Hecla, South Dakota

C461276-01

DATE __________________________

CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION DETERMINATION

FOR THE PROPOSED PROJECT AT HECLA, SOUTH DAKOTA

The city of Hecla will replace 2,299 feet of 8-inch sanitary sewer lines, 200 feet of 4-inch sewer services, and appurtenances. The current sanitary sewer lines are vitrified clay pipe that are leaking due to cracks and mis-aligned joints. The project will be constructed on Main Street from Howard Street to Depot Street, in the alley north of Oak Street between Third and Fourth Streets and on Brown County Road 5 between Howard Street and the alley between Third and Fourth Streets in Section 22, T128N, R61W.

Listed below are the reasons for granting a categorical exclusion:

1. The actions are solely directed toward minor rehabilitation of existing facilities, functional replacement of equipment, or towards the construction of a new ancillary facility adjacent or appurtenant to existing facilities.

2. The action does not affect the degree of treatment or capacity of the existing facility.

3. The project involves sanitary sewer or storm sewer within the developed portion of the community.

4. No comments requiring mitigative action were received from any of the five review agencies or through the public participation process.

The proposed action did not result in any serious local objections at the public hearings nor does it meet any of the criteria for not granting a categorical exclusion as specified in Section 6.505(c) (i) through (iii) of 40 CFR Part 6, Subpart E.

The estimated project cost is $300,890. The city of Hecla will fund the project with a $143,390 Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan with a rate of 3.0 percent for 20 years. The city received principal forgiveness in the amount of $14,339 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Repayment of the SRF loan will be with wastewater utility fees from Hecla customers, which are $24.25 per month based on 5,000 gallons. Wastewater fees are adequate to pay for the debt service and operation and maintenance costs as a result of this project. It is anticipated that the remainder of the project will be funded with Community Development Block Grant funds.

The review process did not indicate that significant environmental impacts would result from the proposed projects. Consequently, a preliminary decision not to prepare an EIS has been made. This action is taken, on the basis, of a careful review of the engineering report, environmental information documents, correspondence with responsible governmental agencies, and other supporting data, which are on file at the Division of Financial and Technical Assistance, Water Resources Assistance Program, DENR, Pierre, South Dakota, and are available for public scrutiny at the Hecla City Hall, Hecla, South Dakota.

Comments supporting or disagreeing with this decision may be submitted for consideration by DENR after publication of the Categorical Exclusion Determination. After evaluating the comments received, DENR will make a final decision.

James Feeney

Administrator

Published once at the total approximate cost of _______.