North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 15A - Environmental Quality › Chapter 02 - Environmental Management › Subchapter H - PROCEDURES FOR PERMITS: APPROVALS › Section .1300 - DISCHARGES TO ISOLATED WETLANDS AND ISOLATED WATERS › Section 02H .1301 - SCOPE AND PURPOSE

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
(a) The provisions
				  of this Section shall apply to Division of Water Resources (Division)
				  regulatory and resource management determinations regarding isolated wetlands
				  and isolated classified surface waters. This Section shall only apply to
				  discharges resulting from activities that require State review after October
				  22, 2001 and that require a Division determination concerning effects on
				  isolated wetlands and isolated classified surface waters. For the purpose of
				  this Section, "discharge" shall be the deposition of dredged or fill material
				  (e.g. fill, earth, construction debris, soil, etc.).
(b) This Section outlines the application and
				  review procedures for permitting of discharges into isolated wetlands and
				  isolated classified surface waters that have been listed in
				  15A NCAC
				  02B .0300. If the U.S. Army Corps of
				  Engineers (USACE) or its designeedetermines that a particular water is not
				  regulated under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and the water meets the
				  definition of isolated waters in Paragraph (f) of this Rule, then discharges to
				  that water shall be covered by this Section. If the USACE or its designee
				  determines that a particular wetland is not regulated under Section 404 of the
				  Clean Water Act, that wetland meets the definition of isolated waters in
				  Paragraph (f) of this Rule, and that wetland is a Basin Wetland or Bog as
				  described in the North Carolina Wetland Assessment User Manual prepared by the
				  North Carolina Wetland Functional Assessment Team, version 4.1 October 2010
				  (available online at:
https://deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-quality-permitting/401-buffer-permitting-branch/401-isolated
),
				  then discharges to that wetland shall be covered by this Section. The Division
				  shall verify the determination, extent, and location of isolated wetlands and
				  isolated classified surface waters using the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
				  Wetland Delineation Manual (Technical Report Y-87-1) and subsequent regional
				  supplements and the Division publication, Methodology for Identification of
				  Intermittent and Perennial Streams and Their Origins (v.4.11, 2010).
(c) Activities that result in a discharge may
				  be deemed permitted as described in Rule .1305(a) of this Section or authorized
				  by the issuance of either an individual permit or a Certificate of Coverage to
				  operate under a general permit:
(1) Individual
				  permits shall be issued on a case-by-case basis using the procedures outlined
				  in this Section. These individual permits do not require approval by the U.S.
				  Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) General permits may be developed by the
				  Division and issued by the Director for types or groups of discharges resulting
				  from activities that are similar in nature and considered to have minimal
				  impact. General permits do not require approval by the U.S. Environmental
				  Protection Agency. All activities that receive a Certificate of Coverage under
				  a general permit from the Division shall be covered under that general permit.
				  When written approval is required in the general permit, the application and
				  review procedures for requesting a Certificate of Coverage under a general
				  permit from the Division for the proposed activity are the same as the
				  procedures outlined in this Section for individual permits.