000
Washington, North Carolina 27889-1000
November 30, 2004
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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 practical 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.
c. The MOA requires that appropriate and practical mitigation will be required for all
unavoidable adverse impacts remaining after all appropriate and practical 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 practical
measures.
This information is essential to our expeditious processing of your application and it should
be forwarded to us by December 15, 2004. Also, a copy of this information must be sent to the
North Carolina Division of Environmental Management to enable them to adequately evaluate
your application for a Water Quality Certification pursuant to Section 401 of the Clean Water
Act.
Your application, pursuant to Section 10 of the River and Harbor Act and Section 404 of
the Clean Water Act, has been assigned Action ID No. 200510060 and will be coordinated by
Mr. Raleigh Bland in our Washington Regulatory Field Office. Mr. Bland is available at
telephone [phone], extension 23.
Sincerely,
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Raleigh W. Bland, P.W.S.
Regulatory Project Manager
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Enclosure
Copies Furnished (without enclosure):
Mr. Doug Huggett
Division of Coastal Management
North Carolina Department of Environment
and Natural Resources
Hestron Plaza 11, 151-B Highway 24
Morehead City, North Carolina 28557
Ms. Cyndi Karoly
Division of Water Quality
North Carolina Department of Environment
And Natural Resources
1650 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1650
Mr. Pete Benjamin
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Fish and Wildlife Enhancement
Post Office Box 33726
Raleigh, North Carolina 27636-3726
Mr. Ron Sechler
National Marine Fisheries Service
Habitat Conservation Division
Pivers Island
Beaufort, North Carolina 28516
Mr. David Raclley
NMFS, Habitat Conservation Division
219 Fort Johnson Road
Charleston, South Carolina 29412-9110
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Mr. Ronald J. Mikulak, Chief
Wetlands Regulatory Section
Water Management Division
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
61 Forsyth Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Mr. Ted Sampson, District Manager
Elizabeth City Regional Office
North Carolina Division of Coastal Management
1367 U.S. 17 South
Elizabeth City, North Carolina 27909