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ST9301-CS011115 DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY .~ FORT WORTH DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS P.O. BOX 17300 FORT WORTH, TEXAS 76102-0300 REPLY TO ATTENTION OF November ] 5, 2001 Planning, Environmental, and Regulatory Division Regulatory Branch SUBJECT: Project Number 200100634, SANDY LAKE ROAD RECONSTRUCTION Ms. Suzan C. Taylor C.i.P. Coordinator City of Coppell 255 Parkway P.O. Box 478 Coppell, Texas 75019 Dear Ms. Taylor: Thank you for your letter dated October 15, 2001. Your request has been assigned Project Number 200100634. Mr. Ken Laterza has been assigned as the regulatory project manager for your request and will be evaluating it as expeditiously as possible. However, because of our permit workload it will take a while for us to respond. You may be contacted for additional information about your request. For your information, we are enclosing guidance on submittals and mitigation that may help you prepare future requests or supplement your current request. If you have any questions about the evaluation of your request, please contact Mr. Ken Laterza at the address above or telephone (817)886-1735 and refer to your assigned project number. Please note that it is unlawful to start work without a Department of the Army permit if one is required. Wayne A. Lea Chief, Regulatory Branch Enclosures US Army Corps Recommendations for Department of Engineers of the Army Permit Submittals Fort Worth District April 6, 1998 The following recommendations from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Fort Worth District, specify information that should be submitted with project proposals for review of permitting requirements under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899: 1. A vicinity map (e.g., county map, USGS quad sheet, etc.) showing the location of the project, including any borrow or disposal site(s) or other outlying features. 2. A delineation and description of wetlands and other waters of the United States in the area that would be affected by the proposed work. Delineations of wetlands must be conducted using the "Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual", USACE Waterways Experiment Station Wetlands Research Program Technical Report Y-87-1, dated January 1987. The on-line edition of the manual is available on the Internet at http://www.wes.army.mil]el/wetlands/wlpubs.html. 3. The purpose of, and need for, the project. 4. Plan, profile, and cross-section views of all work, both permanent and temporary, in or adjacent to waters of the United States, including wetlands. (If a standard individual permit is required, drawings on 8 ½ by 11 inch sheets must be provided.) 5. The type, source, and volume of material proposed to be discharged into and/or excavated from waters of the United States. In cases where the activity may result in a permanent change to pre- construction contours or drainage patterns, provide the reasons why the changes are necessary and a description of the anticipated outcome of the changes. 6. The width and depth of the water body and the waterward distance of any structures from the existing shoreline if located on a navigable water or a USACE lake project. 7. A description of the project's likely temporary and permanent impact on the aquatic environment. 8. A description of actions in project design to avoid and minimize adverse impacts to the aquatic environment and to compensate for unavoidable adverse impacts to the aquatic environment. 9. The project schedule. 10. A statement disclosing whether or not any species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act might be affected by, or found in the vicinity of, the proposed project. Direct coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concerning the potential impact of the entire project on threatened and endangered species is strongly encouraged. 11. Any other relevant information, including available information on cultural resources and hydrology. m US Army Corps Mitigation and the Section 404 of Engineers Regulatory Program Fort Worth District March 6, 1998 Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) regulates the discharge of dredged and fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands. Thus, Depar~nent of the Army authorization is normally required for discharges associated with such ground disturbing activities as filling, grading, excavation, and mechanized land clearing when they occur in waters of the United State's. When the USACE reviews a project that would require Department of the Army authorization, the evaluation process typically includes a deterrrdnation of whether the applicant has taken sufficient measures to mitigate the project's likely adverse impacts to the aquatic ecosystem. Mitigation is a three-step sequential process, with the steps employed in the following order: Avoid: Take all appropriate and practicable measures to avoid those adverse impacts to the aquatic ecosystem that are not absolutely necessary. Minimize: Take all appropriate and practicable measures to minimize those adverse impacts to the aquatic ecosystem that cannot reasonably be avoided. " Compe~,~te: Impl _en]_.ent ~pProPriate ~nd practicable measure.q t° comPensate for adverse project impacts to the aquatic.ecosystem that cannot reasonably be avoided or mm/amized. Known as compensatory mitigation. While this sequential mitigatitn process i$~'normally apphed only during the individual