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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20060913 Ver 1_Other Agency Comments_20060828DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS PO BOX 1890 WILMINGTON NC 28402-1890 August 23, 2006 Regulatory Division Action ID No. SAW-2006-32986-010 Sunset Station, LLC Attn: John Lomax Kress Building, 212 S. Elm Street Greensboro, North Carolina 27401 Dear Mr. Lomax: o~-oq~~ ATE Please reference your request for the Department of the Army (DA) authorization permit to discharge fill material into 2991inear feet of an unnamed tributary to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and into 18 square feet of an impoundment (open water) of that tributary, associated with the proposed Shoreline at Sunset Beach residential development. The project area is located along the eastside of Sunset Boulevard, south of Station Trail, in Sunset Beach, Brunswick County, North Carolina. On February 6, 1990, the Department of the Army (DA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) establishing procedures to determine the type and level of mitigation necessary to comply with Clean Water Act Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines. This MOA provides for first, avoiding impacts to waters and wetlands through the selection of the least damaging, practical alternative; second, taking appropriate and practical steps to reduce impacts on waters and wetlands; and finally, compensation for remaining unavoidable impacts to the extent appropriate and practical. To enable us to process your application, in compliance with the MOA, we request that you provide the following additional information: a. Permits for work within wetlands or other special aquatic sites are available only if the proposed work is the least environmentally damaging, practicable alternative. Please furnish information regarding any other alternatives, including upland alternatives, to the work for which you have applied and provide justification that your selected plan is the least damaging to water or wetland areas. b. It is necessary for you to have taken all appropriate and practicable steps to minimize wetland losses. Please indicate all that you have done, especially regarding development and modification of plans and proposed construction techniques, t cts. D ' ~~ AUG 2 8 2006 DENR -WATER QUALITY WETUWDS AND STO;?MWATER BRANCH -2- c. The MOA requires that appropriate and practicable mitigation will be required for all unavoidable adverse impacts remaining after the applicant has employed all appropriate and practicable minimization. Please indicate your plan to mitigate for the projected, unavoidable loss of waters or wetlands or provide information as to the absence of any such appropriate and practicable measures. The aforementioned, requested information is essential to the expeditious processing of your application; please forwarded this information to us within two (2) weeks of your receipt of this letter. In addition, you should be aware that State and Federal commenting agencies might recommend design modifications. Finally, please be aware that the Corps cannot issue a final permit for your proposed activity until your project has been determined consistent with the approved state Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program. Please reference the enclosed document titled "North Carolina Federal Consistency Certification Submission Guidance (Subpart "D" 15 CFR 930)", for information on the steps involved in obtaining this determination. Once you have made this determination, you should submit to the Corps a statement indicating that your proposed activity complies with, and would be conducted in a manner that is consistent with, the approved state CZM Program. The Corps will then forward your determination to the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management with a request for concurrence or non-concurrence. If you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me at (910) 251-4923. Sincerely, Jennifer S. Frye Regulatory Specialist Wilmington Regulatory Field Office Enclosure Copies Furnished (with enclosure): Trigon Engineering Consultants, Inc. Attn: Christopher W. Hay 313 Gallimore Dairy Road Greensboro, North Carolina 27409 -3- Copies Furnished (without enclosure): Ms. Becky Fox Wetlands Regulatory Section -Region IV U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1349 Firefly Road Whittier, North Carolina 28789 Mr. Doug Huggett Division of Coastal Management N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources 1638 Mail Service Center Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1638 Mr. Stephen Rynas Federal Consistency Coordinator N.C. Division of Coastal Management Hestron Plaza II, 151 B, Highway 24 Morehead City, North Carolina 28557-2518 s. Cyndi Karoly ivision of Water Quality N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources 1621 Mail Service Center Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1621 Mr. Pete Benjamin U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Post Office Box 33726 Raleigh, North Carolina 27636-3726