20181638 Ver 2_401 Denial_20190603

ROY COOPER
Governor
MICHAEL S.REGAN
Secretary
LINDA CULPEPPER
Director
NORTH CAROLINA
Environmental Quality
June 3, 2019
D W R # 20181638 v1
Alamance & Rockingham Counties
CERTIFIED MAIL: 7017 2680 0000 2219 4025
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Mountain Valley LLC
Attn: Mr. Matthew Raffenberg
700 Universe Blvd
Juno Beach, FL 33408
Subject: DENIAL of 401 Water Quality Certification and Jordan Lake Riparian Buffer
Authorization Application
MVP Southgate
Dear Mr. Raffenberg:
On November 30, 2018, the Division of Water Resources (Division) received your application, requesting
a 401 Certification and Buffer Authorization from the Division for the subject project. On January 10,
2019, the Division requested additional information on the project and received a partial response to
that request on February 12, 2019. On March 25, 2019, the Division returned your application as
incomplete.
Your response to the Division on February 12, as well as your recent response to the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, stated "Mountain Valley is currently completing route evaluations and will be providing
updated impact tables at a later date" and "Mountain Valley will provide final plan and profile view for
all proposed permanent fills of aquatic resources in North Carolina... once all surveys have been
completed and Project design is finalized".
On March 15, 2019, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) provided notice of the schedule
for environmental review of the subject project. In the notice, FERC states that the draft EIS will be
issued in July 2019. Based on the response provided to the Division and follow up phone conversations
with MVP contacts, the updated impact tables, final plan and profile views for proposed impacts will not
be available until after July 2019.
The Division's March 2511 letter is hereby rescinded and, in accordance with 15A NCAC 02H .0507(e)
and 15A NCAC 02B .0267, your application for a 401 Water Quality Certification and Jordan Lake
Riparian Buffer Authorization is hereby denied. Once a Draft EIS has been issued and a preferred
route is identified by FERC you may reapply to the Division
This decision can be contested as provided in General Statute 150B by filing a written petition for an
administrative hearing to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) within sixty (60) calendar days.
D_EQ> North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Water Resources
512 North Salisbury Street 1 1617 Mail Service Center I Raleigh, North Carolina 2 769 9-1617
wwmmoi ena�sn,.� /"� 919.707.9000

Mountain Valley LLC
D W R# 20181638 v1
Denial of Application
June 3, 2019
Page 2 of 2
A petition form may be obtained from the OAH at http://www.ncoah.com/ or by calling the OAH Clerk's
Office at [phone] for information. A petition is considered filed when the original and one (1) copy
along with any applicable OAH filing fee is received in the OAH during normal office hours (Monday
through Friday between 8:OOam and S:OOpm, excluding official State holidays). The petition may be faxed
to the OAH at [phone], provided the original and one copy of the petition along with any applicable
OAH filing fee is received by the OAH within five (5) business days following the faxed transmission.
Mailing address for the OAH:
If sending via US Postal Service: If sending via delivery service (UPS, FedEx, etc):
Office of Administrative Hearings Office of Administrative Hearings
6714 Mail Service Center 1711 New Hope Church Road
Raleigh, NC 27699-6714 Raleigh, NC 27609-6285
One (1) copy of the petition must also be served to DEQ:
William F. Lane, General Counsel
Department of Environmental Quality
1601 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1601
Please be aware that you have no authorization under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act or the Jordan
Lake Riparian Buffer Rules for this activity and any work done within waters of the State or riparian
buffers may be a violation of North Carolina General Statutes and Administrative Code.
Please contact Karen Higgins at 919-791-4252 or karen.higgins@ncdenr.¢ov, or Sue Homewood at 336-
776-9693 or [e-mail] if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Linda Culpepper, Director
Division of Water Resources
cc: Alex Miller, MVP Southgate (via email)
Heather Patti, TRC Environmental Corp (via email)
Kevin Martin, S&EC (via email)
David Bailey, Raleigh Regulatory Field Office (via email)
Todd Bowers, EPA (via email)
DW R WSRO 401 files
Filename: 20181638v1MV PSouthgate(RockinghamAla mance)_401_I C_DENIAL

7017 2660 0000
Mw {l 2219 4025