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KITTITAS COUNTY <br />DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS <br />PUBLIC WORKS — BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />STUDY SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />STUDY SESSION DATE: September 28, 2020 <br />TOPIC: Wetland Delineation at Bowers Field <br />ACTION REQUESTED: Direct Staff on Desired United States Army Corps of <br />Engineers Wetland Delineation Process <br />LEAD STAFF: <br />Mark R. Cook <br />RECOMMENDATION: <br />Pursue a "Preliminary Jurisdictional Determination" with the Army Corps of Engineers <br />(USACE) delineating wetland extend impacting the Bowers Field (ELN) capital <br />improvement plan with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). <br />BRIEFING SUMMARY: <br />• Preliminary wetland delineation for ELN have been reduced from original extent. <br />• Two options exist to formalize the delineation process with the USACE: <br />"preliminary jurisdictional determination" or "approved jurisdictional <br />determination". <br />• Whiskey Creek's connection to the Yakima River will likely result in USACE <br />taking jurisdiction of delineated wetlands, resulting in an "Individual Permit" <br />process mitigating wetland impacts. <br />• The approved jurisdictional determination option could delay the individual <br />permit application submittal, and permit issuance, by six months. <br />• Timelines are tight for environmental assessment National Environmental Policy <br />Act (NEPA) finding from the FAA supporting parallel taxiway construction <br />(EXHIBIT 1). <br />• The Environmental Assessment (EA) team is seeking a NEPA finding from the <br />FAA by January 2022. <br />• While there are political advantages to waiting on an "Approved" determination <br />from USACE, there is an associated adverse impact on the EA project timeline. <br />BACKGROUND: <br />Century West Engineering (CW) is working towards completing a sixty percent (60%) <br />design of the parallel taxiway, runway 11/29 and flood improvements at ELN. The <br />Board will recall that recently staff secured significant additional funding from the FAA <br />supporting the design effort. Attempting to meet the tight timeline for ELN improvement <br />construction, Public Works has embarked on a process seeking to create wetland <br />mitigation credits ahead of taxiway construction in 2024. ESA (wetland consultant <br />Page 1 of 4 <br />PUBLIC WORKS BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />