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Rationale for 7R-06 Approval-Western Mobile Page 11 <br /> Deepe Farm Pit, Permit No. M-81-302 <br /> September 15, 1997 <br /> In addition, Division or Mined Land Reclamation Board approval provides no <br /> weight to the approval or disapproval of actions by other agencies nor is it the <br /> Division's intent to influence other agencies' decisions by way of the approval. <br /> b. The concern that alternative solutions to the levee have not been studied was <br /> also raised. This is tantamount to a request for a suitability determination,the <br /> regulatory aspects of which are discussed at length previously in this <br /> document. <br /> C. Another concern was that the Department of Natural Resources staff has a <br /> proclivity to use standard textbook solutions and design criteria for structures <br /> such as levees rather than specification of reclamation plans that do not create <br /> the need for levees. It was stated in the commentor's letter that the <br /> Department of Natural Resources should discourage development in flood <br /> prone areas such as graveled-out creek beds at the foot of steep major basins. <br /> As discussed in detail elsewhere in this document, reclamation plans are not <br /> formulated by the Division, they are rather put together by applicants and <br /> operators, in consultation with landowners, and submitted to the Division for <br /> a review to determine if the minimum requirements of the Act and Rules have <br /> been adequately addressed. As such, the Division is not provided the <br /> regulatory authority to specify that a certain reclamation plan or strategy be <br /> submitted, even if such a plan or strategy may be preferable to citizens and <br /> agencies other than the operator and the landowner. <br /> d. Another concern was that the Division's approval of technical revision TR-06 <br /> will establish a precedent for other gravel pit operators to create developable <br /> parcels by removing flood prone areas from flood plains by building levees. It <br /> is the Division's view that since the Division is not possessed of any regulatory <br /> authority over flood plain management nor land use determinations, the <br /> decision on the technical revision will not be precedent-setting. Flood plain <br /> management authority and land use determinations are vested at the local <br /> level, and any flood plain encroachment, such as levee construction,would have <br /> to be approved by the local flood plain management authority. If FEMA <br /> guidelines for flood plain encroachments are not adopted and adhered to by <br /> local flood plain management authorities, the local affected area my be <br /> declared ineligible for coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program. <br /> Nationwide, this has been an effective dis-incentive for local flood plain <br /> management authorities to approve flood plain encroachments. <br /> e. Another concern raised was that the levee being designed for the 500-year flood <br /> does not provide control for larger events that may occur. The probabilistic <br />