The Department of Environmental Protection published notice in the October 31 PA Bulletin of the proposed conditional State Water Quality Certification under Section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act for 58 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nationwide Permits for comment. 

DEP has determined activities under the nationwide permits must meet these conditions before they can receive Section 401 State Water Quality Certification--

-- Prior to beginning any activity authorized by the Corps under a NWP, the applicant shall obtain from the Department all necessary environmental permits or approvals, and submit to the Department environmental assessments and other information necessary to obtain the permits and approvals, as required under State law.

-- Fill material may not contain any waste as defined in the Solid Waste Management Act.

-- Applicants and projects eligible for these NWPs must obtain all State permits or approvals, or both, necessary to ensure that the project meets the state's applicable water quality standards, including a project specific State Water Quality Certification.

This proposed SWQC would only be available for projects that do not require any Federal authorization other than authorization from the Corps under section 404 of the act or section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899.

A list of the 58 nationwide permits covered by this proposal is available in the PA Bulletin notice.

Applicants seeking authorization for activities not eligible for coverage under the NWPs, or for activities that require another Federal authorization (such as an interstate natural gas pipeline, a gas storage field or a nuclear or hydroelectric project requiring authorization by another Federal agency), must submit a request to the Department for a project-specific State Water Quality Certification.

Comments to DEP will be accepted through the eComment webpage [when posted].  Comments are due to DEP by November 30. 

Comments are due to the Corps of Engineers by November 14.

Read the entire PA Bulletin notice for more information.

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[Posted: October 31, 2020]

11/2/2020