Regulatory Program - Pennsylvania

If your project proposes impacts to waters of the United States (including wetlands), you should complete a permit application and submit it to the district office which covers your project. Submittal should include the appropriate documentation of your project including a location map, plan-view (top-view) and cross-section (side-view) drawings. 

See specific APPLICATION SUBMITTAL DIRECTIONS should be directed to the local regulatory office. 

Click here for application instructions and here for the Nationwide Permit Pre-construction Notification form.  NOTE:  Internet Explorer is recommended for viewing.  If you receive an error message regarding your PDF viewer, right click the "Nationwide Permit Pre-construction Notification Form" link and select "Save Link As" to download the application. You may need to select "Enable All Features" to view the form in Adobe Acrobat

Coordination with Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

• Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (Water Quality Certification [WQC]): An individual WQC may be required from the state if your projects exceeds ½ acre of total impacts to waters of the United States, or in special circumstances.  Please note your Corps permit may be authorized as provisional if you have not received individual WQC if it’s required. The Corps recommends that you contact the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) to determine if this will be required for your project; click here for PADEP information. 

For All Permits

• Endangered Species:  The Corps is required to coordinate with the  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for any proposed project (all permit types) that may affect a federally listed threatened or endangered species. Specific to Nationwide Permits (NWP), General Condition 18 (Endangered Species), states that a pre-construction notification be submitted to the Corps if a federally listed species is in the "vicinity" of an applicant's project.  You may contact the USFWS, Pennsylvania Ecological Services Field Office for additional information.  
   
• Historic Properties: The Corps is required to coordinate with the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for any project (all types of permits) that may have the potential to cause effects to any property listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.  Specific to NWPs, General Condition 20 contained within, states that a pre-construction notification (PCN) is required for any project that may have the potential to cause effects to any historic properties listed, eligible for listing, or potentially eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, including previously unidentified properties.  Prior to submitting a PCN, it is recommended that the applicant contact the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office.

For projects along Lake Erie

• To learn more regarding permits required by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) please click on the resources below:
  • Coastal Resources Management Program
  • Great Lakes Program

Permit applicants are required to describe how they will avoid, minimize, and compensate for impacts to waters of the United States.  Unavoidable impacts may require compensatory mitigation to help offset the loss of functions and services.  Typically, compensatory mitigation will be required for permanent jurisdictional wetland losses greater than 0.1 acre.  Compensatory mitigation for jurisdictional stream or other aquatic resource impacts will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Regional General Permits: These are for small specialized projects that are regionally available.

PASPGP-6 (click to access full permit): authorizes work in waters of the United States within portions of the state of Pennsylvania for activities that would cause no more than minimal adverse environmental effects, individually and cumulatively, subject to the permit’s specific terms and conditions. This programmatic general permit operates in conjunction with Pennsylvania’s Department of the Environment’s (PADEP) state regulatory program that protects the aquatic environment in a manner equivalent to the Department of the Army regulatory program. PASPGP-6 became effective July 1, 2021 and will expire June 30, 2026. View the June 28, 2021 public notice regarding the issuance of PASPGP-6.

• PASPGP-6 General Conditions
• PASPGP-6 Full Permit
• Expiration of PASPGP-5 Authorizations Flowchart
• PASPGP-6 Non-Reporting Activity 30, Grandfathered Activities Flowchart
• PASPGP-6 Self-Certification Example

LRP Section 10 Navigable Waterways