Hurricane clean-up activities must be undertaken in accordance with federal regulatory standards, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District.
“ We want residents and property owners to know that in most cases any discharge of excavated or fill material within the Department of the Army jurisdictional waters and/or wetlands requires a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” said Henry Wicker, Wilmington District deputy chief, regulatory division . “ Most filling activities in wetlands and waters of the United States undertaken without the appropriate permit constitutes a violation of Federal law.”
“ In years past, we have encountered numerous problems with the unauthorized discharge of sand and storm debris. We understand the hardships that citizens endure following a hurricane event and we will work very hard to address the public’s needs. We just want to make sure that cleanup efforts don’t result in additional problems for anyone,” Wicker said.
Some permitting, such as maintenance, repair and/or replacement of authorized structures, may be accomplished through the nationwide permit program (NWP).
Those actions which do not qualify under the NWP program will be reviewed for emergency determination by the Corps of Engineers regulatory division. If the action is deemed an emergency, descriptions of the proposed action will be faxed to representatives from each of the commenting agencies, including the state/commonwealth agencies responsible for Section 401 Water Quality Certification and Coastal Zone Management Consistency, if required.
USACE, July 4, 2014