Okaloosa County BOCC — July 2, 2013 — CoE Public Notice — reading text

SAJ-2013-00022 (SP-EPS) > Jacksonville District > Jacksonville District Regulatory Pub... Page 1 of 3 ABOUT BUSINESS WITH US MISSIONS LOCATIONS Public Notices Archive 2013 (117) 2012 (1) Public Notice Notifications The Jacksonville District currently has five categories of public notice notification mailing lists. If you wish to receive email notifications when new public notices are added to this page, please send a request to Regulatory Webmaster. Each category is described below. Be sure to specify which list(s) you want to be included on. Florida - This includes all public notices for projects being reviewed for Standard Permits within the State of Florida. Antilles - This includes all public notices for projects being reviewed for Standard Permits within the Antilles area (this includes Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands). Tropical Storms & Other Emergencies - These public notices provide information on procedures for emergency permitting requirements due to specific tropical storm events or other emergency situations. Special Issues - These are public notices that involve the Regulatory program but which are generally not limited to one particular geographic area. These would include public notices for the establishment or modification of Restricted Areas/Danger Zones, re-issuance of General Permits or Nationwide Permits, changes to guidance and policies, etc. Administrative Penalty - These public notices provide information associated with Administrative Penalties. An Administrative Penalty can be assessed to address violations associated with issued Department of the Army permis. http://www.saj.usace.army .mil/Missions/Regulatory/PublicNotices/tabid/6072/Article/162... JACKSONVILLE DISTRICT CAREERS MEDIA LIBRARY CONTACT Print ATTACHMENTS ‘SAJ-2013-00022 (SP-EPS) P Graphics Posted: 7/19/2013 Expiration date: 8/9/2013 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The Jacksonville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has received an after-the-fact application for a Department of the Army permit pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. §403) as described below: APPLICANT: Timberview Helicopters clo Kevin Raftery 1001 Airport Road Destin, FL 32541 WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with Choctawhatchee Bay, Destin Harbor, and Destin Pass (East Pass). The three proposed project sites are located: 1) in the vicinity of Crab Island, approximately 1150 feet NNE of the end of the dock at the US Coast Guard station on the west side of Destin Pass; 2) inside Destin Harbor, approximately 2270 feet ESE from the point on the south side of the mouth of Destin Harbor; and 3) on the west side of Destin Pass, approximately 400 feet south of the Highway 98 bridge. Please use latitude/longitude information below for additional location data. Directions to the site are as follows: From the Highway 98 bridge over Destin Pass, the information for the three proposed locations is approximated from nearby landmarks. APPROXIMATE CENTRAL COORDINATES: Site 1: Latitude 30° 23" 41.9" Site 2: Latitude 30° 23'28.6" Site 3: Latitude 30° 23' 31.2" Site 1: Longitude -86° 31’ 26.8" Site 2: Latitude -86° 30’ 21.0” Site 3: Latitude -86° 31’ 06.8” PROJECT PURPOSE: Basic: floating platform Overall: to install a floating platform for use as a helipad and for docking customers’ and appurtenant vessels for a commercial aerial tour business in Destin, Florida EXISTING CONDITIONS: The waters consist of an estuarine system around the interface of Choctawhatchee Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The proposed site on the northwest side"of Crab Island contains submerged aquatic vegetation including shoal grass (Halodule wrightii); the other two locations have unvegetated sandy or silty bottom. The existing area surrounding the project areas consists of other estuarine waters, with some nearby areas also containing submerged aquatic vegetation. The immediately adjacent uplands on the east side of the pass contain commercial and residential development, and some sandy beach area. With the exception of some parking area and a US Coast Guard facility, the lands on the west side of the pass around Highway 98 are undeveloped barrier island dunes with coastal scrub and interdunal lake and wetland habitat. PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks after-the-fact authorization for the installation of a floating platform for a helipad and for docking. The platform consists of a non-motorized barge with an elevated steel-framed, timber decking helipad constructed 12 feet above the lower deck. The platform would be used for a commercial aerial tour business in Destin, Florida and would be moved between the three locations. The duration that it would remain in place at each location has been requested, but the applicant has responded that durations have not been determined. The platform would remain in place overnight although the helicopter would be stored elsewhere. Lighting consisting of two unobstructed, all-round white lights with a minimum intensity of 0.9 candela visible from 1 Nautical Mile away, red lights at the four comers of the top deck, two anchor lights (one per anchor), and four 8-foot fluorescent lights illuminating the lower deck would be utlized. The platform would be anchored using two 800-Ib anchors. Signs would be posted on the sides 7/22/2013 SAJ-2013-00022 (SP-EPS) > Jacksonville District > Jacksonville District Regulatory Pub... Page 2 of 3 of the platform with language such as ‘PRIVATE PROPERTY: NO TRESPASSING, REMAIN 25 FEET AWAY. SEE WATER TAXI FOR ACCESS.” AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION INFORMATION: The applicant has provided the following information in Support of efforts to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment: