Notice of Application for State Water Quality Certification

Public Notice (PN) Date: February 6, 2024     PN Reference Number: POA-2023-00075 v1.0
PN Expiration Date: March 10, 2024                                                Waterway: Nome Creek

Any applicant for a federal license or permit to conduct an activity that might result in a discharge into waters of the United States, in accordance with Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), must also apply for and obtain certification from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation that the discharge will comply with the CWA and the Alaska Water Quality Standards (18 AAC 70). The scope of certification is limited to the water quality-related impacts from the activity subject to the Federal license or permit (40 CFR 121.3, 18 AAC 15.180).

Notice is hereby given that a request for a CWA §401 Water Quality Certification of a Department of the Army Permit application, Corps of Engineers’ PN Reference Number indicated above has been received[1] for the discharge of dredged and/or fill materials into waters of the United States (WOTUS), including wetlands, as described below, and shown on the project figures/drawings. The public notice and related project figures/drawings are accessible from the DEC website at https://dec.alaska.gov/water/wastewater/.

To comment on the project or request for a public hearing with respect to water quality, submit comments electronically via the DEC public notice site at https://water.alaskadec.commentinput.com?id=trNMikbBJ on or before the public notice expiration date listed above.

Applicant: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Tim Hammond, 222 University Avenue Fairbanks, AK 99709, (907) 251-0262; thammond@blm.gov.

Agent: BLM, Ben Kennedy, 222 University Avenue Fairbanks, AK 99709-3816; (907) 460-8881; bkennedy@blm.gov.

Project Name: Nome Creek Landing Gravel Borrow Site

Dates of the proposed activity is planned to begin and end:

Location: The proposed activity is located within Section 24, T. 06 N., R. 4 E., Fairbanks Meridian; USGS Quad Map Circle B-6. Travel from Fairbanks along the Steese Highway to mile post 57, then north on U.S. Creek Road to mile 7, then west 3.5 miles on Nome Creek Road; near Fairbanks, Alaska. Project Site (Latitude, Longitude): 65.336400, -146.82730.

Purpose: The applicant’s stated purpose is to improve conditions to the Nome Creek Road. The road surface is very rough from extended use and needs to be resurfaced to meet BLM road standards for safe travel. If deterioration of the road surface, existing culverts, and the roadside drainage ditch system continues, it would likely result in road failures, compromising safety and reducing access to the Nome Creek Campground and other areas. The BLM intends to utilize the mined gravel to resurface the entire 18-miles of the road.

Description of Proposed Work: The applicant proposed to discharge 160,000 cubic yards of gravel fill via mechanized land clearing in 23.2 acres of waters of the U.S. (WOTUS), including wetlands to extract gravel and sand needed to resurface Nome Creek Road.

The work associated with the proposed project includes:

• Creating the Moose Creek Landing Borrow Site, which would consist of a cluster of four borrow pits including three that are within wetland and one that is entirely upland. All would be within proximity to Nome Creek, though no closer than 100 feet from the stream’s ordinary high-water mark.
• The following components of the project are exempt activities under 33 CFR 323.4(a)(6)
• Temporary roads: The project would include constructing approximately 1,500 linear feet of road connecting pit-2 to pit-1, 200 linear feet connecting borrow pit-2 to pit-3, and 200 linear feet connecting borrow pit-3 to pit-4. Both 200 linear segments would be associated with the bridge construction. Temporary roads would be constructed with suitable fabric underlayment, 18-ft in width, overlain by approximately one foot of coarse gravel base, with a 16-foot base width, 14-foot top width, with 1:1 shoulder slope.
• Bridge crossing: The creation of 1 to 2 temporary bridge crossings over Nome Creek approximately 50 feet in length and 14 feet wide. The bridges would be supported by pilings installed at least partially below the stream’s ordinary high-water mark. Pilings would be installed during a low water period to minimize unavoidable short-term adverse impacts to Nome Creek aquatic habitat and water quality.
• Storage of overburden: Overburden would be stored along the perimeter of the proposed borrow pits and temporary roads. The overburden storage consists of 3.9 acres of impact.

Additional Information:

• Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR) State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) - National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 consultation
• Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) – Fish passage permit.
• The BLM selected development of the Moose Creek Landing Materials Site, within Nome Creek Valley, as the most cost-effective site with the least environmental impacts for obtaining materials needed to complete the project.

