SECTION 404 AGUAS CALIENTES

Susan M. Shuffield and Mario Mata Jr. ENV September 11, 2019

Section 404 Aguas Calientes

Grab your swimsuit/trunks as we dip into the latest Section 404 hot topics!

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Section 404 Aguas Calientes

Here’s What’s HOT (off the press)!

– Preparing delineation reports statewide

• Documentation Standard for Waters of the U.S. Delineation Report

• Template: Waters of the U.S Delineation Report

• Wetland Delineation On-line Training (coming soon!)

– Preparing PCNs and IPs statewide

• Section 404/10 Impacts Table

• Template: USACE Galveston District Nationwide Permit (NWP) 14 Pre-Construction Notification (PCN) (USACE Galveston District only!)

• Documentation Standard for Pre-Construction Notification (PCN) (coming soon!)

• Documentation Standard for Individual Permit (IP) (coming soon!)

– Obtaining mitigation credits statewide

• SOP: Purchasing Mitigation Credits for Section 404 Permits

• PRM SOP (coming soon!)

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Section 404 – Preparing Delineation Reports Statewide

External tools are available at

https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/division/environmental/compliance-toolkits/natural-resources.html#water

Please provide feedback over the coming year!

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Section 404 – Preparing Delineation Reports Statewide

Documentation Standard for Waters of the U.S. Delineation Report and Template: Waters of the U.S. Delineation Report

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Section 404 – Preparing Delineation Reports Statewide

Wetland Delineation On-line Training (coming soon!)

– Module 1: Wetland Delineation Laws and Regulation

– Module 2: Introduction to the 1987 United States Army Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual and its Regional Supplements

– Module 3: Wetland Hydrology Fundamentals

– Module 4: Hydrophytic Vegetation

– Module 5: Fundamental Soil Concepts

– Module 6: Wetland Determination Data Form

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Section 404 – Preparing PCNs/IPs Statewide

Section 404/10 Impacts Table

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Section 404 – Preparing PCNs/IPs Statewide

Columns B through I of the impacts table are pulled directly out of the Waters of the U.S. delineation report

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Section 404 – Preparing PCNs/IPs Statewide

Column A shows the Crossing numbers

Columns J through U identify the impacts for each waterbody or wetland AND each crossing

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Section 404 – Preparing PCNs/IPs Statewide

Columns V through X address the project’s required USACE authorization(s)

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Section 404 – Preparing PCNs/IPs Statewide

Template: USACE Galveston District Nationwide Permit (NWP) 14 Pre-Construction Notification (PCN)

– Modeled after the SWG template

– For use with the statewide PCN documentation standard

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Section 404 – Preparing PCNs/IPs Statewide

Documentation Standards for Pre-Construction Notification (PCN) and Individual Permit (IP) (coming soon!)

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Section 404 – Obtaining Mitigation Credits Statewide

TxDOT is compiling a list of upcoming projects that will require stream/wetland mitigation credits.

– Send us a list of upcoming projects to continue to push for the purchase of advanced mitigation credits

– Districts are encouraged to purchase credits if the project has a CSJ assigned.

The goal is to use this list to determine what mitigation banks service the projects and proceed with purchasing mitigation credits now before the credits are gone.

Reached out to the mitigation banks to get a feel of how many banks have credits available, ask about the credit release schedule and if they have any other pending mitigation banks that should be online within the near future

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Section 404 – Obtaining Mitigation Credits Statewide

TxDOT’s Water Resources Companion Viewer

– Shows the stream and wetland mitigation banks that are currently available

– We can overlay TxDOT projects to identify what mitigation banks are available in case the impacts trigger mitigation.

• Still requires ground truthing to identify the presence of jurisdictional waters and wetlands.

– http://txdot.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d5fbb30cb8254bd1b6d4440dd22e7dde

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Section 404 – Obtaining Mitigation Credits Statewide

TxDOT’s Water Resources Companion Viewer

– Stream Banks in Blue

– Wetland Banks in Green

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Section 404 – Obtaining Mitigation Credits Statewide

WILL WORK 4 MITIGATION CREDITS!!!!!!!!!!

• TxDOT is in NEED of stream and wetland credits

• Mitigation credits are running low especially stream credits

Mitigation Banks…

• You accept coupons?

• Any upcoming BOGO offers?

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Section 404 – Obtaining Mitigation Credits Statewide

SOP: Purchasing Mitigation Credits for Section 404 Permits

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Section 404 – Obtaining Mitigation Credits

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Section 404 – Obtaining Mitigation Credits

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Section 404 – Obtaining Mitigation Credits

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Section 404 – Obtaining Mitigation Credits

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Section 404 – Obtaining Mitigation Credits

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Section 404 – Obtaining Mitigation Credits

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Section 404 – Obtaining Mitigation Credits

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Section 404 – Permittee Responsible Mitigation

PRM…Ain’t nobody got time for that!

– Unfortunately PRM is the only option in parts of the state that don’t have mitigation banks or the banks are all out of credits.

– PRM SOP is currently in development

• Guidance on how to navigate through the PRM process

• Programmatic Goals and Objectives –

• Determination of Mitigation Needs (may include District Planning opportunities) –

• Identifying PRM Partnerships and Availability –

• Meeting USACE Requirements

• Securing / Development of a PRM Mitigation Plan -

• Coordination with ROW Division/ and Commission Approval

• Funding PRM

• Monitoring PRM

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Section 404 Aguas Calientes

Questions/CommentsSusan M. Shuffield

Susan.Shuffield@txdot.gov

512-416-2604

Mario Mata, Jr.

Mario.Mata@txdot.gov

512-416-2620

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