US Army Corps of Engineers BUILDING STRONG ® Lee Anne Devine Chief, South Section Regulatory Branch Louisville District Coal Mining Activities and Section 404 Permits

BUILDING STRONG ® 2 Topics  Jurisdictional Determinations  Pre-Application Meetings  FPOP  Applications/Permits/Appeals/Lawsuits  Mitigation  Questions

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4 Section 404 of the Clean Water Act ► Regulation of the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the U.S., including wetlands… the placement of material into waters.

BUILDING STRONG ® Permits for Coal Mining Placing fill material in waters Hollow Fills Coarse Refuse Fills Dams for Sediment Ponds Haul Roads Mine-Through Areas Operational Areas Deep Mine Face-Ups

BUILDING STRONG ® Jurisdictional Determinations  Request JDs early  Locate “end of jurisdiction”  Assists with design of project to avoid waters  Necessary for FPOP and Alternatives Analysis 6

BUILDING STRONG ® 7 Pre-Application Meetings KY Pre-Application Coordination Process/ KDNR, COE, USEPA, USFWS, KDOW, OSM  Agencies working to improve communication related to coal mining activities and better coordinate review of applications

BUILDING STRONG ® 8 Pre-Application Meetings ► Applicant introduces concept plans ► Agencies advice -Discuss procedural aspects ► Reduce cumulative time for application reviews ► Eliminate unnecessary redesign ► Consolidate pre-mining sampling efforts ► Identify critical resources ► Assure consistency of information to all agencies

BUILDING STRONG ® FPOP Working to Improve it ► Met with Industry, Environmental and Agency Reps – last fall ► Industry submitted “Factors Considered in Alternative Analysis…” ► Drafting updates to FPOP that include justification for LEDPA – at Step 11 – “Strawman” 9

BUILDING STRONG ® Applications/Permits/Appeals/ Lawsuits  Not many new applications  Issuing a few authorizations  One IP – sued by Environmental Group on Mitigation and Human Health Issues  NWP 21 a – District Court vacated  Appeal of proffered/initially proffered permit 10

BUILDING STRONG ® 11 Compliance/Mitigation Corps Focus  Compliance Inspections on Mitigation  Letters advising and requiring action Companies coming in – work to find solution

BUILDING STRONG ® In Lieu Fee In-Lieu Fees KY Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources – new agreement ► COE advises permittee of how many credits they need to purchase ► KDFWR sets fee per credit 12

BUILDING STRONG ® 13 Questions?? Contact Information Lee Anne Devine U.S. Army Corps of Engineers P.O. Box 59 Louisville KY (502) Lee.