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Defense Department, Engineers Corps

Reissuance and Modification of Nationwide Permits

Published January 8, 2026. Takes effect March 15, 2026, printed at 91 FR 768. 133,579 words.

In plain English

Some work in wetlands is covered by a standing permit. This reissues those permits.

Read it at the Federal Register →

What the Rule Says It Does

Nationwide Permits (NWPs) authorize activities under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 that have no more than minimal individual and cumulative adverse environmental effects. The NWPs help protect the aquatic environment and the public interest by providing incentives to reduce impacts to jurisdictional waters. In this final action, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is reissuing 56 existing nationwide permits (NWPs), general conditions, and definitions, with some modifications. The Corps is also issuing one new NWP.

This is the rule's own summary, as the Federal Register prints it.

The Orders It Names

The rule names these orders itself. What it does about them is a reading, and none is recorded here.

On the Face of the Rule

As filed

[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 5 (Thursday, January 8, 2026)] [Rules and Regulations] [Pages 768-886] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2026-00121]

Vol. 91

Thursday,

No. 5

January 8, 2026

Part II

Department of Defense

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

33 CFR Chapter II

Reissuance and Modification of Nationwide Permits; Final Action

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

33 CFR Chapter II

[Docket Number: COE-2025-0002] RIN 0710-AB56

Reissuance and Modification of Nationwide Permits

AGENCY

Corps of Engineers, Army, DoD.

ACTION

Final action.

DATES

The 57 NWPs, the general conditions, and the associated definitions will go into effect on March 15, 2026. The NWPs will expire on March 15, 2031.

ADDRESSES

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CECW-CO-R, 441 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20314-1000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

Ms. Katherine McCafferty at 513-310- 4196 or access the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Home Page at https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Regulatory-Program-and-Permits/.

The fields the Federal Register prints at the head of the rule, quoted as printed. Its summary is quoted above.

Why the Agency Says It Is Doing This

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Table of Contents:

List of Acronyms List of Nationwide Permits and General Conditions Issued in This Final Action

Nationwide Permits (NWPs)

Nationwide Permit General Conditions I. Background

A. General

B. Overview of Proposed Rule

C. Overview of This Final Action

D. Status of Existing Permits

E. Nationwide Permit Verifications

F. Severability II. Discussion of Public Comments

A. Overview

B. Responses to General Comments

C. Responses to Comments on Regional Conditions of Nationwide Permits

D. Responses to Comments on Nature-Based Solutions and the NWP Program

E. Response to Comments on Notes in the NWPs for Utilities and Mariculture Activities

F. Responses to Comments on Specific Nationwide Permits

G. Responses to Comments on the Nationwide Permits General Conditions

H. Responses to Comments on Section D. District Engineer's Decision

I. Responses to Comments on Section E. Further Information

J. Responses to Comments on Section F. Definitions III. Compliance With Relevant Statutes

A. National Environmental Policy Act

B. Compliance With 404(e) of the Clean Water Act

C. Compliance With the Endangered Species Act

D. Compliance With Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act

E. Compliance With the Essential Fish Habitat Provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act

F. Section 401 of the Clean Water Act

G. Section 307 of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) IV. Economic Impact V. Administrative Requirements VI. References Authority Nationwide Permits, Conditions, Further Information, and Definitions

A. Index of Nationwide Permits, Conditions, District Engineer's Decision, Further Information, and Definitions

B. Nationwide Permits

C. Nationwide Permit General Conditions

D. District Engineer's Decision

E. Further Information

F. Nationwide Permit Definitions

The passage that opens the rule's preamble, where the agency sets out what it is doing and on what authority. Every heading that follows it is listed below.

What the Rule Contains

Every heading the Federal Register prints in this rule, in the order it prints them. 53 headings, 133,579 words in all.

