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Home My WebLink About20140189 Ver 1_USACE eApproval Letter_20151127 November 27, 2015 Regulatory Division Re: NCIRT Review and USACE Approval of the Neu-Con UMBI modification: Arrington Bridge III Mitigation Site; SAW-2015-00360 Mr. Daniel Ingram Resource Environmental Solutions 302 Jefferson Street, Suite 110 Raleigh, NC 27605 Dear Mr. Ingram: The purpose of this letter is to provide Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) with all comments generated by the North Carolina Interagency Review Team (NCIRT) for the Arrington Bridge III Revised Mitigation Plan, dated September 2015 and received in our office on September 19, 2015. These comments are attached for your review. Based on our review of these comments, we have determined that no major concerns have been identified with the revised Mitigation Plan, which is considered approved with this correspondence. However, several minor issues were identified, as described in the attached comment memo, which must be addressed prior to the initial release of mitigation credits. A Final Mitigation Plan should be submitted with the Preconstruction Notification (PCN) Application for Nationwide permit approval of the project along with a copy of this letter. Issues identified in the attached memo must be addressed in the Final Mitigation Plan. All changes made to the Final Mitigation Plan should be summarized in an errata sheet included at the beginning of the document. Please note that this approval does not preclude the inclusion of permit conditions in the permit authorization for the project, particularly if issues mentioned above are not satisfactorily addressed. Additionally, this letter provides initial approval for the Mitigation Plan, but this does not guarantee that the project will generate the requested amount of mitigation credit. As you are aware, unforeseen issues may arise during construction or monitoring of the project that may require maintenance or reconstruction that may lead to reduced credit. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter, and if you have any questions regarding this letter, the mitigation plan review process, or the requirements of the Mitigation Rule, please call me at 919-846-2564. Sincerely, Andrea Hughes Mitigation Project Manager Enclosures Electronic Copies Furnished: NCIRT Distribution List REPLY TO ATTENTION OF: DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS 69 DARLINGTON AVENUE WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 28403-1343 HUGHES.ANDREA.WADE .1258339165 Digitally signed by HUGHES.ANDREA.WADE.1258339165 DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government, ou=DoD, ou=PKI, ou=USA, cn=HUGHES.ANDREA.WADE.1258339165 Date: 2015.11.27 17:46:18 -05'00' DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS 69 DARLINGTON AVENUE WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 28403-1343 REPLY TO ATTENTION OF: CESAW-RG/Hughes November 5, 2015 MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD SUBJECT: Arrington Bridge III Revised Mitigation Plan (Neucon Umbrella Mitigation Bank Instrument Modification); NCIRT Comments During Mitigation Plan Review PURPOSE: The comments listed below were received during the 30-day comment period in accordance with Section 332.8(g) of the 2008 Mitigation Rule. Project Name: Neucon Umbrella Mitigation Banking Instrument Modification, Arrington Bridge III Wetland Mitigation Site, Wayne County, NC USACE AID#: SAW-2015-00360 30-Day Comment Deadline: October 19, 2015 Mac Haupt, NCDWR, 13 October 2015: 1.There are three soils series mapped on site which are hydric; Coxville (Typic Paleaquult), Pantego (Umbric Paleaquult), and Weston (Typic Paleaquult). Other soils series while not hydric may have hydric inclusions, however, a number of these soils are quite sandy and therefore usually moderately to well drained. The wetland hydrologic success criterion of 8% is acceptable given the soil series on the site. 2.There are several areas in the wetland restoration shaded areas that have significant non-hydric polygons and other areas which will be susceptible to drainage given the surrounding land use and soils types. These areas of concern were supported by several borings in the 2015 Hydric Soil Assessment in the document (boring #s: 222, 228, 229, and 235). I recommend placing a gauge in these noted polygons. In addition, they may want to consider placing a couple of gauges near the boundaries of the wetland restoration shaded areas which are located near borrow pits. Andrea Hughes, USACE, 5 November 2015: 1.Page 16, Section 6: If performance standards are not met, it may require adaptive management or if the site is trending toward success or the issues are minor in nature, then the Corps, in consultation with the IRT, may approve the credit release. I recommend deleting the two sentences that discuss not meeting performance or state that adaptive management may be required. 2.Page 16, Credit Release Schedule: The wetland credit release schedule should reflect: 15% for site establishment, 15% for post-construction, and 10% for monitoring years 1- 7. 3.Page 16, Section 6.1 Initial Allocation of Credits: Please include the requirements listed below: 1) Approval of the final Mitigation Plan; 2) Mitigation bank site must be secured; 3) Delivery of the executed financial assurances described in the Mitigation Plan; 4) Delivery of a copy of the recorded long-term protection mechanism as specified in the Mitigation Plan, as well as a title opinion covering the property acceptable to the USACE; and 5) Issuance of any DA permits necessary for site construction, if required 4.Page 21, Table 11. Please remove Red Maple from planting list. 5.Page 28: Since Section 10.2 is labeled Vegetative Success Criteria, should Section 11.2 be labeled Vegetative Monitoring? Also, the sentence "If necessary, RES will develop a species-specific control plan" is stated twice. 6.Page 30: Site protection and long-term management are two separate Rule requirements and should be listed under separate sections. The information provided in Section 12 relates to site protection. The long-term management section should state that the conservation easement holder, NCWHF, will act as long term manager for the mitigation site; provide a list of annual long term management activities and associated annual costs; and describe the funding arrangements . 7.Page 31: Adaptive management: Recommend removal of statement concerning tree mortality. 8.Page 32, First sentence, please replace "to the USACE" with "payable to the NCWHF, acting as surety". 9.Please provide a copy of the jurisdictional determination approval letter. Andrea Hughes Mitigation Project Manager Regulatory Division HUGHES.ANDREA. WADE.1258339165 Digitally signed by HUGHES.ANDREA.WADE.1258339165 DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government, ou=DoD, ou=PKI, ou=USA, cn=HUGHES.ANDREA.WADE.1258339165 Date: 2015.11.05 15:39:53 -05'00'