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Signature Sponsor
June 27, 2025 - Below is a message from the West Virginia Coal Association: TO:
FROM: Jason Bostic
Re:
Attached to this message is a public notice issued last week by the Huntington and Pittsburgh Districts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announcing proposed regional conditions for Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 general / Nationwide Permits (NWP). The Corps has proposed to reissue its national NWP program (see previous email attached below) and individual Corps’ District Engineers can modify or suspend NWPs that are authorized under the programmatic program for use within their individual districts https://www.ecfr.gov/current/
The proposed regional conditions if finalized would apply to all NWPs in West Virginia, covering both the Huntington and Pittsburgh Districts of the Corps.
The comment period on the proposed regional NWP conditions closes on August 4, 2026.
The proposed regional conditions include six general conditions that would apply to all the 2026 NWPs (see page nine of the attachment).
Specific to the coal industry, there are no regional specific conditions proposed for NWP 21, surface coal mining (pages 28-29), NWP 49, coal remining (page 46) or NWP 50, underground mining activities (page 47). The permit specific conditions proposed in the national NWP rulemaking would apply to those permits in West Virginia (see previous e-mail attached below).
The public notice proposes two regional conditions on NWP 14, Linear transportation projects: Preconstruction notification (PCN) for any activities in Section 10 waters and PCN for any activities that will result in in the loss of 3/100s of an acre of stream bed. See page 26 of the attachment.
The attached proposed regional conditions are the first of two administrative actions associated with the Corps’ reissuance of programmatic NWP program. The second will be the CWA section 401 state water quality certification of the proposed new NWPs by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.
Please review the attached proposed regional conditions and let us know if you have any concerns or questions.
-Jason
June 26, 2025
TO:
FROM: Jason Bostic
Re:
Last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced a proposal to reissue the agency’s programmatic general or Nationwide (NWP) Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 permit program. The Corps’ NWPs are reissued at five-year cycles. The current NWP program was issued in 2021 and will expire in March 2026. The Corps’ federal regulations (33 CFR 330) related to the NWP program are available at https://www.ecfr.gov/current/
A copy of the Federal Register announcing the reissuance of the NWPs is provided as an attachment to this message and is also available at https://www.govinfo.gov/
Specific to the coal industry, the Corps has proposed the reissuance of NWPs 21, 49 and 50 without modifications. NWP 21 authorizes surface coal mining activities, excluding valley fill construction, that impact less than ½ acre of jurisdictional waters and require a preconstruction notification (PCN) to the appropriate Corps’ district office. See page 26144 of the attached Federal Register. NWP 49 permits remining activities of previously mined areas (mined and reclaimed, abandoned mine lands and bond forfeiture sites) where new mining activity will increase aquatic resource functions. “New” mining areas and activity cannot exceed 40 percent of the total acreage including the previously mined and disturbed areas. NPW 49 also requires a PCN. See page 26151 of the attachment. NWP 50 is used to authorize underground coal mining activities that impact less than ½ acre of jurisdictional waters and requires a PCN to the local district. NWP 50 does not apply to coal preparation activities outside of the immediate underground mine site. See page 26151 of the attached Federal Register notice.
The Corps has also proposed to reissue NWP 14 for linear transportation projects. See page 26143 of the attachment.
The proposed reissuance of the national programmatic, NWP permitting program by the Corps triggers two related administrative rulemaking actions. Under 33 CFR 330.5(d) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/
Reissuance of the programmatic NWP program also requires state CWA Section 401 water quality certification of the specific general permits https://www.ecfr.gov/current/
NOTE: the attached proposed NWPs are separate from the Regional General Permit and Letter of Permission proposed earlier this month by the Corps for energy projects in West Virginia. The comment period on those proposals closes on Friday of next week. See previous emails dated June 6, 2025 that are attached below.
Please review the attached proposed NWPs and their associated general conditions and let us know if you have any concerns or questions.
-Jason
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