Pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S. Code 1344), notice is hereby given that
Mr. Ted Taylor
City of Bryant
210 SW 3rd Street
Bryant, AR 72022
has requested authorization for the placement of dredged and fill material in waters of the United States associated with the extension of the Bryant Parkway from Shobe Road to State Highway 183. The project will impact a total of 364 linear feet of jurisdictional stream (mitigated through the purchase of 1,238 stream credits) and 1.70 acres of jurisdictional wetlands (mitigated through the purchase of 17.6 wetland credits). The proposed project is located in sections 26, 34 and 35, T. 1 S., R. 14 W., and in section 3, T. 2 S., R. 14 W., Bryant, Saline County, Arkansas.
The project purpose is to contribute to the quality of life of Bryant citizens by increasing connectivity, decreasing traffic congestion, and expanding the Bryant Trails System. The new road will encourage economic growth and job creation in Bryant and surrounding rural areas while providing direct access to the Saline County Regional Airport. Bryant Parkway will allow rural communities of Sardis and Bauxite easier access to the Little Rock Metropolitan area.
The proposed project will extend Bryant Parkway on a new alignment beginning 0.35 miles east of the intersection of Hill Farm Road and Reynolds Road, extending 2.36 miles northward along the west side of the airport, and terminating at Shobe Road. The project includes a bridge spanning Crooked Creek and the Union Pacific Railroad. Floodway improvements will require that 364 linear feet of Crooked Creek (identified as OW 5) be impacted by widening. The creek will be widened 15 feet by moving the right bank 15 feet to the south and lining it with a permanent turf reinforcement mat. The project will impact an emergent wetland (identified as W-1) by permanently filling 0.01 acres to construct the proposed roadway (see attached page 2 of 10). The project will also impact forested wetland features (identified as W-8 and W-9) to improve the bridge design and floodway (see attached pages 2 and 3 of 10). Permanent fill will be placed in W-9 to construct the north end of the proposed bridge to include a total of 1.27 acres of impacts (permanent and temporary). Bridge columns will be placed in wetland feature W-8 to include a total of 0.42 acres of impacts (permanent and temporary). Wetland features W-5, W-6, W-7 and OW6 are considered non-jurisdictional.
The existing Bryant Parkway corridor is an approximately 2.1-miles long south to north minor arterial. The corridor’s southern terminus dead ends at Shobe Road and the northern terminus is at the intersection of Hilldale Road and Hilltop Road, approximately 0.9 miles north of Interstate-30 (I-30). In the location that Bryant Parkway crosses over I-30, the parkway is connected to the interstate by on/off ramps to a one-way interstate frontage road. The proposed Bryant Parkway Extension project would begin near the intersection of Shobe Road and Bryant Parkway and extend south on new alignment to the southern terminus of the Bryant Parkway corridor at the southern edge of the Bryant city limits near the intersection of State Highway 183 and Hill Farm Road.
The 2002 Charleston Method with the Little Rock Addendum and the 2011 Little Rock Stream
Method would be used as the functional assessments and credit generation mechanisms for this
project.
The location and general plan for the proposed work are shown on the enclosed sheets.
Water Quality Certification. The Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 Certification Rule (Certification Rule, 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 121), effective September 11, 2020, requires certification for any license or permit that authorizes an activity that may result in a discharge. The scope of a CWA Section 401 certification is limited to assuring that a discharge from a Federally licensed or permitted activity will comply with water quality requirements. The applicant is responsible for requesting certification and providing required information to the certifying agency. As of the date of this public notice, the applicant has not submitted a certification request to the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment, Division of Environmental Quality (certifying authority). In accordance with Certification Rule Part 121.6, once the applicant submits a certification request the Corps will determine the reasonable period of time for the certifying agency to act upon the certification and provide written notification. In accordance with Certification Rule Part 121.12, the Corps will notify the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator when it has received the subject certification. The Administrator is responsible for determining if the discharge may affect water quality in a neighboring jurisdiction. The DA permit may not be issued pending the conclusion of the Administrator’s determination of effects on neighboring jurisdictions.
Cultural Resources. A Corps staff archeologist will evaluate the proposal for compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, including identification and evaluation of cultural resources potentially impacted by the proposal's implementation in waters of the United States. The District Engineer invites responses to this public notice from Native American Nations or tribal governments; Federal, State, and local agencies; historical and archeological societies; and other parties likely to have knowledge of or concerns with historic properties in the area.
Endangered Species. Our preliminary determination is that the proposed activity will not affect listed Endangered Species or their critical habitat. A copy of this notice is being furnished to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and appropriate state agencies and constitutes a request to those agencies for information on whether any listed or proposed‑to‑be‑listed endangered or threatened species may be present in the area which would be affected by the proposed activity.
Floodplain. We are providing copies of this notice to appropriate floodplain officials in accordance with 44 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 60 (Floodplain Management Regulations Criteria for Land Management and Use) and Executive Order 11988 on Floodplain Management.
Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines. The evaluation of activities to be authorized under this permit, which involves the discharge of dredged or fill material will include application of guidelines promulgated by the Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, under authority of Section 404(b) of the Clean Water Act. These guidelines are contained in 40 Code of Federal CFR 230.
Public Involvement. Any interested party is invited to submit to the above-listed POC written comments or objections relative to the proposed work on or before June 21, 2021. Substantive comments, both favorable and unfavorable, will be accepted and made a part of the record and will receive full consideration in determining whether this work would be in the public interest. The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact 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, floodplain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, considerations of property ownership and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people.
The Corps of Engineers is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, state, and local agencies and officials; 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 and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. 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 this application. Requests for public hearings shall state, with particularity, the reasons for holding a public hearing. The District Engineer will determine if the issues raised are substantial and whether a hearing is needed for making a decision.
NOTE: The mailing list for this Public Notice is arranged by state and county(s) where the project is located, and includes any addressees who have asked to receive copies of all public notices. Please discard notices that are not of interest to you. If you have no need for any of these notices, please advise us so that your name can be removed from the mailing list.
Approximate Coordinates of Project Center
Latitude: 34.597346° Longitude: -92.481692°
UTM Zone: 15N North: 547527 East: 3828513