Interagency Guidelines to Applicants
The purpose of the following guidelines is to
provide you, the applicant, with environmental guidance that,
when followed, will expedite the review of your permit
application and may qualify you for a Nationwide or General
Permit. These guidelines were developed by local offices of the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries
Service, Texas General Land Office, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Adherence to these guidelines is not mandatory, however,
compliance with them will ensure adequate protection of fish and
wildlife and their habitats as mandated by Federal and State
laws. It is our hope that by providing this guidance, you
will be informed of Federal and State agencies' environmental
expectations which will enable you to plan your project in an
environmentally sustainable manner. This should significantly
reduce the time it will take for you to receive a permit.
These guidelines have been formulated from
published and unpublished documents developed by Federal, State
and private institutions. They have been developed to aid the
public when applying for a Department of the Army permit for
water development activities under Section 404 of the Clean Water
Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. They
foster compliance not only with requirements of the aforementioned Acts but also
the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the Endangered Species Act,
the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Magnuson Fishery
Conservation and Management Act. These Acts specify protection,
and in some cases enhancement and restoration, of fish and
wildlife resources and their habitats, including wetlands.
General considerations that will expedite
review of your permit application include:
1) Early in your planning phase, entire project
plans should be provided to, and coordinated with, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service so they may assess whether your project has
potential endangered species concerns. The National Marine
Fisheries Service may also need to be contacted if the project
could effect sea turtles or marine mammals.
2) To the maximum extent practicable,
environmental impacts should be avoided and/or minimized. For
projects involving substantial discharge of dredged or fill
material into wetlands or waters of the U.S., an alternatives
analysis which identifies the least damaging project alternatives
should be included with the permit application. Although this information is not required to apply for a permit, the Corps of
Engineers may eventually need this analysis in order to review
the permit. Contact the Galveston District Corps of Engineers for
more information.
3) If unavoidable impacts to wetlands or other
sensitive areas must occur, you should plan for mitigating
temporary and/or permanent impacts associated with the project.
These plans should be coordinated early in the planning process
with the Galveston District Corps of Engineers and the various
State and Federal resource agencies.
The following links provide specific
guidelines:
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