[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 39 (Tuesday, February 27, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7242-7245]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4345]



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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army
Corps of Engineers


Guidance on the Application of Best Management Practices to 
Mechanical Silvicultural Site Preparation Activities for the 
Establishment of Pine Plantations in the Southeast

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DOD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps 
of Engineers (Corps) issued a Memorandum to the Field dated November 
28, 1995, on the application of best management practices to mechanical 
silvicultural site preparation activities for the establishment of pine 
plantations in the Southeast. The purpose of the guidance is to clarify 
those circumstances where mechanical silvicultural site preparation 
activities conducted in accordance with best management practices will 
not require a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit. Discussions with 
representatives of the forest industry, environmental organizations and 
State agencies provided key input during guidance development. The 
clarification of this site preparation issue relies in large part on 
State expertise in the development and implementation of best 
management practices associated with Forestry activities in wetlands. 
The guidance also discusses EPA and Corps support of follow-up efforts 
by the States and private interests to promote effective best 
management practices and protect wetland resources in Southeastern 
States.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Details are available from EPA and Corps field staff listed at the end 
of the memorandum, or Mr. John Goodin (EPA) at (202) 260-9910 or Mr. 
Victor Cole (Corps) at (202) 761-0201.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is the subject guidance 

[[Page 7243]]
previously provided to the EPA and Corps field offices.

Daniel R. Burns,
Chief, Operations, Construction and Readiness Division, Directorate of 
Civil Works.

Memorandum to the Field--Corps and EPA Regulatory Program Chiefs

    Subject: Application of Best Management Practices to Mechanical 
Silvicultural Site Preparation Activities for the Establishment of Pine 
Plantations in the Southeast.

    Date: November 28, 1995.

    This memorandum \1\ clarifies the applicability of forested 
wetlands best management practices to mechanical silvicultural site 
preparation activities for the establishment of pine plantations in the 
Southeast. Mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities \2\ 
conducted in accordance with the best management practices discussed 
below, which are designed to minimize impacts to the aquatic ecosystem, 
will not require a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit. These best 
management practices further recognize that certain wetlands should not 
be subject to unpermitted mechanical silvicultural site preparation 
activities because of the adverse nature of potential impacts 
associated with these activities on these sites.

    \1\ This guidance is written to provide interpretation and 
clarification of existing EPA and Corps regulations and does not 
change any substantive requirements of these regulations. This 
memorandum is further intended to provide clarification regarding 
the exercise of discretion under current agency regulations.
    \2\ Mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities include 
shearing, raking, ripping, chopping, windrowing, piling, and other 
similar physical methods used to cut, break apart, or move logging 
debris following harvest for the establishment of pine plantations.
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    This memorandum recognizes State expertise that is reflected in the 
development and implementation of regionally specific best management 
practices (BMPs) associated with forestry activities in wetlands. Such 
BMPs encourage sound silvicultural operations while providing 
protection of certain wetlands functions and values. The U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) believe that it is appropriate to apply the Clean Water Act 
Section 404 program in a manner that builds from, and is consistent 
with, this State experience. The Agencies will support and assist State 
efforts to build upon these BMPs at the State level, to ensure that 
mechanical silvicultural site preparation is conducted in a manner that 
best reflects the specific wetlands resource protection and management 
goals of each State.

Introduction

    Forested wetlands exhibit a wide variety of water regimes, soils, 
and vegetation types that in turn provide a myriad of functions and 
values. The States in the Southeast contain forested wetlands systems 
that in many cases are also subject to ongoing timber operations. In 
developing silvicultural BMPs, States have identified those specific 
forestry practices that will protect water quality. This guidance was 
developed to respond to questions regarding the applicability of 
Section 404 to mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities. 
EPA and the Corps relied extensively on existing State knowledge to 
protect aquatic ecosystems with BMPs, including the types of wetlands, 
types of activities, and BMPs described below.
    This memorandum reflects information gathered from the southeastern 
United States, where mechanical silvicultural site preparation 
activities are associated with the establishment of pine plantations in 
wetlands.\3\ As such, this memorandum, and particularly the 
descriptions of wetlands, activities, and BMPs, necessarily focus on 
this area of the country. However, the guidance presented is generally 
applicable when addressing mechanical silvicultural site preparation 
activities in wetlands elsewhere in the country.

