** APPROVAL OF AGENDA.
1. MINUTES of previous meeting.
2. PERMITS (Projects over $50,000 with no
objections and with staff recommendation for approval.)
3. CLOSED MEETING FOR CONSULTATION WITH OR BRIEFING BY COUNSEL.
4. CONSOL VIRGINIA COAL COMPANY, #05-2233,
requests authorization to construct a diffuser outfall to facilitate
the discharge of mine water from its Buchanan Mine Number 1 into the
Levisa Fork in Buchanan County. The project is protested by the
Buchanan County Board of Supervisors, the Town of Grundy, the Sierra
Club and nearby residents.
5. ROBERT B. HART, ET AL, #06-1551.
Commission review of the Prince William County Wetland Board's November
14, 2006 decision to approve the installation of 355 linear feet of
vinyl bulkhead, and to grant after-the-fact authorization for the
installation of 90 linear feet of gabion basket retaining wall and the
placement of fill over approximately 3,550 square feet of tidal
wetlands adjacent to two properties situated along Quantico and Swans
Creeks in Prince William County.
6. RONALD C. WOODS, #07-0196.
Request by 26 freeholders of property in Northampton County for
Commission review of the February 21, 2007 decision of the Northampton
County Wetlands and Dunes Board to approve the installation of 120
linear feet of stone riprap extending onto the beach at his property
situated along the Chesapeake Bay in the Latimers Bluff area of
Northampton County.
7. ALISON E. MORRISON, #07-0197.
Request by 26 freeholders of property in Northampton County for
Commission review of the February 21, 2007 decision of the Northampton
County Wetlands and Dunes Board to approve the installation of 120
linear feet of stone riprap extending onto the beach at her property
situated along the Chesapeake Bay in the Latimers Bluff area of
Northampton County.
8. MARINE HYDRAULICS INCORPORATED, #04-1984,
requests modification of their previously issued permit to include
dredging, using either clamshell or hydraulic methods, 5,400 cubic
yards of State-owned submerged lands within a 130-foot by 140-foot
basin to create maximum depths of minus ten (–10) feet below mean
low water adjacent to their property situated along the Elizabeth River
in Norfolk. The project is protested by nearby property owners.
9. VALIANT VENTURES, #06-1022,
requests authorization to construct a 150-foot long by 6-foot wide
community pier with a 6-foot by 128-foot T-head platform with five
32-foot long by 4-foot wide finger piers with 10 boat slips with lifts
for a future condominium association adjacent to property situated
along the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River in Norfolk.
10. MARGARET BLEVINS, #07-0139,
requests authorization to install 205 linear feet of timber bulkhead
flanked with riprap protection at the property lines, and to install
three (3) low-profile, timber groins extending 48 feet channelward of
mean high water, adjacent to her property situated along Portobago Bay
in Caroline County. Both Wetlands and Subaqueous permits are
required.
11. SHAH HEMANG AND APURVA PATEL, #06-0263,
request after-the-fact approval of a previously constructed, and
unauthorized expansion of a T-head pier deck from 10-foot by 20-foot to
20-foot by 21.5-foot at the applicants properties situated along the
Nansemond River at 409 and 411 Blue Heron Point in the City of Suffolk.
12. PUBLIC COMMENTS
13. PUBLIC HEARING:
Amendments to Regulations 4 VAC 20-670-10 et seq. and 4 VAC 20-430-10
et seq., concerning the use of anchored gill nets, licensed for
recreational purposes and set in areas above the saltwater-freshwater
recreational license boundary lines on the James, York and Rappahannock
rivers.
14. PUBLIC HEARING:
Planned construction of a new artificial recreational fishing reef
(Bluefish Rock), to be centered 3.2 nautical miles E.S.E. of the Grand
View section of Hampton.
15. PUBLIC HEARING: Amend Regulation 4 VAC 20-450-10 et seq. to establish the 2007 commercial bluefish quota, as 1,018,660 pounds.
16. PUBLIC HEARING:
Regulation 4 VAC 20-950-10 et seq., “Pertaining to Black Sea
Bass.” Consideration of alternate methods for allocation of the
2007 commercial harvest quota between directed and by-catch fisheries.
17. PUBLIC HEARING:
Proposed adoption of February 27, 2007 emergency amendments to
Regulations 4 VAC 20-270-10 et seq. and 4 VAC 20-300-10 et seq., as
permanent parts of these regulations. Amendments to Regulation 4
VAC 20-270-10 extend the lawful crab pot and peeler pot season from
March 17 through November 30, establish a daily time limit of 6 a.m. to
2 p.m. for the March 17 through March 31 period, and prohibit the
placing, setting or fishing of any fish pot in tidal waters from March
12 through March 16, except in defined upriver areas. The
amendment to Regulation 4 VAC 20-300-10 et seq. extends the 51-bushel
(17-barrel) possession limit from March 17 through May 31 for vessels
taking or catching crabs by crab pot.
