1 of 18

Floodplains by Design Lunch and Learn�� USACE Permitting Pre-Application: What is it, how to use it and why?

May 4^th, 2023

Please feel free to eat and get comfortable during

the Lunch and Learn

Recording

Welcome! My name is Carol and I am part of the BEF backbone team. We really appreciate everyone coming today.

FbD is thrilled to be hosting a Lunch and Learn on the USACE’s Permitting Pre-application form and process. Feel free to have your video on or off and get comfortable as we know for many of you this is your lunch hour and for many of you permitting is not perhaps the easiest of topics - whether you are on the permitting side or the project proponent side. So grab something to munch and get comfortable because today we have two people and a process to hopefully bring more ease into what can sometimes be daunting, confusing and complicated.

Given the structure of the lunch and learn, a short hour that will go by quickly, and the complexity of permitting – today will focus on the USACE permitting pre-application process and structure. We are hypothesizing that utilizing this opportunity early in your project can potentially connect you with technical expertise to:

understand the various permitting routes (pros and cons of those routes and necessary actions to stay on a route)
best find and plan for the route that may be most advantageous

We hope this will allow for earlier and anticipated shifts to grant applications, timeline planning, project design and the permitting process itself.

Just to take a little pressure off trying to discuss everything today, please know that the May Lunch and Learn is just the start of a short Lunch and Learn series. Ecology staff will be coming in June to discuss Section 401 and Department of Archaeology and Historical Preservation (DAPH) staff will be coming in July - so more to come in regard to some of the many other aspects of the permit system.

Additionally, FbD will also be hosting an in-person convening in September (date and location soon to be released) and one of the topics will be to continue to explore ways to add ease to the permitting process. Indeed, Evan (who you will soon meet) and some of the USACE project managers are planning to attend so there will be follow-up opportunities coming.

2 of 18

Hearing from You and Group Tips and Tricks

If you have comments, questions, or even just frustrations with the permitting process you’d like to share, please submit them here and the backbone team will integrate them into our efforts to help bring more ease into permitting processes.

See slides 17-21 to provide any Tips and Tricks you may have!

On that note, we know the permit process, and then balancing that permitting process with grant and funding cycles, fish windows, flood season river changes, supply chain issues, collaborative partner needs, etc - can be really complex and stressful. We also know there is so much wisdom in this room in how to navigate complexity. To that end we have created a form you can fill out to provide the backbone team more information on what you are experiencing, where you need support, or ideas you have for ways to move the work forward with more ease. The FbD backbone team will consider this information as we craft FbD opportunities moving forward. We also have provided slides on a few issues we know people are grappling with. Please feel free to share your tips and tricks for navigating these in slides 17-21!

Evan and Christina are our guests today - please be thoughtful as you use the chat and engage in conversation.

3 of 18

Today’s Speakers:

�Evan Carnes is the Chief of the Columbia Basin Section for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, Regulatory Branch. He currently supervises staff that cover all of southwest, central, and eastern Washington. Among his other duties, Evan leads the Seattle District Regulatory Program’s ‘Restoration Project Permit Streamlining’ effort throughout the State of Washington.

Christina Schoenfelder is the Engineering Supervisor for the River & Flood Division of Whatcom County Public Works. Christina currently supervises staff that implement capital projects for River & Flood such as levee repairs, debris flow risk reduction projects, and streambank erosion protection, as well as multi-objective projects that integrate fish habitat, flood control, and agricultural needs. Among her other duties, she works directly with staff, consultant teams, and agency representatives to apply for permits and incorporate environmental mitigation at a project level.

4 of 18

Todays Agenda:

12:00 - 12:05 - Welcome and Invitation

12:05 - 12:25 - Evan Carnes, US Army Corps of Engineers

12:25-12:30 - Christina Schoenfelder, Whatcom County Flood

12:30 - 12:55 - Evan and Christina Discussion

12:55-1:00 - Closure and next steps

1:00-1:30 - Informal post Lunch and Learn chat

Today Evan is going to provide just a little background about the Corps as a whole and the Corps’ regulatory program as context for the pre-application process and form that the Corps is wanting to better socialize with project proponents in hopes of bringing more ease to the planning-funding-permitting-constructing system.

Christina will speak with Evan about a restoration project they are working on to give an example of how the pre-application process discussion can help project proponents prepare and plan. Christina will also reflect a little bit on her previous working relationship with her recently retired USACE permitting colleague and why she is excited to see the pre-application form and process being discussed today. Christina filled out the pre-application form and submitted it to Evan in preparation for this meeting.

This is not a scripted conversation so we hope you enjoy and benefit from this informal opportunity to learn together.

We have found with the Lunch and Learn series that people often want to ‘hang out’ informally and talk and ask questions so we have asked both Evan and Christina to stay on the Zoom until 1:30 in the event people wish to linger. We will officially end at 1:00.

