The United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) (Little Rock District) has issued a March 23rd Public Notice regarding their receipt of a mitigation bank prospectus.
Streamworks Mitigation Services, LLC (“SMS”) is stated to have submitted the Gum Log Creek Mitigation Bank (“GLC”) prospectus (“prospectus”) to the Corps for initiation of its review process.
A “prospectus” describes the proposal for developing and operating the mitigation bank. The Corps outlines its subsequent review process as follows:
After public comments are received and any issues are resolved on the prospectus, Streamworks Mitigation Services, LLC (Streamworks) will submit a draft-banking instrument to the District Engineer of the Little Rock District. The District Engineer will then distribute the draft-banking instrument to the Interagency Review Team (IRT), which is made up of the Corps and the pertinent state and Federal resource agencies. The IRT will review the banking instrument and coordinate with Streamworks on any issues until a final banking instrument is completed. Finally, the District Engineer will review the final instrument and make a decision to approve or not approve.
These types of “banks” are developed to mitigate for unavoidable impacts to streams and wetlands authorized under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
The Corps Notice states that the proposed project is located in White Oak Creek, Gum Log Creek, and associated tributaries and wetlands east of Atkins, Arkansas. The site is described as approximately 480 acres in size and has historically been used for row crops, pastureland and timber production. Further, it is noted that stream channel segments have been straightened, dammed to create livestock ponds, and are often choked with logging and tornado debris.
SMS has preliminary identified approximately 9,345 linear feet of perennial stream, 218,964 linear feet of ephemeral or intermittent tributaries and 166 acres of wetlands. The organization proposes to perform bank stabilization along Gum Log Creek and reconstruct White Oak Creek and onsite tributaries to exhibit historical planform features. Wetland areas are proposed to be restored and enhanced and the entire site is to be revegetated with native hardwood and herbaceous species. In addition, the site would be monitored for a minimum of five years to ensure hydrologic and revegetation success, and be perpetually preserved.
The Corps Notice additionally references the site as lying::
... within the Lake Conway-Point Remove 8-digit (11110203) hydrologic unit code (HUC) as designated by the U.S. Geologic Survey. Streamworks proposes that the primary geographic service area for the bank include the Lake Conway-Point Remove, Dardanelle Reservoir (11110202), and Lower Arkansas-Maumelle (11110207) HUCs. The proposed secondary service area includes the Bayou Meto (08020402), Petit Jean (11110204), Frog-Mulberry (11110201), and the portions of the Robert S. (11110104) and Poteau (11110105) HUCs that are within Arkansas.
Click here to download a copy of the Public Notice.
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