Jurisdictional Determinations and Wetland Delineations

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), is circulating this notice to advise the public of recent changes in District procedures. These changes when fully implemented are designed to increase the efficiency of District staff and to better serve the public. This notice supersedes a previous public notice dated January 5, 2009, regarding wetland delineation information and document titled “Suggested Information for Expediting the Review of a Jurisdictional Delineation.”

BACKGROUND: Pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (Section 404), a Department of the Army permit is required for the discharge of dredged or fill material into "waters of the United States", including wetlands. For the purposes of Section 404, the identification and delineation of wetlands is currently accomplished in accordance with the procedures outlined in the 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual (87 Manual) and the associated appropriate Regional Supplement. The Jacksonville District area of operation includes the Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Region (Version 2.0, 2010) and Caribbean Islands Region (Version 2.0, 2011) or any updated versions published thereafter.

JURISDICTIONAL DETERMINATIONS: Approved jurisdictional determinations (AJDs) and preliminary JDs (PJDs) are tools used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to help implement Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Sections 9 and 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (RHA). Both types of JDs specify what geographic areas will be treated as subject to regulation by the Corps under one or both statutes. Regulatory Guidance Letter (RGL) 16-01 explains in detail the differences between these two types of JDs. This RGL and other useful information relating to JDs can be found on Corps Headquarters web page at the following link:

http://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Regulatory-Program-and-Permits/juris_info/

In an effort to provide further clarity regarding the process of requesting a JD and ensure receipt of information essential to the processing of the request, the Jacksonville District has developed a JD Request Form which includes relevant information from RGL 16-01 and other items specific to District needs. The JD Request Form is required to be completely filled out and submitted for all JD requests as well as requests for verification of consultant delineated wetland boundaries and requests for Corps wetland delineations. This also includes projects that require submission of Corps Form ENG 4345 Application For Department of the Army Permit. The JD Request Form can be found on the Jacksonville District Regulatory web page Source Book under Permitting-Forms and at the below link:

https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p16021coll11/id/2087

WETLAND DELINEATIONS: In an effort to improve the consistency and efficiency of the JD process and reduce the need to request additional information, the Jacksonville District has generated guidance regarding the minimum information that should be included in a wetland delineation submittal. This guidance is outlined in the JD Request Form and includes information that should be evaluated during the preliminary data gathering stage of the delineation process (87 Manual, Part IV, Section D, Subsection 1), recommendations for appropriate on-site data gathering, and a format for reporting findings. Much of this information is readily available from desktop resources and essential for planning an on-site delineation to confirm or refute the presence of features depicted on natural resource mapping. Corps project managers will be required to review projects to ensure submissions are complete and documented in the administrative record.

Additional guidance regarding performing wetland delineations such as the 87 Manual, Regional Supplements, and Wetland Data Forms can be found on the Jacksonville District Regulatory web page at:

http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Source-Book/