Notice of Application for State Water Quality Certification

Public Notice (PN) Date: July 11, 2025                      PN Reference Number: POA-2024-00119 v1.0
PN Expiration Date: August 11, 2025                                          Waterway: Little Campbell 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 of 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 a public hearing with respect to water quality, submit comments via (preferred method) DEC website https://dec.alaska.gov/commish/public-notices/ or email to the DEC email address: DEC-401Cert@alaska.gov with the subject line referencing Public Notice Reference Number: POA-2024-00119 v1.0 or on or before the public notice expiration date listed above.

Applicant: Best Storage Alaska, Art Davidson, 2200 Seward Hwy, Anchorage, AK 99503, (907) 952-3355; artdavidson43@gmail.com

Agent: DOWL, Josh Grabel, 5015 Business Park Blvd #4000, Anchorage, AK 99503; (907) 562-2000; jgrabel@dowl.com.

Project Name: Best Storage

Dates of the proposed activity are planned to begin and end: 07/01/2025 to 09/30/2027

Location: The proposed activity is located within Section 8, T. 12 North, R. 3 West, Seward Meridian, in Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska. 01427105000. Project Site (Latitude, Longitude): 61.142269, -149.85386.

Purpose: The purpose of the Project is to create long-term vehicle parking adjacent to the existing Best Storage facility. The current facility contains no long-term vehicle parking. The Project will meet a growing need for vehicle storage facilities near Abbot Road and the Seward Highway.

Description of Proposed Work: The project would construct an approximately 2.46-acre fill pad in wetlands. Project details include:

• 40 feet x 480 feet parking area for 96- 10 feet x 20 feet stalls
• 40 feet x 480 feet parking area for 40- 12 feet x 40 feet stalls
• 40 feet x 250 feet parking area for 50- 10 feet x 20 feet stalls
• 40 feet x 200 feet parking area for 40- 10 feet x 20 feet stalls
• 40 feet between parking areas for maneuvering large recreational vehicles
• Fill would be placed with a 2:1 side slope
• Two access gates to the existing Best Storage Facility
• A wetland area would be surrounded by a fill berm for a retention basin that would retain wetland functions like the existing adjacent undisturbed wetlands. No fill would be placed at the bottom of the retention basin with wetland vegetation.

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.

1. Avoidance: Avoiding impacts to waters of the U.S. is not practicable. Wetlands are unavoidable due to the size requirements of the fill pad to meet the project purpose and need.
   • No design alterative completely avoided waters of the U.S.
   • Most of the uplands on the parcel will be used for the fill pad.
2. Minimization: Emphasis has been placed on minimizing unavoidable impacts to waters of the U.S. by limiting fill discharges to the minimum amount and size necessary to achieve the project purpose.

   Design Methods:

   • A 2:1 slope for fill placement will minimize the fill footprint into wetlands within the parcel.
   • Impacts will be minimized for surface connection to the remaining wetland area on the parcel, with flow routed to the Northwest under Brayton Drive.
   • A natural wetland stormwater retention design will be used for the project by constructing a fill material berm to enclose the undisturbed wetland area.
   • The retention basin design had several iterations, beginning with a standard fill material design surrounding the pad boundary
3. Mitigation: Construction activities would be conducted according to the APDES Alaska Construction General Permit, including a SWPPP identifying appropriate BMPs to use during construction to prevent erosion and untreated runoff from reaching nearby waterbodies.

• The project has been designed to minimize impacts to the waters of the U.S. to meet the project's purpose
• The applicant proposes preserving wetlands for permittee responsible mitigation within the same parcel as the proposed project and maintaining direct surface connection to South Fork Little Campbell Creek.

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. To inquire about or 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 Kristin Mabry, kristin.mabry@alaska.gov, 1-907-334-0884; or TDD Relay Service 1-800-770-8973/TTY or dial 711 at least 3 days prior to the expiration/closure date of this public notice to ensure that any necessary accommodations can be provided.

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