The Army Corps of Engineers' January 6, 2017 rule reissued 50 existing nationwide permits and added two new ones. The additions concern low-head dam removal and living shorelines. They are categories of authorization subject to conditions, not findings that every proposed project in either category has acceptable effects. The program standard remains no more than minimal individual and cumulative adverse environmental effects. [2016-31355]

The two routes have different boundaries. Permit 53 requires pre-construction notification for low-head dam removal; disposing of the removed dam in U.S. waters requires separate authorization. Permit 54 covers living shorelines in coastal waters, including the Great Lakes, along shores with small fetch, gentle slopes and low- to mid-energy waves. It does not authorize beach nourishment or land reclamation. [2016-31355]

Permit 54 requires notification before construction. Maintenance and repair need notification when applicable general or regional conditions require it. General, regional and case-specific requirements still apply, along with the relevant water-quality certification and coastal-consistency framework. Calling the permit nationwide does not make those geographically specific conditions disappear or turn the minimal-effects standard into a claim of zero environmental impact. [2016-31355]

The June 1, 2016 proposal had expressly provided for district-level consultation on regional conditions, as well as national comments. The final publication scheduled effectiveness for March 19, 2017 and expiry for March 18, 2022. These documents record successive stages of one rulemaking, not independent evaluations of environmental results. Their original schedule also does not establish what the permits' legal status became later. [2016-31355][2016-12083]

Source documents

  1. Issuance and Reissuance of Nationwide Permitshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-01-06/html/2016-31355.htm
  2. Proposal To Reissue and Modify Nationwide Permitshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-06-01/html/2016-12083.htm