1. Samantha Tepper ODOT 404 Permit Coordinator
404 Permitting
Samantha Tepper
ODOT 404 Permit Coordinator

2. A little history… Rivers & Harbors Act of 1899
Oldest federal environmental law
Act makes it a misdemeanor to discharge refuse matter of any kind into the navigable waters, or tributaries thereof, of the United States without a permit AND to excavate, fill, or alter the course, condition, or capacity of any port, harbor, channel, or other areas within the reach of the Act without a permit
Administered by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
No matter how people feel about ‘the environment’, wildlife, nature, conservation ETC- Humans MUST have clean drinking water in order to survive. Without clean water there is no life

3. A little history… Cuyahoga River Fire of 1969
Sparked the environmental movement
However; did not initially garner national attention
Fire of 1952 actually the largest and most costly fire
>$1 Million in damages
Led to the implementation of the Clean Water Act
According to Wikipedia- Cuyahoga is believed to mean "crooked river" from the Mohawk Indian name Cayagaga, although the Senecas called it Cuyohaga, or "place of the jawbone".
69’ fire garnered national attention due to a Time magazine article but the pictures that were published were actually from the 52’ fire which was significantly more costly in damages.
The 1969 Cuyahoga River fire helped spur an avalanche of water pollution control activities, resulting in the Clean Water Act, Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA). As a result, large point sources of pollution on the Cuyahoga have received significant attention from the OEPA in recent decades. These events are referred to in Randy Newman's 1972 song "Burn On," R.E.M.'s 1986 song "Cuyahoga," and Adam Again's 1992 song "River on Fire." Great Lakes Brewing Company of Cleveland named its Burning River Pale Ale after the event.

4. Clean Water Act (CWA)
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters by preventing point and nonpoint pollution sources, providing assistance to publicly owned treatment works for the improvement of wastewater treatment, and maintaining the integrity of wetlands.

5. Clean Water Act
CWA prohibits the discharge of any pollutants into Waters of the United States from a point source unless it is authorized by a permit
Section 401
Water Quality Certification
Section 402
Traditional Pollutants
Section 404
Dredged or fill materials
Section 401 regulated by the state- in OK ODEQ-
We have ‘blanket’ 401’s for certain NWP’s & certain GP’s – this depends on the USACE district & state you are working in. Set by the state’s DEQ.
DEQ can assert jurisdiction on something the USACE doesn’t they also have the ability to comment on GP’s and IP’s which we will discuss more

6. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes a program to regulate the discharge of dredged and fill material into waters of the United States (WOTUS). The phrase "waters of the United States" defines the extent of geographic jurisdiction of the Section 404 program. The term includes such waters as rivers, lakes, streams and most wetlands. Regulated activities include fills for development, water resource projects (such as dams and levees), infrastructure development (such as highways and airports) and conversion of wetlands to uplands for farming and forestry.
Dredged = Scooping or dragging
Fill materials= ANYTHING- concrete, dirt, rip-rap, ETC.

7. Waters of the United States
WOTUS
All waters which are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide;
(ii) All interstate waters, including interstate wetlands; (iii) The territorial seas; (iv) All impoundments of waters otherwise identified as waters of the United States under this section; (v) All tributaries, as defined in paragraph (o)(3)(iii) of this section, of waters identified in paragraphs (o)(1)(i) through (iii) of this section;
(vi) All waters adjacent to a water identified in paragraphs (o)(1)(i) through (v) of this section, including wetlands, ponds, lakes, oxbows, impoundments, and similar waters;
Basically, if it is a mapped ‘blue line’ (or pond) MAPPED FEATURE on a USGS 7.5 minute quad map- it is subject to jurisdiction by the USACE
Also, connectivity if not mapped can still be jurisdictional if there is a direct connection because water moves and all water is connected.

10. Presence or absence of water within a channel means nothing!

11. Wetlands Wetlands are also a subset WOTUS USACE definition
Vital to the protection of our coastlines
water quality, groundwater recharge, store carbon
Important part of our overall ecosystem, ETC.
USACE definition
“Areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas.”
USACE approved method and manual for wetland delineation
3 indicators
Talk about adjacency- all districts interpret the regs differently
3 indicators that must be proven- hydrology, vegetation, hydric soils

13. Wetlands

14. Nationwide Permits 52 total Nationwide Permits 5 year permits
Thresholds of fill
How you make your permit determination
Will or will not require Pre-Construction Notification
Go over a few of the NWP’s
Quick explanation of No PCN & PCN

15. Other permits within Section 404
Individual Permit
When impacts are significant
Over the NWP allowed thresholds
General Permit
Critical Resource Waters of Oklahoma
ions/regulatory/wqc/crw.pdf
Section 10 Waters
Navigable Waters of OK
/Section10Waters.aspx
Individual permits are for projects which will have significant impacts and require mitigation (unless under special circumstances). Joan will discuss mitigation here in a bit.

16. How do I know if I need a 404 permit?
Is there a jurisdictional act?
Is this area jurisdictional?
Discharge of dredged or fill material associated with my project?
Is the action within a WOTUS

17. Regulatory Agencies
USACE charged with permitting responsibility due to it’s long established role under the Rivers & Harbors Act
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) retains major role in Section 404 permitting process & retains ultimate determination on jurisdiction & may veto a USACE permit decision

18. Compliance NWP’s all have conditions that must be adhered to
tory/Nationwide-Permit-Program/
Must be in compliance with other federal regulations
Also, state regulations