NATURAL RESOURCE PERMITTING
ARAP AND SECTION 404 PERMITS
Persons who wish to make an alteration to a stream, river, lake or wetland must first obtain a water quality permit. Physical alterations to properties of waters of the state require an Aquatic Resource Alteration Permit (ARAP) or a §401 Water Quality Certification (§401 certification). Examples of stream alterations that require a permit from the Tennessee Division of Water Resources (division) include:
- Dredging, excavation, channel widening, or straightening
- Bank sloping; stabilization
- Channel relocation
- Water diversions or withdrawals
- Dams, weirs, dikes, levees or other similar structures
- Flooding, excavating, draining and/or filling a wetland
- Road and utility crossings
- Structural fill
A federal permit may also be required from the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for projects that include the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the U.S. including wetlands. This permit is called a §404 permit. When a §404 is required from the Corps, a §401 certification must first be obtained from the division. A §401 certification affirms that the discharge would not violate Tennessee’s water quality standards. The application process for a §401 certification is the same as the ARAP process.
General Permits are developed and maintained by the division to provide a streamlined, expedited means of authorizing projects that singularly or cumulatively propose minor impacts to water resources.
NPDES PERMITS
The Clean Water Act prohibits anybody from discharging “pollutants” through a “point source” into a “water of the United States” unless they have an NPDES permit. The permit will contain limits on what you can discharge, monitoring and reporting requirements, and other provisions to ensure that the discharge does not hurt water quality or people’s health. In essence, the permit translates general requirements of the Clean Water Act into specific provisions tailored to the operations of each person discharging pollutants.
SWPPP SERVICES
SWPPP is an acronym for Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan. When stormwater drains away from a surface, it accumulates debris, sediments, chemicals, and more as it flows over land and impervious surfaces. SWPPPs are a requirement of the 1972 amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (the Clean Water Act) through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). SWPPPs address a facility’s pollutants and identify the Best Management Practices (BMPs) the facility is using to reduce those pollutants in stormwater.