TO
WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Comments are
invited on the work described below.
Please see the Public Involvement section for details on
submitting comments.
Point of Contact. If additional
information is desired, please contact the project manager, Lisa Boyle, telephone number: (501) 340-1385,
mailing address: Little Rock District
Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Division, PO Box 867, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203-0867, email address: Lisa.A.Boyle@usace.army.mil. An electronic copy of the Gum Log Creek Mitigation Bank prospectus can be viewed on the Little Rock District, Regulatory Division webpage at http://www.swl.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/PublicNotices.aspx or a hard copy can be obtained from the Corps of
Engineers through the contact information listed above.
Project
Information. Pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.
Code 1344), notice is hereby given that
Streamworks Mitigation Services, LLC
ATTN: Ms. Jody Duke
P.O. Box 23612
Little Rock, Arkansas 72221
has
submitted their Gum Log Creek Mitigation Bank
prospectus. The prospectus outlines the
proposal for developing and operating the bank, which is known as the banking
instrument. After public comments are
received and any issues are resolved on the prospectus, Streamworks Mitigation
Services, LLC (Streamworks) will
submit a draft-banking instrument to the District Engineer of the Little Rock
District. The District Engineer will
then distribute the draft-banking instrument to the Interagency Review Team
(IRT), which is made up of the Corps and the pertinent state and Federal resource
agencies. The IRT will review the
banking instrument and coordinate with Streamworks on any issues until a final
banking instrument is completed. Finally,
the District Engineer will review the final instrument and make a decision to
approve or not approve.
The primary
purpose of this bank is to mitigate for unavoidable impacts to streams and
wetlands authorized under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The project goal is to restore streams and
wetlands.
The
proposed project is located in White Oak Creek, Gum Log Creek, and associated
tributaries and wetlands, in sections 2, 10, 11, and 15, T. 7 N., R. 18 W.,
east of Atkins, Pope County, Arkansas.
The site is approximately 480 acres in size and has historically been
used for row crops, pastureland, and timber production. Stream channel segments have been
straightened, dammed to create livestock ponds, and are often choked with
logging and tornado debris.
Streamworks
has preliminarily identified approximately 9,345 linear feet of perennial
stream, 218,964 linear feet of ephemeral or intermittent tributaries, and 166
acres of wetlands. Streamworks proposes
to perform bank stabilization along Gum Log Creek and reconstruct White Oak
Creek and the onsite tributaries to exhibit historical planform features. Wetland areas will be restored and
enhanced. The entire site will be
revegetated with native hardwood and herbaceous species. The site would be monitored for a minimum of
five years to ensure hydrologic and revegetation success, and would be
perpetually preserved.
The
proposed bank site lies within the Lake Conway-Point Remove 8-digit (11110203)
hydrologic unit code (HUC) as designated by the U.S. Geologic Survey. Streamworks proposes that the primary
geographic service area for the bank include the Lake Conway-Point Remove,
Dardanelle Reservoir (11110202), and Lower Arkansas-Maumelle (11110207)
HUCs. The proposed secondary service
area includes the Bayou Meto (08020402), Petit Jean (11110204), Frog-Mulberry
(11110201), and the portions of the Robert S. (11110104) and Poteau (11110105)
HUCs that are within Arkansas.
The
location and general plan for the proposed work are shown on the enclosed
sheets.
Water
Quality Certification.
By copy of this public notice, the applicant is requesting water quality
certification from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) in
accordance with Section 401(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act. Upon completion of the comment period and a
public hearing, if held, a determination relative to water quality
certification will be made. Evidence of
this water quality certification or waiver of the right to certify must be
submitted prior to the issuance of a Corps of Engineers permit.
Cultural
Resources. A Corps staff
archeologist will review topographic maps, the National Register of Historic
Places, and other data on reported sites in the area. 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 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 Regulations (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 April 22, 2016. 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.
Enclosures
Approximate
Coordinates of Project Center
Latitude: 35.27°N Longitude: -92.887°W
UTM Zone: 15 North: 3903058 East: 510349