Notice of Application for State Water Quality Certification - Bonanza Creek

Notice of Application for State Water Quality CertificationPublic Notice (PN) Date: April 8, 2024 PN Reference Number: POA-2022-00511 v2.0 PN Expiration Date: May 8, 2024 Waterway: Bonanza 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=uTCjNdQfZ on or before the public notice expiration date listed above.Applicant: DOT&PF, Kerri Martin, 2301 Peger Road, Fairbanks, AK 99709, (907) 451-5289; Keri.martin@alaska.govProject Name: Dalton Highway MP120-135Dates of the proposed activity is planned to begin and end: 10/01/2026 to 10/01/2028 Location: The proposed activity is located within Section 6,7,18,19,30, T. 21N, R. 14W, Fairbanks Meridian, in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska. Project Site (Latitude, Longitude): 66.698101, -150.66420.Additional Discharge Locations will occur within Section 7,18,19,30, 31, T. 22N, R. 14W, Section 25, 36, T. 21N, R. 15W, Section 12, 13, T. 22N, R. 15W, Section 6, T. 22N, R. 14W, Section 18, 19, 30, 31, T. 23N, R. 14W, Section 1, T. 22N, R. 15W, Section 36, T. 23N, R. 15W, Section 28, T. 28N, R. 12W Fairbanks Meridian, in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska.The project extends from mileposts (MP) 120 to MP 135 of the Dalton Highway and includes the Bonanza Creek Material Site at MP 124.5, thermal berm construction between MP 135.5-138.1 and the Coldfoot Quarry at MP 172.6.Purpose: The applicant’s stated purpose of the Dalton Highway MP 120–135 Reconstruction Project (project) is to improve safety of the Dalton Highway between MP 120 through MP 135 and MP 135.5 through 138.1 using current design standards. The project area requires frequent major maintenance operations due to design and safety issues such as narrow roadway, lack of shoulders, substandard embankment material, thawing permafrost, substandard horizontal and vertical geometric features, lack of pullouts for chain-up areas, and major drainage issues. In some portions of the project area where it is not pragmatic to meet current design standards, design exceptions and waivers have been approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Between MP 135.5-138.1, the proposed work addresses extensive rotational failures in the embankment of the existing roadway. These failures are due to the degradation in permafrost creating slumping and thermokarsting. Expansion of the Bonanza Creek Material Site added 4.51 acres of permanent impacts to waters of the U.S., including wetlands, (WOTUS) compared to what was originally proposed. However, expanding this material site may reduce the need to create new material sites and thereby considerably reduces potential impacts to aquatic resources.Description of Proposed Work: The proposed work consists of the original scope of work, along with the added expansion of the material site and the proposed repairs to the thermal berms consisting of 67.04 acres of permanent impacts to WOTUS from the discharge of approximately 160,707 cubic yards (cy) of fill, including 779,075 cy of excavation in WOTUS. Temporary impacts would be approximately 21.52 acres of WOTUS. This project includes structural embankment replacement, realignments, widening, and resurfacing of the 15-mile segment. Additional scope added to this project includes the construction of thermal berms between MP 135.5-138.1, resulting in 7.12 acres of permanent impact and 5.07 acres of temporary impacts to WOTUS. This work would constitute the first phase of a multi-phase project along the Dalton Highway between MP 109-144. Widen the road from 11-foot lanes and variable shoulders to 12-foot lanes and 6-foot shoulders. Replace the structural section of roadway embankment to mitigate issues resulting from the existing frost-susceptible and moisture-sensitive embankment materials. Raise the road grade where needed to minimize the effects of aufeis and mitigate snow drifting. Grade raise in some areas is also required to keep the roadway operational while the embankment material is being replaced (minimum fill of two feet over the original ground has been determined as necessary to allow the highway traffic to pass through the corridor during construction). Lessen steep highway profile grades where practical. Resurface and restripe the highway with similar materials that currently exist (high float asphalt). Install new signage and delineators and replace guardrails. Replace guardrails leading to bridges to bring them to current standards. Realign sharp curves to bring features to current standards or improve the current design. There are four realignments due to curve flattening with the average length of the realignments approximately 