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US Army Corps PUBLIC NOTICE r sWn ISn
Of Engineers i pion,!i0s_,
Wilmington District
Issue Date: April 25, 2019
Comment Deadline: May 9, 2019
Corps Action ID Number: SAW-2012-00882
The Wilmington District, Corps of Engineers (Corps) has received an application for a
modification and extension to an existing Department of Army (DA) permit from the North
Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), seeking authorization to permanently impact
1,366 linear feet (If) of stream, 0.46 acre (ac) of permanent impacts to wetlands and 0.07 ac of
temporary impacts to streams, associated with Section E of the proposed widening of US 221 to
a four -lane, median -divided facility. The US221 widening was separated into Sections A-E and
the original permit, issued January 7, 2015 presented final impacts for R-2915A, R-2915B and
R-2915D. The final impacts were authorized for R-2915C on August 31, 2016. This modification
request presents the final design impacts for R-2915E, a 3.3 mile section of the US221 widening,
from the US 221 bypass to the US 221 Business/NC 88 intersection in the town of Jefferson in
Ashe County, North Carolina.
General plans and location information are described below and shown on the attached maps.
This Public Notice and more detailed project plans are also available on the Wilmington District
Web Site at under this Corps Action ID#:
http://www saw usace -Permit-Program/Public-Notices/
Additional project information and mapping can be viewed on the NCDOT website at:
https://www.ncdot.voy/pro*ects/Us-221 -widening,/Paizes/default.aspx
Applicant: North Carolina Department of Transportation
Project Development and Environmental Analysis Unit
Philip S. Harris III, P.E., C.P.M., Natural Environment Section Head
1598 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1598
Authority
The Corps evaluates this application and decides whether to issue, conditionally issue, or deny
the proposed work pursuant to applicable procedures of the following Statutory Authorities:
® Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344)
❑ Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403)
Version 6.15.2017 Page 1

❑ Section 103 of the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33
U.S.C.1413)
Location
Location Description: The overall project site, comprising Section's R-2915 A-E, is located
along the existing US 221 from US 421 in the Deep Gap Community of Watauga County, North
Carolina to the US 221 Business/NC 88 intersection in the town of Jefferson in Ashe County,
North Carolina. R-2915E is a 3.3 mile section from the US 221 bypass to the US 221
Business/NC 88 intersection in the town of Jefferson in Ashe County, North Carolina.
Nearest Town: West Jefferson and Jefferson
Nearest Waterway: Beaver Creek, Naked Creek and Little Buffalo Creek
River Basin: New River Basin (HUC 05050001)
Latitude and Longitude: 36.404872N,-81.480116W
Existing Site Conditions
The overall project lies within the Blue Ridge eco-region in the New River Basin (Hydrologic
Unit Code 05050001) of North Carolina. The project site is mostly within the New River Plateau
of the Blue Ridge eco-region, which consists of hilly, high plateau, some low mountains,
moderate gradient streams with bedrock, boulder, cobble, and gravel substrates. Elevations
within this eco-region range from 2,350 feet to 4,175 feet and include a local relief of 500-1200
feet.
The project corridor is located in the mid -southern portion of Ashe County, with the southern
terminus located in the eastern portion of Watauga County. Existing land use in the project
corridor consists primarily of NC DOT roadways, and forested and agricultural lands.
Water resources in the overall project area are part of the New River Basin (US
Geological Survey Hydrologic Unit 05050001). Named streams within the project area are: Gap
Creek, South Fork New River, Old Field Creek, Beaver Creek, Naked Creek and Little Buffalo
Creek. Unnamed tributaries to these streams are in the project area, as well as unnamed
tributaries to Cole Branch and South Beaver Creek. The North Carolina Division of Water
Resources (NCDWR) surface water classification for Gap Creek, Old Field Creek, Beaver
Creek, Cole Branch, South Beaver Creek and Little Buffalo Creek is Class C and Trout waters
Jr). Naked Creek is Class C only. Old Field Creek is also designated as an Outstanding
Resource Waters (ORW) and the South Fork New River is designated as High Quality Waters
(HQW) and Water Supply V (WS-V). Additionally, there are no Water Supply Waters I or II
(WS-1 or WS-11) within 1.0 miles of the project area. Little Buffalo Creek is currently listed on
the North Carolina 2012 Final 303(d) list of impaired waters for having impaired
ecological/biological integrity for benthos. There are a total of ninety-one jurisdictional stream
segments and fifty-two adjacent, jurisdictional wetland sites proposed for impacts that are within
the overall project area.
Version 6.15.2017 Page 2

