Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Environmental Quality
Board
State Water Control Board

General Notice
General Notice - Notice of Intent to Provide Section 401 Water Quality Certification for Norfolk District Corps of Engineers Regional Permits
Date Posted: 7/1/2013
Expiration Date: 8/1/2013
Submitted to Registrar for publication: YES
No comment forum defined for this notice.

Pursuant to Virginia Water Protection Permit Regulation 9 VAC 25-210-130 H, the State Water Control Board (Board) is giving notice of its intent to provide Section 401 Water Quality Certification for activities authorized by the above referenced U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Norfolk District Regional Permits (RP’s) after considering public comment for a 30-day period starting July 2, 2013.

On March 20, 2013, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Norfolk District published a notice of their proposed reissuance and modification of several Norfolk District Regional Permits (RP’s), Letters of Permission (LOP’s) and their general conditions.  The following Regional Permits were reissued and/or modified, with an effective date of August 15, 2013: RP-01, RP-02, RP-05, RP-15, RP-17, RP-18, RP-19, RP-20 and RP-22. Certain subcategories of activities in previous regional permits have been combined into new/reissued regional permits. LOP 1 and LOP 2 have been replaced with reissued/new regional permits RP-01 and RP-02, respectively. Certain dredging activities previously authorized under RP-40 have been combined into RP-02, thus eliminating the RP-40.

The State Water Control Board hereby proposes unconditional §401 Water Quality Certification for the following Norfolk District Regional Permits as meeting the requirements of the Virginia Water Protection Permit Regulation, which serves as the Commonwealth's §401 Water Quality Certification:

RP-05:  Construction of Small Impoundments

RP-15: Maintenance of Certain Ditches

RP-17: Private Piers and Mooring Piles

RP-18: Private Piers not covered by RP-17

RP-19: Certain Activities covered by VMRC and/or Local Wetland Boards

RP-20: Development of State Owned and Operated Artificial Fin and Shellfish Reefs

RP-22: Installation of Certain Structures in Lake Gaston

With regard to RP-01 for Virginia Department of Transportation projects, the State Water Control Board proposes to continue to process applications for individual §401 Certification through a Virginia Water Protection General or Individual Permit pursuant to 9VAC 25-210-10 et seq., with the following exception as noted in 9VAC25-210-220 B:

"The board may waive the requirement for a VWP individual permit when the proposed activity qualifies for a permit issued by the USACE and receives a permit from the VMRC, pursuant to Chapter 12 (Section 28.2-1200 et seq.) or Chapter 13 (Section 28.2-1200 et seq.) of Title 28.2 of the Code of Virginia, and the activity does not impact instream flows."

With regard to RP-02, the State Water Control Board grants §401 Certification for RP-02, provided that:

The prospective permittee has ensured that the proposed dredging in water body segments on the current effective Section 303(d) Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) priority list or water body segments with an approved TMDL will not exacerbate impairment of water body segments and that the dredging is consistent with any waste load allocation, limit, or conditions imposed by an approved TMDL.  Information regarding water bodies on the 303(d) priority list and approved TMDL’s is available on the Department of Environmental Quality’s website at: http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/WaterQualityInformationTMDLs.aspx

The Board can only issue final §401 Certification of a nationwide or regional USACE permit if the permit meets the requirements of the VWP regulation and after advertising and accepting public comment for 30 days on its intent to provide certification.

The State Water Control Board will issue its final §401 Water Quality Certification for activities authorized by the above referenced U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Norfolk District permits at the end of the 30 day comment period and after any comments received are considered.  Written comments, including those by email, must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on August 1, 2013 and should be submitted to David L. Davis at the address given below.  Only those comments received within this period will be considered by the Board.  Written comments shall include the name, address, and telephone number of the writer, and shall contain a complete, concise statement of the factual basis for comments.


Contact Information
Name / Title: David L. Davis 
Address: 629 East Main Street
P.O. Box 1105
Richmond, 23218
Email Address: dave.davis@deq.virginia.gov
Telephone: (804)698-4105    FAX: ()-    TDD: ()-