20041246 Ver 1_Information Letter_20040714

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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
DEPART OF Z~ZANSPORTATION
MICHAEL F. EASLEY ~.
GOVERNOR
July 1'4, 2004
Mr. Arian Cole
US Fish and Wildlife Service
160 Zillicoa Street
Asheville, NC 28801 .
LYNDO TIPPETT
SECRE'L~.RY
Dear Mr. Cole:
'T`his letter is in reference to NCDOT's proposed US 321 widening project from SR 1370
(Kirby Mountain Road) to SR 15U0 (Blackberry Road). in Bailey Camp in Caldwell
..County, TIP No. R-2237B. The purpose of this letter is to request concurrence from the
L7.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pursuant to Section 7 of the: Endangered Species Act, as
amended (16' U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) (ESA).
Please see the attached document concerning the latest survey report for R-2237B. Based
on the information in the attached survey reports, NCDOT concludes that the proposed
project's Biological Conclusions for the dwarf-flowered heartleaf (Hexastylis naniflora)
is "May Affect-Not Likely to Adversely Affect". The Biological Conclusion for the
. spruce-fir moss spider (Microhexura montivaga) and Heller's blazing star (Liatris helleri)
is "No Effect". We believe that the requirements of Section 7(a)(2) of the ESA have been
satisfied and hereby request your concurrence.
If you have any questions, please contact Rachelle Beauregard at
rbeaureaard(a~dot.state.nc.us or [phone].
S' cer
~j~hillip .Farris, III, P.E., Manager .
PDEA -Office of Natural Environment
cc: ~ -Steve Lund, USACE
. Stacy Baldwin, PE, Consultant Engineering Unit Head
' File: R-2237B
MAILING ADDRESS: TELEPHONE: [phone] LOCATION:
NC DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FAX: [phone] TRANSPORTATION BUILDING
PROJECT~DEVELOPMENT AND,ENy1RONMENTALANALYSIS 1 SOUTH WILMINGTON STREET
1548 MAIL SERVICE CENTER WEBSITE: Y1MNV.NCDOT.ORG RALEIGH NC
RALEIGH NC 27699-1548

Noy em leer 2~, 2(103
Snb,ject: Dratt IVtinutes liiteri`,enc~ 1'crmit Dra~~iliy, IZevie~~ ~`luetin~~ on Noremhcr ?O, ?00i. tier E\-~~376
in Caldwell Co~int~.
Team. Members:
...John Thomas - US,4CE
Cynthia Van Der Wier- NC DCVO
Marla Chambers - NCWRC
Marella Buncick - USF WS
Christopher IVlilitscher- USEPA
Elizabeth Lusk-NCDUTONF:
Site 2 Sheet 10
Participants:
Marshall Clawson - NC DOT l-lydratilic~
(Absent) James A. Byre(- Transite. Consulting
(Present) Petc Colwell -Stantec Consulting
.(Present) Duu; "Taylor =NCUOT Desiaii Services /f~uadwa}•
(Present). Alan IZaV -NCDOT Design Services !Road~~a~~
(Present) Dan Duffield - NCDOT Hydraulics j
(Present) John Frye.- NCDO-I' Structures Unit
Brian t-[ants - NCDOT Structures Unit
Marella- Does the culvert have sill in it?
~' DOT's resp'n-ise: -The e~istli+;,~ cul~~ert may be bottoiless: Until this is'confinried the~cur•rent design is the
have a culvert extension at the. inlet end with sills and-more than likely a bottomless extension at the outlet
end.
General Comments at the end of the n~eetin~, .
Marla -Has the alignment he adjust f~ less the impacts to the streams?
DO"f's response: -Yes. the aliy_nment has been revised (from the oi-iy~inal design) to minimize impacts. -the
s -curves have been replaced with longer tlatter curves instead of straight tangent sections. Also, a large
amount of retaining walls h1ve been utilised to less impacts that ~~~ould ha~~e been caused from long, t 111
slopes. y
Chris -Have the lar~,e cut slopes been mlmmlZed?
UOT~s response: -YES. all-cuts ~~ere minimized to the extent practicable, steepening slopes where allowed
by the Geutech Unit cau,in~_ rock cat~hme:nt areas to be added and thus caused a decrease in the fo~x~rint.
Copies of John Thomas- entire e-mail were handed out to all the "team Nlembers stating that he contirrned
the jurisdictional determinations conducted by the consultants Stantec and alsathat he had concerns ab~.xlt
the 600 +/-linear feet oF_jurisdictional strram channel impacts that are in the areas where thus-curves arc
located.
C)O`f"s i-esponse:.luSt to reiterate. yes. the ali~,nmrnt ha; hi:cn rc~ised (t~rom the original desi`,n) to minimize
. .impacts. ~.fhe s - curves have been repla~~d ~~ ith lon~~cr tlatter curves in~tead..of strai_;ht tangent sections.
r~l-;o. a lar`,t amOUnt Ot rE'.tillnln`~ ~~alls have been utilized t~~ lus impact; that would have been aus~~l t'ri~m
:~.'.; ~loa~~, till slopes. ~ ~ ~ .
The meetin`, was ~idjourned.

