On February 15, 2012, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) announced the publication of the revised and renewed nationwide permits (NWPs). The new permits are intended to take effect on March 19, 2012. However, the NWPs will not be valid until individual COE district regional conditions, Clean Water Act Section 401 water quality certification (WQC) and Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) consistency determinations are published.
The signed nationwide permit final rule has been submitted to the Federal Register for publication, which is anticipated on or about February 21, 2012. Publication of the NWPs in the Federal Register begins the 60-day regional condition and WQC process, as well as the 90-day CZMA process. Therefore, it is possible that the NWPs will not in fact be available for use on March 19, 2012.
A pre-publication copy of the final permits is posted on the Corps' website and can be viewed by clicking here. This includes: (1) a Permits Summary, (2) Q's and A's, (3) a Permit Fact Sheet, and (4) a Permit News Release.
WSSI has been tracking these changes since early 2011. As previously summarized in Field Notes Vol. 19 No. 7 and Vol. 19 No. 2, if construction of your project will not be complete by the March 18 deadline, you can obtain a 1-year time extension if construction has commenced or the site work is under contract to commence prior to March 18, 2012.
If you have questions regarding how NWP expirations or modifications may affect your site, please contact Dan Lucey, Mark Headly, Doug Chapin or Christie Blevins. |
