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~ ~~~ ~ ~ <br />AUDIENCE: General Public <br />US Army Corps <br />of Engineers REFER TO: 00-05269-PDR <br />St Paul District <br />JUL 2 0 <br />Public Notice <br />zssIIED: <br />JUL 13 2000 <br />1. The purpose of this public notice is to provide guidance on the <br />interface between U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources <br />Conservation Service (NRCS), wetland determinations and the Corps of <br />Engineers (Corps) regulatory program under Section 404 of the Clean <br />Water Act (CWA) Under Section 404, the Corps has jurisdiction over <br />discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United <br />States, including wetlands. <br />2. In 1994, the Corps, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, NRCS, <br />and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed a Memorandum of <br />Agreement (MOA) The MOA was published in the Federal Register (59 <br />FR 2920) on Wednesday, January 19, 1994. The MOA identified NRCS as <br />the lead agency for making wetland determination/delineations on <br />agricultural lands. <br />3. Under the MOA, wetland determinations made by NRCS are generally <br />accepted by the Corps for CWA purposes. Under the MOAo NRCS <br />determinations are valid for a maximum of 5 years. Due to statutory <br />and administrative constriants~ NRCS now updates wetland <br />determinations only when specifically requested by the producer. <br />Since most wetland determinations in the State of Minnestoa are more <br />than 5 years old., they are generally no longer valid for determining <br />Section 404 jurisdiction. Therefore, if the Corps receives a permit <br />application (or'a request for a jurisdictional determination) without <br />a current NRCS wetland: determination, the evaluation of that project <br />,. may 'be delayed untih`the Corps can perform its own. wetland <br />determination: Due to Corps staffing limitations, the evaluation of <br />a project could be-delayed 6-8 weeks without a current NRCS wetland <br />determination. To avoid or minimize those delays, the Corps <br />recommends that permit applicants anal those requesting jurisdictional <br />determinations submit a request for an updated wetland determination <br />(form CPA-038) to NRCS if your wetland determination is move than 5 <br />years old. This form may be obtained from your local NRCS office. <br />4. Please verify that your NRCS wetland determination is current <br />before commencing a project involving the discharge of dredged or <br />fill material into an area that might be a wetland. We also advise <br />you to contact the Corps to identify any CWA permitting requirements. <br />before proceeding. Please note that relying on an outdated NRCS <br />wetland determination is not a defense to a Clean Water Act <br />violation. <br />IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROJECT, call Paul D. Richert at the <br />St. Paul office of the Corps, telephone number (651) 290-5372. <br />ar Hauger <br />Chief, Regul tory Branch <br />