Table 1. Moose Creek Landing Borrow Site, Summary Acres of Proposed Mining, Estimated Volumes of Mined Gravel Material, and Geographic Center Coordinates for Borrow Pits 1-4.

Applicant Proposed Mitigation: The applicant proposes the following mitigation measures to avoid, minimize, and compensate for impacts to waters of the United States from activities involving discharges of dredged or fill material.

The applicant asserts that compensatory mitigation should not be required for the proposed Moose Creek Landing Borrow Site project because, as currently planned, all practicable steps would be taken to avoid and minimize adverse impacts to the wetland ecosystem. Although the project would result in a disturbance of 26.3-acres of palustrine wetlands, no long-term net loss of wetlands or other waters is anticipated. The wetlands would be converted to permanently inundated ponds and palustrine wetlands. 

a. Avoidance: The majority of the project area contains jurisdictional waters of the United States. Therefore, complete avoidance is not practicable. The existing access road would be used to transport extracted materials to Nome Creek Road. The applicant would avoid 5 acres of wetlands by establishing one of the four borrow pits within uplands.

Material Storage: Initial materials and equipment would be staged in upland areas located at the south end of Moose Creek Landing Road (0.2-acres) and the west end of the Spur Road (0.6-acres). These sites are comprised of compacted barren gravel and cobble material with little vegetation. As mining progresses additional temporary staging areas would be developed in the vicinity of Pit-2, on previously disturbed areas as needed, to avoid impacts to wetlands.

Riparian Buffer: A 100-foot riparian buffer would be established between the edge of pits and Nome Creek. Maintaining riparian buffers would avoid adverse impacts to Nome Creek aquatic habitat and avoid stream capture for floodplain borrow pits 1, 3, and 4, during high water events. To avoid potential degradation of stream water quality there would be no surface channel connections between the borrow pits and Nome Creek.

Temporary Bridge Structures: A temporary bridge structure would be installed across Nome Creek channel to access borrow Pit-3 on the south side of Nome Creek. Installation of the bridge structure would include driving pilings in the Nome Creek stream bed. If Pit-4 is developed, a similar bridge structure would be installed across Nome Creek channel to access Pit-4. Constructing temporary bridges rather than low water crossings would minimize adverse impacts to Nome Creek aquatic habitat and water quality during mining and transport of mineral materials. If sufficient material is obtained from the other pits, pit-4 will not be developed.

b. Minimization: The applicant stated that a NEPA Environmental Assessment, entitled DOIBLM-AK-F020-2023-0008-EA, was completed for Nome Creek Road and Materials Site Development on March 17, 2023. The analysis indicated that there would be no significant impacts from the proposed work. The Environmental Assessment demonstrated that development, mining, and reclamation plans for the Moose Creek Landing Borrow Site project would minimize unavoidable impacts to wetlands by maximizing salvage of vegetation and overburden for use in reclamation of disturbed areas, limiting areal extent and depth of developed borrow pits, and minimizing time between disturbance and reclamation of wetland borrow Pit-1, Pit-3, and Pit-4.

Geotechnical investigations estimated a total of 191,900 cubic yards of mineral materials at the Moose Creek Landing Borrow site available from the four (4) borrow pit areas. Cubic yards of mineral material available from each borrow pit, estimated from geotechnical reports are as follows: Pit-1 (72,813-cu yds), Pit-2 (34,025-cu yds), Pit-3 (74,855-cu yds) and Pit-4 (10,207- cu yds).

The Pit-2 area would be developed first. Pit-2 is adjacent to Moose Creek Landing Road and located within a 7-acre upland area. This area was previously disturbed by legacy mining and road construction activity. Two of the five acres within this area not part of Pit-2 would be utilized throughout the project as a central hub for staging equipment and materials and processing mineral material from Pit-1, Pit-3 and Pit-4. Pit-1 would be developed next, followed by Pit-3 and, if necessary, Pit-4 would be developed last. If the estimated volume of available mineral materials in Pit-1, Pit-2, and Pit-3 is reasonably accurate, and would exceed 160,000 cubic yards of gravel material, then Pit-4 would likely not be developed. Mined gravel determined to be useful would be processed and transported for resurfacing as needed.

