Okaloosa County BOCC — February 4, 2014 — Pre-application for Design, Construct and Equip Air Traffic Control Tower at DTS — reading text

Proposed Project may temporarily affect surface water quality. Construction would disturb land. Runoff from that disturbed area could flow into nearby streams and adversely affect water quality. An NPDES construction permit would need to be obtained and would include best management practices (BMP’s) to avoid and minimize the potential temporary effects, An approximately 525 square foot parking lot would create new impervious surface, slightly increasing the amount of stormwater runoff, However, as noted below, the Proposed Project includes the construction of stormwater management facilities to protect nearby waters. Proposed stormwater treatment and attenuation for the Proposed Project would be achieved through dry swale facilities. This meets requirements in the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Statewide Airport Stormwater Study Best Management Practices (BMP) Manual, dated December 2010, and FAA design criteria. As recommended in FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 150/5200-33B , the Proposed Project would remove all standing water it causes on or near the airfield within 48 hours of a design rainfall effect by using the dry swale treatment and under drains in retention ponds. Thus, the stormwater facilities associated with the Proposed Project would not be a wildlife hazard attractant. The Proposed Project would not affect any aquifers. The closest sole source aquifer is the Southern Hills Regional Aquifer System, located approximately 190 miles west of the Proposed Project. Okaloosa County would need to obtain applicable permits from the Northwest Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD) and United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) due to the wetland impacts associated with construction of the Proposed Project. To obtain these permits, the project's design, mitigation, and BMPs would meet strict standards to protect all applicable water quality standards. Proposed on-site and off-site wetland mitigation have been discussed with USACE and NWFWMD. At this time, USACE and NWFWMD have found the proposed mitigation acceptable. The potential for on-site and off-site mitigation is further discussed in Sectien &{17}e) of the Final Focused GA, Destin Airport Bevelopmeart of Contract Air Traffic Cantral Tower Page 5 FAA ORLANDO ADO [FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT AND RECORD OF DECISION Wetlands - The No Action Alternative will not result in wetland impacts. The Proposed Project would affect approximately 1 acre of state and federal jurisdictional wetlands (0.5-acre temporary and 0.5-acre direct). This wetland impact is unavoidable due to limited acreage of undeveloped land on the western side of the Airport needed! to support the safety and function of an ATCT. As described in Section &(4) af the Final Focused EA, construction of the Proposed Project would temporarily affect 0.5-acre of wetland as a result of clearing forested wetlands and filling areas to facilitate construction equipment access. The 0.5-acre of directly impacted wetlands is part of a much larger system approximately 130 acres in size. The impacts are located along the eastern edge of the wetland system which is less damaging to the integrity the remaining wetland resource. Due to the small size of the Proposed Project, no significant impact to the wetland habitat at the Airport or its functions is anticipated. In accordance with USACE, FDEP and NWEWMD permitting procedures, compensatory mitigation for wetland functional losses would be required in order to obtain a permit (see Final Focused EA Sections 10 and 11, respectively). As a result of the Proposed Project's potential for wetland impacts and to comply with Section 404 guidelines, the Focused EA evaluated Alternative #1 and Alternative #2 as alternatives to the Proposed Project. However, Alternatives #1 and #2 have the potential to impact a greater acreage of wetlands than the Proposed Project (see Section 6 of the Final Facused EA), Minimization of wetland impacts includes positioning the facility at the edge of the wetland while still maintaining the functional capability, reducing the size of the footprint as much as possible (Including the temporary impact areas), and relocation of the proposed access road from the original position to primarily uplands. The Proposed Project involves less than 5 acres of wetland impacts. According to the Operating Agreement between the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and NWFWMD, Okaloosa County would apply for the Environmental Resource Permit (ERP) through the NWFWMD's Crestview Field Office (see Final Focused EA Attachment B-2), The USACE has authority for the potential impacts to the jurisdictional wetland. See Section 11 for a description of the conceptual wetland mitigation. The Proposed Project does not qualify fora USACE Nationwide General Permit. USACE and NWEWMD were contacted to discuss possible wetland mitigation options including _ an off-site plan utilizing the Nokuse Mitigation Bank, preservation of wetlands at the Airport and off-site site-specific mitigation. The Proposed Project is not situated within the Service Area of the Nokuse Mitigation Bank; however, the Service Area boundary is located approximately two miles from the Proposed Project. Additionally, drainage from both the Proposed Project and the Nokuse Mitigation Bank site discharge to Choctawhatchee Bay. The regulatory agencies, on occasion, authorize the use of a permitted mitigation bank even though a project is not in the Service Area. USACE indicated that, even though the preference of the agency was the use of a permitted mitigation bank, this was not a viable option since the Propased Project is too far removed from the Service Area and ia ap eng toot baste iat see RAPIER NA RRA TER TOES SRT ATA Toutes svg stain MARNE IE ES ee Destin Airport , Davalopment of Contract Air Traffic Contral Tower Page io Sources: Bing, 