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SECTION 401 PROGRAM
While the USACE regulates only those activities resulting in a
discharge of dredge or fill material into a wetland,
the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency (IEPA) has the authority to regulate activities
resulting in a discharge of any pollutant into a wetland. This authority
is limited, however, to only those activities requiring a federal
permit or license. Section
401 of the CWA requires all permits or licenses issued by the
federal government for activities affecting waters of the United
States be certified by the state in which the discharge is to occur
that the activity will comply with the water quality standards of
that state. These water quality standards must be equal to or more
stringent than those established in Section 303 of the CWA. The
IEPA is the state agency that sets water quality standards in Illinois
and therefore has the authority to certify such federal permits
and licenses (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1989).
Assertion of Section 401 authority for the protection of wetlands usually
occurs during the review of individual 404 applications. This occurs for
several reasons. Section 404 permits are the most commonly pursued wetland
related permits. Section 401 certification must be done in conjunction
with the attainment of a federal permit or licence. A 404 application
may be denied for not meeting the standards of the 401 program even if
the activity complies with all other provisions. In order to be valid
in a state, all Section 404 NWPs and any other general permits must have
already been pre-certified that the activities they permit will meet the
criteria of the Section 401 program in that state (U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers 1997 and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1989).
Joint application
form
[
Introduction | Section
404 Program |
Nationwide Permits & General Conditions
| Section 401 Program |Critical
Resource Waters | Swampbuster
Prog. |
Interagency Wetlands Policy Act of 1989
|
Rivers, Lakes & Streams Act
| Wetland Detmermination & Delineations
|Conclusion ]
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