October 28, 2013 F/SER47:BH/pw

(Sent via Electronic Mail)

Colonel Alan M. Dodd, Commander

Jacksonville District Corps of Engineers

Cocoa Regulatory Field Office

400 High Point Drive, Suite 600

Cocoa, Florida 32926

Attention: Andrew W. Phillips

Dear Colonel Dodd:

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) reviewed the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) 

Assessment and letter, dated September 18, 2013, prepared by the Jacksonville District for the 

proposal by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to construct a high speed rail system 

connecting Miami International Airport and Orlando International Airport with stops in West 

Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale (SAJ-2012-01564(SP-AWP)). FRA expects to release an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project before the end of 2013. The Jacksonville 

District is serving as a cooperating agency in development of the EIS and conducting the EFH 

consultation. The Jacksonville District’s initial determination is the proposed high speed rail 

would not have a substantial adverse impact on EFH or federally managed fishery species based 

on the proposed mitigation. As the nation’s federal trustee for the conservation and management 

of marine, estuarine, and anadromous fishery resources, the following comments and 

recommendations are provided pursuant to authorities of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and the Fish and Wildlife 

Coordination Act.

The proposed rail system has two portions. The North-South portion would be within the 

existing 100-foot Florida East Coast Railroad (FEC) right-of-way between Miami and Cocoa 

Beach. The East-West portion would be along State Road 528 between Cocoa Beach and 

Orlando. The North-South portion would include replacing and expanding existing bridges 

within the FEC right-of-way. These bridge expansions would require removal of 0.02 acres of 

mangroves and trimming of 0.09 acres of mangroves. 

The EFH Assessment notes the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) 

designates mangroves a Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC) for snappers and groupers 

with inshore life stages, including gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus), goliath grouper (Epinephilus 

itajara), and gag grouper (Mycteroperca microlepis). HAPC’s are subsets of EFH that are rare, 

particularly susceptible to human-induced degradation, especially important ecologically, or 

located in an environmentally stressed area. The proposed rail system would also impact 

approximately one acre of sand bottom, which SAFMC designates as EFH for inshore snappers 
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and groupers, white shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus), brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus), 

and pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum. Sand bottom and mangroves directly benefit 

fishery resources by providing nursery and foraging habitat. Mangroves also stabilize shorelines 

and produce and export detritus (decaying organic material), which is an important component of 

marine and estuarine food chains. SAFMC’s Fishery Ecosystem Plan of the South Atlantic 

Region (available at www.safmc.net) provides further information about mangrove and sand 

bottom habitats and the support these habitats provide to fishery species.

Impacts to Essential Fish Habitat

NMFS staff conducted site inspections on January 23, 2013, and May 1, 2013. The impacts 

would occur at fifteen bridge crossings along the FEC right-of-way (Table 1). The proposed 

mangrove trimming would be performed in accordance with the State of Florida’s Mangrove 

Trimming and Preservation Act. 

Table 1. Impacts by habitat and location from the proposed Miami/Orland High Speed Rail System.

Location and Mile Post Sand Bottom (feet2) Mangrove (feet2)

Horse Creek (MP 187.37) 777 0

Goat Creek (MP 202.59) 3,500 35 removal

North Canal (MP 223.70) 1,200 0

South Canal (MP 230.03) 2,300 0

Moore’s Creek (MP 241.27) 1,100 70 trimming

Unnamed Creek (MP 259.95) 2,500 80 removal, 700 trimming

Unnamed Creek (MP 266.58) 931 37 removal, 285 trimming

Unnamed Creek (MP 266.86) 3,400 230 removal, 950 trimming

Manatee Creek Trib. (MP 267.34) 1,200 0

Manatee Creek Trib. (MP 267.70) 2,300 220 removal

Hillsboro River (MP 326.58) 3,200 66 trimming

N. Fork Middle River (MP 337.91) 5,600 220 removal

S. Fork Middle River (MP 338.52) 6,700 50 removal, 200 trimming

Oleta River (MP 352.74) 2,600 75 removal, 1,300 trimming

Arch Creek (MP 356.53) 500 650 trimming

Compensatory Mitigation and Conclusion

FRA proposes to provide compensatory mitigation at three mitigation banks. Credits would be 

purchased from the CGW Mitigation Bank to offset impacts to mangroves at Goat Creek. 

Mangrove impacts at Moore’s Creek, the unnamed creeks, and Manatee Creek would be 

provided at Bear Point Mitigation Bank, and mangrove impacts at the Hillsboro River, Middle 

River, Oleta River and Arch Creek would be provided at the Everglades Mitigation Bank. All 

three of these mitigation banks were authorized using different functional assessment methods. 

NMFS is familiar with all three functional assessments and agrees with the scoring used to 

determine the number of credits needed for this project, a total of 0.0121 credits. Further, credits 

from these banks would offset the impacts within the project’s watersheds.

NMFS agrees with the Jacksonville District’s determination that the proposed project would not 

have a substantial adverse impact on EFH, and NMFS offers no conservation recommendations 

pursuant to the EFH provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Further consultation on this 

matter is not necessary unless modifications are proposed and the District concludes adverse 

impacts to EFH may result from the action.
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We appreciate the opportunity to provide these comments. Questions should be directed to the 

attention of Mr. Brandon Howard in our West Palm Beach Field Office at 400 North Congress 

Avenue, Suite 120, West Palm Beach, FL 33401. He also may be reached by telephone at (561) 

249-1652, or by email at Brandon.Howard@noaa.gov.

Sincerely,

/ for

Virginia M. Fay

Assistant Regional Administrator

Habitat Conservation Division

cc:

COE, Andrew.W.Phillips@usace.army.mil

FWS, John_Wrublik@fws.gov

AMEC, Charlene.Stroehlen@amec.com

AMEC, Shannon.McMorrow@amec.com

F/SER4

F/SER47, Karazsia, Getsinger, Howard