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Are you building something on your property?
Let's say you have a property where you would like to build something... Read More
Let's say you have a property where you would like to build something... Read More
Emergency Permit Procedures
Charleston District Regulatory Division recognizes that conditions... Read More
Charleston District Regulatory Division recognizes that conditions... Read More
The Charleston District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
successfully completed the long term erosion control project... Read More
successfully completed the long term erosion control project... Read More
Charleston District Completes Lake Marion Water Treatment Plant
The first tap was turned at the Lake Marion Regional Water Treatment Plant on April 28... Read More
The first tap was turned at the Lake Marion Regional Water Treatment Plant on April 28... Read More
Folly Beach Named One of 2007's Top Restored Beaches
The (ASBPA) named the top seven restored beaches for 2007 .... Read More
The (ASBPA) named the top seven restored beaches for 2007 .... Read More
Fallujah harnessing the sun’s energy to light streets
With a marked decline in insurgent activity in recent months, Fallujah is on the road... Read More
With a marked decline in insurgent activity in recent months, Fallujah is on the road... Read More
Technical Services Partners with the DoE
The Charleston Technical Services Division is partnering with the (DoE)... Read More
The Charleston Technical Services Division is partnering with the (DoE)... Read More
Jurisdictional Determination Definitions
- Wetands: Areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes and bogs. For official determination whether or not an area is classified as a wetland contact the Army Corps of Engineers. (33 CFR 328)
Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during the growing season. - Delineation: The process by which the edge of a wetland is located, particularly when the wetland edge (or boundary) is marked by easily visible markings such as survey stakes and/or flagging.
- Tributaries: A tributary is a stream, regardless of size or water volume, that flows into or joins another stream. The point where two tributaries meet is called a confluence.
- Swales: A swale is a broad, shallow channel with vegetation covering the side slopes and bottom. In the context of wetlands: swales are not wetlands themselves, but can serve as connections between a wetland and some other surface water feature.
- Runoff features: Runoff features are generally linear-shaped channels through which rainfall runoff is directed, serving to help drain rain water off the uplands. Examples of runoff features include erosional channels formed by runoff: gullies, ravines, arroyos, ruts, crevasses and the like.
- Tidal marsh: Marshes are wetlands that are frequently or continually covered by water and are characterized by soft-stemmed vegetation (trees are not present). There are many kinds of marshes, from prairie potholes to the enormous Everglades, including coastal and inland marshes as well as freshwater to saline marshes. Tidal marshes are a type of coastal marsh in which water levels are influenced by daily tides.
- Swamp: A swamp is literally any wetland in which trees are the dominant vegetation. In the southeast, swamps are often inundated by floodwater from nearby rivers and streams. During part of the year the swamp may be covered by several feet of slow-moving or standing water. During drier periods the swamp may be characterized by moist or saturated soil with only a small area of standing water in the center. Cypress and tupelo are common swamp trees in South Carolina.
- Uplands: Any area that does not meet the definition of a wetland is considered an upland. Uplands have well-drained soils that generally do not collect standing water and therefore do not develop wetland soil characteristics or support plants specially adapted to living wet conditions.
- Wet pine forests: Wet pine forests are a type of wetland habitat in which the dominant tree species are longleaf or loblolly pine and the soils are poorly drained enough that wetland soil conditions have formed. Wet pine forests can be distinguished from upland pine forests based on soil criteria and the presence of understory vegetation such as cabbage palms, wax myrtle, dahoon holly, and bay trees. There is also an absence of saw palmetto, pawpaw, and prickly pear cactus.
- Produce a drawing or sketch: A drawing or sketch of the location and configuration (shape) of delineated wetland(s) is required with any Request For Jurisdictional Determination. Drawings should clearly show property boundaries as well as the perimeter of the wetland which was delineated. A survey plat drawn by a professional land surveyor is often used to show the wetland boundary.
- Navigable waterways: Those waters that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide and/or are presently used, or have been used in the past, or may be susceptible for use to transport interstate or foreign commerce. A determination of navigability, once made, applies laterally over the entire surface of the waterway, and is not extinguished by later actions or events which impede or destroy navigable capacity. Precise definitions of navigable waters of the United States or navigability are ultimately dependent on judicial interpretation and cannot be made conclusively by administrative agencies. (33 CFR 329)
- Placing fill: Placement of any material used for the primary purpose of replacing an aquatic area with dry land or of changing the bottom elevation of a body of water. Fill material such as rock or soil is often used to provide a high ground foundation on which to build a road of house.
- Excavating: To dig out and remove as in digging a cavity or hole. Excavation is usually accomplished using heavy equipment, and when performed in wetlands can require a Department of the Army permit.
- Dredging: A category of excavation which involves removing sediments from the bottom of a water body: underwater excavation.
- Culverts: A culvert is a conduit used to enclose a flowing body of water. It may be used to allow water to flow underneath a road, railway, or embankment for example. Culverts can be concrete or metal pipes, and may be round, elliptical or even square in shape. Sometimes two or more culverts are placed together to accommodate greater flow volumes.
- Riprap: A loose assemblage of broken stones placed in water or on soft ground as a foundation. The purpose of riprap is typically to reduce erosion and scouring in areas where there is high water flow.
- Alternatives Analysis: The process of comparing the various technical aspects of two or more courses of action with the intent of selecting the action that best meets the stated purpose, while minimizing environmental effects and costs.
- Mitigation: Mitigation is also sometimes referred to as compensatory mitigation. When a construction project unavoidably requires the destruction or loss of some natural resource such as a wetland, that impact must be offset (compensated or mitigated) by replacing or providing substitute resources or environments. New wetland area can be constructed, or previously impacted or degraded wetland areas may be restored to higher function as mitigation.
- Cultural Resources: Cultural resources are buildings, structures, sites or other artifacts created by or associated with human culture and valued for their cultural and/or historic significance. Historic buildings can be individual homes or entire neighborhoods designated as historic districts. Cultural resource sites can include archaeological sites from historic or pre-historic settlements, battlegrounds, burial sites or other significant remnants of human history.
Questions concerning the Regulatory Program?
Call the "Project Manager of the Day" in the Charleston District Office(1) 866.329.8187 (Toll Free)
843.329.8044 (Local)
843.329.2332 (Fax)
Email point of contact for Charleston's Regulatory Division
Mailing Address:
US Army Corps of Engineers
Regulatory Division
69A Hagood Ave.
Charleston, South Carolina 29403-5107
