OMAHA, Neb. - A Denver-area company has been issued a Class 1 Administrative Penalty for failure to comply with the terms and conditions of a Department of the Army permit issued pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
The Corps recently issued a penalty in the amount of $7,800 after a permit holder failed to complete the compensatory mitigation requirements as specified in the issued permit.
In 2004, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, Denver Regulatory Field Office issued a permit that authorized the discharge of fill material into Massey Draw, a tributary to Chatfield Lake and the South Platte River, to enhance a golf course located in Littleton, Colo. As part of the construction permit, the developer, Deer Creek Golf Club, LLC, agreed to purchase credits from a wetland bank to compensate for discharging the fill material into Massey Draw, but did not purchase the credits until June 2012.
Colorado has experienced tremendous population growth and, according to Denver Regulatory Program Manager, Tim Carey, permit holders need to understand that these associated conditions must be taken seriously because minimizing and reducing impacts to waterbodies of the United States will help protect the water resources that are critical to the population.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the administrator of the congressionally enacted Clean Water Act, which was established in 1972 to protect the Nation’s waterbodies, including sensitive and important wetland environments. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act establishes a program to regulate the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands. The Corps' regulatory program also maintains an enforcement program to deter noncompliance with the issued permits.
For each construction project that may impact a waterbody of the United States, the Corps evaluates construction permit requests to ensure that projects avoid and minimize impacts to the maximum extent practicable. As part of this process, permit holders are often required to compensate for any unavoidable impacts. The compensation for unavoidable impacts includes purchasing credits from wetland banks, reestablishing wetlands in an alternate location or other solutions.
In this case, the permit holder failed to comply with the permit requirements. The Corps' program enforcement efforts included a issuing a fine, which addresses the duration of failed compliance and ensuring the mitigation compensation requirements were met.