Questions or Comments?

 

Email: CESWT-RO@usace.army.mil

Submit Applications to:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
CESWT-RO
2488 E. 81st Street
Tulsa, OK  74137-4290

Phone: 918-669-7400

 

Regulatory Request System

Regulatory Program Overview

The mission of the Corps of Engineers Regulatory Program is to protect the nation's aquatic resources, while allowing reasonable development through fair, flexible, and balanced permit decisions. The Corps evaluates permit applications for essentially all construction activities that occur in the nation's waters, including wetlands. Corps permits are also necessary for any work, including construction and dredging, in the nation’s navigable waters.

The Corps balances the reasonably foreseeable benefits and detriments of proposed projects, and makes permit decisions that recognize the essential values of the nation's aquatic ecosystems to the general public, as well as the property rights of private citizens who want to use their land. During the permit process, the Corps considers the views of other federal, state and local agencies, interest groups, and the general public.

The results of this careful public interest review are fair and equitable decisions that allow reasonable use of private property, infrastructure development, and growth of the economy, while offsetting the authorized impacts to the waters of the U.S. Unavoidable adverse impacts to the aquatic environment are offset by mitigation requirements, which may include restoring, enhancing, creating, and preserving aquatic functions and values. The Corps strives to make its permit decisions in a timely manner.

Our Commitment to Public Service

Public service is a public trust. We, as Corps regulators, must earn this trust, and to keep this trust, we must conduct ourselves in a manner that reflects the following principles:

PROFESSIONAL - We will conduct ourselves in a professional manner in dealings with all our customers, including applicants, violators, agencies, interest groups and the general public.

FAIR AND REASONABLE - We will be open-minded, impartial, and consistent in our interactions with all our customers to ensure all actions and decisions are free from bias and are not arbitrary or capricious. Customers will be treated equally and with tolerance.

KNOWLEDGEABLE - We will remain knowledgeable of applicable laws, regulations, and scientific and technical advances which affect our program.

HONESTY - We will be truthful, straightforward, and candid in all dealings with our customers.

TIMELINESS - We will strive to provide our customers with timely regulatory responses regardless of whether those responses are favorable or adverse.

ACCOUNTABILITY - We will be decisive in all actions and accept responsibility for any of our decisions and resulting consequences. All decisions will be factual and properly documented.

RESPECT - We will treat our customers with dignity, courtesy, compassion, and sensitivity.

"Value to the Nation"

Visit Value to the Nation to learn how the Corps of Engineers Regulatory Program applies the nation's clean water laws and regulations to ensure that environmental impacts on aquatic resources are avoided, minimized, or mitigated. The Corps of Engineers is dedicated to protecting the nation's aquatic resources while allowing reasonable and necessary development.

 

Authorities

Provisions written in three federal laws give responsibility to the Corps of Engineers to assess and control the impacts of human activities within specific water resource areas in the United States:

Congress' objective is to protect waterway navigation and the quality of surface water and ocean habitat. Two of these laws are applicable to the Tulsa District -- the Rivers and Harbors Act and the Clean Water Act. Additional clarification of these authorities is provided in the program's implementing regulations (33 CFR 320-332).

 

Regulatory News

28 January 2025: Draft 2024 National Wetland Plant List
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers HQ Regulatory
Published January 28, 2025

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), as part of an interagency effort with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, is announcing the availability of the draft changes to the 2024 NWPL and its web address to solicit public comments.  The public now has the opportunity to comment on the proposed changes to wetland indicator status ratings for one plant species in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain and Eastern Mountains, and Piedmont regions and one species in the Midwest and Northcentral and Northeast regions. Additionally, changes to eight species in the Alaska Region are proposed and available for public comment. The Federal Register Notice (FRN) for the 2024 NWPL update can be found here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/28/2025-01798/national-wetland-plant-list .  The public comment period ends on 31 March 2025.

USACE encourages public input in the form of data, comments, literature references, or field experiences, to help clarify the status of the species reviewed for this update. Comments on these proposed changes should be emailed to nwpl@usace.army.mil. Users are encouraged to submit literature citations, herbaria records, experiential references, monitoring data, photographic documentation, and other relevant information. Specific knowledge of, or studies related to, individual species are particularly helpful. When providing input or information on the draft changes to the 2024 NWPL update, commenters should use their regional botanical and ecological expertise, field observations, reviews of the most recent indicator status information, appropriate botanical literature, floras, herbarium specimens with notation of habitat and associated species, habit data, relevant studies, and historic list information. Providing ratings without supporting documentation or information is not recommended. All submitted comments and information will be compiled and sent to the National Panel for their review and consideration.

USACE administers the NWPL for the United States and its territories.  The NWPL provides plant species indicator status ratings, which are used in determining whether the hydrophytic vegetation factor is met when conducting wetland delineations under the Clean Water Act and wetland determinations under the Wetland Conservation Provisions of the Food Security Act. Other applications of the NWPL include wetland restoration, establishment, and enhancement projects.  Additions or deletions to the NWPL represent new records, range extensions, nomenclatural and taxonomic changes, and newly proposed species.  The latest review process began in 2024 and included review by Regional Panels and the National Panel. 

Additional information on the NWPL can be found at the NWPL website (https://wetland-plants.sec.usace.army.mil/), including a new video on how to use the newly redesigned site, which can be found here: https://wetland-plants.sec.usace.army.mil/reference/.

6 January 2025: Public Notice Module Now Available in the RRS
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers HQ Regulatory
Published January 6, 2025

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is excited to announce the launch of the Public Notice module on the Regulatory Request System (RRS). Released in January 2025, this new feature allows users nationwide to search, review, and comment on projects being reviewed by the Regulatory Program, significantly enhancing transparency, accessibility, and efficiency. The Public Notice module provides access to Regulatory projects requiring a standard permit or when public notices are issued to develop Mitigation Banks, In-lieu Fee Programs or to issue/reissue a Regional or Programmatic Permit or Section 404 Letter of Permission.  It organizes notices by state and district, which can be viewed in a table format or on an interactive map. Users can easily search for notices by project name or address and submit comments directly through the platform, streamlining public engagement and reinforcing USACE's commitment to improving transparency and the permitting process.

The RRS is a web-based platform, currently in its beta version, designed to simplify the permitting process and enhance user experience. In addition to the new Public Notice Module, RRS enables users to submit permit applications, request jurisdictional determinations, and schedule pre-application meetings, all through a user-friendly interface.

We encourage you to explore the Regulatory Request System and its new features by visiting rrs.usace.army.mil. For additional information or to provide feedback, please contact us at rrs@usace.army.mil.

27 November 2024: New and Updated Engineer (ENG) Forms for Corps Regulatory Program
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers HQ Regulatory
Published November 27, 2024

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announces the availability of new and updated Engineer (ENG) forms for use in our delivery of the USACE Regulatory Program. These new and updated forms are designed to efficiently and effectively collect information needed to implement our Regulatory Program. 

Practitioners and the public can access USACE’s Regulatory ENG forms at https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Regulatory-Program-and-Permits/Regulatory-Program-Forms/.

USACE ENG forms can also be accessed from the USACE Publications Engineer Forms website at https://www.publications.usace.army.mil/usace-publications/engineer-forms/.

Please note that most regulatory requests, such as requests for permit actions and requests for jurisdictional determinations, can now be completed online through USACE’s Regulatory Request System (RRS). We encourage users to explore and utilize the new Regulatory Request System to take advantage of its benefits and features. Visit rrs.usace.army.mil today!