JOINT PUBLIC NOTICE
30 Day Notice
Issue Date: April 5, 2019
Closing Date: May 6, 2019
Corps File No.: NWP-2019-127
Oregon Department of State Lands No. 61846-NP
NWP-2019-127 figures
Interested parties are hereby notified that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District (Corps) and the Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) have received a request to establish the proposed Dairy Creek Wetland Mitigation Bank. The Corps and DSL are soliciting comments on the proposed mitigation bank.
A mitigation bank is a site where aquatic resources such as wetlands and streams are restored, established/created, enhanced, and/or preserved for the purpose of providing compensatory mitigation for impacts authorized by DSL under the authority of Oregon’s Removal-Fill Law (ORS 196.800 - 196.990) and/or the Corps under the authority of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. A mitigation bank sponsor sells compensatory mitigation credits to permittees whose obligation to provide compensatory mitigation is then transferred to the sponsor. A mitigation bank is governed by a Mitigation Bank Instrument approved by the Sponsor and both agencies.
Bank Sponsors: Wolverine LLC and Lone Oak Land and Investments LLC
Attention: Bob Bobosky
6770 Canyon Drive
Portland, Oregon 97225
Email: r.bobosky@comcast.net
Telephone: (503) 292-8261
Location: The proposed mitigation bank site is located near Banks, in Washington County, Oregon; tax lot 800; Section 36, Township 2 North, Range 4 West; Latitude 45.616498 North and Longitude 123.121295 West (Figure 1).
Service Area: The mitigation bank service area is the geographic area within which impacts can be mitigated at a specific mitigation bank. The proposed service area for this bank is the Tualatin River watershed (4th Field Hydrologic Unit 17090010) below 1,000 feet in elevation (Figure 2). This service area includes the urbanizing areas of Banks, Beaverton, Cornelius, Forest Grove, Hillsboro, King City, Lake Oswego, North Plains, Portland, Sherwood, Tualatin, and West Linn.
Bank Description: The proposed bank would generate wetland credits by restoring, creating, and enhancing wetlands and upland buffers. The goals of the project include: improving the functions of existing wetland areas, increasing the acreage of wetlands, developing diverse native plant communities and buffers, and ensuring a mechanism for long-term protection and management. The sponsors also propose to include unimproved perimeter trails for management access and for possible future low-impact recreation such as walking or bird/wildlife viewing.
The proposed mitigation bank site is 134.1 acres, to be constructed in two phases. The proposal includes decomissioning drain tile and ditches, minimal grading in some areas for wetland creation, and possibly removing berms along portions of the West Fork of Dairy Creek. Overall, the sponsors propose to restore 84.6 acres of wetland, create 21.3 acres of wetland and enhance 7.9 acres of wetland. The project includes 20.3 acres of upland buffers. Proposed wetland types are riverine, slope, and flats classes; palustrine forested (78.9 acres), palustrine emergent (19.3 acres), and palustrine scrub-shrub (15.6 acres).
Evaluation: The proposed Dairy Creek Mitigation Bank will be evaluated by an Interagency Review Team (IRT), which includes federal, state, local and/or tribal representatives. The IRT is advisory to the Corps and DSL, to ensure the project is consistent and compatible with all applicable natural resource policies. The mitigation bank instrument is the legal agreement governing the operation and use of a mitigation bank and includes the ecological goals of the project, grading and planting plans, monitoring, maintenance, and the number and schedule of wetland credits to be made available when performance standards have been met.
Submitting Comments: Interested parties are invited to provide comments on the Prospectus, which provides a summary of information regarding a proposed compensatory mitigation bank. Comments may be submitted by conventional mail, email or through the DSL’s website. All comments received in response to this notice will be provided to the IRT and bank sponsors and will be considered in design and in the agencies’ decsions whether to approve the proposed mitigation bank.
A copy of the prospectus is available through the Corps on the Regulatory In-lieu Fee and Bank Information Tracking System (RIBITS) website at https://ribits.usace.army.mil/ribits_apex/f?p=107:278:15791694814368::NO:RP,278:P278_BANK_ID:5324. Click on “Dairy Creek Prospectus” and then the blue download arrow. A copy of the prospectus is also available for review on the DLS website: www.statelandsonline.com/. At this website, select “Check Permit and Authorization Status,” then select “Washington County,” and then select the sponsor’s name from the list. The prospectus may also be reviewed by appointment at the Corps or DSL offices listed below. All comments, whether by conventional mail or submitted electronically, must be received no later than the expiration date of this public notice to ensure consideration.
Please provide comments to:
Judy Linton
US Army Corps of Engineers (Portland)
CENWP-OD-G
PO Box 2946
Portland, OR 97208
judy.j.linton@usace.army.mil
503-808-4382
OR
Dana Field
Oregon Department of State Lands
775 Summer Street NE
Salem, OR 97301-1279
Phone: (503) 986-5238