Applicant's Stated Purpose
As stated by the applicant, the purpose of this project is to upgrade the existing roadway to a
multi -lane facility to increase capacity, alleviate congestion, improve traffic operations and
reduce the rate of traffic crashes.
Project Description
The overall project is referred to as Transportation Improvement Project (TIP) R-2915. The applicant
requested that the project be permitted in phases due to project size, funding and scheduling. The
original permit application (submitted July 22, 2014) and subsequent DA Individual 404 Permit,
issued January 7, 2015, presented final impacts for R-2915A, R-291513, R-2915D and
preliminary impacts for R-2915C and R-2915E. The final impacts were authorized for R-2915C
on August 31, 2016. Permit modifications were requested for R-2915B on April 7, 2017 and R-
2915C on June 15, 2018.
Original impacts for Sections E were roughly calculated using preliminary slope stakes plus 10 if
for wetlands and to the existing ROW for most streams. This modification proposal presents the
fmal design impacts for R-2915E.
The preliminary design impacts projected from the 2014 permit application for R-2915E were
405 if of permanent stream impacts, 0.52 ac permanent impacts to wetlands and <0.01 ac of
temporary stream impacts. Final design impacts for R-2915E include 1,366 if of stream, 0.46 ac
of permanent impacts to wetlands and 0.07 ac of temporary impacts to streams.
According to the applicant the total stream impacts for R-2915E have increased since the
preliminary impacts were presented in 2014, a few streams have been delineated since then, the
slopes have changed in a few locations, bank stabilization impacts have been added and drainage
design at the time was very preliminary.
Although this project was previously put on public notice, given that the current proposed
impacts to waters of the U.S. include an increase in stream impacts deemed significant to the
public interest, the current proposal to construct R-2915E is being placed on public notice for an
additional 15 days.
Information regarding the specific Sections (A-E) are shown in Table 1 below:
Table 1— Proiect uhasine for US 221 Widening (R-2915)
-2915A
US 421 in Watauga County to SR 1003 Idlewild Road
.8 miles
Se t 2015
2915B
SR 1003 (Idlewild Road) to north of the South Fork
New River
1.77 miles
Sept 2015
2915C
North of the South Fork New River to south of NC 194
3.98 miles
Nov 2016
2915D
South of NC 194 to US 211 Bypass
.3 miles
Feb 2015
2915E
VS 221 Bypass to US 221 Business/NC 88 in Jefferson
13.3 miles
ISept 2019
TOTAL
116.1 miles
Version 6.15.2017 Page 3

Tables 2 and 3 summarize the current impacts to jurisdictional water resources for of R-2915.
Table 2 — Summary of Wetland Impacts for R-2915
'E
_ T
WIN,R
ifi
35LJ§i�
Final
�
$Y.3eM
Perm. Wetland Fill
i5W
i=�rc.�ii�?-ieLK
.48
^�.,gWlGrh.%H�ga-h"4
0.57
-2915A
Excavation in Wetlands
.01
Mechanized Clearing in Wetlands
.08
Hand Clearing in Wetlands
.05t
2915B
Final
Perm. Wetland Fill
A32
0.43
Excavation in Wetlands
104
Mechanized Clearing in Wetlands
.06
Temporary Fill in Wetlands
.15
2915C
Final
Perm. Wetland Fill
.22
0.27
Excavation in Wetlands
-
Mechanized Clearing in Wetlands
.05
-2915D
Final
Perm. Wetland Fill
1.01
1.32
Excavation in Wetlands
0.01
Mechanized Clearing in Wetlands
-2915E
Final
10.30
Perm. Wetland Fill
0.28
0.46
Excavation in Wetlands
0.05
Mechanized Clearing in Wetlands 10.13
emporary Fill in Wetlands
0.01
otal
P.05
tAdditionally, 0.01 acre of temporary fill in wetlands will occur in the hand clearing areas for erosion control
measures
* Values are based on rounding, due to calculating totals with actual numbers to the thousandths
Tnhle 3 — Summnm of Stream tmnnets for R-2915
Final
Permanent Fill
r
1,119
1,119
2915A
Bank Stabilization
02
Temporary
-
0.05
-2915B
Final
Permanent Fill
93
493
Bank Stabilization
431
--
Temporary
0.15
-2915C
Final
Permanent Fill
2,339
--
,339
Bank Stabilization
234
Temporary
-
0.09
-2915D
Final
Permanent Fill
,627
--
,627
Bank Stabilization
126
-
Temporary
0.05
Version 6.15.2017 Page 4