1/3 mile. Improve drainage by installing new equalization culverts where needed, and by replacing all existing culverts. Construct thermal berms, as necessary, to separate thaw-induced settling from the structural component of the embankment. Install fish passage culverts at Pung’s Creek Crossing, South Fork Little Nasty Creek, and Little Nasty Creek. Realign portions of the channels of South Fork Little Nasty Creek and Little Nasty Creek. Develop a new material site (Bonanza Creek Material Site) on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at MP 124.5 to provide suitable embankment materials. Expand an existing material site (Coldfoot Quarry) administered by BLM at MP 172.6 to provide armor rock, riprap, and air convection embankment (ACE) for the realignment that crosses undisturbed permafrost. Construct pullouts for vehicles to put on and take off chains along the project corridor. Clear vegetation within DOT&PF’s right-of-way (ROW) along the project corridor. Require the relocation of buried utilities. The utility companies will secure necessary permits to perform the relocation work independently from DOT&PF and this project. Discharges into Wetlands and Other WOTUS: Project Feature Permanent Impact to WOTUS (acres) Excavation in WOTUS (cubic yards) Fill in WOTUS (cubic yards) Temporary Impact to WOTUS (acres) Roadway Improvements 22.67 26,000 136,000 14.68 Stream Crossings 0.12 3,075 707 1.77 Bonanza Creek Material Site (Original Impact) 32.62* 700,000 - - Expansion of Coldfoot Quarry - - - - Thermal Berms 7.12 24,000 5.07 Expansion of Bonanza Creek Material Site 4.51 50,000 - - Project Totals 67.04 779,075 160,707 21.52 *A large portion of the Bonanza Creek Material Site impact area will be converted to a pond with an unconsolidated bottom 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. Avoidance: During the preliminary and final design process, DOT&PF evaluated major and minor road route and material site changes to identify the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative. This includes the following avoidance measures: The majority of the reconstruction will occur within the existing footprint along the current alignment. Of the 15.03 miles of reconstruction, 92 percent (i.e., 13.82 miles) of the reconstructed road uses the current road embankment. All impacted WOTUS are in close proximity to existing disturbance. The majority of impacted WOTUS are due to widening of the roadway embankment to provide a consistent lane and shoulder width. Realignment of the road onto undisturbed and wetland areas occurs only when necessary for safety. When safety issues can be appropriately mitigated (e.g., signage, addition of chain up areas), design exceptions that minimize impacts to WOTUS have been requested by project engineers and received from DOT&PF’s regional Preconstruction Engineer (see Attachment I of the USACE IP Application package). Examples include: Between stations 729+29 and 739+30, a design exception was approved for maintaining a profile grade exceeding the design standards. Adhering to design standards would have raised the embankment 80 feet, thereby expanding the required toe of fill outward into WOTUS or would have required realignment that would construct five miles of new road over undisturbed ground. Between stations 936+42 and 940+75, a design exception was approved for a curve with a design speed of 40 miles per hour on this 50-mile per hour roadway. The existing embankment is surrounded by wetlands on both sides. Realignment of the highway to flatten this sharp curve would impact wetlands and a pond on the west side of the road. At Gobbler’s Knob (Station 1154+14-1417+17), multiple design exceptions were approved to maintain, or only partially improve, the existing profile grades and horizontal curves. This approval prevented raising the embankment by 30 to 65 feet, which would have expanded the required toe of fill outward into WOTUS over two miles or would have required new construction of 30 miles of road on undisturbed land. Minimization: The following minimization measures are included into the project: In areas of the project’s proposed road realignments, the abandoned roadway embankment will be removed, and the area will be revegetated based on the Revegetation and Invasive Species Management Plan (Attachment K of the USACE IP Application package). Existing drainage patterns will be maintained or enhanced wherever possible, including replacement of damaged or failing culverts with pipes of equal or larger size. To enhance hydraulic connectivity of wetlands, all culverts within the project will be replaced. Existing 24-inch drainage culverts through the Dalton Highway embankment