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Cape Hatteras National Seashore has announced the availability of a draft Finding of No Significant Impact for the dredging of Oregon Inlet with a Dare County dredge. The draft document is available for public review for a 15-day period.

Dare County is seeking a special use permit from CHNS to utilize a privately-owned hopper dredge in the same manner and under the same conditions as what is currently authorized for the United States Army Corps of Engineers to perform maintenance dredging of small and isolated, regularly occurring shoals within Oregon Inlet.

Oregon Inlet, including the submerged lands, is situated within CHNS boundaries. The Corps of Engineers regulatory control over this project includes the dredging and discharge of dredged material within the confines of the Oregon Inlet corridor and the disposal areas, as a federally authorized navigation channel.

In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Park Service is adopting the Environmental Assessment the Army Corps drafted for their Section 404 permitting in which the National Park Service was a cooperating agency. The two agencies reviewed Dare County’s application prepared January 2019 Oregon Inlet Channel Maintenance Utilizing a New Privately-Owned Hopper Dredge draft assessment that examined alternative actions and environmental impacts associated with the proposed project to dredge Oregon Inlet with a privately-owned hopper dredge.

The statements and conclusions reached in this draft document are based on documentation and analysis provided in the Army Corps assessment with supplemental analysis provided in the Dare County Environmental Assessment to support the NPS decision. To the extent necessary, relevant sections of the Army Corps’ assessment are incorporated in the Dare County Finding of No Significant Impact.

Comments are to be submitted electronically at parkplanning.nps.gov/CAHA_OregonInlet, the preferred method, or mailed to Superintendent, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, 1401 National Park Drive, Manteo, NC 27954.

Deadline to submit comments is May 25, 2020.

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