495 



Mr. Rogers. Would you have hearings on these permits, is that it ? 



General Groves. Where they become contentious, yes, sir. 



Mr. Rogers. Public hearings or written comments ? 



General Groves. The first step will be to issue a public notice. If the 

 public notice or the coordination 



Mr. Rogers. Basically the way you handle it now ? 



General Groves. Yes, sir; the same way we handle it now, except 

 that in some conditions the hearings could become adversary hearings. 



Mr. Rogers. Yes, under the Administrative Procedures Act. 



General Groves. Yes, sir. 

 Mr. Rogers. I think it might be well for you to get this for the 

 record, on your 



General Groves. On the section 13 permits ? 



Mr. Rogers. Yes. 



General Groves. All right, sir. 



Mr. Rogers. All right, sir. 



( The information follows : ) 



Refuse Act Permit Peogeam 



The Refuse Act permit program is specified in regulations appearing in the 7 

 April edition of the Federal Register. The program involves coordination among 

 Corps, State, and ofl3cials from other Federal agencies as well as applicants. I 

 shall briefly outline the usual procedure for processing applications for Depart- 

 ment of the Army permits. 



Processing of a permit application begins with the State in which the pro- 

 posed activity is to occur certifying that it has reasonable assurance that the 

 activity will not result in violation of applicable water quality Standards. Once 

 the certified application is in order, the District Engineer issues pubic notices 

 announcng the proposal. Public notices are distributed to the EPA, other appro- 

 priate Federal and State agencies, media and other interested parties. Based 

 on the response to the public notice and on the requirements of Sections 21. 

 (b) (2) and 21(b) (4) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, 

 the District Engineer decides whether a public hearing is necessary. At this 

 time, a decision is also made regarding the necessity for an Environmental Im- 

 pact Statement (EIS) in accordance with Section 102 (2) (c) of the National 

 Environmental Policy Act of 1969. If a hearing is deemed necessary, notices 

 are sent out to all known interested parties announcing a hearing to be scheduled 

 at least 30 days hence. 



After the hearing, if EPA objects for water quality reasons, the application 

 must be denied unless the District Engineer disagrees with the EPA's evaluation. 

 In this case, the application is forwarded through channels to the Secretary of 

 the Army. The Secretary may then coordinate the matter with the Administrator 

 of the EPA, but must, in the end abide by the Administrator's recommendations. 

 of the EPA does not object, but the Regional Director of the Bureau of Fish 

 and Wildlife or NOAA object, the District Engineer may deny the permit. If the 

 District Engineer disagrees with these objections and intends to issue the per- 

 mit, he must inform NOAA and Interior. These agencies then have 30 days in 

 which to contact their superiors in Washington who in turn contact Secretary 

 of the Army. If the Secretary of the Army requests a review, the District En- 

 gineer vrill forward the case through channels to Washington. Otherwise the 

 application will be approved. If the District Engineer believes the proposed 

 activity would be detrimental to anchorage or navigation interests, the applica- 

 tion may be denied immediately. 



Mr. Rogers. General Hayes, I recall your testimony before. How 

 many impact statements have been filed by the Department of Defense ? 



General Hates. We have at the present time seven environmental 

 statements that have been submitted to CEQ. We have, including those 

 seven, a total of 26, which are in the process of internal review within 

 the DOD. 



