SPN16-37 Nationwide Permit Reissuance Request for Comments

Published June 15, 2016
Expiration date: 8/1/2016

                     Public Notice  

U.S. Army Corps                                                                                                      

of Engineers

Baltimore District

                                                                                                                             Issue Date: 15 June 2016

                                                                                                                  Expiration Date: 1 August 2016

                                                                           Special Public Notice # 16-37

 

Baltimore District                                                  Philadelphia District                                                               Pittsburgh District

                                     

INITIAL PUBLIC NOTICE

 

NATIONWIDE PERMIT REISSUANCE REQUEST FOR COMMENTS

 

On June 1, 2016, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published in the Federal Register its proposal to reissue the 50 existing nationwide permits (NWPs) and issue two new NWPs. 

 

Nationwide permits are general permits issued on a nationwide basis to streamline the authorization of activities that result in no more than minimal individual and cumulative adverse environmental effects.  Many of the proposed NWPs require notification to the district engineer before commencing those activities, to ensure that the activities authorized by those NWPs cause no more than minimal individual and cumulative adverse environmental effects.  

 

National Issues Concerning the Proposed NWPs: The Federal Register notice is the public’s opportunity to comment on the proposed NWPs, general conditions, and definitions.  Comments on national issues relating to these NWPs should be submitted to docket number COE-2015-0017 at www.regulations.gov , or by email to NWP2017@usace.army.mil or by mail to Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Directorate of Civil Works, ATTN: CECW-CO-R, 441 G Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.  20314-1000. Instructions for submitting comments are provided in the June 1, 2016 Federal Register notice. Comments on the proposed NWPs are due by August 1, 2016.

 

Regional Issues Concerning the Proposed NWPs, Including Regional Conditioning: Division engineers are authorized to add regional conditions specific to the needs and/or requirements of a particular region or state.  Regional conditions are important mechanisms to ensure that the adverse environmental effects of activities authorized by the NWPs are no more than minimal, both individually and cumulatively.  Division engineers may also suspend or revoke specific NWPs in certain geographic areas (e.g., states or watersheds) or high-value aquatic systems where the adverse environmental effects caused by activities authorized by those NWPs may be more than minimal. 

 

 Enclosures for this public notice list the proposed NWPs to be suspended by locality (Enclosure 1) and the regional conditions currently under consideration by the Corps Districts for Maryland (Enclosure 2), Pennsylvania (Enclosure 3), and the District of Columbia (Enclosure 4). The Baltimore District has implemented State Programmatic General Permits (SPGPs) in the state of Maryland and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  These SPGPs are designed to continue to authorize certain activities previously covered by the NWP program and institute a streamlined Corps regulatory process that has been integrated with the state processes.  Suspension of various NWPs will avoid confusion over State Programmatic General Permit (SPGP) use and to eliminate redundancy since State and Federal regulatory programs are administered jointly in these states. Regional conditions are not proposed for specific NWPs activities that will be suspended in Maryland and Pennsylvania.  

 

The Baltimore District is proposing to adopt the Norfolk District’s regional conditions in certain military installations of northern Virginia within the regulatory geographic boundaries of the Baltimore District (i.e., Fort Belvoir, Fort Myer, and the Pentagon).  Therefore, comments on the proposed NWPs and proposed regional conditions in the state of Virginia relating to those military installations in northern Virginia within the regulatory geographic boundaries of the Baltimore District, should be addressed to the Norfolk District at Regulatory Branch, Norfolk District, 803 Front Street Norfolk, VA 23508. Please see the Norfolk District website for more information on regional conditions proposed in the state of Virginia at: www.nao.usace.army.mil/Media/PublicNotices.aspx

The Baltimore District is proposing to adopt the Norfolk District’s regional conditions in certain military installations of northern Virginia within the regulatory geographic boundaries of the Baltimore District (i.e., Fort Belvoir, Fort Myer, and the Pentagon).  Please see the Norfolk District website for more information on regional conditions proposed in the state of Virginia at: www.nao.usace.army.mil/Media/PublicNotices.aspx. However, Baltimore District is not suspending NWPs 14 and 29 for use in Fort Belvoir, Fort Myer, or the Pentagon because the current State Program General Permit (SPGP-01) in Virginia is not applicable to these military installations.  Therefore, the Baltimore District is proposing to add regional conditions to NWP 14 and 29.  The regional conditions for NWP 14 and 29 proposed for use in Fort Belvoir, Fort Myer, and the Pentagon are the same as those proposed in the District of Columbia (see Enclosure 4).  Comments on the proposed NWPs and regional conditions as proposed by the Norfolk District applicable in Virginia (including northern Virginia military installations within Baltimore District's area of responsibility) should be addressed to the Norfolk District, Regulatory Branch, 803 Front Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23510, Attn:  Melissa Nash or to Melissa.a.nash@usace.army.mil.  In addition, comments concerning proposed NWP 14 and 29 and proposed regional conditions for NWP 14 and 29 applicable in Fort Belvoir, Fort Myer, and the Pentagon should be addressed to the Baltimore District at CENAB-OPR, 10 South Howard Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, Attn:  Jack Dinne or to john.j.dinne@usace.army.mil. 

 

 

The Corps Districts are seeking comments on the proposed regional conditions and seeking comments on the need for additional regional conditions to help ensure that the adverse environmental effects of activities authorized by the proposed NWPs are no more than minimal, individually and cumulatively. The proposed regional conditions for NWPs are listed separately by locality for Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia.   Comments on regional issues relating to the proposed NWPs and proposed regional conditions should be sent to U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District Regulatory Branch, CENAB-OP-R, 10 South Howard Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201; U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District, 2200 William S. Moorhead Federal Building, 1000 Liberty Avenue, Suite 2200, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District, The Wanamaker Building, 100 Penn Square East, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107.  Comments relating to proposed NWP suspensions and regional conditions are due by August 1, 2016. Similar public notices proposing regional conditions in other regions or States are being published concurrently by other division or district offices.

