LRL-2000-01175

This notice announces an application submitted for a Department of the Army (DA) Permit, subject to Section 10 of the Rivers Act of 1899.

APPLICANT:                         C&B Marine, LLC

                                                50 East River Center Boulevard, Suite 1180

                                                Covington, Kentucky  41011 

LOCATION:                           Left bank of the Ohio River, Mile Marker 482.2 to 484.2 at 7500 River Road in Hebron, Boone County, Kentucky

                                                Latitude: 39.125848

                                                Longitude: -84.714672

                                                7.5 Minute Quad: Addyston, Ohio    

PURPOSE:  To update and consolidate various historical Department of the Army (DA) permit authorizations into a singular authorization, and to add barge fleeting. 

FACILITY HISTORY:  Various DA permit authorizations have been issued for this facility.  Original authorizations and periodic modifications and maintenance permits date back to at least 1977.  While general operations at the facility remain consistent with the authorizations, some operational specifics need to be better memorialized.  This review seeks to consolidate and supersede these previous authorizations with a singular DA permit authorization.  Though likely assumed in past authorizations, vessel numbers and configurations for the fleeting areas have not been specifically authorized.  This review seeks to properly evaluate and document the fleeting areas.  In addition, this review seeks to add a total of 72 barges and construct 12 spuds in an area called Hebron Lower Operation.  The applicant received a DA permit for this request for additional fleeting in 2020, however, due to the lack of available materials and the increase in costs at that time, the spuds were never installed, and the 72 additional barges were never moored. 

DESCRIPTION OF WORK:  The applicant is currently permitted to have a barge fleeting facility located along 7,440 linear feet of the left bank of the Ohio River with a total of 156 barges secured via 14 deadmen, four (4) floats, two (2) 24-inch steel piles, and eight (8) spuds.  These three areas are labeled Hebron Upper Operations Area 1, Hebron Upper Operation Area 2, and Hebron Upper Operation Area 3 on attached plans, from upriver to downriver respectively. 

Located at the Hebron Upper Operations Area 1, the applicant is permitted to have a dock barge, house barge, cleaning rig, water barge, and dry dock which also has landward pedestrian access via three 6 to 12-foot-wide walkways.  In all, the applicant is permitted to have two fleets with 36 barges in total.  The upriver fleet of barges is configured 4 barges wide and 4 barges long, while the downriver fleet is configured 4 barges wide and 5 barges long, with 195 feet between the two fleets.  The applicant requests authorization to moor a total of 58 barges at the Hebron Upper Operations Area 1.  The two fleets would become one fleet with a configuration of 5 barges wide and 11 barges long, and an additional barge would be added landward along the length of the last three barges on the downriver end of the fleet.  Thus, the last three barges on the downriver end of the fleet would be configured 6 barges wide, not 5 barges wide.  The total length of fleeting at the Hebron Upper Operations Area 1 would be 2,200 feet along the riverbank, with a total of 58 barges secured to existing infrastructure including two (2) deadmen, eight (8) spuds, and two (2) 24-inch diameter steel piles utilizing a combination of 2-inch steel chain and 1-inch braided steel cable.

Located 150 feet downriver from Hebron Upper Operations Area 1 is the Hebron Upper Operation Area 2.  The applicant is permitted to have 60 barges in total with two fleets of barges configured 6 barges wide and 5 barges long, with 70 feet between the two fleets.  The applicant requests authorization to moor a total of 70 barges at the Hebron Upper Operation Area 2.  One barge would be added riverward along the outside length of each fleet.  Both fleets would have a configuration of 7 barges wide and 5 barges long.  The total length of fleeting at the Hebron Upper Operation Area 2 would be 2,070 feet along the riverbank, with a total of 70 barges secured to six (6) existing deadmen and two (2) existing floats utilizing a combination of 2-inch steel chain and 1-inch braided steel cable.

Located 850 feet downriver from Hebron Upper Operation Area 2, is Hebron Upper Operation Area 3.  The applicant is permitted to have 60 barges in total with two fleets of barges configured 6 barges wide and 5 barges long, with 70 feet between the two fleets.  The applicant requests authorization to moor a total of 77 barges at the Hebron Upper Operation Area 3.  The upriver fleet would have a configuration of 7 barges wide and 5 barges long, while the downriver fleet would have a configuration of 7 barges wide and 6 barges long, with 70 feet between the two fleets.  The total length of fleeting at the Hebron Upper Operation Area 3 would be 2,270 feet along the riverbank, with a total of 77 barges secured to six (6) existing deadmen and two (2) existing floats utilizing a combination of 2-inch steel chain and 1-inch braided steel cable.

