Permit approvals for marine construction projects can be time-consuming and confusing due to the number of applications involved and the different requirements set by each agency. Because of this, contractors and homeowners may be tempted to move forward without securing every required permit. Doing so often leads to serious consequences. From experience, it is always best to obtain all necessary marine construction approval for a project, especially federal approval from the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

When planning a marine construction project such as docks, seawalls, riprap, boat lifts, ramps, or related waterfront structures, it is important to understand that any work involving dredged or fill material within navigable waters of the United States requires an Army Corps permit. In some cases, Army Corps approvals can be processed through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, depending on the project location and whether it meets the Project Design Criteria required for State Programmatic General Permit approval. If a project does not qualify for this process, a separate approval from the Army Corps is still required.

Individual and General Army Corps Permits

Once an application is submitted to the Army Corps, the project is reviewed to determine whether it qualifies for a general permit or requires an individual permit. An individual permit involves a more detailed review, while a general permit is typically used for smaller-scale activities that do not require extensive processing.

Regardless of the permit type, it is important not to proceed with construction without approvals from all agencies that have jurisdiction over the project. Moving forward without the required permits places the project in violation of the law and may result in fines or required restoration of the site to its original condition. In the case of Army Corps permits, skipping this step results in a violation of federal law.

“Any person, firm, or agency planning to work, or discharge dredged or fill material within navigable waters of the United States must first obtain a permit from the Corps of Engineers.”

The United States Army Corps of Engineers directly states that “Any person, firm, or agency (including Federal, state, and local government agencies) planning to work in navigable waters of the United States, or discharge (dump, place, deposit) dredged or fill material in waters of the United States, including wetlands, must first obtain a permit from the Corps of Engineers.” 

For marine construction projects, multiple applications are required to be submitted, with these applications typically consisting of local, state, and federal approvals. Sometimes there are delegation agreements between either local or state governments and the Corps that allow them to issue approval on behalf of the USACOE but if your project is not applicable for this it is important to remember that you’ll still have to go through the process of obtaining a permit through the Army Corps themselves and you will be responsible for submitting an individual application directly to the Corps. Even if you’ve already obtained your local and state approvals, you are still responsible for obtaining a separate approval from the Army Corps if the scope of work for your project requires this. 

Designing Your Project to Eliminate United States Army Corps of Engineers Approval

If you would prefer to eliminate the need for Army Corps approval for your project, then there are some ways that you can design your project to eliminate the need for a Corps permit. For example, if your project is in an area of tidal waters, the best way to avoid the need for a permit is to select a site that is above the high tide line and avoids wetlands or other water bodies. If your project is within fresh water, then you can avoid the need for a permit with the Corps by staying above the ordinary high water line and avoiding wetlands adjacent to the stream or lake. 

Why Should I Even Apply if My Application will Probably be Denied?

The likelihood of your application being submitted to the Army Corps and being denied is 1% (likely even less). The Army Corps directly states that nationwide, less than one percent of all requests for permits are denied, and those who have been denied usually have refused to change the design, timing, or location of the proposed activity. With that being said, if, for some reason, your project design will be denied for approval, then the project manager who is handling the approval process for the project will assist you in navigating your project design to one that is applicable for approval. It is important to comply with any regulations and requirements given by your project manager in order to ensure that the design of your project won’t negatively impact the surrounding ecosystems and environment. Typically, the USACOE takes 3-4 months for permit processing; therefore, make sure to get those applications in as soon as possible so that you can get your approvals and projects started as soon as possible. 

Obtaining Army Corps Approval for Your Projects 

Our process here starts with seeing if your project is applicable for State Programmatic General Permit (SPGP) approval, which streamlines your approval through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). If your project is further than 300 ft from any federal channels, then we’ll go ahead and attempt to obtain SPGP approval for your project, providing everything that your FDEP project manager will need to process this approval if your project is applicable. To make sure we are streamlining the process and are as efficient as possible, we always also go ahead and sent an individual application to the Army Corps for processing in case your project ends up getting denied for SPGP approval that way we can make sure to cover all bases and have your application assigned to a project manager since the Army Corps does tend to take the longest to process approvals. When/if we do end up obtaining SPGP approval for your project, we will also always make sure to let the USACOE project manager assigned to your project know that we have obtained this approval so that they can delete the application and stop further processing.