Legal notice: Availability of a Finding of No Significant Impact
Public Notice Announcing the Availability of a Finding of No Significant Impact
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Development
Damian’s Craft Meats: Notice of Finding of No Significant Impact
AGENCY: Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS), USDA
ACTION: Notice of Finding of No Significant Impact.
SUMMARY: The RBS has made a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) with respect to a request for possible financing assistance to Damian’s Craft Meats (DCM) for the construction of the new USDA-inspected meat processing facility, located in Manchester, Washtenaw County, Michigan.
FURTHER INFORMATION: To obtain copies of the EA and FONSI, or for further information, contact: Christina Coger, State Environmental Coordinator, USDA Rural Development, 231-486-2510, Christina.Coger@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed project consists of constructing a new ~22,350 square foot industrial building that will serve to combine all meat processing steps under one roof, including the slaughtering of livestock (cattle, hogs, goats, and sheep), processing and butchering, smoking and brining of ready-to-eat value-added products, distribution, e-commerce and public retail. The parcel is currently vacant, with no buildings or structures. It is a former farm field, currently overgrown with tall grasses/vegetation. Proposed development will include vegetation clearing, wetlands mitigation, limited tree clearing as needed, excavating and grading. The actual area of ground disturbance is less than 8 acres of land situated at 789 Hogan Road in Manchester, MI. Alternatives considered by RBS and DCM include: No action; numerous offsite alternatives, and three on-site alternatives. The alternatives are discussed in the Damian’s Craft Meat’s EA. The RBS has reviewed and approved the EA for the proposed project.
The availability of the EA for public review was announced via notice in the following newspaper(s): Manchester Mirror on January 2 and January 8, 2025. A 14-day comment period was announced in the newspaper notices. The EA was also available for public review by contacting the USDA Rural Development office as well as Environmental Consulting Solutions, the project’s environmental consultant. Comments received included coordination responses from two tribal nations. The comments were reviewed and the EA updated accordingly.
Based on its EA, commitments made by DCM, and public comments received, RBS has concluded that the project would have no significant impacts (or no impacts) to water quality, floodplains, land use, aesthetics, transportation, or human health and safety.
RBS has assessed the environmental impacts of this proposal and determined that the location of the proposed DCM facility located at 789 Hogan Road will convert or effect a wetland(s). Approximately 20,070 square feet (0.46 acres) of wetlands on the northwest corner of the parcel will be converted for onsite stormwater detention. An additional approximately 4,600 square feet (0.11 acres) of wetlands will be impacted on the east portion of the property. This area is a wetland connector which will be maintained by a culvert to be constructed under the proposed driveway. It has been determined that there is no practicable alternative to avoiding this conversion or effect and that there is a significant need for the proposal. The basis for this determination is no negative environmental consequences are anticipated with the project. The project will convert wetlands, minimizing impacts to the maximum extent possible, implementing mitigation measures including the purchase of banking credits from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) wetland bank and acquiring necessary EGLE permits.
The proposed project will have no adverse effect on resources listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The Agency has also concluded that the proposed project is not likely to affect federally listed threatened and endangered species or designated critical habitat thereof. The proposed project would not disproportionately affect minority and/or low-income populations.
No other potential significant impacts resulting from the proposed project have been identified. Therefore, RBS has determined that this FONSI fulfills its obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR §§ 1500-1508), and USDA Rural Development’s Environmental Policies and Procedures (7 CFR Part 1970) for its action related to the project.
RBS is satisfied that the environmental impacts of the proposed project have been adequately addressed. RBS’s federal action would not result in significant impacts to the quality of the human environment, and as such it will not prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for its action related to the proposed project.
Dated: January 29, 2025
You must be logged in to post a comment Login