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Home My WebLink About20160804 Ver 1 _Copy of Final EA Notice & FONSI _20170417Environmental Resources Section DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS 69 DARLINGTON AVENUE WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 28403-1343 April 5, 2017 Ms. Karen Higgins North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality -Division of Water Resources 401 & Buffer Permitting 1650 Mail Service Center Raleigh, North Carolina 28699-1617 Dear Ms. Higgins: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has prepared the Final Eagle Island Improvements Dike Raise to Elevation 50 Feet. North Carolina Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), dated April 2017. The EA addresses the proposed construction of dike raises to elevation 50 feet for Cells 1-3 on Eagle Island in the Cape Fear River, New Hanover and Brunswick Counties, North Carolina, to provide adequate dredged material disposal capacity for the Wilmington Harbor Upper Reaches Navigation Project for at least the next 20 years. The EA evaluates the impacts of constructing a supportive toe berm that will result in 35.5 acres of permanent impacts to tidal freshwater marsh. The EA has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of ER 200-2-2 (33 CFR Part 230): Environmental Quality Procedures for Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, and 40 CFR Parts 1500 to 1508 the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing the NEPA. The final report is available on the District website at: http://www.saw.usace.army.miI/Missions/Navigation/Dredging/Wilmington-Harb0l`/�`SIand/. This completes the NEPA process for this action. The USACE has provided your office with a Section 401 Pre -Construction Notice (PCN) application on February 3, 2017. With the enclosed signed Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), you should have everything needed to issue the Water Quality Certification; if you do not, please let us know. Should you have any questions concerning this project, please contact Ms. Emily Hughes, U.S. Army Engineer District, Wilmington, CESAW-ECP-PE, 69 Darlington Avenue, Wilmington, North Carolina 28403. Questions may also be emailed to Ms. Hughes at Emily.B.Hughes@usace.army.mil. Sincerely, 94_2�v� Elden J. Gatwood Chief, Planning and Environmental Branch Enclosure 11 0 i1f7a)TIMIr, Eagle Island Confined Disposal Facility, •• • Harbor, Cape Fear River Brunswick and New Hanover Counties The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District (Corps), has conducted an environmental analysis in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended. The Corps assessed the effects of the following actions in the Final Environmental Assessment, Eagle Island Improvements, Dike Raise to Elevation 50 Feet, Brunswick and New Hanover Counties, North Carolina, dated March 2017. As District Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District, it is my duty in the role of responsible Federal official to review and evaluate, in light of public interest, the stated views of other interested agencies and concerned public, the environmental effects of this proposed action. My evaluation and findings are as follows: 1111111111111=9311*" • IN, The focus of the Environmental Assessment (EA), is the improvements to Eagle Island - Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) Cells 1, 2, and 3 to increase their capacity for future disposal. Without the improvements, the Eagle Island CDF will reach its full capacity by 2024. Raising the dikes to elevation 50 feet will provide adequate disposal capacity through 2032. The project involves the construction of a "toe berm" around portions of the outer footprint of each cell to ensure dike stability. These perimeter toe berms will serve as a buttressing -type of support for the dike, allowing additional dike raises in increments of 3 to 5 feet, eventually reaching a maximum elevation of 50 feet North Atlantic Vertical Datum 1988 (NAVID 88). The toe berms and dike raises will be constructed utilizing existing material in the cells. The affected environment consists of resources in the vicinity of Eagle Island and the impacts associated with implementation of the proposed action as compared to No Action, Project construction will result in permanent impacts to 35.5 acres of tidal freshwater marsh and approximately 3 acres of upland tree/shrub habitat, for a total of 38,5 acres of permanent impacts. Temporary impacts related to toe berm construction may affect up to 6.3 acres of tidal freshwater marsh within the proposed 10 -foot construction corridor. Within the 35.5 acre footprint of impacts to tidal freshwater marsh, 2.85 acres are located below the Mean High Water (MHW) line, and therefore are subject to the ebb and flow of daily tides. Construction within these in -water areas is proposed to occur outside of the Primary Nursery Area Moratorium dates of April 1 — July 31 to avoid death or harm to anadromous fish. Mitigation proposed to offset the 35.5 acres of impacts will be through purchase of 35.5 credits ii I P a g e of riparian/tidal wetlands from the Lower Cape Fear, Umbrella Mitigation Bank. This mitigation will result in no net loss of wetlands. Overall benefits of the dike improvements include long-term socio-economic benefits as a result of providing a financially feasible dredged material disposal facility for the next 16 years, If the planned improvements are not implemented, after 2024, all dredged material from the Upper Harbor reaches of Wilmington Harbor will have to be transported approximately 38 miles, one way, to the Offshore Dredged Material Disposal Site (ODMDS), which will greatly increase the costs of maintaining the navigation channel. In July 2016, the Wilmington District coordinated the recommended proposed action with Federal, state, and local agencies through circulation of the EA for a 30 -day review period. By letter dated August 29, 2016, the State Historic Preservation Office of North Carolina indicated that the Draft EA adequately addressed their concerns for historic resources. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided a "not likely to adversely affect" determination in a letter dated August 30, 2016, satisfying requirements of Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (see Appendix C). Since the proposed project includes significant discharge of fill in tidal freshwater marsh, a consistency concurrence is required from the North Carolina Coastal Management Program (CMP). By letter dated February 24, 2017, the N.C. Division of Coastal Management found the project consistent with the CMP (see Appendix F). A Section 401 Water Quality Certificate under the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1977 (P.L. 95- 217), as amended, is required for the construction of the toe berms. The proposed action has been coordinated with the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Division of Water Resources (DWR) and there are no issues of concern. A 401 Pre -Construction Notice was submitted to DWIR in January 2017 and a 401 certification will be received prior to start of construction. All conditions of the 401 will be met. All comments received during public review of the Draft EA were considered during the preparation of the Final EA, Appendix C includes all correspondence related to the Eagle Island Improvements Project, and Appendix D includes the Corps' responses to comments received on the Draft EA. The Final EA is available on the Wilmington District Website at: http.//www.saw,usace.armm iI/M issions/N avigati on/D redg ina/Wil min Qton-Ha rbo r/Eag le Island/. Based on the EA prepared for this project, I have determined that this action does not constitute a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Therefore, the action does not require the preparation of a detailed statement under Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq). My determination was made considering the following factors, discussed in the EA, to which this document is attached: iii I P a g e a. The proposed action would not significantly impact any threatened or endangered species potentially occurring in the project area. b. No significant cumulative or secondary impacts would result from implementation of this action. c. The proposed action Would not significantly impact cultural resources, d. The proposed action would result in no significant impacts to air or water quality. e. The proposed action would result in no significant adverse impacts to fish and wildlife resources. f. The proposed action would not cause any environmental health risks or safety risks that may disproportionately affect children and complies with Executive Order 13045, "Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks." g. The proposed action will not cause any disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on minority populations and low-income populations and complies with Executive Order 12898, "Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low -Income Populations." The proposed action to raise existing dikes at the Eagle Island CDF to elevation 50 feet, construct supportive, perimeter toe berms, and mitigate accordingly would result in no significant environmental impacts. Date: _7� P� Z_�Z�t , Kevin P. Landos Sr. Colonel, U.S. Army District Commander