Activities covered

Temporary structures, work, and discharges of dredged or fill material, including cofferdams, necessary for construction activities or access fills or dewatering of construction sites, provided that the associated primary activity is authorized by the Corps of Engineers or the U.S. Coast Guard.

This NWP also authorizes temporary structures, work, and discharges of dredged or fill material, including cofferdams, necessary for construction activities not otherwise subject to the Corps or U.S. Coast Guard permit requirements.

Appropriate measures must be taken to maintain near normal downstream flows and to minimize flooding. Fill must consist of materials, and be placed in a manner, that will not be eroded by expected high flows. The use of dredged material may be allowed if the district engineer determines that it will not cause more than minimal adverse environmental effects.

Following completion of construction, temporary fill must be entirely removed to an area that has no waters of the United States, dredged material must be returned to its original location, and the affected areas must be restored to pre-construction elevations.

The affected areas must also be revegetated, as appropriate. Structures left in place after construction is completed require a separate section 10 permit if located in navigable waters of the United States. (See 33 CFR part 322.)

Exclusions

This permit does not authorize the use of cofferdams to dewater wetlands or other aquatic areas to change their use.

From Regional Condition for the State of California 4. In conjunction with the Los Angeles District’s Special Area Management Plans (SAMPs) for the San Diego Creek Watershed and San Juan Creek/Western San Mateo Creek Watersheds in Orange County, California, the Corps’ South Pacific Division Engineer, through discretionary authority has revoked the use of this NWP within these SAMP watersheds. Consequently, this NWPs is no longer available in those watersheds to authorize impacts to waters of the United States from discharges of dredged or fill material under the Corps’ Clean Water Act section 404 authority. Additional information is available here: https://www.spl.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Established-LOP-Procedures.

Application Tips and Resources

From General Conditions (starting on page 46) the permittee must submit a pre-construction notification (PCN) when:

• From General Condition 16. Wild and Scenic Rivers (page 48), (b) If a proposed NWP activity will occur in a component of the National Wild and Scenic River System, or in a river officially designated by Congress as a “study river” for possible inclusion in the system while the river is in an official study status
• From General Condition 18. Endangered Species (page 49), for non-federal permittees, if any listed species (or species proposed for listing) or designated critical habitat (or critical habitat proposed such designation) might be affected or is in the vicinity of the activity, or if the activity is located in designated critical habitat or critical habitat proposed for such designation. Work shall not begin until notified by the district engineer that the requirements of the ESA have been satisfied and that the activity is authorized.
  • Federal agencies should follow their own procedures for complying with the requirements of the ESA (see 33 CFR 330.4(f)(1)).
• From General Condition 20. Historic Properties (page 50), for non-federal permittees, if the NWP activity might have the potential to cause effects on any historic properties listed on, determined to be eligible for listing on, or potentially eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, including previously unidentified properties.
  • Where the non-federal applicant has identified historic properties on which the proposed NWP activity might have the potential to cause effects and has so notified the Corps, the non-federal applicant shall not begin the activity until notified by the district engineer either that the activity has no potential to cause effects on historic properties or that NHPA section 106 consultation has been completed.
  • For non-federal permittees, the district engineer will notify the prospective permittee within 45 days of receipt of a complete pre-construction notification whether NHPA section 106 consultation is required.
  • If NHPA section 106 consultation is required, the district engineer will notify the non-federal applicant that he or she cannot begin the activity until section 106 consultation is completed. If the non-federal applicant has not heard back from the Corps within 45 days, the applicant must still wait for notification from the Corps.
  • Federal permittees should follow their own procedures for complying with the requirements of section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (see 33 CFR 330.4(g)(1)).

From Regional Conditions for the State of California the permittee must submit a pre-construction notification (PCN) when:

• From Regional Condition 1, permittee shall submit a PCN if:
  • Activities involving new bank stabilization that do not incorporate bioengineering techniques. Bioengineering techniques include using live plants alone or in combination with dead or inorganic materials, including rock, sand, or gravel;
  • Activities resulting in a discharge of dredged or fill material in waters of the United States on Tribal lands;
  • Activities involving the permanent channelization, realignment, or relocation of streams; and,
  • Activities that have the potential to adversely affect Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), as designated by the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The PCN shall include an EFH assessment and analysis of effects of the action on EFH, in accordance with 50 C.F.R. § 600.920 (e). For Federal permittees, if a PCN is required for the proposed activity, the Federal permittee must provide the district engineer with the appropriate documentation to demonstrate compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
• From Regional Condition 7, permittee shall submit a PCN if:
  • In the San Francisco District, for all NWP activities that will take place in waters of the United States, including jurisdictional wetlands, that are within the San Francisco Bay diked Baylands.
    • The San Francisco Bay diked baylands are defined as undeveloped areas that are currently behind levees and are within the historic margin of the Bay. The historic margin of the Bay is defined as areas on the Nichols and Wright map (see figure 1) below the 5-foot contour line, National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) (Nichols, D.R., and N. A. Wright. 1971. Preliminary map of historic margins of marshland, San Francisco Bay, California. U.S. Geological Survey Open File Map).