All Nationwide Permits (NWPs) issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) will expire on March 18, 2012. If construction of your project will not be complete by March 18, 2012 you can obtain a 1-year time extension if construction has commenced or the site work is under contract to commence prior to this date.

This expiration happens every five (5) years (a quirk of the Clean Water Act). In the past, there has been up to a couple of months delay in issuing new permits. Thus, it is very advantageous to take the appropriate steps to qualify for the 1-year time extension so that your project will not experience delays as a result of this potential lapse in permit coverage.

As described in Field Notes Vol. 19, No. 2, the COE has also proposed the reissuance and modification of the existing nationwide permits (NWPs), general conditions (GCs), and definitions. In addition, two new NWPs and two new GCs are also being proposed. A specific timeline for finalizing these changes has yet to be announced.

If you have questions regarding how NWP expirations or modifications may affect your site, please contact Dan Lucey or Christie Blevins.