TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: This notice is to advise the public that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, has authorized the use of special emergency processing procedures by the Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Huntington, Louisville, Nashville and Pittsburgh Districts as specified in 33 CFR § 325.2(e)(4). This action is in response to the National Energy Emergency established by Executive Order (E.O.) 14156, issued on January 20, 2025, under the President’s legal authorities, including the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq) and Section 301 of Title 3, United States Code.
These special emergency processing procedures have been established pursuant to Section 4 of E.O. 14156 for activities associated with the identification, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including energy infrastructure projects. They specifically cover projects needing Department of the Army permits under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and/or Section 103 of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, as amended.
For the reasons stated in Section 1 of E.O. 14156, the President has found that insufficient energy production, transportation, refining, and generation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to our Nation’s economy, national security, and foreign policy and declared a national emergency on the basis of those findings. The President has found in Section 4 of E.O. 14156 that significant economic hardship could be experienced if corrective action requiring a permit is not undertaken within a time period less than the normal time needed to process the application under standard permitting procedures for activities meeting the terms of the declared emergency, and has directed agencies to use, to the fullest extent possible and consistent with applicable law, emergency Army Corps permitting provisions to facilitate the Nation’s energy supply.
These procedures will be posted on each District’s website no later than April 15, 2025.