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Home My WebLink AboutEthel Lane (2)Beverly Eaves Perdue Governor Dee Freeman, Secretary North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Coleen H Sullins, Director Division of Water Quality January 14, 2009 Mr Derb Carter, Jr Mr Geoffrey Gisler Southern Environmental Law Center 200 West Franklin Street Suite 330 Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2559 Dear Mr Carter and Mr Gisler RE Response to your January 9, 2009 letter regarding additional public notice for the proposed 401 Certification for PCS Phosphate, Inc Thank you for your letter of January 9, 2009 which concluded that the Division of Water Quality cannot issue a revised 401 Certification for the PCS Phosphate project until the revised mine plan is released for additional public review and comment As you are aware, Division of Water Quality staff have kept you informed of all correspondence between PCS Phosphate and the Division with respect to the proposed revised Certification and indeed your firm has commented on PCS' submittal of additional information (see SELC's letter of January 6, 2009 addressed to John Dorney) Our 401 Certification rules state that the public notice provisions of these rules may be satisfied by a point notice by the US Army Corps of Engineers according to their established procedures (15A NCAC 2H 0503 (c)) Division staff have consulted with staff of the Corps of Engineers and the Corps is not intending to provide additional public notice for the revised project Therefore, the previous point, public notice is still valid for this project and the Division will rely on the Corps following their established procedures in this regard in addition as noted above, SELC and your clients have had opportunities to comment on the revised plan for PCS Phosphate and indeed you have commented and your comments have been considered in our project review Therefore we believe that additional public comment is not warranted by our rules Mailing Address Phone (919) 807-6300 1617 Mail Service Center Fax (919) 807-6492 Raleigh, NC 27699-1617 Location NoarthCarolina 512 N Salisbury St atimally Raleigh, NC 27604 Thank you for your interest in this project If you have any questions, please contact Mr John Dorney at 919-733-9646 or Mr John Payne of the NC Attorney General staff at 919-716-6969 Sin ely yours, oSul in Cc John Dorney, DWQ John Payne, NC Attorney General, Environmental Division George House, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey and Leonard Tom Walker, US Army Corps of Engineers - Wilmington Division File copy . 11, The Juke Box Road Crossing (# 724 378J/MP 34154) provides access to US 29 for several additional properties east of the NCRR The crossing is located along a straight section of single track, is flat, and is protected by crossbucks The approach roadway is gravel approximately eight feet wide Sight distance is obscured in all four quadrants by either foliage or buildings With the closure of these two crossings, alternative access will be provided for properties between the railroad and Interstate 85 A new access road is proposed from south of Ethel Lane to Mount Hope Church Road (SR 1505) We would appreciate any information you have that would be helpful in evaluating potential community and environmental impacts for this project If applicable, please identify any permits and/or approvals required by your agency Please note that there will be no formal interagency scoping meeting for this project This letter constitutes solicitation for scoping comments related to the project It is desirable that you respond by February 20, 2009, so that your comments can be used in the preparation of a proposed Federally-funded Categorical Exclusion in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act A full natural resources investigation will be conducted for the project to determine if there are any impacts to natural resources including jurisdictional waters Four threatened or endangered species are listed for Rowan County according to the (January 31, 2008 FWS list) US Fish and Wildlife Service species list The currently listed species include the following Common Name Scientific Name status Bald eagle Hahaeetus leucoce halus BGPA* Bo Turtle Clemmys muhlenber a T(S/A)** Georgia aster S m h otrichum eor ianum Candidate Schwemttz's sunflower Hehanthus schweindzu Endangered * BGPA =Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act ** T(S/A) = Threatened due to sunilarity of appearance Investigations will be conducted to determine if any endangered or threatened species are in the project study area The project area will be reviewed to determine if the project will affect any properties that may be eligible for the National Register , 2 Thank you for assisting us in this study If further information regarding the proposed action or the environmental analysis process is required, please contact me by phone at (919) 733-7245, ext. 270 or by email at mhamel ,ncdot gov Sincerely, -Y'? -.' c% 4J-- Marc Hamel, Rail Project Development Engineer NCDOT Rail Division Environmental and Planning Branch MH/cdo Attachments 3 64 Iredell Da%ie 311 Coun County 64 Lthell' L me 1 601 Julie 13os-Rd ` i Ronan Da%idson Count} - County 29 4'' Cabm rus Coun Stanly CountN NOm ?? 4, STATE OF NORTH C A ROUNA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION R1IL DR ISION OF n Project Location Map Ethel Lane and Juke Box Road Rail Crossings with North Carolina Railroad China Grove, Rowan County Figure 1