permit process, most nationwide and regional general pecmits do require that discharges of dredged and fill material into waters of the United States be avoided and minimized to the maximum extent practicable, unless the District Engineer approves a compensation plan that is more beneficial to the environment than minimization or avoidance measures undertaken at the project site. The District Engineer will normally require, on a case-by-case basis, all practicable and appropriate compensation as a condition of Department of the Army authorization. The purpose of compensatory mitigation is to replace those aquatic ecosystem functions that would be lost or impaired because of an authoriT.'ed activity. The amount and type of compensatory mitigation required for a particular activity should be commensurate with the nature and extent of the activity's adverse impact on aquatic functions and be practicable in terms of cost, existing technology, and logistics, in light of the overall project purpose. Aquatic functions, which are most simply def'med as "the things that aquatic systems do," include sediment trapping and nutrient removal; flood storage and conveyance; erosion control; providing habitat for fish and wildlife, including endangered species; groundwater recharge; water supply; production of food, fiber, and timber; and recreation. The number and extent of these and other aquatic functions vary '~dely among the myriad aquatic sites found across the Fort Worth District. Compensatory mitigation may include the restoration, enhan~cement, creation, or, in exceptional cases, preser~ation of wetlands and other aquatic resources. Restoration is the re-establishment of functions charac~.ehstics that have either ceased to exist or exist, in a substantially degraded state; enhancement includes activities conducted on, or adjacent to, existing wetlands and other aquatic resources that are intended to enhance one or more aquatic [5~nctions such ~s conversion co a !ess destmctiYe 1,a~nd use or Migration and the Section 404 Regulatory Pro,ram Pa~¢ 2 of 4 tmprovement of the e~sting plant community; creation is the establishment of a wetland or other aquatic resource where one did not formerly exist; and preservation is the protection of existing ecolog/cally important wetlands and other aquatic resources in perpetuity by implementing certain legal and physical mechanisms. Preservation is normally appropriate only in exceptional cases, such as when a high-value aquatic resource would be lost to lawful activities were it not protected by preservation. Restoration and enhancement are preferred to creation because they are normally less expensive, more successful, and less likely to adversely affect existing upland and open water habitats. A compensatory mitigation project that involves ground disturbing activities m waters of the United States may itself require Department of the Army authorization. It is important to remember that the goal is to replace the affected aquatic functions to the extent that they would be lost or impaired by the proposed acfiviW, that is, compensation should generally be "in-kind." Compensation should be provided as close to the site of the adverse impacts as practicable to minimize losses to the local aquatic system. However, off-site compensation may be more appropriate when the compensation cannot reasonably be conducted at the impact site or would be more beneficial to the aquatic ecosystem if conducted at another location. In some cases, it may be acceptable to provide partial compensation at multiple locations. For'example, it may be necessary to compensate for flood storage impacts on site while compensating for w/ldlife habitat impacts at another location. Two general approaches to implementing compensatory mitigation are. project-specific and third-party compensation projects. A project-specific compensation project is conducted to compensate for the adverse impacts of a single activity requiring Department of the Army authoriz, ati__o.n. ~A projoct, specific - - . compensation project is typically designed and implemented gy the permittee.in conjtmetion with the authorized activity and is often located on-site or near the authorized activity. The perrnittee is also responsible for monitoring and assuring the success of the mitigation project. The third-party approach consolida{es compensation for multiple projects requiring Department of the Army authorization into one or more off-site mitigation projects. This approach is distinguished from project- specific compensation in that a third party typically accepts the responsibility of designing, implementing, and assuring the success of compensatory mitigation for the permittee. This approach involves such activities as mitigation banking, combined or joint mitigation projects, and in-lieu fee and fee-based trusts. A brief description of each follows: Mitigation banking: Mitigation systems that provide consolidated off-site compensation for numerous authorized activities in advance of adverse'project impacts. A mitigation bank is developed and operated under the terms of a mitigation banking instrument among the bank owner, the USACE, and other natural resource agencies. In most cases, Department of the Army authorization is also required to develop the bank. For further information on mitigation banking, refer to "Federal Guidance for the Establishment, Use and Operation of Mitigation Banks," published in the Federal Register on November 28, 1995 (Vol. 