    \3\ Information was considered from the following States in the 
Southeast: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, 
Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
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Circumstances Where Mechanical Silvicultural Site Preparation 
Activities Requires a Permit

    The States, in coordination with the forestry community and the 
public, have recognized that mechanical silvicultural site preparation 
activities may have measurable and significant impacts on aquatic 
ecosystems when conducted in wetlands that are permanently flooded, 
intermittently exposed, and semi-permanently flooded, and in certain 
additional wetland communities that exhibit aquatic functions and 
values that are more susceptible to impacts from these activities. For 
the wetland types identified in this section, it is most effective to 
evaluate proposals for site preparation and potential associated 
environmental effects on a case-by-case basis as part of the individual 
permit process. Therefore, mechanical silvicultural site preparation 
activities in the areas listed below require a permit.\4\

    \4\ The community descriptions draw extensively from: Schafale, 
M.P., and A.S. Weakley, 1990. Classification of the Natural 
Communities of North Carolina. North Carolina Natural Heritage 
Program, Raleigh, NC. 325pp.
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    A permit will be required in the following areas unless they have 
been so altered through past practices (including the installation and 
continuous maintenance of water management structures) as to no longer 
exhibit the distinguishing characteristics described below (see 
``Circumstances Where Mechanical Silvicultural Site Preparation 
Activities Do Not Require a Permit'' below). Of course, discharges 
incidental to activities in any wetlands that convert waters of the 
United States to non-waters always require authorization under Clean 
Water Act Section 404.
    (1) Permanently flooded, intermittently exposed, and semi-
permanently flooded wetlands. The hydrology of permanently flooded 
wetland systems is characterized by water that covers the land surface 
throughout the year in all years. The hydrology of intermittently 
exposed wetlands is characterized by surface water that is present 
throughout the year except in years of extreme drought. The hydrology 
of semi-permanently flooded wetlands is characterized by surface water 
that persists throughout the growing season in most years and, when it 
is absent, the water table is usually at or very near the land 
surface.\5\ Examples typical of these wetlands include Cypress-Gum 
Swamps, Muck and Peat Swamps, and Cypress Strands/Domes.

    \5\ Cowardin, L.M., et al. 1979. Classification of wetlands and 
deepwater habitats of the United States. U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Washington, DC. 131pp.
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    (2) Riverine Bottomland Hardwood wetlands: seasonally flooded (or 
wetter) bottomland hardwood wetlands within the first or second bottoms 
of the floodplains of river systems. Site-specific characteristics of 
hydrology, soils, vegetation, and the presence of alluvial features 
elaborated in paragraphs a, b, and c below will be determinative of the 
boundary of riverine bottomland hardwood wetlands. National Wetlands 
Inventory maps can provide a useful reference for the general location 
of these wetlands on the landscape.
    (a) the hydrologic characteristics included in this definition 
refer to seasonally flooded or wetter river floodplain sites where 
overbank flooding has resulted in alluvial features such as well-
defined floodplains, bottoms/terraces, natural levees, and 

[[Page 7244]]
backswamps. For the purposes of this guidance definition, ``seasonally 
flooded'' bottomland hardwood wetlands are characterized by surface 
water that is present for extended periods, especially early in the 
growing season \6\ (usually greater than 14 consecutive days), but is 
absent by the end of the season in most years. When surface water is 
absent, the water table is often near the land surface. Field 
indicators of the presence of surface water include water-stained 
leaves, drift lines, and water marks on trees.

    \6\ Consistent with the 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetlands 
Delineation Manual, growing season starting and ending dates are 
determined by the 28 degrees F or lower temperature threshold.
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    (b) the vegetative characteristics included in this definition 
refer to forested wetlands where hardwoods dominate the canopy. For the 
purposes of this guidance definition, riverine bottomland hardwoods do 
not include sites in which greater than 25% of the canopy is pine.
    (c) The soil characteristics included in this definition refer to 
listed hydric soils that are poorly drained or very poorly drained. For 
the purposes of this guidance definition, riverine bottomland hardwoods 
do not include sites with hydric soils that are somewhat poorly drained 
or that, at a particular site, do not demonstrate chroma, concretions, 
and other field characteristics verifying it as a hydric soil.
    (3) White Cedar Swamps: wetlands, greater than one acre in 
headwaters and greater than five acres elsewhere, underlain by peat of 
greater than one meter, and vegetated by natural white cedar 
representing more than 50% of the basal area, where the total basal 
area for all tree species is 60 square feet or greater.
    (4) Carolina Bay wetlands: oriented, elliptical depressions with a 
sand rim, either (a) underlain by clay-based soils and vegetated by 
cypress; or, (b) underlain by peat of greater than one-half meter and 
typically vegetated with an overstory of Red, Sweet, and Loblolly Bays.
    (5) Non-riverine Forest Wetlands: wetlands in this group are rare, 
high quality wet forests, with mature vegetation, located on the 
Southeastern coastal plain, whose hydrology is dominated by high water 
tables. Two forest community types fall into this group: \7\

