NOTICES
DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Federal Consistency under the Coastal Zone Management Act; United States Army Corps of Engineers Proposed Maintenance Dredging at Conneaut Harbor, Ashtabula County, Ohio
[54 Pa.B. 1265]
[Saturday, March 9, 2024]This notice is published under section 306(d)(14) of the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA) (16 U.S.C. § 1455(d)(14)), regarding public participation in consistency determinations. The Department of Environmental Protection (Department), Coastal Resources Management Program, has received notice that the United States Army Corps of Engineers (applicant) is proposing to conduct maintenance dredging of the Federal navigation channels at Conneaut Harbor in Ashtabula County, Ohio (Project).
The applicant anticipates the need to dredge and manage sediments excavated from the authorized Federal navigation channels of Conneaut Harbor, located on the southern shore of Lake Erie at the mouth of the Conneaut Creek, in order to maintain sufficient water depths for deep-draft commercial and recreational navigation under section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. § 403) and section 404 of the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) (33 U.S.C. § 1344). Federal navigation channels within the harbor include the Outer Harbor Channel, Inner Harbor Channel and Municipal Access Channel. The applicant may dredge up to an additional 1 foot of sediment to ensure proper maintenance of the minimum authorized depth and to account for dredging tolerance in Conneaut Harbor. The applicant proposes to dredge an estimated total of approximately 100,000 cubic yards of sediment from the Conneaut Harbor Federal navigation channels annually over a 3-year period from 2024 to 2026. The applicant proposes that predominantly fine-grain sediment dredged from the Inner and Outer Harbor Channels would be discharged at an existing open-lake placement area in Lake Erie, located 4 miles from the West Breakwater light, at an azimuth of 314°00`. However, if section 401 of the CWA (33 U.S.C. § 1341) regarding Water Quality Certification conditions does not allow for placement of sediment within the existing ''deep water'' open-lake placement area in excess of 10,000 cubic yards, the applicant may place the sediment (if sufficient Federal funding is available) at the City of Conneaut upland placement facility, located south of the Federal navigation channels and adjacent to Conneaut Creek. (Public Notice Figure 1.) In the past, sediment from the Municipal Access Channel of Conneaut Harbor has been found to be primarily coarse-grain in nature and determined to be suitable for use as littoral nourishment. This was the case in 2004, when 25,000 cubic yards were removed from the Municipal Access Channel and placed in the existing authorized nearshore placement area, located approximately 1,500 feet east of the Conneaut Harbor East Breakwater Extension. Since this time, numerous evaluations of sediment within the Municipal Access Channel have indicated that the sediment is now predominantly fine grain in nature and contains total organic carbon concentrations above the recommended threshold. However, it remains a possibility that deposited material within the Municipal Access Channel in a given year could consist of predominantly coarse-grain sediment with low total organic carbon and would therefore be suitable for placement in the authorized nearshore placement area. Placement of the coarse-grain Municipal Access Channel dredged sediment in the nearshore zone may cost significantly more when compared to ''deep water'' open-water placement due to shallow water depths. The applicant proposes that nearshore placement, if suitable sediments are recovered, would take place between −11 and −8 feet below Low Water Datum (LWD). The applicant proposes to place the recovered sediment at the shallowest depth possible (−8 feet LWD) if there are no increased costs when compared to the costs for placement at the −11-foot LWD depth. If placement in the nearshore zone at depths of −8 feet LWD cost significantly more than open water placement, the applicant states that a non-Federal partner will need to pay the increased cost of nearshore placement.
This Project is subject to Department review for Federal consistency because it is a Federal agency activity and will have reasonably foreseeable interstate effects on this Commonwealth's coastal resources or uses.
In accordance with section 307 of the CZMA (16 U.S.C. § 1456) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) regulations at 15 CFR Part 930, Subpart C (relating to consistency for Federal agency activities) and Subpart I (relating to consistency of Federal activities having interstate coastal effects), the applicant has determined that the proposed activity will be conducted in a manner consistent with the applicable enforceable policies of the Commonwealth's NOAA-approved Coastal Resources Management Program. Interested parties may request a copy of the Federal Consistency Certification from the Department contact listed as follows.
Questions regarding this review should be directed to Matthew Walderon, Federal Consistency Coordinator, at (717) 772-2196 or RA-Fed_Consistency@pa.gov.
The Department will consider all comments received on or before March 24, 2024. Comments submitted by fac-simile will not be accepted. Comments, including comments submitted by electronic mail, must include the originator's name and address. Commentators are encouraged to submit comments using the Department's online eComment tool at www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/eComment. Written comments can be submitted by e-mail to ecomment@ pa.gov or by mail to the Department of Environmental Protection, Policy Office, 400 Market Street, P.O. Box 2063, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2063.
JESSICA SHIRLEY,
Interim Acting Secretary
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 24-304. Filed for public inspection March 8, 2024, 9:00 a.m.]
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