CONCORD, Mass. – Ducks Unlimited, Inc. is seeking to amend the Ducks Unlimited, Inc. – Vermont In-Lieu Fee Program Instrument with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District for the construction of the 3 Mile Bridge Road compensatory mitigation site off of 3 Mile Bridge Road in Middlebury, Vermont. The Corps is soliciting public comments on the mitigation plan.

The mitigation plan includes the re-establishment, rehabilitation and preservation of 139.7 acres of wetlands and uplands adjacent to the Middlebury River and Otter Creek to compensate for authorized impacts to waters of the U.S. in the Richelieu River Basin for which payments into the Ducks Unlimited, Inc. – Vermont In-Lieu Fee (DU-VT-ILF) program were made in lieu of the permittees doing their own mitigation.

This mitigation plan involves the construction of a berm to restore hydrology on the site as well as grading and plantings, and is described in the prospectus titled “Richelieu Service Area Mitigation Plan 3 Mile Bridge Road Site, Middlebury, VT” and dated April 8, 2016 and is on the Corps website under public notices at

www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/PublicNotices.aspx.

The Ducks Unlimited, Inc. – Vermont In-Lieu Fee program instrument was approved and signed on Jan. 6, 2011. It can be viewed on the Corps’ website at

www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Mitigation/InLieuFeePrograms/VT.aspx. The process for review of the request to modify the instrument will follow 33 CFR 332, Compensatory Mitigation for Losses of Aquatic Resources (“Mitigation Rule”). The Mitigation Rule was published in the Federal Register on April 10, 2008.

If the mitigation plan is deemed sufficient, Ducks Unlimited will be informed that they can finalize an amendment to the DU-VT-ILF Instrument which will be reviewed by the Interagency Review Team comprised of federal and state agency representatives. If the amendment is deemed acceptable, it will be authorized by the Corps. The decision whether to authorize the sponsor to proceed to a final mitigation plan will be based on the Corps’ determination of the potential of the proposed site to provide compensatory mitigation for activities authorized by Department of Army permits. 

Public comments on the proposed amendment to the DU-VT-ILF Instrument (File # NAE-2009-1349) should be forwarded no later than June 29, 2016 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Regulatory Division (ATTN: Michael Adams), 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-2751. Additional information is available from Permit Project Manager Michael Adams at 802-872-2893 or 978-318-8485 or by email to: michael.s.adams@usace.army.mil.