By STAFF REPORTS
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District on Friday posted a special public notice stating that it has begun accepting and processing applications for Clean Water Act Section 404 permits in Florida, and will tap into other offices around the country for help.
The announcement comes as legal challenges have plagued the 404 program in Florida since a court ruling in February, when a federal District Court judge ruled that the Corps is to 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 formerly state-assumed 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.”
The Corps’ notice states, “The Jacksonville District is issuing this public notice to inform the public that they may submit applications for permits for activities involving the discharge of dredged or fill material into formerly state-assumed waters in Florida to the Jacksonville District, and that some applications will be sent to other USACE Districts and organizations for processing while other Section 404 actions will be processed by the Jacksonville District.”
It is unclear which offices may be assisting the Corps with permitting, however, the notice says that other USACE Districts and Technical Regional Execution Centers will assist. Applications for projects in formerly state-assumed waters that are received by the Jacksonville District will be 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, the Corps stated.
“When a project is transferred to another Regulatory District for processing, applicants will receive a notification email from USACE that contains project manager’s contact information,” the website says. “While the project manager will review the contents of the file provided by Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), completion of the appropriate Department of the Army form(s) will satisfy some regulatory and administrative requirements (e.g., designation of agent, if applicable), and will assist the project manager’s initial review.”
The notice can be found here.
Find additional coverage on the 404 program on www.floridaspecifier.com.