60, No. 228, pp. 58605-58614). Combined or joint-project nfifig~fion: Mitigation systems that simultaneously provide compensatory rmtigation for more than one peraUtted project that adversely anpaet the aquatic ecosystem. Unlike a mitigation bm[c, a joint project ~/pically does not provide compensation in advance of project/mpacts. Each use of a joint mitigation project ~rpically requ/res USACE approval. Mitigation and the Section 404 Regulato~ Pro,am Pac,¢ 3 0£4 In-lieu fee and fee-based mitigation: Mitigation systems that provide a Department of the Army permittee an oppommity to pay a fee in lieu of conducting project-specific compensation activities. Fees are used to fund projects designed to restore, enhance, create, or, in some cases, preserve aquatic ecosystem functions. These projects should reflect both the nature and extent of aquatic functions adversely affected by permitted activities. Typically, m-lieu systems pertain to unspecified furore mitigation projects, while fee-based systems involve specific, identified mitigation projects, that are either complete or under development as fees are collected. Department of the Army permittees are responsible for developing a mitigation plan and submitting it to the USACE. An appropriate real estate arrangement, such as a deed restriction, will normally be requ/red to achieve long-term success of a mitigation plan or to provide sufficient compensation for adverse project impacts. A mitigation plan should generally include at a minimum: 1. A complete description of efforts made to avoid and minimize adverse project impacts to the aquatic ecosystem. Include impacts to local hydrology, upstream and downstream aquatic resources, and wildlife habitat. 2. A thorough description of the proposed compensatory mitigation area, including a vicInity map, site map, aerial and on-site photographs (if available), land use history, soils, local hydrology, and dominant vegetation. 3,:. A jurisdictional.deten~fination, inclu.di~, g a wetland:delineafio~t.Of apptop'l-iate), conducted in. ..-' :'~ .accordance'with'the 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetlands DelIneation Manual. 'thc jtfi:isdlctiona~ determination report should include a site description, field data sheets, summary of findings, and a detailed map of the site indicating the location and extent of all waters of the United States, including wetlands. - - 4. A detailed description of the nature and location of all proposed ground disturbing activities and structures associated with the compensatory mitigation project. Include information about grading, filling, planting, land clearing, road construction, size and spacing of culverts and bridges, fences, buildings, utility lines, intake and ouffall structures, and disposal and borrow area locations. Provide plan and cross-section drawings of all pertinent work and structures and the volume and type of mater/al to be discharged. Include both temporary and permanent activities and smmtures. 5. For work that would create new aquatic resources or modify existing aquatic resources, provide as appropriate: a. A description of the proposed hydrology showing that it is adequate for the site, sufficient suitable quality water will be available during appropriate seasons, and the site would be correctly graded to provide appropriate hydrology and not cause adverse impacts to the site such as erosion of streams and channels; b. A soil description, including the source and type ofsub~q~rate to be used, demonstrating it is able to support the proposed plantings and hydrology; c. A plantLng plan that includes a list oi'natiYe locally adapted species to be used, density of planting, pl~tmg methoi pl,m~tmg schedule, and plating su,~A,/al success criteria. Mitigation and the Section 404 R¢~latorv Pro,ram Page 4 of 4 6. A description of how the mitigation would appropriately compensate for adverse project impacts to aquatic ecosystem functions. 7. A statement disclosing whether any species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act might be affected by, or found in the vicinity of, the proposed mitigation project. 8. Any other relevant information such as information on cultural resources, the proximity of the project to ecologically sensitive areas, and project impacts on the local/regional hydrology. 9. A proposal for monitoring the success of the proposed mitigation plan, including the name and telephone number of the responsible party, success criteria, and a compliance reporting program. Generally, monitoring should conOnue at least two years after all mitigation project activities have been completed and planting survival requirements have been achieved. Include all appropriate contingency plans and address provisions for long-term operations and maintenance. Mitigation proposals are evaluated by Fort Worth District Regulatory, Program staff in consultation with other natural resources agencies including the U.S. Env/ronmental 'Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Railroad Commission of Texas. l~or further information, about compensatory mitigation or our-regulatory program, contact the Regulatory.. granck at: U.S. Army Corps,c/f-,Engineers; Regulatory Branch; CESWF-EV-R; P.O. Box 17300; Fort. ' -Wori'h, Texas 7610'2'-03'0~51 ~You may visit the'Regulat6ry .Branch in Rdom 3A3-7 of tho Federal 'l~uiiding at' 819 Taylor; $~i, eet in Fort Worth between 8:00 A.M. and 3:30 P.M., MOnday through Friday. Telephone inquMes should be directed to (817) 978-2681.