DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, MOBILE DISTRICT P.O. BOX 2288 MOBILE, ALABAMA CESAM-RD-A-S August 21, 2018

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1 DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, MOBILE DISTRICT P.O. BOX 2288 MOBILE, ALABAMA CESAM-RD-A-S August 21, 2018 JOINT PUBLIC NOTICE SAM JEB U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS AND STATE OF ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROPOSED FILLING OF WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES IN CONJUNCTION WITH CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW RESIDENTIAL ALUMINUM BULKHEAD WATERWARD OF THE MEAN HIGH WATER LINE ON PERDIDO BAY, ELBERTA, BALDWIN COUNTY, ALABAMA TO ALL CONCERNED: This District has received an application for a Department of the Army permit pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 USC 403), and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 USC 1344). This public notice is being distributed to all known interested persons to assist in developing facts on which a decision by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) can be based. Please communicate this information to interested parties. APPLICANT: George W. Barber, Jr Fishtrap Road Elberta, Alabama AGENT: Dale J. Seibert Fishtrap Road Elberta, Alabama LOCATION OF WORK: The proposed project is located at 8070 Spring Branch Road; in Section 19, Township 8 South, Range 6 East; at Latitude North, Longitude West; in Elberta, Baldwin County, Alabama. WATERWAY: Perdido Bay, in the Palmetto Creek-Perdido Bay watershed (HUC ). PROPOSED WORK: The applicant requests authorization for construction of 298 linear feet of aluminum bulkhead along the shoreline of a residential lot on Perdido Bay. The new bulkhead would be constructed between two existing bulkheads. Approximately 127 linear feet of the bulkhead would be constructed waterward of the mean high water line (MHWL), while the remaining 171 linear feet of bulkhead would be constructed landward of the MHWL. The horizontal distance of open waterbottom fill would vary from 0 feet to feet due to shoreline irregularities, and approximately 854 square feet (0.02 acre) of waterbottom area would be filled by the project. Approximately cubic yards of clean sand fill material would be placed below the plane of mean high water.

2 CESAM-RD-A-S August 21, 2018 Public Notice No. SAM JEB Page 2 of 4 AVOIDANCE & MINIMIZATION: The applicant has not provided a minimization and avoidance statement. The need for further minimization and avoidance efforts has not been evaluated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) at this time. MITIGATION: Compensatory mitigation is not required for this project. WATER QUALITY / COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT: The applicant has applied for certification from the State of Alabama in accordance with Section 401(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act, and for coastal zone consistency in accordance with Section 307(c) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 and the Alabama Coastal Zone Management Program. Upon completion of the required advertising and public comment review, a determination relative to water quality certification and coastal zone consistency will be made by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. HISTORIC PROPERTIES/CULTURAL RESOURCES: In accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and Appendix C of 33 CFR Part 325, the undertaking defined in this notice has been considered for the potential to affect cultural and historic properties within the permit area. Although the extent of federal control and responsibility for these considerations are confined to the limits of the permit area for this particular project, the potential indirect effects that may occur to historic properties as a result of the this undertaking have also been considered. The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) was consulted for properties listed in or eligible for the National Register which are known to exist and would be affected by the proposed work. The USACE, Mobile District has determined that this project would have no adverse effect on cultural resources listed on or eligible for the NRHP, and that no further cultural resources investigation is required. The USACE, Mobile District has already received concurrence with this determination from the Alabama State Historic Preservation Officer. This determination has also been coordinated with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Tribal Historic Preservation Officers as required. This review constitutes the full extent of cultural resources investigations unless comment to this notice is received that documents significant sites or properties exist which may be affected by this work, or that documents that a potential exists for the location of significant sites or properties within the permit area. Copies of this notice are being sent to the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Division of Archeological Services. ENDANGERED SPECIES: The following species, listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as being either threatened or endangered, are found within Baldwin County, and may be located within the Palmetto Creek-Perdido Bay watershed of the project (HUC ): Florida manatee (E) (Trichechus manatus), Wood stork (T) (Mycteria americana), eastern indigo snake (T) (Drymarchon corais couperi), Green sea turtle (T) (Chelonia mydas), Kemp s Ridley sea turtle (E) (Lepidochelys kempii), Loggerhead sea turtle (T) (Caretta caretta), and Gulf Sturgeon (T) (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi).

3 CESAM-RD-A-S August 21, 2018 Public Notice No. SAM JEB Page 3 of 4 Preliminary review of this application and the U.S. Department of the Interior List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants indicate that the proposed project will have no effect on any of the above species. This determination is being coordinated with the USFWS via this Public Notice. PUBLIC REVIEW: This public notice is being distributed to all known interested persons and serves to solicit comments from the public, federal, state and local agencies and officials, Indian Tribes and other interested parties, in order to assist in developing facts on which a decision by the USACE can be based. Any comments received will be considered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine whether to issue, modify, condition or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above. Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity. Any person may request, in writing, within the comment period specified in this notice, that a public hearing be held to consider this application. Requests for public hearings shall state with particularity, the reasons for holding a public hearing. For accuracy and completeness of the record, all data in support of or in opposition to the proposed work should be submitted in writing setting forth sufficient detail to furnish a clear understanding of the reasons for support or opposition. The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact, including secondary and 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 benefit 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 the cumulative effects thereof; among those are conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, cultural values, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, flood plain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food production, and in general, the needs and welfare of the people. Evaluation of the probable impacts involving deposits of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States will include the application of guidelines established by the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Correspondence concerning this Public Notice should refer to Public Notice Number SAM JEB and should be directed to the District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District, Mobile, Attention: Regulatory Division, Post Office Box 2288, Mobile, Alabama , with a copy to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Mobile Branch, Coastal Section, 3664 Dauphin Street, Suite B, Mobile, Alabama 36608, (If not in coastal zone: Post Office Box , Montgomery, Alabama ). Comments should be received no later than 30 days from the date of this Public Notice.

4 CESAM-RD-A-S August 21, 2018 Public Notice No. SAM JEB Page 4 of 4 If you have any questions concerning this publication, you may contact the project manager, Mr. Eric Buckelew at (251) , or at james.e. buckelew@usace.army.mil. Please refer to the above Public Notice number. For additional information about our Regulatory Program, please visit our web site at Encls MOBILE DISTRICT U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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