20070176 Ver 1_Approval Letter_20070222

Michael F. Easley, Governor
William G. Ross Jr., Secretary
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Alan W. Klimek, P.E. Director
Division of Water Quality
f ~'q<r~y, ' ~~ February 20, 2007
=-'~Re~°°~ Macon County
DWQ Project No. 070176
NCSR 1122 Bridge No.313 MA 14003B
r
APPROVAL of 401 Water Quality Certification with Additional Conditions
Mr. J. B. Setzer, P.E.
Division Engineer
N C Department of Transportation
253 Webster Road
Sylva, North Carolina 28779
Dear Mr. Setzer:
You have our approval, in accordance with the attached conditions and those listed below, to impact Skeenah Creek and
an unnamed tributary to Skeenah Creek for the purpose of making improvements to NCSR 1122, replace Bridge No. 313
and relocate unnamed tributary to Skeenah Creek in Macon County:
Stream Impacts in the Little Tennessee River Racin
Site Permanent Fill in Temporary Fill in Permanent Fill in Temporary Total Stream Stream
Intermittent Intermittent Stream Perennial Stream Dewatering in Impact Impacts
Stream (linear ft) (linear ft) (linear ft) Perennial Stream (linear ft) Requiring
(linear ft) Mitigation
linear ft
Station 70 linear feet 70 0
11+90
to
Station
12+60
Station Construct new p
11+75 stream channel 100
to linear feet
Station
12+75
Total 70 ft. 70 ft. 0
Total Stream Impact for Project: Fill old channe170 linear feet. Construct new 1001inear feet channel.
The project should be constructed in accordance with your application dated January 25, 2007 (received January 31,
2007), including the environmental commitments made in the application letter. After reviewing your application, we
have decided that these impacts are covered by General Water Quality Certification Nos. 3404 and 3366. This
Certification corresponds to General Permit Number 31 issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In addition, you
should acquire any other federal, state or local permits before you proceed with your project including (but not limited
to) Sediment and Erosion Control, Non-Discharge and Water Supply Watershed regulations. This approval will expire
with the accompanying 404 Permit.
No~ithCarolina
naturally
North Carolina Division of Water Quality 2090 U.S. Highway 70 Swannanoa, NC 28778 Phone [phone] Customer Service
Internet: www.ncwaterquality.org FAX [phone] I-877-623-6748
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An Equal OpportunitylAffirmativeActipn Employer

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February 20, 2007
Page Two
This approval is valid solely for the purpose and design described in your application (unless modified below). Should
your project change, you must notify the DWQ and submit a new application. If the property is sold, the new owner
must be given a copy of this Certification and approval letter, and is thereby responsible for complying with all the
conditions. If total wetland fills for this project (now or in the future) exceed one acre, or if total impacts to streams (now
or in the future) exceed 150 linear feet, compensatory mitigation may be required as described in 15A NCAC 2H .0506
(h) (6) and (7). For this approval to be valid, you must follow the conditions listed in the attached certification and any
additional conditions listed below.
1. Erosion and sediment control practices must be in full compliance with all specifications governing the proper
design, installation and operation and maintenance of such Best Management Practices in order to protect surface
waters standards:
a. The erosion and sediment control measures for the project must be designed, installed, operated, and
maintained in accordance with the most recent version of the North Carolina Sediment and Erosion Control
Planning and Design Manual.
b. The design, installation, operation, and maintenance of the sediment and erosion control measures must be
such that they equal, or exceed, the requirements specified in the most recent version of the North Carolina
Sediment and Erosion Control Manual. The devices shall be maintained on all construction sites, borrow
sites, and waste pile (spoil) projects, including contractor-owned or leased borrow pits associated with the
project.
c. For borrow pit sites, the erosion and sediment control measures must be designed, installed, operated,
and maintained in accordance with the most recent version of the North Carolina Surface Mining Manual.
d. The reclamation measures and implementation must comply with the reclamation in accordance with the
requirements of the Sedimentation Pollution Control Act.
2. There shall be no excavation from or waste disposal into, jurisdictional wetlands or waters associated with this
permit without appropriate modification. Should waste or borrow sites be located in wetlands or streams,
compensatory mitigation will be required since that is a direct impact from road construction activities.
3. Sediment and erosion control measures shall not be placed in wetlands or waters unless otherwise approved by this
Certification. If placement of sediment and erosion control devices in wetlands and waters is unavoidable, they shall
be removed and the natural grade restored upon completion of the project.
4. Adequate sedimentation and erosion control measures must be installed and maintained on the project site to
minimize sediment transport to downstream aquatic resources. Temporary cover (wheat, millet or similar annual
grain) or permanent herbaceous cover should be planted on all bare soil within fifteen (15) days of ground disturbing
activities to provide long-term erosion control. Erosion control mating should be used in conjunction with
appropriate seeding on disturbed soils in steep slope and riparian areas. Matting should be secured in place with
staples or wherever possible, live stakes of native trees. Straw mulch and tall fescue should not be used in riparian
areas. ,,
5. In-stream work and land disturbance within the 25-foot buffer zone are prohibited during the trout-spawning season
of October 15 through April 15 to protect the egg and fry stages of trout form off-site sedimentation during
construction of the roadway.
6. For projects impacting waters classified by the NC Environmental Management Commission as Trout (Tr), High
Quality Waters (HQW) or Water Supply I or II (WS-I, WS-II), stormwater shall be directed to vegetated buffer
areas, grass-lined ditches or other means appropriate to the site for the purpose of pre-treating stormwater runoff
prior to discharging directly into streams. Mowing of existing vegetated buffer areas is strongly discouraged.
7. Discharge of materials into surface waters from demolition of the old bridge should be avoided as much as possible.
Any material that reaches surface waters should be removed.
8. The post-construction removal of any temporary bridge structures must return the project site to its preconstruction
contours and elevations. The impacted areas shall be revegetated with appropriate native species.
9. Strict adherence to the most recent version of NCDOT's Best Management Practices For Bridge Demolition and
Removal approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers is a condition of the 401 Water Quality Certification.
10. Bridge deck drains should not discharge directly into the stream. Stormwater should be directed across the bridge
and pre-treated through site-appropriate means (grassed swales, pre-formed scour holes, vegetated buffers, etc.)
before entering the stream. Please refer to the most current version of Stormwater Best Management Practices.

