Section 404 of the Clean Water Act is the principal federal program that provides regulatory protections for wetlands, which include bogs, swamps, and marshes. It generally prohibits the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, which include certain wetlands, without a permit from the Corps. In addition, under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, the construction, excavation, or deposition of materials in, over, or under any navigable water of the United States, or any work which would affect the course, location, condition, or capacity of those waters is prohibited without a permit from the Corps. The Corps receives thousands of permit applications each year from individuals, businesses, and public agencies seeking to build houses, golf courses, and infrastructure projects, or to perform other activities that could destroy or degrade wetlands, streams, and rivers. The Corps’ decisions to allow particular activities to occur—and if so, under what conditions—are to reflect the national concern for both the use and protection of these important water resources. The Corps must balance the impacts that proposed projects may have on many factors, from wetlands and wildlife to recreation and the economy, and authorize projects only if it finds the projects are in the public interest. The Corps’ regulatory program is highly decentralized. Most of the authority to issue permits has been delegated from the Secretary of the Army to the Chief of Engineers who, in turn, has delegated the authority to 38 Corps districts. Regulatory program management and administration is focused at the district office level, with policy oversight at higher levels— including the Corps’ 8 division offices and headquarters. To obtain a permit, project proponents, who may be the property owner or the owner’s authorized agent, such as a consultant, must submit an application to the Corps. The application details the proposed project, its purpose, location, and likely impacts to the aquatic environment. The Corps reviews the application to ensure it contains the minimum required information. The amount and type of information the Corps requests from the applicant may vary by the type of applicant and project, as well as the extent and functional values of the water resources that may be impacted. If the information submitted does not sufficiently identify the location or nature of the project, the Corps will request additional information. Once the permit application is complete, the permit review process begins. This process is governed by federal regulations and guidance documents from Corps headquarters. The regulations set the overall review framework by describing the factors the districts must consider when deciding whether to issue a permit and the general evaluation procedures. The guidance documents, including the Corps’ “Standard Operating Procedures” and “Regulatory Guidance Letters,” describe in more detail the steps the districts must follow to implement the regulations, including documentation that should be maintained in the administrative record to support the permit decisions. The regulations allow the districts to issue different types of permits—including nationwide permits, letters of permission, and standard permits—depending on the scope and likely impacts of the proposed projects. The specific steps the districts must follow to review a permit application depend on the type of permit the Corps uses to approve the proposed project. The Corps approves most projects using nationwide permits. These permits authorize classes of activities throughout the nation such as minor dredging, road crossings, and bank stabilization that the Corps has determined are likely to have minimal impacts to water and wetland resources. The Corps has developed nationwide permits for 49 different classes of activities. Each permit contains specific terms and conditions that a proposed project must meet to ensure its impacts will be minimal. The purpose of nationwide permits is to allow certain activities to be performed in an expeditious manner with limited, if any, delay or paperwork. Most prospective permittees may proceed with their activity without ever contacting the Corps; they simply review the terms of the different nationwide permits and self-certify that their activity falls within the restrictions of one or more of the permits. However, for some nationwide permits, a prospective permittee must notify the Corps if the impacts of their proposed activity exceed a certain threshold, for example filling in more than 1/10 acre of wetlands or other federally regulated waters. The Corps then reviews the project outlined in the permit application to determine whether it meets the terms and conditions of one or more of the classes of activities authorized by nationwide permits. If it does, the Corps notifies the applicant that the project is approved under certain nationwide permit(s). The Corps can combine two or more different nationwide permits to approve a single project. The Corps can also approve projects using regional general permits—which are similar to nationwide permits, but cover smaller geographic areas, such as a single state. In fiscal year 2006, the Corps issued about 67,000 nationwide and regional permit authorizations. For projects likely to have more substantial impacts on waters and wetlands, the Corps can issue standard permits. Given the potentially larger impacts of these projects, federal regulations and related guidance require