The proposed helipad is constructed on an existing barge, a vessel intended to float on the water surface. The barge shall be anchored and not permanently fixed to the sandbed. There will not be any construction impact. The barge is not self-propelled (no engine) and is pushed between the proposed locations. The bottom decking has an 8- inch high lip that acts as spill containment in the event of a fuel release on the top deck. The vessel shall be placed as to impact the least amount of grass bed area. COMPENSATORY MITIGATION: The applicant has offered the following compensatory mitigation plan to offset unavoidable functional loss to the aquatic environment: The impact to the grass beds is expected to be negligible, however compensatory mitigation will have to be evaluated by the appropriate agency. CULTURAL RESOURCES: The Corps is not aware of any known historic properties within the permit area By copy of this public notice, the Corps is providing information for review. Our final determination relative to historic resource impacts is subject to review by and coordination with the State Historic Preservation Officer and those federally recognized tribes with concerns in Florida and the Permit Area ENDANGERED SPECIES: The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) and would not destroy or adversely modify its designated critical habitat (Unit 12), is not likely to adversely affect the Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate), Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta), Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), and the Smalitooth Sawfish (Pristis pectinata). The Corps will request U.S. Fish and Wildlife/National Marine Fisheries Service concurrence with these determinations pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. The project does not occur within West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) Critical Habitat, but is within the present range of the species. The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the West Indian Manatee or its designated critical habitat. Utilizing the Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, and the State of Florida Effect Determination Key for the Manatee in Florida, dated April 2013, yielded the following progression: A>B>C>G>H>I>J>L>N>O>P. Based on the information, further consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife is not required for ‘may affect, not likely to adversely affect” determinations as stated in the Effect Determination Key for the Manatee. Any effects on additional listed species, including shorebirds, will also be evaluated through coordination with U.S. Fish and Wildlife and/or National Marine Fisheries Service. ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT (EFH): This notice initiates consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service on EFH as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 1996 ‘The proposal would impact approximately 0.05 acres of sandy and vegetated bottom habitat utilized by various life stages of red drum, shrimp, stone crab, coastal migratory pelagics, and other species. Our initial determination is that the proposed action would not have a substantial adverse impact on EFH or Federally- managed fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. Our final determination relative to project impacts and the need for mitigation measures is subject to review by and coordination with the National Marine Fisheries Service. NOTE: This public notice is being issued based on information furnished by the applicant. This information has not been verified or evaluated to ensure compliance with laws and regulation governing the regulatory program, AUTHORIZATION FROM OTHER AGENCIES: Water Quality Certification has not been received, and may be required from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and/or one of the state Water Management Districts. COMMENTS regarding the potential authorization of the work proposed should be submitted in writing to the attention of the District Engineer through the Pensacola Permits Section, 41 N. Jefferson Street, Suite 301 Pensacola, FL 32502 within 21 days from the date of this notice. The decision whether to issue or deny this permit application will be based on the information received from this public notice and the evaluation of the probable impact to the associated wetlands. This is based on an analysis of the applicant's avoidance and minimization efforts for the project, as well as the compensatory mitigation proposed QUESTIONS concerning this application should be directed to the project manager, Ed Sarfert, in writing at the Pensacola Permits Section, 41 N. Jefferson Street, Suite 301, Pensacola, FL 32502, by electronic mail at edward.p.sarfert@usace army.mil , by fax at (850) 433-8160, or by telephone at (850) 439-9533. IMPACT ON NATURAL RESOURCES: Preliminary review of this application indicates that an Environmental Impact Statement will not be required. Coordination with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Marine Fisheries Services, and other Federal, State, and local agencies, environmental groups, and concerned citizens generally yields pertinent environmental information that is instrumental in determining the impact the proposed action will have on the natural resources of the area, By means of this notice, we are soliciting comments on the potential effects of the project on threatened or endangered species or their habitat http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/PublicNotices/tabid/6072/Article/162.... 7/22/2013 SAJ-2013-00022 (SP-EPS) > Jacksonville District > Jacksonville District Regulatory Pub... Page 3 of 3 EVALUATION: 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 concem for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefits, which reasonably may be expected to accrue from