  1. AGENCYOn its face · 6 words
  2. ACTIONOn its face · 3 words
  3. SUMMARYOn its face · 90 words
  4. DATESOn its face · 27 words
  5. ADDRESSESOn its face · 15 words
  6. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACTOn its face · 23 words
  7. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATIONPreamble · 264 words
  8. List of AcronymsPreamble · 64 words
  9. List of Nationwide Permits and General Conditions Issued in This Final ActionPreamble · 325 words
  10. Nationwide Permit General ConditionsPreamble · 4 words
  11. 1. Navigation 2. Aquatic Life Movements 3. Spawning Areas 4. Migratory Bird Breeding Areas 5. Shellfish Beds 6. Suitable MaterialPreamble · 143 words
  12. I. BackgroundPreamble · 2 words
  13. A. GeneralPreamble · 3,996 words
  14. B. Overview of Proposed RulePreamble · 129 words
  15. C. Overview of This Final ActionPreamble · 282 words
  16. D. Status of Existing PermitsPreamble · 388 words
  17. E. Nationwide Permit VerificationsPreamble · 843 words
  18. F. SeverabilityPreamble · 104 words
  19. II. Discussion of Public CommentsPreamble · 5 words
  20. A. OverviewPreamble · 118 words
  21. B. Responses to General CommentsPreamble · 3,596 words
  22. C. Responses to Comments on Regional Conditions of Nationwide PermitsPreamble · 3,107 words
  23. D. Responses to Comments on Nature-Based Solutions and the NWP ProgramPreamble · 2,139 words
  24. E. Response to Comments on Notes in the NWPs for Utilities and Mariculture ActivitiesPreamble · 769 words
  25. F. Responses to Comments on Specific Nationwide PermitsPreamble · 46,379 words
  26. G. Responses to Comments on the Nationwide Permits General ConditionsPreamble · 17,032 words
  27. H. Responses to Comments on Section D. District Engineer's DecisionPreamble · 168 words
  28. I. Responses to Comments on Section E. Further InformationPreamble · 158 words
  29. J. Responses to Comments on Section F. DefinitionsPreamble · 3,899 words
  30. III. Compliance With Relevant StatutesPreamble · 5 words
  31. A. National Environmental Policy ActPreamble · 1,216 words
  32. B. Compliance With 404(e) of the Clean Water ActPreamble · 2,493 words
  33. C. Compliance With the Endangered Species ActPreamble · 3,851 words
  34. D. Compliance With Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation ActPreamble · 2,054 words
  35. E. Compliance With the Essential Fish Habitat Provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management ActPreamble · 259 words
  36. F. Section 401 of the Clean Water ActPreamble · 870 words
  37. G. Section 307 of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA)Preamble · 814 words
  38. IV. Economic ImpactPreamble · 1,465 words
  39. V. Administrative RequirementsPreamble · 3 words
  40. Plain LanguagePreamble · 50 words
  41. Paperwork Reduction ActPreamble · 1,614 words
  42. Unfunded Mandates Reform ActPreamble · 1,570 words
  43. Environmental DocumentationPreamble · 86 words
  44. Congressional Review ActPreamble · 245 words
  45. VI. ReferencesPreamble · 38 words
  46. AuthorityPreamble · 58 words
  47. Nationwide Permits, Conditions, Further Information, and DefinitionsPreamble · 7 words
  48. A. Index of Nationwide Permits, Conditions, District Engineer's Decision, Further Information, and DefinitionsPreamble · 570 words
  49. B. Nationwide PermitsPreamble · 20,510 words
  50. C. Nationwide Permit General ConditionsPreamble · 8,054 words
  51. D. District Engineer's DecisionPreamble · 1,074 words
  52. E. Further InformationPreamble · 85 words
  53. F. Nationwide Permit DefinitionsPreamble · 2,423 words

The Rest of the Text

This rule runs to 133,579 words. The rest of it is set out over 7 pages, split at the rule's own headings so that no heading is parted from the words printed under it.

How to cite this
  1. The rule itself

    Defense Department, Engineers Corps, “Reissuance and Modification of Nationwide Permits,” 91 FR 768 (January 8, 2026). Effective March 15, 2026.
    https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/08/2026-00121/reissuance-and-modification-of-nationwide-permits

  2. This page

    “Reissuance and Modification of Nationwide Permits,” a final rule naming an order indexed here. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/rules/rule-2026-00121/ (retrieved October 10, 2026).

Cite the document when the claim is about what the document says. Cite this page when the indexing, the wording or the record of what has happened is what is being relied on.

How This Rule Is Set Out

Federal Register documents are United States government works and are not under copyright, so the rule is here whole rather than cut to an excerpt. It is split at the headings the Register itself prints: the line it is filed under, the captioned fields on its face, the preamble where the agency says what it is doing and why, and the amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations. No passage is shortened. This rule is long enough that its text is set out over 7 pages rather than one.

Two things the Register prints are not reproduced: the running head it repeats at every page break, and the tables it sets as pictures rather than as words. Its own marker for one of those tables, [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED], is left standing where the table was, so a reader can see that something is there and follow the link to the page it is on.