20081143 Ver 1_Year 6 credit release letter_20161206

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DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
69 DARLINGTON AVENUE
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 28403-1343
7
?41 of 0 •
Regulatory Division/1200A
Action ID: SAW -2007-01188
Ms. Tiffani Bylow
Restoration Systems, LLC
1101 Haynes Street, Suite 211
Raleigh, North Carolina 27604
Dear Ms. Bylow:
December 6, 2016
DSS- Ip-�)
NC Department of
Environmental Quality
Received
DEC 0 8 2016
Winston-Salem
Regional Office
This correspondence is in reference to the Cripple Creek Stream and Wetland Mitigation
Bank you are developing located east of Roney -Lineberry Road, north of Woodbrooke Drive,
south of Deep Creek Church Road and west of North Fonville Road, in northeast Alamance
County, North Carolina, within the Cape Fear River Basin, Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC)
03030002. The purpose of this letter is to confirm the release of credits from this Bank upon
completion of Task 8 (6th Year Monitoring), as described in General Provision 19, of the
Mitigation Banking Instrument (MBI) for this project.
Pursuant to the Mitigation Banking Instrument (MBI) entitled, Cripple Creek Stream and
Wetland Mitigation Bank, dated December 1, 2009, ten percent (10%) of the Bank's wetland
restoration credits shall be available for sale immediately upon completion of all of the
following:
a. Submission of the 6th year monitoring report
b. Sponsor documents acceptable survival and growth of planted vegetation, as described
in under the success criteria in the monitoring section of the mitigation plan.
Acceptable wetland hydrology as described under the success criteria in the monitoring section
of the mitigation plan was monitored during years 1-5 and was determined to be successful.
The Year 6 Annual Monitoring Report for the Cripple Creek Mitigation Bank was submitted
on November 16, 2016, and a site inspection of the Bank was conducted on November 18, 2016.
The report and site inspection also revealed that, overall, the planted vegetation plots did meet
the established success criteria.
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Specifically, the report indicates that Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweetgum) comprises 12.3% and
Acer rubrum (Red Maple) comprises 3.8% of the total composition of the eleven (11) sample
vegetation plots. Section 6.2 of the Mitigation Plan states, no single volunteer species (most
notably red maple, loblolly pine and sweet gum) will comprise more than 20% of the total
composition at years 3, 5, or 7. As such, the vegetative success criteria have been achieved.
However, a review of each individual sample vegetation plot revealed that two (2) of the
eleven (11) plots had either Liquidamber styraciflua (Sweetgum) or Acer rubrum (red maple)
comprising greater than 20% of the total composition within the respective plots. Specifically,
Sweetgum comprised 31 % of plot 6 and Red Maple comprised 33% of plot 5. Additionally,
numerous individual sweetgum trees were observed between plot 5 and 7. As such, during the
site visit, we recommended a treatment plan for these species. On November 22, 2016,
Restoration Systems provided a treatment plan for the sweetgums/red maples. We have reviewed
the plan and are in agreement that it should be implemented as proposed. Please be aware that
you will need to meet the established vegetation success criteria for monitoring year 7.
By copy of this correspondence, we confirm that you have satisfied the above requirements
and 0.691 riparian wetland mitigation credits (rWMCs) and 0.145 non -riparian wetland
mitigation credits (nrWMCs) constituting 10% of the Bank's wetland restoration credits are now
available for sale. To date, 85 percent of the total stream credits (3813.95 SMCs,) have been
released and 90% of the total wetland credits (6.219 rWMCs and 1.305 nrWMCs) have been
released. Our records indicate that 3666.95 SMCs, 5.53 rWMCs and 0.668 nrWMCs have been
debited from the Bank. Therefore, the current total amount of credits available is 147.00 SMCs,
0.809 rWMCs and 0.637 nrWMCs. Please confirm all of these totals on your mitigation bank
ledger.
Thank you for your time and cooperation. If you have any questions, please contact either
me at [phone], ext. 24 or Andrew Williams, telephone [phone], ext. 26.
Enclosures
Sincerely,
e rel, Z-4 —
ft (�ean B. Gibby
Chief, Raleigh Regulatory Field Office
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Copies Furnished:
Todd Allen Bowers
US EPA Region 4 Life Scientist
Water Protection Division
61 Forsyth Street, SW
Atlanta, GA 30303-8960
Mr. William Cox, Chief
Wetlands and Marine Regulatory Section
US EPA — Region 4
61 Forsyth Street, SW
Atlanta Georgia 30303-8
Mr. Pete Benjamin
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Fish and Wildlife Enhancement
Post Office Box 33726
Raleigh North Carolina 27636-3726
Mr. Fritz Rhode
Fishery Biologist
Habitat Conservation
National Marine Fisheries Service
101 Pivers Island Road
Beaufort, North Carolina 28516-9722
Ms. Sue Homewood
NC DENR Winston-Salem Regional Office
Division of Water Resources - Water Quality Programs
450 W. Hanes Mill Rd, Suite 300
Winston Salem NC 27105
Travis W. Wilson
Eastern Region Highway Project Coordinator
Habitat Conservation Program
NC Wildlife Resources Commission
1718 Hwy 56 West
Creedmoor, NC 27522
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