Special Public Notice
Published: March 13, 2026 SPN-26-08 Expires: March 13, 2027
Baltimore, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh Districts
ANNOUNCING THE FINAL REGIONAL CONDITIONS AND SUSPENSIONS FOR THE 2026 NATIONWIDE PERMITS
The purpose of this special public notice is to inform the public of the issuance of the final regional conditions applicable to Nationwide Permit (NWP) activities in the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. Furthermore, this special public notice announces the suspension of various NWPs in the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia.
NWPs 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. These NWPs will go into effect on March 15, 2026, and will expire on March 15, 2031. More information on the 2026 NWPs and the
January 8, 2026, Federal Register (91 FR 786) notice is available on the Corps Headquarters website at: https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Regulatory-Program-and-Permits/Nationwide-Permits.
Regional Conditions and Suspensions: The Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia Districts proposed regional conditions for the NWPs and solicited public comments thereon, in Special Public Notice (SPN) #25-30 dated June 18, 2025. In addition, the Districts proposed suspension of certain NWPs because the current State Programmatic General Permits (SPGPs) in Maryland and Pennsylvania provide comparable authorization for these NWPs.
The Baltimore District will post the final regional conditions and suspensions for these 2026 NWPs (91 FR 786) on the Regulatory webpage at: https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Nationwide-Permits/. In addition, the following enclosures to this special public notice provide the final regional conditions and suspensions by State for the final 2026 NWPs:
Enclosure 1 - Suspensions of the 2026 NWPs for the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia
Enclosure 2 - Regional Conditions to the 2026 NWPs for the State of Maryland
Enclosure 3 - Regional Conditions to the 2026 NWPs for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Enclosure 4 - Regional Conditions to the 2026 NWPs for the District of Columbia
The Baltimore District’s area of responsibility includes the Northern Virginia Military Installations (Fort Belvoir, Fort Myer, and the Pentagon). The Regional Conditions for these military installations are covered by the Norfolk District Regional Conditions for Virginia and can be found at https://www.nao.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory-Branch/Regulatory-Permits/.
Grandfathering: For permittees currently holding written 2021 NWP verification letters for activities under any of the NWPs replaced by this final action, if you have commenced or are under contract to commence the activity before March 15, 2026, that verification letter continues to be in effect until March 14, 2027, as long as the verified 2021 NWP activities continue to comply with the terms and conditions of the 2026 NWPs issued in this final action, or the district engineer specified a different expiration date in the NWP verification letter or modifies, suspends, or revokes a specific NWP authorization.
Concurrences and Certifications: On December 18, 2025, the State of Maryland conditionally granted Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification (401 WQC) and Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) consistency concurrence for the 2026 NWPs subject to this final action. All 401 WQC and CZMA conditions for these 41 NWPs were incorporated into these regional conditions for the 41 NWPs in Maryland.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania conditionally granted 401 WQC on December 11, 2025, and CZMA consistency concurrence on September 18, 2025, for the 2026 NWPs subject to this final action. The conditions in the 401 WQC and CZMA for the issuance of the NWPs have been incorporated as regional conditions of the NWPs in Pennsylvania, in accordance with Section 401(d) of the Clean Water Act. Please see Pennsylvania regional general conditions II.H and II.I. For those activities requiring 401 WQC and CZMA, if an applicant cannot or will not comply with one or more conditions of this 401 WQC or CZMA, then the applicant would be required to obtain an activity-specific 401 WQC or waiver thereof and/or an individual CZMA consistency concurrence or presumption of concurrence for the specific activity.
On December 17, 2025, the Corps received the District of Columbia’s denial of water quality certification for issuance of certain NWPs, thus requiring an individual water quality certification for these NWPs. Of the 2026 NWPs announced in the final action, the District of Columbia’s 401 WQC denial applies to NWPs 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 57, 58, 59, and 60. In accordance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s current water quality certification regulations at 40 CFR Part 121, the Baltimore District has reviewed the denial by the District of Columbia for these NWPs and has determined that the denial satisfies the requirements set forth in 40 CFR 121.7(e). In accordance with the Corps’ regulations at 33 CFR 330.4(c), the Corps has denied authorization for those activities without prejudice until the certifying authority issues an individual 401 WQC or waives the right to do so. Anyone wanting to perform activities under these NWPs in the District of Columbia must first obtain an activity-specific 401 WQC or waiver. Denial of 401 WQC for any specific NWP affects only those activities which may result in a discharge. The Corps did not request certification for NWPs 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 24, 28, 35, and 55, as they do not require 401 WQC because they would authorize activities which, in the opinion of the Corps, could not reasonably be expected to result in a discharge into waters of the United States. In the case of NWP 8, the NWP only authorizes activities seaward of the territorial seas. NWPs 21, 34, 44, 48 and 49 are suspended in the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia does not participate in the Coastal Zone Management Act.
This Special Public Notice has also been posted in the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs. Questions regarding this matter should be directed to Ms. April Sparkman by telephone at (410) 962-0148 or by email at april.e.sparkman@usace.army.mil.
This public notice is issued by the Baltimore District Chief, Regulatory Division.