BY STAFF REPORTS
October 4, 2024
A letter sent by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) this week indicates the federal government plans to hand off some portion of Florida wetlands permitting to a third-party contractor.
The letter, dated Sept. 30, informs stakeholders that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Atlantic Division has selected SES Energy Services LLC to support several divisions, including the Jacksonville District Regulatory Division, to review “various Department of the Army permit applications for proposed activities that are subject to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and/or Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.”
The letter was sent by Travis Hughes, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Program Manager/Technical Team Lead for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, based in Atlanta. SES Energy Services will work on proposed activities in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
The announcement comes as legal challenges have plagued the 404 program in Florida since a court ruling in February. A federal District Court judge ruled that the Corps is to re-assume the program from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection following a lawsuit by several environmental groups.
The program was transferred from the Corps to DEP in 2020 after the state requested authority to run the permitting process, which involves the discharge of dredged or fill material into federal waters. The court ruling was based on arguments from environmental groups that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency acted illegally when it transferred authority to the state in 2020.
In May, DEP filed an appeal of the decision and sought a stay pending the appeal process. The Department stated at the time that it, “looks forward to making its case on appeal to defend the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of Florida’s 404 Permitting Program and overturn the lower court’s legal errors.” In August, DEP sought and was granted expedited proceedings.
In July, the Corps Jacksonville District announced it would begin accepting and processing 404 applications. At the time, the Corps stated it would be relying on other offices for assistance but was otherwise fully prepared to accommodate the extra workload.
“To minimize delays arising from this increased workload, the Jacksonville District is receiving national support from other USACE Districts and Technical Regional Execution Centers (TRECs) to assist in this effort,” its website states. “Some applications for activities in formerly state-assumed waters are being assigned to and reviewed by USACE Regulatory Project Managers in other Districts and TRECs. Applications for projects in formerly state-assumed waters that are received by the Jacksonville District are screened to determine whether they can be assigned to project managers outside of the Jacksonville District. If an application is assigned to another Regulatory District or TREC, the review and final decision on that application will be made by that District or TREC. National Regulatory Program standards will be applied to all Jacksonville District actions. The Jacksonville District will closely coordinate with the reviewing Districts and TRECs to address Florida-specific ecological resources and other relevant information.”
This week’s Corps letter outlines a modified procedure that may include a private contractor contacting an applicant during the project review process.
Ahead of this announcement, on August 28th, SES Energy Services advertised a new job opening to “lead regulatory reviews focused on Section 404” [federal wetland permits] to support their Jacksonville office. According to the announcement, SES Energy Services is a subsidiary of Bristol Bay Construction Holdings LLC, a holding company of Bristol Bay Native Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation.
It appears that the Corps is outsourcing permit reviews at least partially to meet the backlog of 404 applications transferred from DEP.
