On December 27, 2021, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published a final rule in the Federal Register (86 FR 73522) announcing the reissuance of 40 existing nationwide permits (NWPs) and one new NWP, as well as the reissuance of NWP general conditions and definitions with some modifications. These 41 NWPs will go into effect on February 25, 2022, and they will expire on March 14, 2026
The Mississippi Valley Division (MVD) has finalized the regional conditions for these 41 NWPs in Illinois. Regional conditions provide additional protection for the aquatic environment and help ensure that the NWPs authorize only those activities with no more than minimal adverse environmental effects. Regional conditions help ensure protection of high value waters within the state of Illinois.
The Section 401 Water Quality Certifications (WQC) have been issued for Section 404 NWP activities by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) on 8/October/2021, corrected version on 21/Dec/2021. The WQCs were approved by the Mississippi Valley (MVD) Commander and are added as regional conditions to the NWPs. Section 401 Water Quality Certification