2915E
final
ermanent Fill
07
-
1907
ank Stabilization
459
emporary
- -
0.07
Total
9,137
0.41
7,485
Avoidance and Minimization
The applicant provided the following information in support of efforts to avoid and/or minimize
impacts to the aquatic environment: NCDOT has avoided impacting many wetlands and streams
and reduced impacts to wetlands and streams to the greatest extent practicable. Wetland impacts
have been kept to a minimum by avoiding ditching and channelization through wetlands. In
addition to all of the measures listed in the 2014 phased permit application, other specific
examples of avoidance and minimization measures include:
• There is a proposed dry detention basin at station -L- 718+00 RT to help minimize the
increase in water at the existing 48" CMP under Mt. Jefferson Road which later travels
under the Walmart Supercenter.
• Efforts were made to minimize impacts to Naked Creek, specifically in the Town of
Jefferson's park property.
• Where excavation is necessary, coir fiber matting and rip -rap were utilized for bank
stabilization in an attempt to reduce sediment transport and streambank erosion.
• Measures have been taken, including reduction of pipe slopes and the use of drop
structures (which are labeled on the plans) to lower velocities at jurisdictional features to
non -erosive.
Compensatory Mitigation
The applicant offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable
functional loss to the aquatic environment: The NCDOT has avoided and minimized impacts to
jurisdictional resources to the greatest extent practicable as described above. Section E will
permanently impact 0.46 acre of wetlands, 1,366 linear feet of streams (907 linear feet of
permanent fill and 459 linear feet of bank stabilization), and temporarily impact <0.01 acre of
wetlands and 0.07 acre of streams. The North Carolina Division of Mitigation Services
(NCDMS) will provide compensatory mitigation for the impacts in all sections of this project.
Table 4 summarizes the total mitigation needs for all sections as 3.05 acre of wetlands impacts
and 7,485 linear feet of stream impacts.
Table 4 — Summary of Mitigation Requested from NCDMS
�
0.57
91 -�
1,119
2915A
inal
2915B
Final
0.43
493
2915C
Final
0.27
2,339
2915D
Final
1.32
2,627
2915E
Final
0.46
1907
Total
P.05
485
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Essential Fish Habitat
Pursuant to the Magnuson -Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, this Public
Notice initiates the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) consultation requirements. The Corps' initial
determination is that the proposed project would not effect EFH or associated fisheries managed
by the South Atlantic or Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Councils or the National Marine
Fisheries Service.
Cultural Resources
Pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Appendix C of 33
CFR Part 325, and the 2005 Revised Interim Guidance for Implementing Appendix C, the
District Engineer consulted district files and records and the latest published version of the
National Register of Historic Places and initially determines that:
❑ Should historic properties, or properties eligible for inclusion in the National Register, be
present within the Corps' permit area; the proposed activity requiring the DA permit (the
undertaking) is a type of activity that will have no potential to cause an effect to an
historic properties.
❑ No historic properties, nor properties eligible for inclusion in the National Register, are
present within the Corps' permit area; therefore, there will be no historic properties
affected. The Corps subsequently requests concurrence from the SHPO (or THPO).
® Properties ineligible for inclusion in the National Register are -present within the Corps'
permit area; there will be no historic properties affected by the proposed work. The
Corps subsequently requests concurrence from the SHPO (or THPO).
❑ Historic properties, or properties eligible for inclusion in the National Register, are
present within the Corps' permit area; however, the undertaking will have no adverse
effect on these historic properties. The Corps subsequently requests concurrence from
the SHPO (or THPO).
❑ Historic properties, or properties eligible for inclusion in the National Register, are
present within the Corps' permit area; moreover, the undertaking may have an adverse
effect on these historic properties. The Corps subsequently initiates consultation with the
SHPO (or TIIPO).
❑ The proposed work takes place in an area known to have the potential for the presence of
prehistoric and historic cultural resources; however, the area has not been formally
surveyed for the presence of cultural resources. No sites eligible for inclusion in the
National Register of Historic Places are known to be present in the vicinity of the
proposed work. Additional work may be necessary to identify and assess any historic or
prehistoric resources that may be present.
Version 6.15.2017 Page 6

