Raritan Bay Reach Fed. Con. Determination Approved - Edited.pdf

Michael J. Oseback, Chief, Operations Support Branch April 18, 2024 Department of the Army New York District, Corps of Engineers Jacob K. Javits Building Federal Building New York, New York 10278-0090

RE: Federal Consistency Determination / Water Quality Certification File: 0000-24-0007.1 CDT 240001

Project: Raritan Bay Reach Federal Navigation Project

Dear Mr. Oseback:

This letter is forwarded in response to your request for a Federal Consistency (FC), as per Section 307 of the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act (16 USC 1451 et seq.), and Water Quality Certification (WQC) as required by Section 401 of the Federal Clean Water Act (33 USC 1251 et seq). The request included the public notice for the project, channel surveys, sediment sampling and analyses report, and a Coastal Zone Management Rules (N.J.A.C. 7:7) Statement of Compliance.

The proposed project involves maintenance dredging portions of the Raritan Bay Reach Channel to a depth of –35 feet below the plane of mean low water (MLW) plus 2 feet allowable overdredge. The volume of material to be removed (including overdredge) within this contract area is approximately 450,000 cubic yards (CY), as noted on the below noted plans. Dredged material shall be placed at the Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS) for environmental remediation purposes.

The Rules on Coastal Zone Management (N.J.A.C. 7:7) constitute New Jersey’s enforceable policies under its federally approved Coastal Zone Management Program. The Raritan River Federal Navigation Channel Maintenance Dredging project has been reviewed under the following Rules on Coastal Zone Management: Finfish Migration (7:7-9.5), Navigation Channels (7:7-9.7), Ports (7:7-9.11), Submerged Infrastructure Routes (7:7-9.12), Historic and Archaeological Resources (7:7-9.13), Maintenance Dredging (7:7-12.6), Dredged Material Placement (7:7-15.12), Marine Fish and Fisheries (7:7-16.2) and Water Quality (7:7-16.3). Based on the summary of details presented in the above noted request for a contract specific FC/WQC, the Division of Land Resource Protection (Division) has determined that the dredging of the Raritan Bay Reach Federal Navigation Channel (as shown on plans entitled, ”New York & New Jersey Channels, Raritan Bay Reaches, Condition Survey”, Drawing Numbers VH-101, VH-102, VH-103, VH-104, VH-105, VH-106, VH-107, and VH-108 dated June 28, 2022) is consistent with the Rules on Coastal Zone Management and New Jersey’s federally approved Coastal Management Program.

New Jersey is an Equal Opportunity Employer l Printed on Recycled Paper and Recyclable

PHILIP D. MURPHY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION SHAWN M. LATOURETTE

Governor Commissioner

TAHESHA L. WAY

Lt. Governor

New Jersey is an Equal Opportunity Employer l Printed on Recycled Paper and Recyclable

Watershed & Land Management Program Mail Code 501-02A

P.O. Box 420 Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0420 www.nj.gov/dep/landuse

The Division has also reviewed this contract for potential water quality impacts. Provided that the following conditions are met, the Division has determined that this project is not likely to cause a violation of New Jersey’s Surface Water Quality Standards (N.J.A.C. 7:9B-1.1 et seq.). Therefore, this determination includes the State’s Water Quality Certification pursuant to Section 401 of the federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 USC 1251 et seq.) subject to the following conditions. It is noted that this Water Quality Certificate is valid for a term of five years and expires five years from the date on the first page of this determination.

PROJECT SPECIFIC CONDITIONS:

1. Dredging is prohibited from January 1st to June 30th in any given year to protect the early life stages of winter flounder (1/1-5/31) and anadromous fish migration (3/1-6/30).

2. All sediments from this project shall be removed using a closed clamshell bucket.

3. The closed clamshell bucket shall be equipped with sensors to ensure complete closure of the bucket before lifting the bucket. Said sensors shall be operational during the entire dredging operation.