a more extensive review for these permits. Specifically, the Corps must evaluate the proposed activity’s impact on a wide range of factors, from wetlands and fish habitat to public safety and energy needs. If the proposed project will adversely impact one or more of these factors, the Corps can place conditions on the issued permit, such as limiting work during particular times of the year to reduce impacts on wildlife or requiring the applicant to undertake mitigation activities to compensate for wetlands they damage or degrade. The Corps may issue a permit only if it concludes, after carefully weighing the project’s costs and benefits, that the project is not contrary to the public interest. As part of this public interest review, the Corps must notify the public of the proposed project, request comments, and incorporate any comments they receive into their review of the overall public value of the project. In addition, the Corps must determine that the proposed project will (1) not adversely impact endangered or threatened species, (2) not discharge pollutants into federally regulated waters that violate state water quality standards, and (3) comply with guidelines developed by the Environmental Protection Agency to protect wetlands and other federally regulated waters. In making these determinations, the Corps often coordinates with other federal and state agencies, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In fiscal year 2006, the Corps issued about 4,000 standard permits. The Corps may use letters of permission in lieu of a standard permit when it determines that the proposed work would be minor, not have significant individual or cumulative impacts on the environment, and is not expected to be controversial. In these situations, an abbreviated standard permit review process, involving coordination with other federal and state regulatory agencies and adjacent property owners—but not the general public—is used to expedite the permit’s approval. Some concerns have been expressed that the Corps’ permitting process takes too long and has significantly delayed public works projects, such as constructing and repairing ports. For example, the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, which represents ports and businesses, believes that delays in permit processing in the Northwest have put U.S. ports at a competitive disadvantage to ports in Canada, where they argue permit requirements are not as strict. In 2000, the Congress included a provision in the Water Resources and Development Act to expedite permit processing for nonfederal public agencies. Specifically, section 214 of the act authorizes the Secretary of the Army, after public notice, to accept and expend funds contributed by nonfederal public entities, such as cities and port authorities, to expedite the evaluation of permit applications under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Army. The act also requires the Secretary to ensure that the funds accepted will not impact impartial decision making with respect to permits. Originally set to expire at the end of fiscal year 2003, this authority has been extended four times and is currently set to expire in December 2008. The authority to accept section 214 funds has been delegated to the Corps’ 38 districts that have regulatory responsibilities. In 2001, and again in 2004, Corps headquarters issued guidance that described the procedures that Corps districts must follow to accept and use section 214 funds. Specifically, the guidance directs any district accepting such funds to issue for public comment notices announcing the Corps’ intent to accept funds from a nonfederal public entity that include the reasons for accepting the funds and what activities the funds will be expended on, after review of comments, notify the public of the District Commander’s decision to accept these funds, and establish separate accounts to track the acceptance and expenditure of these funds. The guidance also calls for strict upward reporting to ensure that the section 214 funds will be used for their intended purpose. Specifically, the Corps’ divisions are to submit annual reports to headquarters that (1) document the acceptance and expenditure of funds, along with any public notices, (2) assess how the use of the funds expedited the permit review process, and (3) highlight any issues regarding impartial decision making. The guidance also specifies two steps that Corps districts must take to ensure that the permit decisions they make using section 214 funds are impartial and transparent. In addition to following the permit review process described above, the districts must (1) ensure that a Corps official senior to the decision maker reviews the final permit decision before issuing the permit and (2) post permit decisions to the district’s Web site. Finally, the guidance requires that section 214 funds be expended only to expedite the final permit decision; funds cannot be expended on the higher level review. Four of the 38 Corps districts that have regulatory responsibilities had entered into agreements with 11 nonfederal public entities to receive section 214 funds and had evaluated 187 projects using these funds as of August 2006. Almost all of the section 214 applicants were city or county departments, port authorities, or regional water authorities. However, two applicants were private companies that were allowed to submit permit applications for expedited review under a nonfederal public entity’s agreement with the Corps.