2012; US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2012; RS&H, 2012 0 500 1,000 2,000 N ees Feet HME SCEstuarine and Marine Deepwater Estuarine and Marine Wetland Freshwater Forested/Shrub Wetland [| Project Study Area Freshwater Pond ; Freshwater Emergent Wetland ; ' Destin Airport Boundary Exhibit A-9 Wetlands FAA ORLANDO ADO [FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT AND RECORD OF DECISION permit conditions of the Nokuse Mitigation Bank do not allow this variance. USACE indicated that on-site wetland preservation may be acceptable due to the size of the wetland system present on the Airport property. The viability of the mitigation plan would depend upon it providing enough of a wetland functional unit replacement value per the Uniform Mitigation Assessment Methodology (UMAM) evaluation. Wetland preservation on the Airport was also given cursory approval by the NWFWMD, but has not been authorized by the FAA. An off-site site-specific wetland mitigation plan would also be acceptable to USACE, provided that it Is located within the same drainage basin, involves the creation, enhancement or preservation of the same type of wetland system and a UMAM evaluation yields adequate wetland functional unit replacement for the impacted wetlands at the Airport. NWEWMD stated that the compensatory mitigation for impacts at the Destin Airport up to 0.5-acre in size could be permitted utilizing the Nokuse Mitigation Bank and that the secondary impacts as well as the direct impacts would be included in the calculation of the 0.5-acre threshold total. Since the Proposed Project would exceed the 0.5-acre threshold, NWFWMD indicated that a credit purchase from the mitigation bank could be used for compensation for the direct impacts with the temporary impacts being mitigated with a site specific plan at the Airport property or in the vicinity. NWEWMD indicated that an off-site site specific wetland mitigation plan would be acceptable with similar requirements to those voiced by USACE. Any type of mitigation plan would require a UMAM evaluation to determine the appropriateness of the proposal. Based on coordination with USACE and NWFWMD the proposed mitigation options are acceptable at this time to compensate for any unavoidable impacts to wetland resources. The County proposes conceptual on-site wetlands mitigation to compensate for the unavoidable 1-acre wetland impact (see Section 11 of the Final Focused EA). Okaloosa County will develop a detailed mitigation plan to the satisfaction of USACE, NWFWMD, and FAA during the permitting process. Wild and Scenic Rivers - Neither the No Action nor the Proposed Project Alternatives would result in impacts to Wild and Scenic Rivers. The Proposed Project would not affect any river segment on the National River Inventory. The closest Wild and Scenic River to the project, study area is the Black Creek in Mississippi, approximately 200 miles to the west. The closest river segment on the National River Inventory within Florida is the Wekiva River, located over 300 miles to the southeast of the Proposed Project. There are no National River inventory Segments within Okaloosa County. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS As described in Section 8 of the Final Focused EA, the Proposed Project would result in potential unavoidable environmental impacts, Meetings were held with Airport stakeholders during the VFR ATCT Comparative Safety Assessment (CSA). Attendees discussed the project, potential sites, ment. Okaloosa eR EAL OTA EEE RET ETE CORR eee Destin Airport Development of Contract Air Traffic Control Tower Parte be FAA ORLANDO ADO | FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT AND RECORD OF DECISION County has not received significant agency or public comments on the Proposed Project; therefore, the Proposed Project is not highly controversial on environmental grounds. The Proposed Project would not conflict with the objectives of Federal, regional, state, or local plans or policies of Okaloosa County/City of Destin. The Proposed Project is reasonably consistent with plans, goals, policies, or controls that have been adopted for the area in which Destin Airport is located. Cumulative Impacts — Section 12 of the Final Focused EA analyzed the cumulative impacts the Proposed Project would have on particular resources when added to the impacts of past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions undertaken or proposed by the Airport Sponsor. Based on the information contained in the Final Focused EA, the Proposed Project would not result in cumulative impacts to any of the resource categories evaluated. CONSISTENCY WITH APPROVED PLANS OR LAWS The Proposed Project is consistent with plans, goals, policies, and controls that have been adopted for the area in which Destin Airport is located. The Proposed Project is depicted on the Destin Airport's most current Airport Layout Plan (ALP). The Proposed Project would not require land use or zoning changes and thus would be consistent with all local land use and comprehensive plans. There has been no indication that any aspect of the Proposed Project is inconsistent with Federal, state, or local laws or administrative determinations related to the environment. The required permits (NWFWMD and USACE) will be obtained by the County prior to construction of the Proposed Project. MITIGATION MEASURES As described in Section 8(17) of the Final Focused EA, the Proposed Project would affect approximately 1-acre of state and federal jurisdictional wetlands (0.5-acre temporary and 0.5-acre direct), The temporary wetland impact area, as a result of construction, would be returned to pre- construction elevations and the vegetative community re-established by natural recruitment. The loss of wetland functions associated with the Proposed Project was evaluated utilizing the Uniform Wetland Mitigation Assessment (UMAM) methodology. This assessment methodology has been accepted by USACE, FDEP, and NWFWMD and is commonly used during the permitting process to determine that adequate compensatory mitigation is provided. The UMAM