Filed Date: January 10, 2025
Event Date: January 10, 2025 17:00PM
Board: Federal Consistency
On January 10, 1997, the State of Texas received federal approval of the Coastal Management Program (CMP) (62 Federal Register pp. 1439 - 1440). Under federal law, federal agency activities and actions affecting the Texas coastal zone must be consistent with the CMP goals and policies identified in 31 TAC Chapter 26. Requests for federal consistency review were deemed administratively complete for the following project(s) during the period of, December 7, 2024 to December 23, 2024. As required by federal law, the public is given an opportunity to comment on the consistency of proposed activities in the coastal zone undertaken or authorized by federal agencies. Pursuant to 31 TAC §§30.20(f), 30.30(h), and 30.40(e), the public comment period extends 30 days from the date published on the Texas General Land Office web site. The notice was published on the web site on Friday, January 10, 2025. The public comment period for this project will close at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 9, 2025.
Federal Agency Activities:
Applicant: Texas Department of Transportation
Location: The project site is located adjacent to the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, approximately 550 feet southwest of the intersection of North Sam Rankin Street and Brewster Street, in Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas.
Latitude and Longitude: 27.806481, -97.404947
Project Description: The applicant proposes to place fill associated with a 6-foot by 3-foot concrete box culvert that would carry runoff from the new Harbor Bridge to a tidal drainage ditch. The box culvert would consist of a headwall, a concrete apron, and concrete wingwalls resulting in approximately 0.002 acre of fill below the ordinary high water mark (OHWM). Earthen berms would be placed to divert water flow from the work area and would temporarily fill approximately 0.005 acre below the OHWM. The berms are estimated to remain in place for no more than 6 weeks. The earthen berms would be constructed with clean fill. Once construction is complete, the berms would be removed to an upland location away from aquatic resources to dry, then transported to an off-site, upland location for disposal.
The applicant has no proposed mitigation.
The applicant has stated that they have avoided and minimized the environmental impacts by minimizing the outfall structure size and amount of stone riprap scour protection placed at the end of the structure and avoided all special aquatic sites. Additionally, temporary berms will be removed and the temporary impact area will return to pre-construction contours.
The project site conditions are currently within an industrial area of the city that is undergoing active construction for the new Harbor Bridge. The ditch is a maintained tidal ditch that connects to the Corpus Christi Ship Channel.
The proposed project is an amendment to permit SWG-2014-00408, which authorized the permanent discharge of approximately 1.066 acres of fill material into estuarine and palustrine emergent wetlands and tidal drainage ditches associated with the construction of the new US 181 bridge over the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. The permit required the creation of 0.19 acre of estuarine emergent wetland, enhancement of 0.28 acre of estuarine emergent wetland, and the preservation of approximately 11.07 acres of both palustrine and estuarine emergent wetlands.
Type of Application: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit application #SWG-2014-00408. This application will be reviewed pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
CMP Project No: 25-1082-F2
Further information on the applications listed above, including a copy of the consistency certifications or consistency determinations for inspection, may be obtained from the Texas General Land Office Public Information Officer at 1700 N. Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701, or via email at pialegal@glo.texas.gov. Comments should be sent to the Texas General Land Office Coastal Management Program Coordinator at the above address or via email at federal.consistency@glo.texas.gov.