Mr. J. B. Seizer, P.E.
February 20, 2007
Page Three
11. All stream relocations will be constructed in a dry work area and stabilized before stream flows are diverted.
Channel relocations will be completed and stabilized, and must be approved on site by DWQ staff, prior to diverting
water into the new channel. Whenever possible, channel relocations shall be allowed to stabilize for an entire
growing season. Vegetation used for bank stabilization shall be limited to native woody species, and should include
establishment of a 30-foot wide wooded and an adjacent 20-foot wide vegetated buffer on both sides of the relocated
channel, to the maximum extent practicable. A transitional phase incorporating coir fiber and seedling establishment
is allowable. Also, riprap may be allowed if it is necessary to maintain the physical integrity of the stream, but the
applicant must provide written justification and any calculations used to determine the extent of riprap coverage area.
12. A new channel will be constructed in the unnamed tributary to Skeenah Creek using natural channel design with two
(2) cross vanes from Station 11+75 to Station 12+75.
13. The dimension, pattern and profile of the stream, above and below the bridge, should not be modified. Disturbed
floodplains and streams should be restored to natural geomorphic conditions.
14. Native riparian vegetation (e.g. rhododendron, dog hobble, willows, alders, sycamores, dogwoods, black walnut and
red maple) must be reestablished within the construction limits of the project by the end of the growing season
following completion of construction.
15. Any riprap placed for bank stabilization should be limited to the streambank below the high water mark, and
vegetation should be used for stabilization above the high water elevation. Riprap should not be place in the active
thalweg channel or placed in the streambed in such a manner that precludes aquatic life passage. Bioengineering
boulders or structures should be properly designed, sized and installed.
16. Heavy equipment should be operated from the banks rather than in the stream channels in order to minimize
sedimentation and reduce the introduction of other pollutants into the stream.
17. All mechanized equipment operated near surface waters must be regularly inspected daily and maintained to prevent
contamination of stream waters from fuels, lubricants, hydraulic fluids, or other toxic materials.
18. All work in or adjacent to stream waters shall be conducted in a dry work area. Approved BMP measures from the
most current version of NCDOT Construction and Maintenance Activities manual such as sandbags, rock berms,
cofferdams and other diversion structures should be used to prevent excavation in flowing water.
19. Discharging hydroseed mixtures and washing out hydroseeders and other equipment in or adjacent to surface waters
is prohibited.
20. If concrete is used during construction (e.g., headwalls), a dry work area should be .maintained to prevent direct
contact between curing concrete and stream water. Water that inadvertently contacts uncured concrete should not be
discharged to surface waters due to the potential for elevated pH and possible aquatic life and fish kills.
21. No rock, sand or other materials shall be dredged from the stream channel, except where authorized by this
certification.
22. A copy of this Water Quality Certification shall be posted on the construction site at all times. In addition, the Water
Quality Certification and all subsequent modifications, if any, shall be maintained with the Division Engineer and the
on-site project manager.
23. The permittee and its authorized agents shall conduct its activities in a manner consistent with State water quality
standards (including any requirements resulting from compliance with §303(d) of the Clean Water Act) and any
other appropriate requirements of State or Federal law. If DWQ determines that such standards or laws are not being
met (including failure to sustain a designated achieved use) or that State of Federal law if being violated, or that
further conditions are necessary to assure compliance, DWQ may reevaluate and modify this certification.
24. This certification does not authorize the discharge of waste rock and dirt into the stream or riparian zone except for
permitted areas associated with the bank stabilization work.
25. During the construction of the project, no staging of equipment of any kind is permitted in waters of the U.S. or
protected riparian buffers.
26. Upon completion of the project, the NCDOT Division Engineer, shall complete and return the enclosed "Certificate
of Completion Form" to notify NCDWQ when all work included in the §401 Certification has been completed. This
form shall be returned to the Transportation Permitting Unit of the NC Division of Water Quality, 2321 Crabtree
Blvd., Suite 250, Raleigh, North Carolina 27604.

'vtr..; ...,etzer, ~ ..~.
February 20, 2007
Page Four
If you do not accept any of the conditions of this certification, you may ask for an adjudicatory hearing. You must act
within 60 days of the date that you receive this letter. To ask for a hearing, send a written petition, which conforms to
Chapter 150B of the North Carolina General Statutes to the Office of Administrative Hearings, 6714 Mail Service
Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-6714. This certification and its conditions are final and binding unless you ask for a
hearing.
This letter completes the review of the Division of Water Quality under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. If you have
any questions, please telephone Mr. Mike Parker of the Asheville Regional Office at 828.296.4500.
Sincerely,
i%~jGG%1 ~ /2- ~
lan W. Klimek, P.E., Director
Division of Water Quality
cc: Mark Davis, Division 14, DEO
Ed Ingle, Roadside Environmental
David Baker, USACE Asheville Field Office
Transportation Permitting Unit
Mike Parker, Asheville Regional Office