Blog

What Is a Section 408 Permission?

Section 408 (33 U.S.C. § 408) is permission to alter or occupy a Corps civil works project — levees, federal channels, and similar. It is separate from 404 and Section 10.

What Is Stream Mitigation?

Stream mitigation replaces authorized 404 impacts to streams with credits or permittee-responsible work. Wetland credits do not automatically clear a stream debit.

What Is RCRA?

RCRA is the federal cradle-to-grave hazardous waste law. How it differs from CERCLA, and how it shows up next to Phase I/II site work in the Southeast.

What Is a Categorical Exclusion (CatEx)?

A CatEx is the NEPA path for federal actions that fit an agency’s listed category and clear extraordinary circumstances. It is not a free pass past 404, ESA, or state permits.

What Is a No-Rise Certification?

A no-rise certification is an engineer’s showing that floodway work will not raise the base flood elevation — 0.00 feet. It is not a FEMA map change and not a permit.

Hydrologic and Hydraulic Modeling

Hydrology is how much water. Hydraulics is where it goes. An H&H model is those two questions in a form a permit desk can argue with — not a rendering.

What Is a Watershed Management Plan?

A watershed management plan describes how a drainage basin works and what the sponsors will do about it. It is not a SWPPP, a 404 permit, or a one-pad stormwater report.

What Is the Sackett v. EPA Ruling?

Sackett v. EPA (2023) is the Supreme Court test the Corps now uses for wetland jurisdiction: a relatively permanent water plus a continuous surface connection.

What Are Isolated Wetlands?

An isolated wetland can still be a wetland. Isolated describes the connection to a relatively permanent water, not the soil — and after Sackett that difference decides 404.

What Is a Jurisdictional Determination?

A jurisdictional determination is the Corps’ finding of whether a wetland or water is a water of the United States. It is not a permit, and it is not a delineation.