News Release
| Release Number: | 07-004 |
| Dated: | 1/11/2007 |
| Contact: | Jennifer A. Sowell, 503-808-4510 |
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has made a determination regarding the application of the term “discharge of dredged material” to activities associated with aggregate mining.
The Portland District has determined that the use of mechanized earth-moving equipment to conduct landclearing, channelization, in-stream mining, bar scalping or other similar earth-moving activities in waters of the United States can result in a discharge of dredged material. This determination was made after viewing and evaluating various methods of aggregate mining and the mechanized earth-moving equipment used to perform such activities under actual field operations.
The term “discharge of dredged material” means any addition of dredged material into waters of the United States, including redeposit of dredged material other than incidental fallback. The term “in-stream” means below the ordinary high water mark or the high tide line of a body of water. A river or stream’s water level at any particular time does not necessarily represent that water body’s ordinary high water mark.
The term “discharge of dredged material” does not include the incidental movement of dredged material occurring during dredging for navigation in navigable waters of the United States if that dredging has been authorized by Congress or the Corps of Engineers. This exception is not applicable to dredging activities in wetlands.
Temporary access roads are sometimes associated with these types of operations. To be exempt from Clean Water Act permitting requirements, temporary mining roads must comply with best management practices and the requirements found in Section 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations, paragraph 323.4(a)(6) through (c).
Members of the public who believe their operation results in only an incidental fallback of material are encouraged to submit a permit application for the Corps to review. The application must contain detailed information about the full scope of the specific operation, all equipment necessary for the project and the methods of operation, location of disposal sites, method of accessing the site and any other details relevant to the operation.
If the activities described above are carried out in waters of the United States without a permit or without written confirmation from the Corps that the activity results in only incidental fallback, enforcement action may be initiated.
The complete public notice can be found on the Portland District regulatory Web site, http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/g/home.asp. Written questions regarding this information should be mailed to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District, Attn: Lawrence C. Evans, P.O. Box 2946, Portland, OR, 97208-2946.