Dredge and fill two

Section 404 regulations allow the issuance of individual and general permits. An individual permit is usually required only when an activity is expected to have “significant” impacts. Otherwise, for discharges expected to have minimal adverse effects, the Army Corps of Engineers grants general permits. As in the NPDES process, general permits are developed and adopted in a generic format to include broad categories of activities (e.g., minor road crossings and utility line activities) as a means of speeding up the permitting process. They may be issued on a nationwide, statewide or regional basis.

General permits are allowed for categories of activities if

• the activities are similar in nature and in their impact on water quality and on the aquatic environment, and
• the activities will have only minimal adverse effects on water quality and on the aquatic environment separately or cumulatively. (40CFR230.7(a))

Even a general permit must ensure an analysis of practicable alternatives and the selection of the one that would have the least adverse impact. In addition, a general permit should not allow any activity that a) will cause or contribute to a violation of state water quality standards or a significant degradation of waters or b) would jeopardize threatened or endangered species or cause adverse modification to their critical habitat (40CFR230.7(b)(1)).

Like general NPDES permits, general “nationwide” permits for dredge and fill activity, once developed, are typically allowed to cover activities with little or no review of site-specific considerations and no public notice. Though each activity may be small, the cumulative impacts of “small” disturbances permitted under the general permits system have been severe in many watersheds. For this reason, it is important to make sure that the conditions of general permits are adequately protective from the start. State agencies may exercise their right to review nationwide and individual permits for compliance with water quality standards (Section 401, see Lesson 5) and to impose permit conditions to ensure they will comply.

One of the most significant general 404 permits is “Nationwide Permit 29” (NWP29) for the building of single-family homes. NWP29 pre-approves smaller fills and requires only minimal tracking for fills less than 1/4 acre in size. In many watersheds, the most common wetland fills are small residential fills. Thus, the effect of NWP29 has been to make it easier for developers to obtain permits for the very activities that collectively cause significant problems in many of the nation’s watersheds, such as excessive sedimentation, erosion and loss of habitat.