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Home My WebLink About20171022 Ver 2_USACE Permit_20190506U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS WILMINGTON DISTRICT Action ID. SAW -2017-00187 County: Watauga GENERAL PERMIT (REGIONAL AND NATIONWIDE) VERIFICATION Permittee: Blue Ridge Energy / Attn: Mike High Address: P.O. Box 112 Lenoir, NC 28645 Telephone Number: 828-759-8928 Location description: The Rutherwood Substation site is located on US Hwy 421/221, near Boone, NC. Coordinates are 36.223986 -81.617222. Description of projects area and activity: This permit authorizes the installation of a temporary culvert for haul road/construction access to the substation site from the adiacent borrow site. Impacts authorized by this permit total 0.004 acre of wetlands and 12 linear feet of stream channel. This authorization is in addition to impacts permitted under a previous authorization dated 09/25/17 for construction of the substaion. Attached are recommendations from the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission for your consideration. All temporary fill removed and disturbed area stabilized according to plans within 30 days of project completion. Applicable Law: ® Section 404 (Clean Water Act, 33 USC 1344) ❑ Section 10 (Rivers and Harbors Act, 33 USC 403) Authorization: Regional General Permit Number or Nationwide Permit Number: 12 SEE ATTACHED RGP or NWP GENERAL, REGIONAL AND SPECIAL CONDITIONS Your work is authorized by the above referenced permit provided it is accomplished in strict accordance with the attached conditions, above noted special conditions, and your submitted application and attached information dated February 25, 2019. Any violation of the attached conditions or deviation from your submitted plans may subject the permittee to a stop work order, a restoration order, a Class I administrative penalty, and/or appropriate legal action. This verification will remain valid until the expiration date identified below unless the nationwide/regional authorization is modified, suspended or revoked. If, prior to the expiration date identified below, the nationwide/regional permit authorization is reissued and/or modified, this verification will remain valid until the expiration date identified below, provided it complies with all requirements of the modified nationwide/regional permit. If the nationwide/regional permit authorization expires or is suspended, revoked, or is modified, such that the activity would no longer comply with the terms and conditions of the nationwide/regional permit, activities which have commenced (i.e., are under construction) or are under contract to commence in reliance upon the nationwide/regional permit, will remain authorized provided the activity is completed within twelve months of the date of the nationwide/regional permit's expiration, modification or revocation, unless discretionary authority has been exercised on a case-by-case basis to modify, suspend or revoke the authorization. Activities subject to Section 404 (as indicated above) may also require an individual Section 401 Water Quality Certification. You should contact the NC Division of Water Resources (telephone 919-807-6300) to determine Section 401 requirements. For activities occurring within the twenty coastal counties subject to regulation under the Coastal Area Management Act (LAMA), prior to beginning work you must contact the N.C. Division of Coastal Management. This Department of the Army verification does not relieve the permittee of the responsibility to obtain any other required Federal, State or local approvals/permits. If there are any questions regarding this verification, any of the conditions of the Permit, or the Corps of Engineers regulatory program, please contact Amanda Jones at 828-271-7980, ext. 4225 or amanda.jones@usace.army.mil. Digitally signed by FUEMMELER.AMAND FUEMMELER.AMANDA.JONE5.12 A.JONE5.1242835090 42835090 Corps Regulatory Official: Date: 2019.05.0614:50:13-04'00' Date: May 6, 2019 Amanda Jones Expiration Date of Verification: March 18, 2022 CF: Environmental Resources of the Carolinas, Inc. / Attn: Carson Dellinger Action ID Number: SAW -2017-00187 County: Watauga Permittee: Blue Ridge Energy / Attn: Mike High Project Name: Rutherwood Substation Haul Road / NW 12 Date Verification Issued: May 6, 2019 Project Manager: Amanda Jones Upon completion of the activity authorized by this permit and any mitigation required by the permit, sign this certification and return it to the following address: US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS WILMINGTON DISTRICT Attn.: Amanda Jones 151 Patton Avenue, Room 208 Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006 Please note that your permitted activity is subject to a compliance inspection by a U. S. Army Corps of Engineers representative. Failure to comply with any terms or conditions of this authorization may result in the Corps suspending, modifying or revoking the authorization and/or issuing a Class I administrative