Storage of Overburden: For each pit, vegetation and overburden would be cleared and staged along the perimeter of each pit. Organic-rich overburden would be separated from overburden that is predominantly mineral material. During reclamation, the organic-rich material would be placed on top of the mineral material. Best Management Practices (BMPs) for erosion and sediment control would be utilized in all phases of borrow pit and temporary road development, mining, and reclamation to minimize adverse impacts to aquatic habitat. Seasonal shutdown procedures of operations would ensure that material stockpiles are protected from erosion and stabilized until the continuation of pit operations. Overburden will be stored along the perimeter of the borrow pit to act as a levee minimizing inflow should a high-water event occur.

Temporary Roads: To the extent practicable vegetation cleared with root-mass intact, using excavators and front-end loaders. Cleared vegetation would be staged along the perimeter of temporary roads. Suitable fabric underlayment (18-foot width), overlain with estimated one-foot of gravel, sixteen-foot base width, fourteen-foot top width, would be used to minimize impacts to wetlands from temporary roads. Reclamation of temporary roads would include removing gravel material and fabric underlayment with vegetation reinstalled where roads had been removed. It is anticipated that the reclamation of the temporary roads placed within wetlands would be done in such a way that wetland conditions would be restored within 1-2 years after reclamation.

Temporary Bridge Structures: Installation of temporary bridge structures across Nome Creek, includes driving pilings into the streambed to support bridge structures. Bridge structure would be installed during low water, typically July, or in winter to minimize unavoidable short-term adverse impacts to Nome Creek aquatic habitat and water quality. Removal of temporary bridge structures and pilings would be completed during periods of low water.

Reclamation: Concurrent reclamation of each exhausted borrow pit and other areas would occur while planned mining operations continue at other pit areas, utilizing a phased reclamation approach. Stockpiled overburden would be redistributed as fill material and contoured to grade level, filling an estimated 40 percent of the pit areas. The remaining 60 percent would be reshaped with maximum bank slope of 1:1 and stabilized by track-walking. Salvaged vegetation mats and organic debris would be spread over the top of the disturbed areas. Approximately 60 percent of disturbed area would be reclaimed as ponded areas with seasonal water depths of 1 to 4 feet. Temporary surface connection to Nome Creek may be present during a flooding event.

Pit-2 would be partly reclaimed, backfilled with staged overburden material, and salvaged vegetation mats placed over disturbed areas to the extent practicable. An estimated 2.9 acres of the Pit-2 mined area would be established as shallow ponded habitat. Much of the remaining area around Pit-2 would remain open, to support staging of equipment and processing and staging mineral material from Pit-1, Pit-3, and Pit-4. When mining operations are complete, the BLM plans to develop the Pit-2 area as an improved recreation area with level camping areas, picnic tables, and outhouse facilities.

According to the reclamation plan approved by BLM, reclaimed areas shall be in a condition to support approximately 70 % native plant cover with self-sustaining upward trend in native plant growth over the two growing seasons following completion of the reclamation. Where reclaimed palustrine wetland areas are not meeting this criterion, the BLM would complete maintenance work as needed including seeding and/or transplanting native vegetation.

c. Compensatory Mitigation: The applicant stated that compensatory mitigation should not be required for the proposed Moose Creek Landing Borrow Site project because all practicable steps have been taken to avoid and minimize adverse impacts to the wetland ecosystem. Although the project would result in temporary disturbance of 26.3-acres of palustrine wetlands, no long-term net loss of wetlands is anticipated. The reclamation of the project area would facilitate the rehabilitation of wetlands.

After reviewing the application, the Department will evaluate whether the activity will comply with applicable water quality requirements (any limitation, standard, or other requirement under sections 301, 302, 306, and 307 of the CWA, any Federal and state laws or regulations implementing those sections, and any other water quality-related requirement of state law). The Department may certify (or certify with conditions) with reasonable assurance the activity and any discharge that might result will comply with water quality requirements. The Department also may deny or waive certification.

The permit application and associated documents are available for review. For inquires or to request copies of the documents, contact dec-401cert@alaska.gov, or call 907-269-6285.

Disability Reasonable Accommodation Notice

The State of Alaska, Department of Environmental Conservation complies with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. If you are a person with a disability who may need special accommodation in order to participate in this public process, please contact ADA Coordinator Megan Kohler at 907-269-4198 or TDD Relay Service 1-800-770-8973/TTY or dial 711 prior to the expiration date of this public notice to ensure that any necessary accommodations can be provided.