ELR Citation: ELR 20262
No(s). 82-3632 (D.D.C. Feb 10, 1984)

The court approves a settlement agreement requiring the Army Corps of Engineers to amend its May 1982 dredge and fill permit regulations under §404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The settlement requires the Corps to issue a regulatory guidance letter directing district engineers to develop criteria for determining when to require individual permit review for activities under general nationwide permits and to promulgate revised §404 regulations in accordance with the terms of the settlement. Those terms require new restrictions on discharges under the headwaters and isolated waters general permits; new interagency consultation requirements under the surface mining, small hydropower project, and outfall structures general permits; notice and comment procedures for approving categorical exclusions; a public record of decision for future proposed general permits; tighter rein on issuance of ocean dumping permits; full consideration of the views of fish and wildlife agencies in granting, denying, or conditioning individual and general permits; denial of a permit application if the proposed discharge would not comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) §404(b)(1) guidelines; heightened concern for preservation of wetlands of significant interstate importance; and revision of the irrigation exemption. Also, EPA and the Corps agree to promulgate a joint revised definition of "fill material." Finally, the Corps agrees to issue a revised regulatory guidance letter implementing nationwide the Fifth Circuit's holding in Avoyelles Sportsmen's League v. Marsh, 13 ELR 20942.

[Another order and settlement agreement in the same case appears at 14 ELR 20261 — Ed.]

Counsel for Plaintiffs
James T.B. Tripp
Environmental Defense Fund, Inc.
444 Park Ave. S., New York NY 10016
(212) 686-4191

Jerry Jackson
National Wildlife Federation
1412 16th St. NW, Washington DC 20036
(202) 797-6800

Hope M. Babcock
National Audubon Society
645 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, Washington DC 20003
(202) 547-9009

Counsel for Defendants
Victoria O'Meara
Office of the General Counsel
Department of the Army, Washington DC 20310
(202) 697-5127

Catherine A. Winer
Office of the General Counsel
Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC 20460
(202) 382-7703

William M. Cohen, Nancy Bryson, James Spears, Robert D. Daniel
Land and Natural Resources Division
Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 633-2704

Counsel for Defendants-Intervenors
Mark G. Weisshaar, Turner T. Smith Jr., Michael B. Barr, Charles D. Ossola
Hunton & Williams
P.O. Box 19230, Washington DC 20036
(202) 955-1500