The purpose of this notice is to advise the public that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, will initiate the following emergency permitting procedures in response to conditions resulting from storm damage associated with Hurricane Idalia, throughout the State of Florida. These alternate procedures are authorized until March 03, 2024.
In accordance with 33 CFR 325.2(e)(4), an “emergency” is a situation which would result in an unacceptable hazard to life, a significant loss of property, or an immediate, unforeseen, and significant economic hardship if corrective action requiring a permit is not undertaken within a time period less than the normal time needed to process the application under standard procedures.
Most permitting may likely be accomplished through the nationwide permit (NWP) program. For example, most aspects of containment/cleanup/restoration activities may be authorized via NWP 3. These activities would be accomplished under the authorities of Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403) and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344).
Applicants should submit an Emergency Permit Request form to expedite processing of the application. This request form and other helpful information can be found on our webpage at https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/.
For those actions which do not qualify for authorization under the terms and conditions of the NWP program, the following procedures will be used:
Applicants should submit an Emergency Permit Request form to expedite processing of the application. Applicants should clearly label their requests “Hurricane Idalia” to assist Regulatory staff to readily distinguish your request from non-emergency applications.
Emergency permitting requests will be reviewed to determine if there is truly an emergency situation associated with Hurricane Idalia.
If the action is determined to be an emergency, descriptions of the proposed action will be emailed by the Corps to representatives from each of the commenting agencies, including the agencies responsible for Section 401 Water Quality Certification and Coastal Zone Management Consistency, if required.
A decision will be made after review by the agencies. For most projects, it is anticipated that this process can be finalized within 24-48 hours.
For additional information, please contact Christian Karvounis, Program Manager, Regulatory Division, Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Office (561) 785-3309 or via email at Christian.G.Karvounis@usace.army.mil.
Shawn Zinszer
Chief, Regulatory Division