EMERGENCY PERMIT PROCEDURES FOR TROPICAL STORM ERNESTO IN PUERTO RICO AND THE UNITED STATES (U.S.) VIRGIN ISLANDS

EMERGENCY PERMIT PROCEDURES
FOR TROPICAL STORM ERNESTO IN PUERTO RICO AND THE UNITED STATES (U.S.) VIRGIN ISLANDS
The purpose of this notice is to advise the public that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will initiate the following emergency permitting procedures within Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in response to conditions resulting from Tropical Storm Ernesto that affected Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands on 11 August 2024 through 18 August 2024. These alternate procedures are authorized until March 26, 2025.

In accordance with 33 C.F.R. § 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.

Applicants seeking to avail themselves of emergency permitting procedures should submit an Emergency Permit Request form via email to their local permitting section to expedite processing of the application. This request form and other helpful information can be found on our web page at https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/. Permitting section office locations and email addresses are listed at https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Office-Locations/. Applicants should clearly label their requests “Emergency Permitting Ernesto Tropical Storm” to assist USACE Regulatory staff in readily distinguishing such requests from non-emergency applications.

Most permitting will 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).


For those actions which do not qualify for authorization under the terms and conditions of the NWP program, the following procedures will be used:

As noted above, applicants should submit an Emergency Permit Request form to their local permitting section to expedite processing of the application.

Emergency permitting requests will be reviewed to determine if there is truly an emergency situation associated with the impacts of Tropical Storm Ernesto.

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 (PR Department of Natural and Environmental Resources and Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources) and Coastal Zone Management Consistency (PR Planning Board and Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources), if required.

A decision by the Corp will be made after review by these local 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, at (561) 785-3309 or via email at Christian.G.Karvounis@usace.army.mil.