Interested parties are hereby notified that an application has been received for a Department of the Army permit for certain work in waters of the United States as described below and shown on the attached drawings.
APPLICANT: Lori MK Kahikina, City and County of Honolulu, Department of Design and Construction, Frank F Fasi Municipal Building, 650 S King St, 11th Floor, Honolulu, HI 96813
AGENT: Michael S Nishimura, AECOM, 1001 Bishop St, Suite 1600, Honolulu, HI 96813
LOCATION: TMK: (1) 8-6-016:017, 21˚26’16” N 158˚ 11’ 10” W, Wai’anae, Island of O’ahu, Hawaii.
WORK: The applicant proposes to concrete line the bed and vegetate the banks of an existing 400 ft long, dirt-lined drainage channel in Wai’anae, between Farrington Highway and Pokai Bay St.
PURPOSE: To restore the channel profile to provide positive drainage flow, improve the conveyance of drainage flow from inland of Farrington Highway, and enhance flood relief for the adjoining and adjacent properties. The current hydraulic capacity of the channel is approximately 97 cubic feet per second (cfs). Channel improvements will increase the hydraulic capacity to approximately 346 cfs.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The drainage channel would be grubbed and graded. A small front end loader/bulldozer would be used to excavate approximately 492 CY of accumulated debris. Excavated material would be disposed of in an appropriate upland location and no machinery, construction debris/materials, or excavated sediment would be stockpiled in the channel. The channel would be excavated and the banks reshaped to form a trapezoidal cross-section with a slope of 2H: 1V.
The banks would be reshaped using existing material from the channel, graded and compacted, then re-vegetated with native/non-invasive plant species such as pōhinahina, ‘ilie’e, and non-invasive Vetiver grass. Pyramat geotextile fabric would be installed over the re-vegetated areas and anchored with 24 inch metal pins and ArmorMax earth percussion anchors.
The channel bottom would be excavated to a depth of four (4) feet, filled with eighteen (18) inches of select granular fill (crushed coral or basalt), and lined with six (6) inches of monolithic pour-in-place concrete. Construction would be split into four (4) phases and occur during the dry summer months (June-October). The work would take approximately four (4) months to complete. Temporary BMPs and sandbag berms would be placed to divert flow around the phased work area.
MITIGATION: In order to prevent sediment from washing outside the work area into the ocean, a silt fence would be placed at the mouth of Pokai Bay box culvert and anchored with rebar. Work would also halt during adverse weather conditions. Banks of the improved channel would be re-vegetated with native and/or non-invasive groundcover to prevent the spread of introduced, nuisance plant species. Archaeological monitoring would also be performed at the site during construction, as recommended by the State of Hawaii, Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD).
WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION: The proposed action would result in a discharge of fill material into a water of the U.S. and would require authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) in accordance to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act of 1972 (CWA). Under Section 401 of the CWA (Public Law 95-217), the Corps may not issue a permit for the described work until the applicant obtains a certification, or waiver of certification, from the State of Hawaii, Department of Health – Clean Water Branch.
COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT ACT CERTIFICATION: The proposed activity would affect land or water uses in the Coastal Zone. Under Section 307(c)(3) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended by 16 U.S.C. 1456(c)(3), the Corps may not issue a permit for the described work until the applicant obtains a Federal Consistency Concurrence from the State of Hawaii, Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism – Office of Planning.
PUBLIC HEARING: 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, clearly and concisely, the reasons and rationale for holding a public hearing.
CULTURAL RESOURCES: The latest published version of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) has been consulted for the presence or absence of historic properties, including those listed in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. There are no listed or eligible properties in the vicinity of the worksite. Consultation of the NRHP constitutes the extent of cultural resource investigations by the District Engineer at this time, and he is otherwise unaware of the presence of such resources. This application is being coordinated with the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO). Any comments SHPO may have concerning presently unknown archeological or historic data that may be lost or destroyed by work under the requested permit will be considered in our final assessment of the described work.
ENDANGERED SPECIES: Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires federal agencies to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and/or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on all actions that may affect a species listed (or proposed for listing) under the ESA as threatened or endangered or any designated critical habitat. We have determined the following listed species have the potential to occur near the project location:
- Hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricate), endangered
- Green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), threatened
- Hawaiian monk seals (Monachus schauinslandi), endangered
The project location is absent of designated critical habitat for ESA-listed species.
The applicant’s proposed site-specific Best Management Practices (BMPs) would be included as conditions of the Corps permit, if issued. Based on the applicant’s proposed project scope, the Corps has preliminarily determined this project may affect, but would not likely adversely affect the federally listed species identified above. We will be initiating informal consultation with NMFS and USFWS to seek written concurrence with our determination.
ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT: The proposed work is being evaluated for possible effects to Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) pursuant to Section 305(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1996 (MSFCMA) (16 U.S.C. 1855 (b)) and associated federal regulations found at 50 CFR Part 600 Subpart K. The Honolulu District area of responsibility includes EFH for species managed under Fishery Management Plans. Concurrently with the issuance of this public notice, the USACE will evaluate the potential impacts to EFH and provide a coordination letter to the NMFS, as required, with the USACE’s effects determination for the proposed project.
SPECIAL AREA DESIGNATION: None
AUTHORITY: This permit application will be reviewed under the following authorities:
(X) Perform work in or affecting navigable waters of the United States – Section 10 Rivers and Harbors Act 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403).
(X) Discharge dredged or fill material into waters of the United States – Section 404 Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344). The Corps’ public interest review will consider the guidelines set forth under Section 404(b) of the Clean Water Act (40 CFR 230).
( ) Transport dredged material for the purpose of dumping it into ocean waters - Section 103 Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1413). The Corps’ public interest review will consider the criteria established under authority of Section 102(a) of the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, as amended (40 CFR Parts 220 to 229), as appropriate.
EVALUATION: The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impacts, 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 the cumulative effects thereof; among those are conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, historic 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.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, State, and local agencies and officials; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this activity. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps to determine whether to issue, modify, condition or deny a permit for the work. 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 activity.
COMMENT AND REVIEW PERIOD: Conventional mail or e-mail comments on this public notice will be accepted and made part of the record and will be considered in determining whether it would be in the public interest to authorize this proposal. In order to be accepted, e-mail comments must originate from the author’s e-mail account and must include on the subject line of the e-mail message the permit applicant’s name and reference number as shown below. All e-mail comments should be sent to Kaitlyn.R.Seberger@usace.army.mil. Conventional mail comments should be sent U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Branch, Building 230, Ft. Shafter, HI 96848. Both conventional mail and e-mail comments must include the permit applicant’s name and reference number, as shown below, and the commenter’s name, address, and phone number. All comments whether conventional mail or e-mail must reach this office, no later than the expiration date of this public notice to ensure consideration. Please include the following name and reference number: POH-2011-0147.
Comments on the described work, with the reference number, should reach this office no later than the expiration date of this Public Notice to become part of the record and be considered in the decision. Please contact Kaitlyn Seberger at (808) 835-4300 if further information is desired concerning this notice.
Additional Project Information and Project Drawings are attached to this Public Notice.