The District Engineer's final eligibility and effect determination will be based upon coordination
with the SHPO and/or THPO, as appropriate and required, and with full consideration given to
the proposed undertaking's potential direct and indirect effects on historic properties within the
Corps-indentified permit area.
Endangered Species
Pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the Corps reviewed the project area, examined
all information provided by the applicant and consulted the latest North Carolina Natural
Heritage Database. Based on available information:
® The Corps determines that the proposed project would not affect federally listed
endangered or threatened species or their formally designated critical habitat.
❑ The Corps determines that the proposed project may affect federally listed endangered or
threatened species or their formally designated critical habitat.
❑ The Corps initiates consultation under Section 7 of the ESA and will not make a
permit decision until the consultation process is complete.
❑ The Corps will consult under Section 7 of the ESA and will not make a permit
decision until the consultation process is complete.
❑ The Corps has initiated consultation under Section 7 of the ESA and will not make a
permit decision until the consultation process is complete.
❑ The Corps determines that the proposed project may affect federally listed endangered or
threatened species or their formally designated critical habitat. Consultation has been
completed for this type of activity and the effects of the proposed activity have been
evaluated and/or authorized by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in the
South Atlantic Regional Biological Opinion or its associated documents, including
7(a)(2) & 7(d) analyses and Critical Habitat assessments. A copy of this public notice
will be sent to the NMFS.
❑ The Corps is not aware of the presence of species listed as threatened or endangered or
their critical habitat formally designated pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(ESA) within the project area. The Corps will make a final determination on the effects of
the proposed project upon additional review of the project and completion of any
necessary biological assessment and/or consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and/or National Marine Fisheries Service.
Other Required Authorizations
The Corps forwards this notice and all applicable application materials to the appropriate State
agencies for review.
Version 6.15.2017 Page 7

North Carolina Division of Water Resources (NCDWR): The Corps will generally not make a
final permit decision until the NCDWR issues, denies, or waives the state Certification as
required by Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (PL 92-500). The receipt of the application and
this public notice, combined with the appropriate application fee, at the NCDWR Central Office
in Raleigh constitutes initial receipt of an application for a 401 Certification. A waiver will be
deemed to occur if the NCDWR fails to act on this request for certification within sixty days of
receipt of a complete application. Additional information regarding the 401 Certification may be
reviewed at the NCDWR Central Office, Transportation Permitting Unit, 512 North Salisbury
Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27604-2260. All persons desiring to make comments regarding
the application for a 401 Certification should do so, in writing, by May 9, 2019 to:
NCDWR Central Office
Attention: Ms. Amy Chapman, Transportation Permitting Unit
(USPS mailing address): 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1617
Or,
(Physical address): 512 North Salisbury Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27604
North Carolina Division of Coastal Management (NCDCM):
❑ The application did not include a certification that the proposed work complies with and
would be conducted in a manner that is consistent with the approved North Carolina
Coastal Zone Management Program. Pursuant to 33 CFR 325.2(b)(2) the Corps cannot
issue a Department of Army (DA) permit for the proposed work until the applicant submits
such a certification to the Corps and the NCDCM, and the NCDCM notifies the Corps that
it concurs with the applicant's consistency certification. As the application did not include
the consistency certification, the Corps will request, upon receipt,, concurrence or objection
from the NCDCM.
® Based upon all available information, the Corps determines that this application for a
Department of Army (DA) permit does not involve an activity which would affect the
coastal zone, which is defined by the Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Act (16 U.S.C.
§1453).
Evaluation
The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impacts
including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest. That decision will
reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefit
which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal must be balanced against its
reasonably foreseeable detriments. All factors which may be relevant to the proposal will be
considered including the cumulative effects thereof, among those are conservation, economics,
aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, historic properties, fish and wildlife
values, flood hazards, flood plain values (in accordance with Executive Order 11988), land use,
navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water
Version 6.15.2017 Page 8

quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, considerations of
property ownership, and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people. For activities involving
the discharge of dredged or fill materials in waters of the United States, the evaluation of the
impact of the activity on the public interest will include application of the Environmental
Protection Agency's 404(b)(1) guidelines.
Commenting Information
The Corps of Engineers is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, State and local agencies
and officials, including any consolidated State Viewpoint or written position of the Governor;
Indian Tribes and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this
proposed activity. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps of Engineers to
determine whether to issue, modify, condition or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this
decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species; historic properties, water
quality, general environmental effects and the other public interest factors listed above.
Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment (EA) and/or an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA). Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the
overall public interest of the proposed activity.
Any person may request, in writing, within the comment period specified in this notice, that a
public hearing be held to consider the application. Requests for public hearings shall state, with
particularity, the reasons for holding a public hearing. Requests for a public hearing will be
granted, unless the District Engineer determines that the issues raised are insubstantial or there is
otherwise no valid interest to be served by a hearing.
The Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District will receive written comments pertinent to the
proposed work, as outlined above, until 5pm, May 9, 2019. Comments should be submitted to
Mr. Steve Kichefski, Asheville Regulatory Field Office , 151 Patton Avenue, Room 208,
Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006 , at [phone] extension 4234. Comments can also
be emailed to steven.l.kichefskina usace.army.mil
Version 6.15.2017 Page 9

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