SU0007861 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Draft Environmental Impact Report Page IV.H-14 Forward Inc. Landfill Expansion Project Regulatory Overview Federal U.S. Army Corps of Engineers _ Section 404 of the Clean Water Act of 1972. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA)16 regulates activities that result in the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the U.S., including wetlands. Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act authorizes the USACE to regulate dredging, filling, and construction activities in navigable waters (see below). The primary intent of the CWA is to authorize the USEPA to regulate water quality through the restriction of pollution discharges. The USACE has the principal authority to regulate discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the U.S. However, the USEPA has oversight authority over the USACE and retains veto power over the USACE's decision to issue permits. Waters of the U.S. include: • All waters that are currently used, or were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters that are subject to the ebb and flow of tide; • All interstate waters, including interstate wetlands; • All other waters, such as interstate lakes,rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes,vernal pools, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds, the use, degradation, or destruction of which could affect interstate or foreign commerce; • Tributaries of the above; • Territorial seas;and • Wetlands adjacent to waters defined above. The South Branch of the South Fork of Littlejohn's Creek and the wetlands it supports are regulated under the CWA and fall under the jurisdiction of the USACE. Under Section 404, projects may be authorized under existing general permits (a Nationwide Permit)or may require an Individual Permit. A Nationwide Permit is a more streamlined permit process than an Individual Permit, although supporting compliance efforts, such as for the FESA, are identical regardless of permit type. The requirements of a Section 404 Nationwide Permit allow permanent impacts on less than 0.5 acre (300 linear feet) of federal-jurisdiction wetlands. For projects resulting in the placement of fill into more than 0.5 acre (or, in some cases, more than 300 linear feet) into federal wetlands, then a Section 404 Individual Permit would automatically be required. The primary differences between authorization under the Nationwide Permit, program and an Individual Permit concern the public interest review, the requirement for an alternatives analysis". and the need for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)review. Relocation of the South Branch of the South Fork of Littlejohn's Creek would require an Individual Permit. �d 1633 U.S.C. 1344 "Section 404(b)(1) I I