CONCORD, Mass. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District has received a prospectus dated May 24, 2016 for an amendment to the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game (DFG) – Massachusetts In-Lieu Fee Program Instrument (DFG-MA-ILF). The proposal is for the restoration of eelgrass habitat at two sites in Boson, Mass., and one in Salem, Mass., using DFG-MA-ILF funds. The Corps is soliciting comments from the public and federal, state and local agencies on the prospectus.
The prospectus includes the re-establishment (restoration) of approximately ½ acre of eelgrass to sites in Salem Sound and Boston Harbor to compensate for authorized impacts to waters of the U.S. within the Coastal Service Area for which payments into the DFG-MA-ILF program were made in lieu of the permittees doing their own mitigation.
The proposal involves the planting of eelgrass within two ¼ acre sites immediately adjacent to Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries eelgrass restoration sites within the waters of Boston Harbor and Salem Sound. The sites proposed to be restored are the Governor’s Island Flats in Boston and Middle Ground in Salem. A proposed secondary site is located at Great Brewster Island in Boson.
Work involves the collection of approximately 5,200 eelgrass shoots in Nahant and Beverly and transplanting these plants to the primary restoration sites at Governor’s Island Flats and Middle Ground or the secondary restoration site at Great Brewster Island.
The DFG-MA-ILF was approved and signed on May 23, 2014. It can be viewed at:
http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Mitigation/In-Lieu-Fee-Programs/MA/. 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, MADFG will be informed that they can develop a draft amendment to the DFG-MA-ILF Instrument which will be reviewed by the Interagency Review Team (IRT) comprised of federal and state agency representatives. If the draft amendment is deemed acceptable, the amendment will be finalized and then authorized by the Corps after consultation with the IRT. The decision whether to authorize the sponsor to proceed to a draft amendment 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.
Compensatory mitigation occurs in circumstances where a permittee is required to compensate for the functions and values of aquatic resources lost as a result of the authorization after all efforts are made to avoid and minimize impacts. In-Lieu Fee is an option available to the permit applicant instead of completing permittee-responsible mitigation. Use of the In-Lieu Fee program is contingent upon Corps of Engineers approval. All In-Lieu Fee agreements in New England are available for review on the Corps’ website at www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Mitigation.aspx.
In 2014, the Corps of Engineers approved the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game to be the sponsor of the state-wide program that would provide in-lieu fee compensatory mitigation associated with Corps permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and/or Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbor Act of 1899 and related federal rule at 33 CFR Part 332.
The availability of DFG’s In-Lieu Fee program allows permittees, with the Corps’ approval, to make a monetary payment in compensation for project impacts to aquatic resources of the U.S. in Massachusetts, in-lieu of on-site mitigation. When these in-lieu fee payments are made to the ILFP, DFG assumes legal responsibility for implementing the required mitigation, which it does by aggregating and expending the in-lieu payments on mitigation projects.
The public notice with Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game proposed amendment can be viewed on the Corps website at
www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/PublicNotices.aspx.
Public comments on Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game proposed amendment to the Massachusetts In-Lieu Fee Program Instrument (file # NAE-2007-02926) should be forwarded no later than Aug. 25, 2016 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Regulatory Division (ATTN: Joshua Helms), 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-2751. Additional information is available from Permit Project Manager Joshua Helms at 978-318-8211 or toll free 800-343-4789 or 800-362-4367 (if calling from within Massachusetts) or by email to: joshua.m.helms@usace.army.mil.