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The proposed 110-acre Montebello Mitigation Bank is located on a 680-acre tract on Montebello Road in Orange County

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The proposed 110-acre Montebello Mitigation Bank is located on a 680-acre tract on Montebello Road in Orange County, VA. The Bank site is located along the headwaters of the Rapidan River and several tributaries to the Rapidan River. The Sponsor plans to reestablish streambanks and enhance the natural, wider riparian corridor to 200-feet in width along 6,078 linear feet of perennial and intermittent tributaries and restoration, enhancement and preservation of 7.27 acres of wetlands within the bank site. The purpose is to provide off-site compensatory mitigation for projects that result in unavoidable impacts to streams and wetland loss in waters of the United States within the Rapidan – Upper Rappahannock HUC 02080103 watershed and a portion of Lower Rappahannock River Basin HUC 02080104.

FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE The District Engineer received a prospectus to establish a wetland and stream compensatory mitigation site for Federal and State permits as described below: BANK SPONSOR Trout Headwaters, Inc. P.O. Box 222 Livingston, MT 59047 WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The proposed 110-acre Montebello Mitigation Bank is located on a 680-acre tract on Montebello Road in Orange County, VA. The property will continue to act as active pasture and hay fields for the majority of the property, however agricultural areas will be reduced in size and intensity due to the restoration and enhancement of aquatic areas within the proposed mitigation bank boundary. The Bank site is located along the headwaters of the Rapidan River and contains several tributaries to the Rapidan River. PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The sponsor proposes restoration, enhancement and preservation of streams, riparian areas, wetlands and operate as the Montebello Mitigation Bank. The purpose is to provide off-site compensatory mitigation for projects that result in unavoidable impacts to streams and wetland loss in waters of the United States within the Rapidan – Upper Rappahannock HUC 02080103 watershed and a portion of Lower Rappahannock River Basin HUC 02080104. The Sponsor plans to reestablish streambanks and enhance the natural, wider riparian corridor to 200-feet in width along 6,078 linear feet of perennial and intermittent tributaries and restoration, enhancement and preservation of 7.27 acres of wetlands within the bank site. The sponsors proposes the following goals: • re-introduce a hydrologic connection between the stream and their associated floodplain; Establish native riparian bottomland hardwood tree and shrub community within the riparian areas along all streams; reduce nonpoint source sediment pollution and excessive nutrient inputs; improve the aquatic and semi-aquatic habitat and plant diversity; restore functions on existing degraded farmed wetlands; create more natural plant diversity and prevent invasive species monocultures; and restore more natural hydrology of the existing and restored wetlands within the footprint of hydric soils. The sponsor proposed, for purposes of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, that the geographic service area of this mitigation site would include the National Watershed Boundary Dataset Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUC’s), in the Rapidan – Upper Rappahannock 02080103 and in part of the Lower Rappahannock River Basin 02080104 ending at the western borders of Caroline County and King George Counties. These HUC’s include all or parts of Culpeper, City of Fredericksburg, Madison, and Rappahannock and a portion of the following counties: Fauquier, Greene, Orange, Spotsylvania and Stafford. Oversight of this mitigation site would be by an existing group of federal and state agency representatives. This interagency oversight group is known as the Interagency Review Team (IRT). The Norfolk District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality chair the IRT. This mitigation site may be one of a number of practicable options available to applicants to compensate for unavoidable stream impacts associated with permits issued under the authority of Section 404 and 401 of the Clean Water Act (Public Law 95-217) in Virginia. The actual approval of the use of this mitigation site for a specific project is the decision of the Corps pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and/or by the Department of Environmental Quality pursuant to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act and Title 62.1 of the Code of Virginia. The Corps and the Department of Environmental Quality provide no guarantee that any particular individual or general permit will be granted authorization to use this mitigation site to compensate for unavoidable wetland impacts associated with a proposed permit. Authorization by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission may also be required for its use for specific projects. AUTHORITY: Issuance of a public notice regarding proposed mitigation sites is required pursuant to the "Compensatory Mitigation for Losses of Aquatic Resources; Final Rule," (Rule) as published in the April 10, 2008, Federal Register, Vol. 73, No. 70, Pages 19594-19705 (33 CFR Parts 325 and 332). FEDERAL EVALUATION OF PROPOSAL: 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 this proposed mitigation site. This is not an application for work in Waters of the United States. The Corps of Engineers in evaluating this proposal will consider any comments received. Comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, flood plain values, land use classification, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, and consideration of property ownership. Preliminary review indicates that: (1) no environmental impact statement would be required; (2) after conducting the NAO ESA Project Review Process, there may be an affect to species listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Official Species List and Species Conclusion Table is attached for review and comment by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and (3) no known properties eligible for inclusion or included in the National Register of Historic Places are in or near the permit area, or would likely be affected by the proposal. Additional information might change any of these findings. COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be made in writing, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers-(ATTN: Fredericksburg Field Office), Ms. Regena Bronson, at the address below, and should be received by the close of business on September 2, 2017. The Prospectus and Drawings can be viewed at: https://ribits.usace.army.mil/ribits_apex/f?p=107:278:16634859264784::NO:RP,278:P278_BANK_ID:4742

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