Evan - I’ll hand it over to you now.

5 of 18

USACE REGULATORY�OVERVIEW AND PRE-APPLICATION COORDINATION ��FLOODPLAINS BY DESIGN LUNCH AND LEARN

Evan G. Carnes

Chief, Columbia Basin Section

Date: 05 May 2023

CUI

5

CUI

6 of 18

SEATTLE DISTRICT

6

7 of 18

SEATTLE DISTRICT REGULATORY BRANCH

7

8 of 18

REGULATORY MISSION STATEMENT

To protect the Nation’s aquatic resources, while allowing reasonable development through fair, flexible, and balanced permit decisions.

Civil Works Program

The Civil Works Program in Seattle District has traditionally been centered on navigation and flood control. Since the Water Resources Act of 1986, Seattle District has assumed a growing role in environmental restoration. Seattle District offers many programs for helping communities, counties, tribes, and other non-federal governments. We help these organizations solve water resource problems and take advantage of opportunities.

8

9 of 18

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY PERMITS

Individual Permits

Standard
Letter of Permission

General Permits

Nationwide
Regional

Complexity

9

10 of 18

PRE-APPLICATION MEETING

Why?

Alerts your Corps Project Manager of the upcoming application and builds a relationship
Helps to identify potential permit pathway, process considerations, likely agency/tribal coordination/consultation requirements, and potential needs for additional project funding
Provide insight into potential timeline associated with Department of the Army authorization

When?

Request a pre-application meeting when you have a firm understanding of the proposed project, but still have the ability to make design changes and complete any potential additional document preparations (Cultural Resource Survey, Engendered Species Act documents, etc.)
Pre-application meetings are generally more appropriate for complex permit actions (Standard Individual Permits, or large-scale general permits)

How?

Complete the “Pre-App Meeting Request” form found here: https://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Regulatory/Forms/
Submit to: nws-permitapp@usace.army.mil

10

11 of 18

DA PERMITTING CONSIDERATIONS

Department of the Army Permitting Process Considerations
Required Coordination and Approval	Less Complex	Moderately Complex	Complex	Agency
Section 401 Water Quality Certification/ CZMA	Meets general certification for Nationwide Permit	Meets NWP but needs Individual 401 (120 days for non-CZM counties and 180 days for CZM counties)	USACE Standard Individual Permit and Individual 401 (Public Notice and 1 year from valid WQC request)	Ecology
Section 7 Endangered Species Act (ESA)	No ESA species present	FPRP or Limit 8	Requires individual ESA consultation (6-months to 1-year+)	NMFS and USFWS
Section 106 National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA)	No native ground disturbed - no potential to effect Cultural Resources/ Historic Properties	No effect to historic properties (30–45-day consultation with DAHP/Tribes)	Affect historic properties - requires MOA, MOU (1-year+)	DAHP & Tribes
Tribal Coordination/ Consultation	No tribal concerns	Minor design comments/minor cultural resource issues	Substantive cultural resource impacts or tribal concerns	Tribes
Section 408	No federally authorized projects in project area	No effect	408 - affects fed project	USACE Nav/Levee/ Real Estate Teams

Pre-Application Meeting

11

12 of 18

RESOURCES

Seattle District Regulatory Website:

https://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Regulatory/

Forms, Templates, and Info Papers:

https://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Regulatory/Forms/

Application Instructions/Procedures:

https://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Portals/27/docs/regulatory2/Public%20Notices/SPNs/20191223-SPN-PaperlessInit.pdf?ver=2020-01-03-172729-440

Project Manager List by County:

https://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Regulatory/Contact-Us/

12

13 of 18

CANADA

BELLINGHAM

SAN JUAN ISLANDS

14 of 18

Cougar Creek Project

15 of 18

Discussion

16 of 18

Glacier-Gallup

�State Highway

Connect and expand two bridges

PL-8499 levee repairs and relocations

Two Fish Bearing Creeks

Debris flow risk

Flood risk

Habitat forming processes disrupted

Water line on bridges

Small under-resourced jurisdiction

Multi-

.

17 of 18

Questions

should the timing be at the "30%" design stage of "60%" design stage?

If we work for the Tribe who would be the Tribe consulted with for a project within their historical territory, does submitting a Cultural Resources review letter from them with our JARPA help speed up that 30-45 day consultation process? Or does the USACE have to wait the 30-45days no matter what?

If we have funding sources from two separate federal agencies (NOAA and NRCS for instance) for one large project, who decides who is the lead entity?

Is there a way for USACE to let the project proponent know when the Section 106 consultation has started so we have a general idea of where our project is in the review process?

18 of 18

Upcoming Lunch and Learns

June 1: Partnering with Ecology through the 401 permitting process

July 6: Cultural Resource Review with WA Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP)