As defined in Regulatory Guidance Letter 08-02, an approved JD is an official Savannah District determination that jurisdictional “waters of the United States," or "navigable waters of the United States," or both, are either present or absent on a particular site. An approved JD precisely identifies the limits of those waters on the project site determined to be jurisdictional under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and/or Rivers and Harbor Act of 1899 (See 33 CFR 331.2).
An approved JD: constitutes the Savannah District's official, written representation that the JD's findings are correct; can be relied upon by a landowner, permit applicant, or other "affected party" (as defined at 33 CFR 331.2) who receives an approved JD for five years (subject to certain limited exceptions explained in RGL 05-02); can be used and relied on by the recipient of the approved JD (absent extraordinary circumstances, such as an approved JD based on incorrect data provided by a landowner or consultant) if a CWA citizen's lawsuit is brought in the Federal Courts against the landowner or other "affected party," challenging the legitimacy of that JD or its determinations; can be immediately appealed through the Savannah District's administrative appeal process set out at 33 CFR Part 331; and will be required for complex, standard permits where the Savannah District has determined that impacts to water of the US are of a magnitude sufficient to warrant such an investigation.
Approved JDs shall be documented using the 7-page form below (See Appendix B). It is important to note that the form requires documentation of a detailed significant nexus determination (Section C of the form), which must be completed in accordance with the 11th Circuit Decision.
A delineation of waters of the US should be provided to the Savannah District for verification by submitting a formal survey or GPS exhibit of waters within a review area. The complete package requesting verification of a wetland delineation would include but is not limited to: a formal surveyor GPS exhibit of the waters within a review area; Corps field data sheets; soils map; quad sheets; etc. A Savannah District-verified delineation is valid for a period of five years from the date of issuance and will be honored by the district unless the information submitted, and on which the Savannah District has based its determination, is later found to be in error. See SAS Approved JD Checklist below for an exhaustive list of requirements for a complete submittal.
Savannah District will not accept a request for an approved JD for actions which are regulated pursuant to sections of the CWA program which are administered by other Federal or state agencies (e.g., Section 402, 303, or 311). In such circumstances, the Savannah District will decline to perform the JD and instead refer the person who requested it to the Federal or state agency responsible for administering the program.