18. PUBLIC HEARING:
Proposed amendment to Regulation 4 VAC 20-370-10 et seq., to repeal the
prohibition on harvest and possession of dark (any shade of brown
through black coloration) sponge crabs and establish an additional blue
crab sanctuary in an area that extends out to the 3-Mile Limit Line,
from off the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, thence southward along the
Virginia Beach coast to the Virginia-North Carolina Line (Regulation 4
VAC 20-752-10 et seq.).
19. FAILURE TO REPORT COMMERCIAL HARVEST, in accordance with mandatory reporting requirements of Regulation 4 VAC 20-610-10 et seq.
20. REQUEST FOR APRIL PUBLIC HEARING:
Establish conservation measures for Sheepshead, to include a 4-fish
recreational possession limit and a commercial hook-and-line possession
limit of 500 pounds.
21. REQUEST FOR APRIL PUBLIC HEARING:
To amend Regulation 4 VAC 20-900-10 et seq., “Pertaining to
Horseshoe Crab”, to establish a definition for male horseshoe
crabs, a permitting and reporting system (call-in) for buyers of
horseshoe crabs.
22. REQUEST FOR APRIL PUBLIC HEARING:
To amend Regulation 4 VAC 20-890-10 et seq., “Pertaining to
Channeled Whelk”, to modify the definition of a bait bag and
establish a permitting and reporting system for buyers of channeled
whelk.
23. REQUEST FOR APRIL PUBLIC HEARING: To establish recreational and commercial possession limits for blueline tilefish and grouper species landed in Virginia.
24. REQUEST FOR APRIL PUBLIC HEARING: Request a revision of the May 1 through October 30 possession-limit on spiny dogfish to 3,000 pounds, from 600 pounds.
PAGE 2
ITEMS (Projects over $50,000
with no
objections and with staff recommendation for approval)
2A. HENRY COUNTY PUBLIC SERVICE AUTHORITY, #07-0344,
requests authorization to install a submerged waterline, by directional
bore method, beneath Marrowbone Creek and Jordan Creek to provide
potable water to area residents in the Chestnut Knob/Ridgeway section
of Henry County.
2B. CSX TRANSPORTATION, #03-1647,
requests a modification to reduce the requirement to mitigate for the
previously proposed loss of 1.743 acres of submerged aquatic vegetation
(SAV) to reflect the actual, constructed loss of 0.21 acres of SAV
resulting from the construction of two (2) temporary stone causeways
and the dredging of 18.5 cubic yards of State-owned subaqueous material
from a 500 square foot area adjacent to the previously authorized
railroad crossing of Quantico Creek in Prince William County. The
applicant proposes to donate $10,000 to the VMRC Habitat Improvement
Fund, to be earmarked for use in a SAV restoration project in the
Potomac River Watershed, if their SAV restoration efforts do not meet
the success criteria outlined in their revised SAV mitigation plan, as
determined by their final report due to the VMRC no later than November
1, 2008.
2C. HIGGERSON-BUCHANAN, INC., #06-2845,
requests authorization to dredge 13,700 cubic yards of State-owned
subaqueous bottom to create a 550-foot long by 130 foot wide (maximum)
barge unloading berth with maximum depths of minus fourteen (-14) feet
at mean low water, and install one (1) 7-pile cluster dolphin at the
confluence of Mains Creek and the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth
River, located adjacent to their commercial property at 5300 Bainbridge
Boulevard in Chesapeake. The dredged material will be removed
mechanically and disposed of in their adjacent upland property.
Recommend approval with a royalty in the amount of $6,165.00 for the
new dredging of State bottom at a rate of $0.45 per cubic yard and
$200.00 for the encroachment of the dolphin over 100 square feet of
State bottom at a rate of $2.00 per square foot.
2D. ALEXANDRIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, #07-0235,
requests authorization to annually mechanically maintenance dredge
50,000 cubic yards of accumulated silt, sand, and gravel from five (5)
flood control channels, Cameron Run, Holmes Run, Backlick Run, Hooffs
Run, and Four Mile Run, to return them to their original design
configuration in the City of Alexandria. Staff recommends a
5-year permit with the requirement for a post-dredge bathymetric survey
being submitted for staff review after each dredging cycle.
VMRC DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES;
THEREFORE, IF YOU ARE IN NEED OF REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS DUE TO A
DISABILITY,
PLEASE ADVISE KATHY LEONARD (757-247-2200) NO LATER THAN FIVE WORK DAYS
PRIOR TO
THE MEETING DATE AND IDENTIFY YOUR NEEDS.
FISHERY MANAGEMENT ITEMS WILL IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW THE HABITAT MANAGEMENT PROJECTS ON THIS AGENDA.