4. The dredge shall be operated so as to control the rate of descent of the bucket so as to maximize the vertical cut of the clamshell bucket while not penetrating the sediment beyond the vertical dimension of the open bucket (i.e. overfilling the bucket). This will reduce the amount of free water in the dredged material, will avoid overfilling the bucket, and minimize the number of dredge bucket cycles needed to complete the dredging contract. The dredging contractor shall use appropriate software and sensors on the dredging equipment to ensure consistent compliance with this condition during the entire dredging operation. The independent dredging inspector shall monitor the operation of the software and sensors during the inspections as specified in the below conditions. Any malfunction of the software and sensors on the dredge at any time shall be immediately reported to the independent dredging inspector and the permittee by the dredging contractor and shall be immediately repaired to working order.

5. The closed clamshell environmental bucket shall be lifted slowly through the water, at a rate of 2 feet per second or less.

6. Barge overflow is authorized in order to minimize water quality impacts from placement of the dredged material at the HARS.

7. The gunwales of the dredge scows shall not be rinsed or hosed during dredging except to the extent necessary to ensure the safety of workers maneuvering on the dredge scow.

8. Decant water from this project may only be discharged within the channel from where the sediments originated, and in close proximity to the dredging contract area. Discharge to another receiving waterbody requires prior approval from the Department and may require a New Jersey Discharge Pollutant Elimination System/Discharge to Surface Water (NJDPES/DSW) permit.

9. All decant water shall be held in the decant holding scow a minimum of 24 hours after the last addition of water to the decant holding scow. Said water contained in the decant holding scow may only be discharge after this mandatory 24-hour retention time.

a. Should the contractor wish to reduce the required holding time, the contractor shall demonstrate that the reduced holding time is sufficient to meet a total suspended solids (TSS) background value of

30 mg/L. This TSS action level is consistent with the ambient TSS results presented in the NY District study entitled "NY and NJ Harbor Deepening Project - Total Suspended Solids (TSS) Monitoring, Interim Report" (January 2006). The total suspended solids shall be determined through gravimetric analysis. No discharge shall be permitted from the decant holding scow until the results of the gravimetric analysis have confirmed that the 30 mg/L background level has been achieved. No additional water shall be added to the decant holding scow between the time of sample acquisition and discharge. Upon successful demonstration that the reduced holding time is sufficient to meet the TSS background level of 30 mg/L, the monitoring of TSS may be suspended and the demonstrated settling time shall replace the 24-hour minimum. A successful demonstration of the reduced holding time efficiency shall be determined once three consecutive TSS analyses have confirmed that the 30 mg/L action level has been achieved by the reduced holding time.

b. Should the contractor wish to demonstrate this reduced holding time, all records including time of last addition of decant water into the scow, time of TSS sampling and the results of TSS sampling shall be submitted to the NJDEP as soon as they become available, together with a request for a reduced holding time.

10. During pumping of the decant water from the holding scow, great care shall be taken to avoid re-suspending or pumping sediment which has settled in the decant holding scow.

11. Certain portions of the proposed dredging fall within depuration harvest zones. MRA requests that the depuration plants be notified via certified mail 30 days prior to work taking place. The depuration plants and their respective addresses are listed below:

- JT White – 76 5th Street, Highlands, NJ 07732

- Clean Water Clam – 140 Ocean Avenue, Sea Bright, NJ 07760

12. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS: At the completion of this contract, the NY District shall submit the following information to the Department. This information shall be submitted within six months of contract completion.

Start and finish date of contract Post-dredge hydrographic survey Completed "Notice of Completion of Work" attached.

Should you have any questions regarding this determination and certification, please do not hesitate to contact Stephen Mitchell of my staff at Stephen.Mitchell@dep.nj.gov.

Sincerely, Colleen Keller, Assistant Director

Division of Land Resource Protection

C: Scott Douglas, NJDOT, Office of Maritime Resources

Text1: