Current Nationwide Permits will expire in March 2026. The following distillation from our permitting experts shares some of the proposed changes from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The current Nationwide Permits will expire in March 2026. The following distillation from our permitting experts shares some of the proposed changes from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has proposed to renew and revise 56 of the 57 existing Nationwide Permits (NWPs) for work in wetlands and other waters that are regulated by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and/or Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. In addition, the Corps is proposing not to reissue one NWP authorizing activities associated with fish aquaculture (NWP 56). One new NWP is proposed for activities to facilitate fish passage (NWP A).
The Purpose of Nationwide Permits
Under Section 404(e) of the Clean Water Act, the Corps can issue general permits to authorize discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States that would result in minimal adverse environmental effects. General permits can be issued for a period of no more than 5 years. The NWPs authorize tens of thousands of fill activities per year for a wide variety of purposes, such as mooring buoys, residential developments, utility lines, road crossings, mining activities, wetland and stream restoration, aquaculture activities, and many more. The most recent set of NWPs issued in 2021 are set to expire in March of 2026, so to continue the NWP Program, the Corps must issue new NWPs. The new proposed NWPs were published for public comment in the federal register on June 18, 2025. While the Corps may revise them further in response to comments or additional direction from the President, they are expected to be finalized largely as proposed by March 2026.