certification review; each project will have its own specific impacts and potential water 

 quality problems. The point of the illustration is to show that all of the potential . 

 effects of a proposed activity on water quality — direct and indirect, short and long 

 term, upstream and downstream, construction and operation — should be part of a 

 State's certification review. 



B. Conditioning 401 Certifications for Wetland Protection 



In 401(d), the Congress has given the States the authority to place any conditions 

 on a water quality certification that are necessary to assure that the applicant will 

 comply with effluent limitations, water quality standards, standards of performance or 

 pretreatment standards; with any State law provisions or regulations more stringent than 

 those sections; and with "any other appropriate requirement of State law." 



The legislative history of the subsection indicates that the Congress meant for the 

 States to impose whatever conditions on the certification are necessary to ensure that 

 an applicant complies with all State requirements that are related to water quality 

 concerns. 



L What are Appropriate Conditions? 



There are any number of possible conditions that could be placed on a 

 certification that have as their purpose preventing water quality deterioration. 



By way of example, the State of Maryland issued a certification with conditions 

 for placement of fill to construct a 35-foot earthen dam located 200 feet downstream of 

 an existing dam. Maryland used some general conditions applicable to many of the 

 proposed projects it considers, along with specific conditions tailored to the proposed 

 project Examples of the conditions placed on this particular certification include: 



The applicant shall obtain and cert^ compliance wi^ a grading and sediment 

 control plan which has been approved by the [county] SoU Conservation District 

 The approved plan shall be available at the project site during edl phases of 

 construction. 



Stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces shall be controlled to prevent the 

 washing of debris into the waterway. The natural vegetation shtUl be maintained 

 and restored when disturbed or eroded Stormwater drairmge facilities shall be 

 designed, implemented, operated, and maintained in accordance with the 

 requirements of the applicable approving authority. 



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