Overview of the Reissuance of 401 Water Quality General Certifications November 9, 2016 Overview of the Reissuance of 401 Water Quality General Certifications

401 Water Quality Certifications 404 Nationwide Permits are a set of “general” permits issued by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to authorize specific activities under specific conditions. Regional General Permits are issued by specific regional districts (Wilmington) of the USACE The Clean Water Act requires states to certify all activities for the use of a Nationwide Permit NCDWR has traditionally issued Water Quality General Certifications (WQCs) to correspond to the Nationwide Permits:

Why Reissuance? Existing US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) 404 Nationwide Permits (NWP) will expire on March 18, 2017 USACE proposes to reissue all 404 Nationwide Permits as well as issue two new Nationwide Permits USACE Wilmington District proposes to renew 12 Regional General Permits (RGP) as well as issue one new RGP Existing 401 Water Quality General Certifications need to be revised/reissued to reflect associated NWPs or RGPs that have been or will be reauthorized NCDWR must reissue revised 401 Water Quality General Certifications associated with NWPs prior to their reissuance Department of Environmental Quality

How / When? NCDWR has internally drafted revised 401 WQCs Attachments to Agenda Item December 2016: NCDWR will issue a Public Notice on draft 401 WQCs to request input from the public and regulated entities January – February 2017: NCDWR will review public comments and finalize the 401 WQCs for Director signature March 2017: NCDWR will issue new 401 WQCs Department of Environmental Quality

What’s New? Two new NWPs One new RGP Living Shorelines – new WQC proposed Low Head Dam Removal – incorporate into existing WQC One new RGP Stormwater Drainage Improvement Projects and Flood Reduction Activities conducted by Charlotte Stormwater Services – new WQC proposed Incorporate/combine some WQC for simplification Improve text for clarity and simplification Remove unnecessary conditions/language Some additions, some reductions and some clarifications to the various thresholds for written authorization from DWR Incorporate changes from Session Laws Mitigation Stormwater Department of Environmental Quality

Summary of changes in requirements for Written Authorization by DWR Correct oversight in current WQCs to include a requirement for written authorization for all activities in ORW/HQW waters Incorporate existing threshold for Coastal and Unique Wetlands into all WQCs Clarified threshold in state regulated riparian buffer areas to clearly indicate that it applies only to subject water bodies or buffers adjacent to subject water bodies Expanded scenarios of when written threshold is NOT triggered when impacts occur to regulated riparian buffers For activities under NWP12 (Utilities) – added threshold for written approval of 500’ of temporary impacts to streams For activities under NWP33 (Temporary Impacts/Dewatering) – added threshold for written approval of 150’ of temporary impacts to streams and/or 0.10 acre of wetlands

Mitigation Language Change Removed reference to intermittent streams Changed “equal to or greater than” to “greater than” to be consistent with USACE Removed reference to buffer mitigation – will be addressed in Buffer Authorizations Add reference to NCDOT projects that are part of a private common plan of development to be consistent with USACE Add reference to GS 143-214.11 regarding preferences for mitigation options Department of Environmental Quality

Stormwater Condition Change Consistency with Phase II program Reference new stormwater rules – scheduled to be published January 2017 Will remain consistent with program in the future Clarify that SMP only required for projects disturbing => 1 acre of land Removal of requirement for a local government to be a “Certified Community” for DWR acceptance of their review Clarifies that grandfathering/vesting/exemptions from local government review will not satisfy 401 Clarifies that local government approval of SMP is not required before issuance of 401, however it is required before any impacts occur Simplify the submittal requirements for projects that do/will receive local government approved SMPs Plans that show location and approx. size of measures Clarify submittal requirements for projects that fall under DWR review Department of Environmental Quality

General Format Changes Threshold Information Format Conditions that are specific to that Certification General Conditions May not all apply to all projects Language consistent throughout all WQCs Common Conditions language will be incorporated into IWP100000, General Permit for isolated wetlands Added regulatory citation for all conditions Modified language throughout the WQCs to clarify “State Regulated Riparian Buffers” versus “streamside areas”