penalty, or initiating other appropriate legal action. I hereby certify that the work authorized by the above referenced permit has been completed in accordance with the terms and condition of the said permit, and required mitigation was completed in accordance with the permit conditions. Signature of Permittee Date K� North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission � Gordon Myers, Executive Director September 5, 2017 Ms. Amanda Fuemmeler U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch 151 Patton Avenue, Room 208 Asheville, North Carolina 28801-5006 SUBJECT: Blue Ridge EMC's Rutherwood Substation Site UT to Brown Branch, Watauga County Dear Ms. Fuemmeler: Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed an application to culvert 92 feet of an unnamed tributary (UT) to Brown Branch and fill 0.24 acre of wetland in order to fill a site for the construction of an electrical substation in Watauga County. Our comments on this application are offered for your consideration under provisions of the Clean Water Act of 1977 (33 U.S.C. 466 et. seq.) and Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (48 Stat. 401, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 661-667d). Project activities should not impact wild trout, and activities do not need to be avoided during a trout moratorium. However, the site is upstream of the South Fork New River and the South Fork New River Aquatic Habitat, a natural area rated Exceptional by the NC Natural Heritage Program due to the extraordinary diversity of rare species it contains. Rare and listed species within the vicinity of the project include Kanawha Minnow [Phenacobius teretulus, US Federal Species of Concern (FSC), NC Special Concern (SC)], Tonguetied Minnow [Exoglossum laurae, NC Significantly Rare (SR)], Kanawha Rosyface Shiner (Notropis sp., NC SR), and Kanawha Darter (Etheostoma kanawhae, NC SR). We offer the following recommendations to minimize impacts to fish and wildlife: 1. Work should be accomplished as quickly as possible and vigilance used in sediment and erosion control during site preparation, construction, and clean up. 2. Any erosion control matting used should be free of plastic or nylon mesh, as this type of mesh netting frequently entangles wildlife and is slow to degrade, resulting in a hazard that may last for years. 3. The seeding specifications include Tall Fescue and Sericea Lespedeza, both of which are highly invasive and should be avoided. NCWRC recommends an alternative mix of Red Mailing Address: Habitat Conservation • 1721 Mail Service Center • Raleigh, NC 27699-1721 Telephone: (919) 707-0220 • Fax: (919) 707-0028 Blue Ridge EMC Rutherwood Substation Page 2 September 5, 2017 UT Brown Br, Watauga County Clover, Creeping Red Fescue, and a grain, such as Oats, Wheat, or Rye. Perennial native grasses and wildflowers can be added to the seed mix to provide a more permanent herbaceous cover. Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on this project. Please contact me at (828) 558-6011 if you have any questions about these comments. Sincerely, Andrea Leslie Mountain Region Coordinator, Habitat Conservation Program ec: Carson Dellinger, Environmental Resources of the Carolinas, Inc. Sue Homewood, NC Division of Water Resources Byron Hamstead, US Fish and Wildlife Service Map Blue Ridge Energy's Rutherwood Substation, Temporary Culverted Stream Crossing Table 1. Planting guide based on 30 linear feet of 25 -feet wide disturbed stream buffer along both banks of an unnamed tributary stream in Watauga County, NC. The stream is located on a site being developed as Blue Ridge Energy's Rutherwood Electric Substation. Species Common Name Specific Conditions Erosion control species seed, to be applied as directed by supplier Carex stricta Dactylis glomerata Pennisetum glaucum warm season planting Agrostis alba warm season planting Hordeum jubatum cool season planting Pennisetum glaucum warm season planting Phalaris arundinacea cool season planting Secale cereale cool season planting Agrostis alba warm season planting Overstory tree species (8 plants) Trees are to be planted -10 feet apart Acer saccharum Betula alleghaniensis Carya glabra Understory tree species (16 plants) Trees are to be planted -10 feet apart Carpinus caroliniana Hamamelis virginiana Salix nigra Shrubs (42 plants) Based on a planting guide of 1200 stems/acre Calycan thus floridus Corylus americana Kalmia latifolia Leucothoe fontanesiana Rhododendron maximum Rhododendron periclymenoides Herbaceous species seed, to be applied as directed by supplier Andropogon virginicus Broomsedge Panicum clandestinum Deertongue Schizachyrium scoparium Little Bluestem * Species selection based on Schafale and Weakly's description of Montane Alluvial Forest (Classification of the Natural Communities of North Carolina, 1990) and NC Division of Water Quality's Guidelines for Riparian Buffer Restoration (NCDENR, 2001). Planting guide created by Environmental Resources of the Carolinas, Inc. April 2019.