 

After the final NWPs are issued, the final regional conditions will be issued after they are approved by the Division Commander. After the final NWP are issued, States and Tribes will make their Clean Water Act Section 401 (401) water quality certification and States will make their Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) consistency determination decisions.  The 401/CZMA decisions must be made within 90 days of the Federal Register notice announcing the issuance of the NWPs.  The final NWPs will go into effect on March 19, 2017.

 

Draft decision documents for each of the proposed NWPs, which include environmental documentation prepared for the purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act, have been written by Corps Headquarters. The decision documents will address compliance of the NWPs with the requirements for issuance under the Corps general permit authority.  These documents, as well as the proposed NWPs, are available for viewing at www.regulations.gov, docket number COE-2015-0017. Final decision documents will be prepared for the NWPs that are issued.  In addition, the final national NWP decision documents will be supplemented by division engineers to address their decisions concerning regional conditions for the NWPs.

 

Below is an index of the proposed NWPs, conditions, and definitions.  Anyone wishing to provide comments may obtain a full text copy of the NWPs through the Corps Home Page at http://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/RegulatoryProgramandPermits/NationwidePermits.aspx , at www.regulations.gov in docket number COE-2015-0017, or at the Federal Register address at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-06-01/pdf/2016-12083.pdf .

 

 

FOR THE DISTRICT ENGINEER

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                      Beth E. Bachur

                                                                      Acting Chief, Regulatory Branch


 

Index of Proposed Nationwide Permits, Conditions, and Definitions

 

Nationwide Permits

1. Aids to Navigation

2. Structures in Artificial Canals

3. Maintenance

4. Fish and Wildlife Harvesting, Enhancement, and Attraction Devices and Activities

5. Scientific Measurement Devices

6. Survey Activities

7. Outfall Structures and Associated Intake Structures

8. Oil and Gas Structures on the Outer Continental Shelf

9. Structures in Fleeting and Anchorage Areas

10. Mooring Buoys

11. Temporary Recreational Structures

12. Utility Line Activities

13. Bank Stabilization

14. Linear Transportation Projects

15. U.S. Coast Guard Approved Bridges

16. Return Water From Upland Contained Disposal Areas

17. Hydropower Projects

18. Minor Discharges

19. Minor Dredging

20. Response Operations for Oil or Hazardous Substances

21. Surface Coal Mining Activities

22. Removal of Vessels

23. Approved Categorical Exclusions

24. Indian Tribe or State Administered Section 404 Programs

25. Structural Discharges

26. [Reserved]

27. Aquatic Habitat Restoration, Establishment, and Enhancement Activities

28. Modifications of Existing Marinas

29. Residential Developments

30. Moist Soil Management for Wildlife

31. Maintenance of Existing Flood Control Facilities

32. Completed Enforcement Actions

33. Temporary Construction, Access, and Dewatering

34. Cranberry Production Activities

35. Maintenance Dredging of Existing Basins

36. Boat Ramps

37. Emergency Watershed Protection and Rehabilitation

38. Cleanup of Hazardous and Toxic Waste

39. Commercial and Institutional Developments

40. Agricultural Activities

41. Reshaping Existing Drainage Ditches

42. Recreational Facilities

43. Stormwater Management Facilities

44. Mining Activities

45. Repair of Uplands Damaged by Discrete Events

46. Discharges in Ditches

47. [Reserved]

48. Commercial Shellfish Aquaculture Activities

49. Coal Remining Activities

50. Underground Coal Mining Activities

51. Land-Based Renewable Energy Generation Facilities

52. Water-Based Renewable Energy Generation Pilot Projects

A. Removal of Low-Head Dams

B. Living Shorelines

 

Nationwide Permit General Conditions

1. Navigation

2. Aquatic Life Movements

3. Spawning Areas

4. Migratory Bird Breeding Areas

5. Shellfish Beds

6. Suitable Material

7. Water Supply Intakes

8. Adverse Effects from Impoundments

9. Management of Water Flows

10. Fills within 100-Year Floodplains

11. Equipment

12. Soil Erosion and Sediment Controls

13. Removal of Temporary Fills

14. Proper Maintenance

15. Single and Complete Project

16. Wild and Scenic Rivers

17. Tribal Rights

18. Endangered Species

19. Migratory Bird and Bald and Golden Eagle Permits

20. Historic Properties

21. Discovery of Previously Unknown Remains and Artifacts

22. Designated Critical Resource Waters

23. Mitigation

24. Safety of Impoundment Structures

25. Water Quality

26. Coastal Zone Management

27. Regional and Case-by-Case Conditions

28. Use of Multiple Nationwide Permits

29. Transfer of Nationwide Permit Verifications

30. Compliance Certification

31. Activities Affecting Structures or Works Built by the United States

32. Pre-Construction Notification

 

District Engineer’s Decision

 

Further Information

 

Definitions

Best management practices (BMPs)

Compensatory mitigation

Currently serviceable

Direct effects

Discharge

Enhancement

Ephemeral stream

Establishment (creation)

High Tide Line

Historic property

Independent utility

Indirect effects

Intermittent stream

Loss of waters of the United States

Non-tidal wetland

Open water

Ordinary high water mark

Perennial stream

Practicable

Pre-construction notification

Preservation

Re-establishment

Rehabilitation

Restoration

Riffle and pool complex

Riparian areas

Shellfish seeding

Single and complete linear project

Single and complete non-linear project

Stormwater management

Stormwater management facilities

Stream bed

Stream channelization

Structure

Tidal wetland

Vegetated shallows

Waterbody