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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
MICHAEL F. EASLEY
GOVERNOR
July 14, 2004
Mr. William D. Gilmore, P.E.
EEP Transition Manager
Ecosystem Enhancement Program
1652 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1652
JUL 2 1 2004
vVA ~"~~ QuALIIY SECTION
LYNDO TIPPETT
SECRETARY
Subject: US 321 Widening From SR 1370 (Kirby Mountain Road) to SR 1500 (Blackberry Road) in
Bailey Camp. Caldwell County. TIP No. R-2237B.
Dear Sir:
The purpose of this letter is to request that the North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP)
provide confirmation that you are willing to provide compensatory mitigation for the project in
accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed July 22, 2003 by the USACE, the
NCDENR and the NCDOT.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), Division of Highways, in consultation with
the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) proposes to widen US 321 in Caldwell County, from SR
1370 (Kirby Mountain Road) just north of Patterson to SR 1500 (Blackberry Road) in Bailey Camp. The
location of the two additional lanes varies from the east to the west side of the existing roadway
depending upon the location of existing development, natural and historic resources, severity of terrain,
and design objectives. The proposed project is approximately 6.5 miles in length, and will provide four
12-foot lanes with afour-foot painted median and 10-foot shoulders (13 feet with guardrail). The
proposed right-of--way varies throughout the project, ranging from just over approximately 110 to 885
feet.
RESOURCES UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF SECTION 404 AND 401 OF THE CLEAN
WATER ACT.
We have avoided and minimized the impacts to jurisdictional resources to the greatest extent possible as
described in the permit application. A copy of the permit application can be found at
http://www.ncdot.or~/planning/pe/naturalunit/Applications.html. The remaining impacts to jurisdictional
resources will be compensated for by mitigation provided by the EEP program. We estimate that 1,080
linear feet of jurisdictional perennial streams, 600 linear feet of intermittent streams, 0.16 acre of
wetlands, and 0.13 acre of surface water will be impacted.
The project is located in the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province in Caldwell County in the Yadkin-
Pee Dee River basin in Hydrological Cataloguing Unit 03040101and the Catawba River Basin in
Hydrologic Cataloguing Unit 03050101.

The following impacts occur in Hydrologic Cataloguing Unit 03040101:
• Stream impacts in Hydrologic Cataloguing Unit 03040101 total 889 linear feet. Impacts will occur
to Rocky Cove Creek [DWQ Index No. 12-12-1], a first order perennial stream; Greenfield Branch
(DWQ Index No. 12-12-1-1), a second order perennial stream; and a first order perennial stream that
is a tributary to Puncheon Camp Creek (DWQ Index No. 12-12-1).
Wetland impacts will occur to 0.16 acre of non-riverine Palustrine, Unconsolidated Bottom, Semi-
Permanently Flooded, Diked/Impounded (PUBAh) wetlands as classified by Cowardin et al. (1979).
The wetlands are located within a powerline corridor surrounded by a Mesic Mixed Forest
community.
The following impacts occur in Hydrological Cataloguing Unit 03050101:
Stream impacts in Hydrologic Cataloguing Unit 03050101 total 791 linear feet. Impacts will occur
to a first order perennial stream that is a tributary to the Right Fork of Mulberry Creek (DWQ Index
No. 11-38-32-3) and a first order intermittent stream that is a tributary to the Left Fork of Mulberry
Creek (DWQ Index No. 11-38-32-2).
Stream and wetland impacts are summarized in Table 1 with the amount of need mitigation. We propose
to use the EEP to mitigate for all impacts at a 2:1 ratio. Needed mitigation in Yadkin Pee-Dee River
Basin, HU 03040101 are 1778 ft of streams and 0.32 ac of non-riverine wetlands. Needed mitigation in
the Catawba River Basin, HU 03050101 are 1582 ft of streams.
Table 1: Summary of Jurisdictional Impacts and Needed Mitigation
Hydrologic
Catalo uin Unit Permanent Non-Riverine
Wetland Im acts Needed
Miti ation Streams
Im acts Needed
Miti ation
03040101 0.16 ac 0.32 ac 889 ft 1778 ft
03050101 0.0 0.0 791 ft 1582 ft
Please send the letter of confirmation to John Thomas (USAGE Coordinator) at U. S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Raleigh Regulatory Field Office, 6508 Falls of Neuse Road, Suite 120, Raleigh, NC
27615). Mr. Thomas's FAX number is [phone]. The current let date for the project is December
21, 2004 for which the let review date is November 2, 2004.
If you have any questions or need additional information please call Ms. Rachelle Beauregard at
919-715-1383.
Sin ly
~~
~~ ,~`~regory J. Thorpe, Ph.D.
Environmental Management Director
cc: Mr. John Thomas, USAGE
Mr. John Hennessy, NCDWQ
Ms. Marla Chambers NCWRC
Ms. Becky Fox, USEPA -Whittier, NC
Ms. Marella Buncick USFWS