will be replaced with 36-inch-diameter or larger culverts to ensure sufficient hydraulic capacity and improve hydrologic connectivity (See Sheet D5). Culvert replacement will help improve water quality by reducing scour and erosion, will reduce flooding, and will provide improved habitat connectivity, resulting in some amount of ecological uplift for existing streams and wetlands adjacent to the roadway. At three fish streams (Pung’s Crossing, South Fork Little Nasty Creek, and Little Nasty Creek), fish passage will be enhanced beyond the requirements from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and DOT&PF Memorandum of Agreement for Implementing Safe Passage of Anadromous and Resident Fish While Maintaining and Improving State Transportation Infrastructure (ADF&G and DOT&PF 2001). This is described in detail in Attachment J: Fish Passage Culverts Design Basis Memorandum. The project will construct the following improvements: At Pung’s Crossing, the existing two 10-foot-diameter circular steel plate culverts will be replaced with a 19.5-foot-wide circular steel plate culvert designed to exceed ADF&G fish passage standards. The new crossing will improve the stream, which currently splits in order to pass through two culverts separated by 4 feet. The new, large culvert will allow passage of the creek underneath the roadway as one stream, simulating the existing stream upstream and downstream of the roadway crossing. The single culvert will properly convey the stream without changing the stream characteristics. The new culvert will provide an opening that exceeds the requirements of the culvert based on the stream width observed almost immediately upstream and downstream of the culverts. Additionally, two 4-foot-diameter culverts will be constructed within the floodplain to alleviate ice damming. At the South Fork Little Nasty Creek, the existing twin 4-foot-diameter circular corrugated steel culverts will be replaced with a 14-foot-wide pipe arch culvert designed to exceed ADF&G fish passage standards. At Little Nasty Creek, the existing 10-foot-diameter circular steel plate culvert will be replaced with a 17-foot-wide pipe arch culvert designed to exceed ADF&G fish passage standards. Portions of the stream channel will be realigned to allow for a perpendicular stream crossing. A small stream realignment will occur at the South Fork of Little Nasty Creek. The stream realignment will remove the stream from the toe of the roadway embankment where fill from the road is actively eroding into the channel. This change will further minimize risk of spills entering and unnaturally altering the stream. Thermal berms have been reduced from the proposed 40 feet wide to 10–15 feet wide (i.e., the minimum needed to be effective) in order to reduce impacts to WOTUS. Thermal berm foreslopes have been steepened to the maximum extent practicable to minimize fill in WOTUS. The excavated portion of the Bonanza Creek Material Site will be converted into a pond with an irregular rounded shaped shoreline as outlined in the Mining and Reclamation Guidelines (Attachment F of the USACE IP Permit Application package). The majority of the WOTUS impact from the new Bonanza Creek Material Site will be conversion from vegetated wetlands to a pond with an unconsolidated bottom. The Bonanza Creek Material Site will be excavated to a minimum depth of 25 feet to maximize the amount of material produced. DOT&PF has contracted the Salcha Soil and Water Conservation District to treat infestations of invasive species at the Bonanza Creek Material in accordance with the Revegetation and Invasive Species Management Plan (Attachment K) and the Mining and Reclamation Guidelines (Attachment F) to limit the spread along the banks of Bonanza Creek and downstream to the Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge. Mitigation: Overall mitigation measures for the project include: Designing the replacement of three fish passage culverts following United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) guidelines to substantially increase aquatic resource functions over the existing culverts (Attachment GJ). Maximizing the use of design exceptions to avoid significant realignments and impacts to undisturbed aquatic resource functions. Restoring approximately 14.1 acres of disturbed area previously covered by roadway embankment. Improving overall hydraulic connectivity between area aquatic resources by increasing the size of small stream and cross drainage culverts. 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 NoticeThe 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.[1] Reference submission number: HQ1-JBYN-TDXS9; Received: 2/27/2024 2:49:34 PM