    \7\ These forest types are a subset of those described in 
Schafale and Weakley, 1990.
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    (a) Non-riverine Wet Hardwood Forests--poorly drained mineral soil 
interstream flats (comprising 10 or more contiguous acres), typically 
on the margins of large peatland areas, seasonally flooded or saturated 
by high water tables, with vegetation dominated (greater than 50% of 
basal area per acre) by swamp chestnut oak, cherrybark oak, or laurel 
oak alone or in combination.
    (b) Non-riverine Swamp Forests--very poorly drained flats 
(comprising 5 or more contiguous acres), with organic soils or mineral 
soils with high organic content, seasonally to frequently flooded or 
saturated by high water tables, with vegetation dominated by bald 
cypress, pond cypress, swamp tupelo, water tupelo, or Atlantic white 
cedar alone or in combination.
    The term ``high quality'' used in this characterization refers to 
generally undisturbed forest stands, whose character is not 
significantly affected by human activities (e.g., forest management). 
Non-riverine Forest wetlands dominated by red maple, sweetgum, or 
loblolly pine alone or in combination are not considered to be of high 
quality, and therefore do not require a permit.
    (6) Low Pocosin wetlands: central, deepest parts of domed peatlands 
on poorly drained interstream flats, underlain by peat soils greater 
than one meter, typically vegetated by a dense layer of short shrubs.
    (7) Wet Marl Forests: hardwood forest wetlands underlain with 
poorly drained marl-derived, high pH soils.
    (8) Tidal Freshwater Marshes: wetlands regularly or irregularly 
flooded by freshwater with dense herbaceous vegetation, on the margins 
of estuaries or drowned rivers or creeks.
    (9) Maritime Grasslands, Shrub Swamps, and Swamp Forests: barrier 
island wetlands in dune swales and flats, underlain by wet mucky or 
sandy soils, vegetated by wetland herbs, shrubs, and trees.

Circumstances Where Mechanical Silvicultural Site Preparation 
Activities Do Not Require a Permit

    Mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities in wetlands 
that are seasonally flooded, intermittently flooded, temporarily 
flooded, or saturated, or in existing pine plantations and other 
silvicultural sites (except as listed above), minimize impacts to the 
aquatic ecosystem and do not require a permit if conducted according to 
the BMPs listed below. Of course, silvicultural practices conducted in 
uplands never require a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit.
    The hydrology of seasonally flooded wetlands is characterized by 
surface water that is present for extended periods, especially early in 
the growing season, but is absent by the end of the season in most 
years (when surface water is absent, the water table is often near the 
surface). The hydrology of intermittently flooded wetland systems is 
characterized by substrate that is usually exposed, but where surface 
water is present for variable periods without detectable seasonable 
periodicity. The hydrology of temporarily flooded wetlands is 
characterized by surface water that is present for brief periods during 
the growing season, but also by a water table that usually lies well 
below the soil surface for most of the season. The hydrology of 
saturated wetlands is characterized by substrate that is saturated to 
the surface for extended periods during the growing season, but also by 
surface water that is seldom present.\8\ Examples typical of these 
wetlands include Pine Flatwoods, Pond Pine Woodlands, and Wet Flats 
(e.g., certain pine/hardwood forests).

