Section 408 is 33 U.S.C. § 408. It is the statute that says you may not build on, alter, or occupy a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works project — levees, federal channels, jetties, hurricane-protection features, and similar — in a way that hurts the project’s usefulness, unless the Corps grants permission.
It is a permission tied to federal infrastructure. It is not a Section 404 wetland fill permit and not a Section 10 structures-in-navigable-waters permit, even though the same Corps District office may review more than one of those on the same Gulf job.
What “civil works” means here
Corps civil works are the projects the Corps built or operates for navigation, flood risk reduction, hurricane and storm damage reduction, and related purposes. On the northern Gulf that often means:
- Federal levees and floodwalls
- Deep-draft or shallow-draft navigation channels
- Jetties, breakwaters, and coastal structures the Corps owns, maintains or built
- Pump stations, gated structures, and associated rights-of-way that are part of an authorized project
If your pipeline, outfall, bulkhead, crossing, or fill would sit on, cut through, or change how that federal project performs, 408 is in the conversation. Private levees and local ditches are not automatically 408 just because someone called them a “levee.”
Separate from 404 and Section 10
| Authority | Core question |
|---|---|
| Section 404 | Discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States? |
| Section 10 | Work or structures in navigable waters of the United States? |
| Section 408 | Alteration or occupation of a Corps civil works project? |
You can need one, two, or all three. A bulkhead on a federal channel can be 10 and 408. Fill in a wetland behind a federal levee can be 404 and 408. A JD for wetlands does not answer the 408 question. See 401 vs 404 and What is a jurisdictional determination?.
Section 208 (areawide water quality management planning under the Clean Water Act) is a different statute. It sometimes appears in older planning documents; it is not a substitute for 408 permission on a Corps levee.
When it shows up on Gulf projects
Typical triggers we see in Mobile, Vicksburg, New Orleans, and Jacksonville District geography:
- Utility or road crossings of a federal levee or floodwall
- Outfalls or docks that encroach on an authorized channel or its real estate interest
- Shoreline or marsh work that would change a Corps coastal or navigation feature
- Development that wants to modify drainage through a federal flood-risk project
Real estate instruments, operation and maintenance manuals, and the district’s 408 procedures matter as much as the engineering sketch. The district that owns or operates the civil works project is the one that must be satisfied the alteration is not injurious and is not a showstopper for the authorized purpose.
Timelines are their own track. Do not assume a nationwide 404 verification pulls 408 along for free.
What the review is looking for
At a high level the Corps asks whether the proposed alteration:
- Impairs the usefulness of the federal project
- Is injurious to the public interest
- Meets engineering and safety expectations for that type of works (levee integrity, channel conveyance, structural stability)
You will usually need drawings that show the federal feature, geotech or structural detail where the contact is serious, and a clear construction sequence. Exact submittal checklists are district-specific; we do not invent them here.
What 408 is not
- Not state coastal consistency or 401 by itself
- Not blanket approval to fill wetlands landward of the levee
- Not something you “add later” after the sheet pile is ordered
How we use it
We flag Corps civil works early, separate the 408 path from 404/10, and put the engineering package in front of the right district. Cypress Environment & Infrastructure works from Biloxi, Mobile, and Pensacola, in the Mobile, Vicksburg, New Orleans, and Jacksonville Districts. Office hours are Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
See projects. This page is not a 408 application form and not a site opinion.