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Pasco County Parks Recreation and Natural Resources Department artificial reef

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Pasco County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department. New Port Richey, Florida. PROJECT PURPOSE: Basic: Marine fisheries enhancement. Overall: Additional deployments of material within the boundaries of an existing artificial reef area, adjacent to Pasco County, Florida, to provide additional marine life habitat and recreational fishing and diving opportunities for the public.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The Jacksonville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has received an 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: Pasco County

Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Dept.

7750 Congress Street

New Port Richey, FL 34668

WATERWAY AND LOCATION: The project would affect waters of the United States associated with the Gulf of Mexico. The project site is located within the previously permitted boundaries of a 12.9 acre artificial reef area known as “Hudson Reef.” Hudson Reef is approximately 10.3 nautical miles from Hudson Marker 2 at a bearing of 273 degrees. The site is located approximately 14.6 miles west of Skeleton Key, Hudson, Pasco County, Florida.

Directions to the site are as follows: Hudson Reef is 10.3 nautical miles from Hudson Marker 2 at bearing of 273 degrees.

APPROXIMATE COORDINATES OF EXISTING HUDSON REEF AREA AND REQUESTED DEPLOYMENT LOCATIONS “FUTURE G” AND “FUTURE K:”

Point

Latitude (decimal degrees)

Longitude (decimal degrees)

Latitude (degrees decimal minutes)

Longitude (degrees decimal minutes)

Hudson Reef NW Corner

28.374722° N

82.950278° W

28° 22.48332’ N

82° 57.01668’ W

Hudson Reef SW Corner

28.370556° N

82.950278° W

28° 22.23336’ N

82° 57.01668’ W

Hudson Reef NE Corner

28.375° N

82.949167° W

28° 22.5’ N

82° 56.95002’ W

Hudson Reef SE Corner

28.370556° N

82.949167° W

28° 22.23336’ N

82° 56.95002’ W

Future G Center Point

28.373611° N

82.95° W

28° 22.41666’ N

82° 57’ W

Future K Center Point

28.370833° N

82.949722° W

28° 22.24998’ N

82° 56.98332’ W

PROJECT PURPOSE:

Basic: Marine fisheries enhancement.

Overall: Additional deployments of material within the boundaries of an existing artificial reef area, adjacent to Pasco County, Florida, to provide additional marine life habitat and recreational fishing and diving opportunities for the public.

EXISTING CONDITIONS: The applicant surveyed the entire 12.9 acre Hudson Reef area using a combination of SCUBA diving, a submersible high definition SeaView camera and side scan sonar outfitted with GPS and depth finder. No seagrass species are located within the project limits. Areas of previously permitted reef deployments contain varying degrees of sessile benthic species including hard and soft corals, and various sponge species. Areas not containing reefs consist of silty sand with virtually no attached algal species. Other marine life documented during the surveys includes various tropical reef fish species, juvenile mangrove snapper (Lutjanus griseus), adult common snook (Centropomus undecimalis), and subadult goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara).

PROPOSED WORK: The applicant seeks authorization to deploy additional artificial reef materials over a ten year period within the previously permitted boundaries of Hudson Reef at locations “Future G” and “Future K,” as shown on the attached map. The Future G deployment area is 1 acre in size; the Future K deployment area is 0.72 acre in size. The materials would consist of approximately 500 tons of clean concrete culverts of various sizes and would be placed in 25 feet of water at Mean Low Water (MLW) with a planned relief of 8 feet, providing a minimum of 17 feet of vertical navigational clearance relative to MLW. Placement of the materials would be conducted via barge based deployment. Materials would be loaded on to a barge from a land-based staging area then transported to the deployment site.

AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION INFORMATION – The applicant provided the following information in support of efforts to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the aquatic environment: All reef materials shall be consistent with materials listed in the publication Guidelines for Marine Artificial Reef Materials, 2nd edition; the National Artificial Reef Plan (as Amended): Guidelines for siting, construction, development, and assessment of artificial reefs; and the state of Florida Artificial Reef Strategic Plan. All deployed materials will be free from creosote, petroleum, hydrocarbons, toxic residues, loose free floating materials or other deleterious substances. The applicant agrees that all reef materials will weigh at least 500 pounds to avoid shifting, and will be selected, designed, constructed and deployed to create a stable and durable marine habitat. The applicant conducted in-depth benthic resource surveys to ensure all resources are mapped and avoided. The applicant will inspect the placement areas within 2 weeks prior to deployment to ensure the substrate is sufficient to support the material and no aquatic resources are present in the deployment area. Materials will be cleaned to meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Ocean Disposal Standards.

COMPENSATORY MITIGATION – The applicant provided the following statement why compensatory mitigation should not be required: “No compensatory mitigation will be required, as the project will not impact any natural resources and will have a net environmental benefit/enhancement.”

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 determined the proposed project may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect (MANLAA) the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus). The Corps has concurrence with this determination pursuant to the Effect Determination Key for the Manatee, dated April 2013 (Manatee Key). Use of the Manatee Key resulted in the following sequential determination: A > B > C > G > N > O > P5 > MANLAA. This determination is partially based on the applicant following the standard manatee construction conditions.

The Corps made the determination of MANLAA for the smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata), green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), Kemp’s ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii), leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) and hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbracata). The Corps evaluated the proposed work utilizing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Jacksonville District’s Programmatic Biological Opinion (JaxBO) dated November 20, 2017. The Corps has programmatic concurrence with this determination pursuant to the JaxBO and no individual concurrence is required.

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 1.64 acres of unconsolidated bottom utilized by various life stages of reef fish, coastal migratory pelagics, corals, sharks, and red drum. 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. The jurisdictional line has been verified by Corps personnel.

AUTHORIZATION FROM OTHER AGENCIES: Water Quality Certification may be required from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection 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 Tampa Permits Section, 10117 Princess Palm Avenue, Suite 120, Tampa, FL 33610 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, Jessica Cordwell, in writing at the Tampa Permits Section, 10117 Princess Palm Avenue, Suite 120 Tampa, Florida 33610, by telephone at (813)769-7067, by fax at (813)769-7061, or by electronic mail at Jessica.L.Cordwell@usace.army.mil.

IMPACT ON NATURAL RESOURCES: 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.

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 concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefits, 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 cumulative impacts thereof; among these are conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, historical 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. Evaluation of the impact of the activity on the public interest will also include application of the guidelines promulgated by the Administrator, EPA, under authority of Section 404(b) of the Clean Water Act or the criteria established under authority of Section 102(a) of the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972. A permit will be granted unless its issuance is found to be contrary to the public interest.

The US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) 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 to determine whether to issue, modify, condition, or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this determination, comments are used to assess impacts to endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above. Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.

COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT CONSISTENCY: In Florida, the State approval constitutes compliance with the approved Coastal Zone Management Plan.

REQUEST FOR PUBLIC HEARING: Any person may request a public hearing. The request must be submitted in writing to the District Engineer within the designated comment period of the notice and must state the specific reasons for requesting the public hearing.

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