Under Section 404(e) of the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) can issue general permits to authorize activities that have minimal individual and cumulative adverse environmental effects. General permits can be issued for a period of no more than five years. A nationwide permit is a general permit that authorizes activities across the country, unless a district or division commander revokes the nationwide permit in a state or other geographic region. Nationwide permits authorize a wide variety of activities such as mooring buoys, residential developments, utility lines, road crossings, mining activities, wetland and stream restoration activities, and commercial shellfish aquaculture activities. Below is a chronology of the reissuance of Section 404 nationwide permits.

For additional information, visit the Corps' Nationwide Permit website. Exit

Army Corps of Engineers Final Notice of Nationwide Permit Reissuance 2012

The Army Corps of Engineers February 21, 2012 final notice on the reissuance of 48 of the 49 existing Nationwide Permits (NWPs), General Conditions, and definitions with modifications, the issuance of 2 new permits, 3 new general conditions, and 3 new definitions, and the final notice of the additional corrections from March 19, 2012 and September 21, 2012. These NWPs will expire on March 18, 2017.

• February 21, 2012 Final Notice Exit(PDF format, 108 pages, 679K)

• March 19, 2012 Correction Exit(PDF format, 1 page, 192K)

• September 21, 2012 Correction Exit(PDF format, 2 pages, 211K)

Army Corps of Engineers: 2007 Final Notice of Nationwide Permit Reissuance Exit(PDF format, 107 pages, 609K)

The Army Corps of Engineers March 12, 2007 final notice on the issuance of 6 new Nationwide Permits and the reissuance of existing Nationwide Permits, General Conditions, and definitions with modifications.

Army Corps of Engineers: 2006 Proposal to Reissue and Modify Nationwide Permits Exit(PDF format, 42 pages, 345K)

The Army Corps of Engineers published the proposal to reissue and modify Nationwide Permits (NWP) in the Federal Register on September 26, 2006.

Army Corps of Engineers: 2001 Proposal to Reissue and Modify Nationwide Permits Exit(PDF format, 31 pages, 287K)

The Army Corps of Engineers published the proposal to reissue and modify Nationwide Permits (NWP) in the Federal Register on August 9, 2001.

Army Corps of Engineers: Scoping Meetings for Nationwide Permit Program Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement Exit(PDF format, 1 page, 139K)

The Corps initiated a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the entire Nationwide Permit Program (NWP) to be completed by December 2000. The overall purpose of the PEIS was to review and evaluate the NWP as a whole, to ensure that the NWP authorizes only those activities with minimal individual and cumulative adverse environmental effects on the aquatic environment. This notice was intended to provide other Federal agencies, States, Tribes and the public the opportunity to participate in the scoping of the PEIS. Published in the Federal Register on March 22, 1999.

Army Corps of Engineers: Final New and Modified Replacement Nationwide Permits Exit(PDF format, 82 pages, 522K)

The Corps published the final new and modified replacement Nationwide Permits (NWP) in the Federal Register on March 9, 2000. The maximum acreage limit under the new and modified NWP's is one-half acre and most new NWPs require that the Corps be notified of activities impacting more than one-tenth of an acre. The NWPs also provide additional protections to critical resource waters, 100-year floodplains, and streams. The new and modified NWPs became effective on June 7, 2000, at which time NWP 26 (Headwaters and Isolated Waters) expired.

Army Corps of Engineers: Notice of time extension for receipt of comments on Proposal To Issue and Modify Nationwide Permits Exit(PDF format, 4 pages, 189K)

A copy of the Corps September 3, 1999 notice of time extension for receipt of comments on the proposed draft Nationwide Permits published on July 21, 1999. (See below)

Army Corps of Engineers: Proposal To Issue and Modify Nationwide Permits; Notice Exit(PDF format, 120 pages, 958K)

A copy of the Corps proposal to issue and modify the Nationwide Permit program, published in the Federal Register on July 21, 1999.

Army Corps of Engineers: 1998 Proposal to Issue and Modify Nationwide Permits Exit(PDF format, 39 pages, 389K)

A copy of the Corps proposal to issue and modify the Nationwide Permit program, published in the Federal Register on July 1, 1998, as well as a copy of the Corps October 14, 1998 supplemental proposal Exit(PDF format, 5 pages, 216K) to modify the proposed replacement Nationwide Permits.

Final Notice of Issuance, Reissuance, and Modification of Nationwide Permits Exit(PDF format, 49 pages, 414K)- published in the Federal Register December, 13, 1996