3.3 PLACE RELATED FEDERAL DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS 



Overlapping "jurisdiction" or authority over places is a constant 

 challenge to permit applicants, because the matrix of places and activities 

 subject to government control is particularly complex in the coastal zone. 

 We refer to this problem as place related because physical boundaries can 

 usually be defined based on either political jurisdictions (cities, 

 counties, etc.) or natural factors (salinity, tidal reach, etc.). In 

 the following summaries, we will highlight the principal Federal coastal 

 programs. In most cases there will be one or sometimes several state 

 analogs to the Federal program. 



3.3.1 Permits for the Discharge or Disposal of Dredged and Fill Material 

 in the Waters of the United States 



The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers administers a Federal program of 

 permits for the discharge or disposal of dredged and fill material in the 

 waters of the United States. Regulations for the program have been 

 developed in partnership with EPA which shares statutory authority with 

 the Corps [108]. The program influences both private development and 

 construction by other public agents. 



Jurisdiction 



Corps permit requirements stem from the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 

 and Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 

 1972 (P.L. 92-500) and their implementing regulations [109]. "Navigable 

 waters" are defined differently in the two acts. As interpreted by Court 

 rulings, under Section 404, they reach both tidal and certain freshwater 

 wetlands [110]. Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act reaches only 

 certain tidal wetlands (particularly lower wetlands). Because of these 

 differences Section 404 is the primary authority for permit requirements 

 in nontidal wetlands. In areas of overlapping jurisdiction to the 

 traditional 3-mile limit, programs under both acts are jointly administered. 



The Corps and EPA agreed to new regulations extending the permit area 

 beyond the bounds of the traditional navigation servitude in July 1975, 

 revised July 19, 1977. The regulations implement the recent court rulings 

 that ordered the Corps to change its regulations to encompass the broader 

 Section 404 definition. The extension of the permit area was accomplished 

 in three phases ending July 1, 1977 [111]. 



"Phase I" permits are required for activities in "coastal waters and 

 coastal wetlands contiguous thereto" [112]. This continues earlier 

 Section 10 jurisdiction with a clarification of the definition of 

 "contiguous wetlands" by eliminating ordinary high water mark and mean 

 high water mark distinctions, which courts had sometimes included in the 

 earlier definitions under more complex legal doctrines [113]. Phase II 

 extends this permit area to "primary tributaries, fresh water wetlands 



36 



