This information concerns projects requiring a Federal permit for the discharge of dredge or fill materials under the Clean Water Act Section 404. B y Federal law every applicant for a Federal permit or license for an activity which may result in a discharge into a water body must request State certification that the proposed activity will not violate State and Federal water quality standards. Antidegradation - requires that surface waters whose quality is higher than the applicable standard must be protected and maintained. This is a category of activities for which this information sheet is intended.
Waivers carry no conditions, and are, in some ways, equivalent to certification without conditions.
Certification - Certification is based on a finding that the proposed Section 404 discharge will comply with all pertinent water quality standards. In order to allow certification, special conditions may be required by the the State in order to remove or mitigate potential impacts to water quality standards. Such conditions must ultimately be included in the Federal Section 404 permit. The State has the option to deny certification if it is unable to find that the project will comply with water quality standards or other applicable requirements. If a project is denied certification, a Section 404 permit for it cannot be issued by the Federal government.