In addition, the applicant proposes to add a new fleeting area, referred to as Hebron Lower Operation, located 70 feet downriver of the Hebron Upper Operation Area 3.  Hebron Lower Operation would have two (2) fleets of 36 barges each, configured 6 barges wide and 6 barges long, with 200 feet between the two fleets.  The maximum riverward projection of either new fleet would be 302 feet from the ordinary high water elevation of 464.4 feet above mean sea level (Ohio River Datum).  The total length of fleeting at the Hebron Lower Operation would be 2,600 feet along the riverbank, with a total of 72 barges secured with 12 new 30-inch diameter x 80-foot-tall spuds in total, one spud located at every other barge along the shoreline to secure the two new fleeting areas.  

The applicant is requesting authorization to moor 121 additional barges at the facility.  If permitted, all together there would be 277 barges moored along 10,340 feet of the riverbank with a maximum riverward projection of 388 feet from the ordinary high water elevation of 464.4 feet above mean sea level (Ohio River Datum) for any of the four fleeting areas (Hebron Upper Operations Area 1, Hebron Upper Operation Area 2, Hebron Upper Operation Area 3, and the new Hebron Lower Operation Area). 

 No dredging is proposed for this project. 

REVIEW PROCEDURES:  A DA Permit cannot be issued if any legally required Federal, State, or local authorization or certification is denied. 

Copies of this notice are sent to the appropriate Federal and State Fish and Wildlife Agencies.  Their views and comments are solicited in accordance with the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1956.  The Endangered Species Act (ESA, 87 Stat. 884, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) requires federal agencies to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) pursuant to Section 7(a) 2 of the ESA on all actions that may affect a species listed (or proposed for listing) under the ESA as threatened or endangered, or any designated critical habitat.  A copy of this notice is being furnished to the USFWS for their review.  Per this notification, we request comments from the USFWS concerning potential impact to threatened and/or endangered species that may occur within the project area.  After receipt of comments, the USACE will evaluate the potential impacts to proposed and/or listed species and their designated critical habitat and initiate consultation with USFWS, if required.

Any person may request, in writing, within the comment period specified in this notice, that a public hearing be held to consider this application.  A request for a public hearing must state the specific interest which might be damaged by issuance of the DA Permit.

The National Register of Historic Places has been examined, and it has been determined that there are no properties currently listed on the Register which have been directly affected by the work.  If we are made aware, as a result of comments received in response to this notice, or by other means, of specific archaeological, scientific, pre­historical, or historical sites or structures which might be affected by the proposed work, the District Engineer will immediately take the appropriate action necessary pursuant to the National Historic Preserva­tion Act of 1966 - Public Law 89-665 as amended (including Public Law 96-515).

The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact of the proposed activity on the public interest.  That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utiliza­tion of important resources.  The benefits which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal must be balanced against its reasonably fore­seeable detriments.  All factors which may be relevant to the proposal will be considered; among those are conservation, economics, aesthetic values, general environmental concerns, historic values, fish and wildlife values, flood damage prevention, land use, navigation, recreation, water supply, water quality, energy needs, safety, food production, and in general, the needs and welfare of the public.   

The Corps of Engineers is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, State, and local agencies and officials; Indian tribes; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity.  It is presumed that all interested parties and agencies will wish to respond; therefore, a lack of response will be interpreted as meaning that there is no objection to the proposed project.  Any comments received will be considered by the Corps of Engineers to determine whether to issue, modify, condition or deny a permit for this proposal.  To make this decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above.  Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act.  Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.

Written statements received in this office on or before the closing date will become a part of the official record and will be considered in the determination on this permit request.  Any objections which are received during this period will be forwarded to the applicant for possible resolution before the determination is made whether to issue or deny the requested DA Permit.  A permit will be granted unless its issuance is found to be contrary to the public interest.

Information pertaining to this application is available for public examination during normal business hours upon prior request.  Drawings are available on Louisville District's Internet site at http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Public-Notices/.  All comments regarding this proposal should be addressed to Kimberly J. Simpson, CELRL-RDN at the address noted above and should refer to the Public Notice Number LRL-2000-01175. 

If you desire to submit your comments by email, you must comply with the following:

    a) In the subject line of your email, type in ONLY the Public Notice ID No. LRL-2000-01175.

                                      Example:

                                                            Subject:  LRL-2000-01175

    b) Provide your physical mailing address and telephone number.

    c) Send your email to: lrl.regulatorypubliccomment@usace.army.mil

    d) If you are sending attachments greater than 10 Mb in size with your email, you must send a hard copy (CD or paper) to the Corps’ physical address as well.