Nationwide Permits: Case Studies Highlight Concerns

Recent reviews of the nationwide permit program by the Army Corps of Engineers left Nationwide Permit 26 (NWP 26) virtually unchanged, in part because there is insufficient information to support the contention that discharges under NWP 26 result in significant wetland losses. Using information from the files of the Corps and other agencies, we were able to obtain at least a minimum estimate of discharges authorized under NWP 26 in the Platte RIver basin of Colorado and a 10-country area in the Sacramento River Valley of California. Our results are also pertinent to several other issues surrounding NWP 26, including opportunities to obtain mitigation, activities authorized, practicable alternatives, and cumulative impacts. All of the projects reviewed in this study were completed before the recent revisions to the nationwide permit program. However, because the basics of NWP 26 were not changed, we believe that our results are equally relevant to the revised NWP 26.