Public Notice Announcing the Division Engineer’s Approval of Special Emergency Processing Procedures for Activities Subject to E.O. 14156

This announcement serves to inform the public that the United States (U.S.) Army Corps of Engineers, Southwestern Division has approved special emergency processing procedures for Fort Worth, Galveston, Little Rock, and Tulsa District, in accordance with 33 CFR § 325.2(e)(4) for the National Energy Emergency established by Executive Order (E.O.) 14156, which was issued on January 20, 2025 under the President’s legal authorities, including the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq) and section 301 of title 3, United States code. These special emergency processing procedures have been established pursuant to Sec. 4 of 14156 for activities associated with the identification, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy sources, including energy infrastructure, that require Department of the Army authorization under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and/or Section 103 of the Marine Research, Protection, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, as amended. For the reasons stated in Sec. 1 of EO 14156, the President has found that insufficient energy production, transportation, refining, and generation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to our Nation’s economy, national security, and foreign policy and declared a national emergency on the basis of those findings.  The President has found in Sec. 4 of EO 14156 that significant economic hardship could be experienced if corrective action requiring a permit is not undertaken within a time period less than the normal time needed to process the application under standard permitting procedures for activities meeting the terms of the declared emergency, and has directed agencies to use, to the fullest extent possible and consistent with applicable law, emergency Army Corps permitting provisions to facilitate the Nation’s energy supply.

Details of these emergency procedures will be available on each District’s website, listed below, no later than April 15, 2025.

Fort Worth District https://www.swf.usace.army.mil/Media/Public-Notices/

Galveston District https://www.swg.usace.army.mil/Media/Public-Notices/

Little Rock District https://www.swl.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Public-Notices/

Tulsa District https://www.swt.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Public-Notices/ 

In addition, this announcement serves to advise the public that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may employ emergency procedures to process requests to alter a Corps Civil Works project under 33 USC §408 (Section 408) if the request is associated with an activity that facilitates the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy sources as directed in Executive Order 14156.  In that Executive Order the President declared a national energy emergency and found that expediting certain activities using emergency procedures was necessary to address an unusual and extraordinary threat to our Nation’s economy, national security, and foreign policy.  Because of that threat, it may be necessary to undertake a review of a Section 408 request within a time period less than the normal time needed to process the request under standard review procedures to minimize the impact of an immediate, unforeseen, and significant economic hardship and associated threat to national security and foreign policy.  For activities meeting the definition of an “energy” or “energy resources” project in EO 14156, the districts within the Southwestern Division region, which include Fort Worth District, Galveston District, Little Rock District and Tulsa District, may employ emergency procedures to process a Section 408 request, including the procedures approved by Southwestern Division and in accordance with 33 CFR § 325.2(e)(4) in appropriate circumstances.

The purpose of this public notice is to announce the potential use of special emergency processing procedures to review requests for permission under Section 408 as directed by Sections 2 and 4 of EO 14156.  A determination of whether a specific Section 408 request qualifies for emergency procedures in response to the national emergency declared in EO 14156 will be made individually based upon a case-specific evaluation of each request.

If you have any questions concerning these special emergency processing procedures, please contact the 408 Permits Coordinators at the district within your project area.  These are provided below as is a link with USACE districts’ boundaries.

https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Locations/

EPA and Army Publish the Navigable Waters Protection Rule 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule: Definition of “Waters of the United States” was published in the Federal Register. This final rule establishes the scope of federal regulatory authority under the Clean Water Act. The Navigable Waters Protection Rule includes four simple categories of jurisdictional waters and provides specific exclusions for many water features that traditionally have not been regulated. The final rule will become effective on June 22, 2020. The published version is 93 pages, and the citation is: 85 FR 22250.  The Federal Register notice is available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/04/21/2020-02500/the-navigable-waters-protection-rule-definition-of-waters-of-the-united-states. Additional information about the rule can be found on the EPA website at https://www.epa.gov/nwpr.