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<br /> <br />88. The USEPA commented on the Bayport DEIS and disagreed with the Galveston <br />District's assertion in its DEIS that most of the wetlands on the Bayport site aze isolated and <br />therefore non jurisdictional. <br />89. The USEPA believes that most, if not all, of the wetlands located on the Bayport <br />site aze hydrologically connected to waters of the U.S. through swales, and therefore should be <br />jurisdictional. <br />90. This new topographic information is significant and relevant to the determination <br />of jurisdictional wetlands on the Bayport site. <br />91. This new topographic data from Harris County invalidates the jurisdictional <br />wetland determination for the Bayport site that is presented in the DEIS and FEIS for the <br />Bayport Project. <br />92. Wetlands aze important for water quality in Galveston Bay. <br />93. Wetlands aze important as habitat for fish and wildlife. <br />94. Wetlands aze a vital part of the coastal ecology. <br />95. The proposed Bayport site is full of wetlands. <br />96. The wetlands on this Bayport site are unique and important. <br />97. ~ The importance of the wetlands at the Bayport site is widely recognized based on <br />comments from federal resource agencies. <br />98. For example, on April 25, 2002 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stated in <br />correspondence to the Galveston District that "[T]he Service believes that the wetland complex <br />involved [at the Bayport site] is of national significance." <br />99. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also recommended denial of the proposed <br />Bayport permit. <br />14. <br />