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Environmental Edge – Updates to Regional Conditions for USACE Nationwide Permits

Apr 14, 2026 in News

Updates to Regional Conditions for USACE Nationwide Permits

In our previous issue of Environmental Edge, we discussed 2026 changes to the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Nationwide Permit (NW) Program.

We have since reviewed the 2026 Seattle and Portland District regional general conditions, NW-specific conditions, and Washington and Oregon NW 401 Water Quality Certifications (WQC). Of these, the WQC have changed the most significantly, and we summarize the changes that may have the biggest impact on your project schedules and deliverables below.

1,2, 3Seattle District

  • Ecology will require individual WQC review for cumulative impacts over the nationwide thresholds for linear projects (e.g., road and utility/infrastructure improvements) and residential, recreational, commercial, and institutional developments, even if USACE issues multiple authorizations for a single federal permit application.
  • Ecology clarified that direct, indirect, permanent, and temporary impacts to wetlands and waters count toward individual versus programmatic WQC review determinations.
  • Nature-based solutions and other soft bank stabilization approaches must now be considered before hard armoring approaches. Hard armoring should be considered only if soft armoring is not feasible. 
  • New bank stabilization in tidal waters of the Puget Sound now includes stabilization within the footprint of existing stabilization. This is an expansion of the previous definition, which explicitly excluded the existing footprint. 
  • Pre-construction notification (PCN) is now required on Tribal Treaty Lands.
  • Impacts to eelgrass beds (Zostera marina) now trigger an individual Ecology WQC review. 
  • New requirements within the Salish Sea:
    • Impacts to feeder bluffs and sedimentation processes crucial to forage fish are prohibited under a NW and would require an individual permit (IP).
    • Greater than 50 feet of new shoreline armoring now requires an IP.

4, 5, 6, 7Portland District

  • Applicants are required to have a spill prevention and control plan. This includes a requirement to stage, clean, maintain, refuel, and store fuel at least 150 feet from waters of the state, unless authorized by DEQ to be conducted closer.
  • Revegetation standards were established by DEQ where vegetation disturbance is not accounted for in planned mitigation actions. Applicants are now required to establish 80% cover of restored vegetation and to install wildlife-friendly fencing to prohibit access by livestock and humans. 
  • For NWs 51, 57, and 58, wetland and water crossings using directional drilling now require an inadvertent return contingency plan, as well as other documentation and notifications to DEQ.
  • New general regional condition requires compliance with EPA Region 10 general and NW-specific conditions, when EPA has previously certified compliance with Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. 

Have Questions?

Contact Kevin Terlep at [email protected] for additional information.

Citations 

1Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology). 2025. “State of Washington Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification Decisions  for the 2026 Nationwide Permits.” Ecology, December 18. https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/aquatics/downloadaction/28679.

2US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Seattle Regulatory District. 2022. “User Guide For 2021 Nationwide Permits in Washington State – March 2021 to March 2026.” USACE, July 22. https://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Portals/27/docs/regulatory2/2021NWPs/NWP-UserGuide-2021.pdf?ver=o9jOJHprB7fPOpT2CQjz7w%3d%3d.

3US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Seattle Regulatory District. 2025. “Final 2026 Nationwide Permit Regional Conditions.” USACE, March 10. https://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Portals/27/docs/regulatory2/Public%20Notices/SPNs/2026/NWS-SPN-FinalRegionalConditions-20260310.pdf?ver=dMjv40zfA5FusGytxxl-9Q%3d%3d.

4US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Portland Regulatory District. 2022. “User Guide For 2021 Nationwide Permits in the State of Oregon.” USACE. https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/Portals/24/docs/regulatory/nationwide/20220225%202021%20Nationwide%20Permit%20User%20Guide.pdf.

5Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ). 2026. “401 Water Quality Certification Template.” DEQ. https://www.oregon.gov/deq/wq/Documents/401nWQcertTemplate.pdf.

6Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). 2025. “Intent to Issue Individual Expedited 401 Water Quality Certifications (WQCs) for the 2026 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Nationwide Permit Program Directly to Applicants.” December 10. https://www.oregon.gov/deq/wq/Documents/401nLetterIntent.pdf.

7US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Portland Regulatory District. 2026. “Portland District Announcing Nationwide Permits (NWPs) Regional Conditions.” US Army Corps of Engineers, Portland Regulatory District, March 13. https://publibrary.sec.usace.army.mil/api/download?id=89f45e65-132d-4ca2-ebaf-b6de317b9eb2&filename=20260313_Public_Notice_2026NWP_RegionalCond.pdf&token=&preview=true.