DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY

JACKSONVILLE DISTRICT CORPS OF ENGINEERS

4400 PGA BOULEVARD, SUITE 500
PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL 33410

REPLY TO
ATTENTION OF MAY 8, 2009

Palm Beach Gardens

Regulatory Section
PUBLIC NOTICE
Lake Belt, Miami-Dade County, Florida

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

A copy of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on Rock Mining in the Lake
Belt Region of Miami-Dade County, Florida (Lake Belt SEIS)) is available for public review
and comment. This SEIS supplements the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement, Rockmining – Freshwater Lake Belt Plan, Miami-Dade County, Florida
published by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) in May 2000. The Corps is
soliciting comments on this document separately from this announcement as detailed
on the website: www.lakebeltseis.com. After the public comment period, which ends on
June 8, 2009, the Corps will issue a Record of Decision that will detail the Corps
preferred alternative for the proposed action in Lake Belt.

The Corps is evaluating applications to fill Waters of the United States in association with
limestone mining and related activities in an area of Miami-Dade County known as the
Lake Belt pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. These applications are
equivalent to Alternative 3 of the Lake Belt SEIS and were placed on public notice
December 5, 2008. However, the Corps seeks additional public input which is not limited
to these applications, but considers mining throughout Lake Belt as detailed below in
the Proposed Project details.

WATERWAY & LOCATION: The geographic boundary of the Miami-Dade County Lake
Belt Area is defined by Florida Statute 373.4249 and consists of everglades type
wetlands immediately east of Water Conservation 3B and the Everglades National Park
and west of the Urban Development Boundary in northwest Miami-Dade County.

BACKGROUND: In 2000, the Corps completed a Programmatic Environmental Impact

Statement evaluating proposed limerock mining in the multi-party Lake Belt Plan. The
Lake Belt Plan was part of a larger initiative involving the State of Florida’s action to
establish the “Lake Belt” rock mining area several years prior as a way to evaluate large
scale limestone mining in a watershed fashion. The SEIS provides additional review
and analysis for limestone mining in Lake Belt.

PROJECT PURPOSE:
Basic project purpose and water dependency: The basic project purpose is to recover
limestone, specifically aggregate material. This is not a water-dependent activity.
The overall project purpose is to provide affordable, high-quality construction-grade
aggregate that satisfies the public need for such material within peninsular Florida,
defined as geographically comprising Florida Department of Transportation Districts 1,
2, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

PROPOSED WORK: The Corps is evaluating the existing applications, Alternative 3

presented in the Lake Belt SEIS, for proposals to fill Waters of the United States in
association with limestone mining and related activities within Lake Belt. This request is
for a lesser amount of mining than that originally requested by the mining industry in the
Lake Belt Plan, which is equivalent to Alternative 4 in the SEIS. It is likely that
additional mining beyond the mining currently proposed in Alternative 3 may be
proposed at some point in the future and the Corps prefers to execute one Record of
Decision covering all phases of mining. Therefore, the Corps intends to review all nine
project alternatives from the Lake Belt SEIS and their potential impacts as well as
mitigation options in evaluating and determining the preferred alternative for the ROD.
The Corps seeks the public’s input for this review. Details on the nine alternatives under
review are provided in the SEIS which can be reviewed and downloaded at
www.lakebeltseis.com.

EXISTING CONDITIONS: The Lake Belt Region itself can be divided into the
Pennsuco Wetlands on the west between the L-30 Canal and the Dade-Broward Levee
and the area where mining occurs which lies between the Dade-Broward Levee and the
Urban Development Boundary. The Lake Belt Region is bounded on the east and south
by residential development and is bounded on all sides by canals which separate it from
the Everglades. Based on the habitat survey of the area completed as part of the Final
Programmatic EIS issued in 2000 and validated in the previously released SEIS, the
Lake Belt region varies in habitat quality from wet prairie to dense melaleuca. Details on
existing conditions are provided in the SEIS which can be reviewed and downloaded at
www.lakebeltseis.com.

ENDANGERED SPECIES: The Corps has determined the proposed project may affect,
but is not likely to adversely affect the threatened eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon
corais) which does not have any designated critical habitat. The Corps has requested
Fish and Wildlife's concurrence with this determination pursuant to Section 7 of the
Endangered Species Act by separate letter.

The Corps has determined the proposal may affect the endangered wood stork
(Mycteria Americana), which does not have any designated critical habitat. The Corps
has requested initiation of formal consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service
pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act by separate letter.

Details on the potential effects on listed species are provided in the SEIS which can be
reviewed and downloaded at www.lakebeltseis.com.

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IMPACT ON CULTURAL RESOURCES: Details on potential cultural resource impacts
are provided in the SEIS which can be reviewed and downloaded at
www.lakebeltseis.com.

MITIGATION: Details on wetland and seepage mitigation are provided in the SEIS
which can be reviewed and downloaded at www.lakebeltseis.com.

NOTE: The jurisdictional line has not been verified by Corps personnel.

AUTHORIZATION FROM OTHER AGENCIES: Water Quality Certification will be

required from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

COMMENTS: The Corps is soliciting comments from the public, Indian Tribes, Federal,
State, and local agencies and officials and other interested parties in order to consider
and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity. Any comments submitted to the
Corps will be considered by the Corps to determine whether to issue, modify, condition
or deny a permit. Comments regarding the application should be submitted in writing to
the District Engineer at the above address by June 8, 2009.

If you have any questions concerning this application or need additional information,
you may contact Leah A. Oberlin at the letterhead address, by electronic mail at
Leah.A.Oberlin@usace.army.mil, by fax at 561-626-6971, or by telephone at 561-472-
3506.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Corps will consider the information in the SEIS,
Final SEIS, comments on those documents, and comments on all public notices
associated with this project in the evaluation of the probable impact to the associated
wetlands to determine whether to issue, modify, condition or deny permits related to
mining activities within the areas described as mining by the enclosed drawing. This will
also be based on an analysis of the applicant's avoidance and minimization efforts for
the project, as well as the compensatory mitigation proposed.