Tulsa District Regulatory Permits for Public Comment

PURPOSE:  The purpose of these public notices are to inform you of a proposal for work in which you might be interested and to solicit your comments and information to better enable us to make a reasonable decision on factors affecting the public interest in relation to Section 10 and Section 404.

SECTION 10: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is directed by Congress through Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 USC 403) to regulate all work or structures in or affecting the course, condition, or capacity of navigable waters of the United States.  The intent of this law is to protect the navigable capacity of waters important to interstate commerce.

SECTION 404: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is directed by Congress through Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 USC 1344) to regulate the discharges of dredged and fill material into all waters of the United States.  These waters include lakes, rivers, streams, mudflats, sandflats, sloughs, wet meadows, natural ponds, and wetlands adjacent to other waters.  The intent of the law is to protect these waters from the indiscriminate discharge of material capable of causing pollution and to restore and maintain their chemical, physical, and biological integrity.

PUBLIC NOTICE MAILING LIST:  If you would like to be added to our Public Notice Mailing List, please submit your information to our email address at CESWT-RO@usace.army.mil or the mailing address below. 

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

 

Withdrawal of CWA Interpretive Rule [404 (f)(1)(A)]

Published Feb. 2, 2015
Expiration date: 4/1/2015
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of the Army
(Army) are announcing the withdrawal of an interpretive rule addressing the exemption from permitting provided under section 404(f)(1)(A) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The agencies want to make clear that the statutory exemption of 404(f)(1)(A) still remains available for use when applicable for discharges of dredged and/or fill material associated with normal farming, silviculture, and ranching activities that are part of an established operation and that do not have as their purpose bringing an area of waters of the U.S. into a use to which it was not previously subject, where the flow or circulation of the waters of the U.S. may be impaired or the reach of such waters be reduced (see 33 CFR 323.4 for more information).

On March 25, 2014, the Agencies signed an interpretive rule, “Interpretive Rule Regarding Applicability of the Exemption from Permitting under Section 404(f)(1)(A) of the Clean Water Act to Certain Agricultural Conservation Practices,” that addressed applicability of the permitting exemption provided under section 404(f)(1)(A) of the CWA to discharges of dredged or fill material associated with certain agricultural conservation practices. Congress subsequently directed the agencies to withdraw this interpretive rule. See, Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriation Act, 2015, Division D, section 112, Pub. L. No. 113-235.

On January 29, 2015, the agencies signed a memorandum withdrawing the interpretive rule and this action is effective immediately. The Memorandum of Understanding signed on March 25, 2014, by EPA, Army, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, concerning the interpretive rule is also withdrawn. The signed memorandum withdrawing the interpretive rule is available at http://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/RegulatoryProgramandPermits.aspx. The Federal Register Notice announcing the withdrawal will be published at www.federalregister.gov. Similar public notices are being published concurrently by other Corps district offices.

DATES: The interpretive rule is withdrawn as of January 29, 2015.

For further information please contact: Ms. Stacey M. Jensen, Regulatory Community of Practice (CECW–CO–R), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 441 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20314; telephone number 202–761–5856; e-mail address: USACE_CWA_RULE@usace.army.mil.