The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers (USACE), Wilmington District, and N.C. Department of
Transportation (NCDOT) have prepared a Final Environmental Impact Statement
(FEIS) to present information about the US 17 Hampstead Bypass design. The FEIS
was drafted based on input received from the public and commenting agencies during
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and Supplement DEIS comment
period.
A copy of the FEIS for the NCDOT Improvement
Program projects U-4751 (proposed Military Cutoff Road {SR 1409} and R-3300
(proposed US 17 Hampstead Bypass) is available for public review at:
·
NCDOT
Division 3 Office, 5501 Barbados Blvd., Castle Hayne
·
Wilmington
Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, 305 Chestnut St., 4th
Floor, Wilmington
·
New
Hanover County Planning Office, 230 Government Center Drive, Ste 110,
Wilmington
·
Northeast
Regional Library, 1241 Military Cutoff Rd., Wilmington
·
Hampstead
Branch Library, 75 Library Dr., Hampstead
·
The
NCDOT project website at: http://www.ncdot.org/projects/US17HampsteadBypass/
The Wilmington District has filed the FEIS
with the U.S. EPA. A Notice of
Availability was published in the Federal Register on August 8, 2014 to begin
the 30-day public review period, pursuant to regulations of the President’s
Council on Environmental Quality for implementing NEPA (40 CFR Parts
1500-1508).
The public notice can be accessed at http://www.saw.usace.army.mil/Missions/RegulatoryPermitProgram/PublicNotices.aspx.
This notice will direct interested parties to the Federal Register where
the Notice of Availability is housed and back to the NCDOT Hampstead Bypass
project page for review of the FEIS document.
The Hampstead Bypass project begins at
Military Cutoff Road in Wilmington and extends around Hampstead, and ties back
into Highway 17 below the Holly Shelter Game lands in New Hanover and Pender
counties. Its primary purpose is to improve the traffic carrying capacity and
safety of the US 17 and Market Street corridor.
The Corps of Engineers will evaluate this
project to compare alternatives that have been carried forward for study
pursuant to applicable procedures under Section 404
of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344).
The Wilmington District USACE is soliciting public comment on the
merits of this proposal to give careful consideration to public interest review
and to more fully integrate Section 404 permit requirements with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and 404(b) (1) compliance determination.
Comments should be submitted to Mr. Brad
Shaver, Wilmington Regulatory Field Office, 69 Darlington Ave., Wilmington,
North Carolina 28403-1343, or (910)251-4611, or brad.e.shaver@usace.army.mil.
Written comments will become a part of the project record. Please provide written comments no later than
September 8, 2014.
The Wilmington District Commander is not
authorizing construction of the proposed US 17 improvements at this time. A final Department of the Army permit could
be issued, if at all, after the review process is complete, impacts to the
aquatic environment have been minimized to the maximum extent practicable, and
a compensatory mitigation plan for unavoidable impacts has been approved.