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Value to the Nation

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Value to the Nation: Regulatory

The mission of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Regulatory Program is to protect the nation's aquatic resources and navigable capacity while allowing economic development through fair and balanced decisions.

The USACE permit process is designed to minimize the environmental impact of construction and dredging activities in U.S. waters and to ensure that all such efforts are well thought-out and carefully coordinated.

During the permit process, USACE thoroughly considers the views of other government agencies, interest groups, and the public. USACE also has an effective compliance and enforcement program.

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76,000 permit-related activities

95% of all USACE regulatory activities authorized by general permits

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27,000 jurisdictional determinations annually

More Information

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 Permits

USACE strives for a fair, flexible, efficient and balanced permit process that protects the nation's aquatic resources while allowing necessary and reasonable development. USACE primarily issues three types of permits: standard, general, and letters of permission. Read more…

 Economic Impact

The USACE Regulatory Program enables billions of dollars’ worth of construction and development projects to proceed each year while ensuring that they have minimal impact on the environment. Read more…

 Environmental Benefits

A primary goal of the Regulatory Program is to protect the nation's aquatic resources, particularly wetlands. In some cases, projects will have an unavoidable impact on wetlands. In these instances, USACE requires replacement of the wetlands. Read more…

USACE regulatory efforts are designed to protect a wide variety of aquatic resources, including wetlands, rivers, streams, tidal waters, coral reefs, shellfish beds, and the oceans.