Viewpoints
Laws associated with the Bostwick
road and pits
By Gregory Vickrey
March 13, 2007
Tuesday AM
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act requires that a Department
of the Army (DA) permit be obtained for the placement or discharge
of dredged and/or fill material into waters of the U.S., including
wetlands, prior to conducting the work (33 United States Code
1344).
Certain discharges of dredge or fill material into waters of
the U.S., including wetlands, are exempt from the authorization
requirements of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. In accordance
with 33 CFR 323.4(a), these discharges include those that may
result from normal silvicultural practices for the production
of fiber and forest products, and for the construction and maintenance
of forest roads. However, in order to be exempt, the silvicultural
activity must be part of an established (i.e., on-going) silviculture
operation and must be in accordance with the definitions in Section
323.4(a)(1)(iii) .
The regulations also state, Activities which bring an area into
farming, silvicultural, or ranching use are not part of an established
operation [33 CFR Sec. 323.4(a)(1)(ii)]. Likewise, forest roads
to be kept open for public recreational use or access to lands
for non-silvicultural activities are not exempt. Furthermore,
the discharge of overburden or other fill for the development
and operation of borrow pits is never exempt from the regulation
under Section 404 (33 CFR Sec 322.4).
Gregory Vickrey
gregory[at]tongassconservation.org
Ketchikan, AK
Received March 12, 2007 - Published March 13, 2007
About: "Gregory is the
director of the Tongass Conservation Society, is a friend of
Gravina, and does not enjoy looking up regulatory statutes."
Note: Comments published
on Viewpoints are the opinions of the writer
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sitnews.
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