    \8\ Cowardin et al., 1979.
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Best Management Practices

    Every State in the Southeast has developed BMPs for forestry to 
protect water quality and all but two have also developed specific BMPs 
for forested wetlands. These BMPs have been developed because 
silvicultural practices have the potential to result in impacts to the 
aquatic ecosystem. Mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities 
include shearing, raking, ripping, chopping, windrowing, piling, and 
other similar physical methods used to cut, break apart, or move 
logging debris following harvest. Impacts such as soil compaction, 
turbidity, erosion, and hydrologic modifications can result if not 
effectively controlled by BMPs. States have developed BMPs that address 
not only types of wetlands and types of activities, but also detail 
specific measures to protect water quality through establishing special 
management zones, practices for stream crossings, and practices for 
forest road construction.
    In developing forested wetlands BMPs, States in the Southeast have 
recognized that certain silvicultural site preparation techniques are 
more effective when conducted in areas that have drier water regimes. 
The BMPs stated below represent a composite of State expertise to 
protect water quality from silvicultural impacts. These BMPs also 
address the location, as well as the nature, of activities. The Corps 
and EPA believe that these forested wetlands BMPs are effective in 
protecting water quality and therefore are adopting them 

[[Page 7245]]
to protect these functions and values considered under Section 404.
    The following forested wetlands BMPs are designed to minimize the 
impacts associated with mechanical silvicultural site preparation 
activities in circumstances where these activities do not require a 
permit (authorization from the Corps is necessary for discharges 
associated with silvicultural site preparation in wetlands described 
above as requiring a permit \9\). The BMPs include, at a minimum, the 
following:

    \9\ Contact the nearest Corps District listed at the end of this 
document for further information.
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    (1) position shear blades or rakes at or near the soil surface and 
windrow, pile, and otherwise move logs and logging debris by methods 
that minimize dragging or pushing through the soil to minimize soil 
disturbance associated with shearing, raking, and moving trees, stumps, 
brush, and other unwanted vegetation;
    (2) conduct activities in such a manner as to avoid excessive soil 
compaction and maintain soil tilth;
    (3) arrange windrows in such a manner as to limit erosion, overland 
flow, and runoff;
    (4) prevent disposal or storage of logs or logging debris in 
streamside management zones--defined areas adjacent to streams, lakes, 
and other waterbodies--to protect water quality;
    (5) maintain the natural contour of the site and ensure that 
activities do not immediately or gradually convert the wetland to a 
non-wetland; and
    (6) conduct activities with appropriate water management mechanisms 
to minimize off-site water quality impacts.

Implementation

    EPA and the Corps will continue to work closely with State forestry 
agencies to promote the implementation of consistent and effective BMPs 
that facilitate sound silvicultural practices. In those States where no 
BMPs specific to mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities 
in forested wetlands are currently in place, EPA and the Corps will 
coordinate with those States to develop BMPs. In the interim, 
mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities conducted in 
accordance with this guidance will not require a Section 404 permit.
    In order to ensure consistency in the application of this guidance 
over time, changes to the vegetation of forested wetlands associated 
with human activities conducted after the issuance of this guidance 
will not alter its applicability. For example, this guidance is not 
intended to establish the requirement for a permit for mechanical 
silvicultural site preparation where tree harvesting results in the 
establishment of site characteristics for which a permit would 
otherwise be required (e.g., where the selective cutting of naturally 
occurring pine in a Riverine Bottomland Hardwood wetland site with 
originally greater than 25% pine in the canopy results in a site 
``where hardwoods dominate the canopy''). In a similar manner, while 
harvesting of timber consistent with the requirements of Section 404(f) 
is exempt from regulation and natural changes (e.g., wildfire, 
succession) may change site characteristics, human manipulation of the 
vegetative characteristics of a site does not alter its status for the 
purposes of this guidance (e.g., removal of all the Atlantic White 
Cedar in an Atlantic White Cedar Swamp does not eliminate the need for 
a permit for mechanical silvicultural site preparation if the area 
would have required a permit before the removal of the trees).
    Finally, the Agencies will encourage efforts at the State level to 
identify additional wetlands which may be of special concern and could 
be incorporated into State BMPs and cooperative programs, initiatives, 
and partnerships to protect these wetlands. To facilitate this effort, 
stakeholders are encouraged to develop a process after the issuance of 
this guidance to identify and protect unique and rare wetland sites on 
lands of the participating stakeholders. EPA and the Corps will monitor 
the application of this guidance, progress with conserving special 
wetland sites through cooperative programs and initiatives, and 
consider any new information, such as advances in silvicultural 
practices, improvements to State BMPs, or data relevant to potential 
impacts to wetlands, to determine whether the list of wetlands subject 
to the permit requirement should be modified or other revisions to this 
guidance are appropriate.

Further Information

    The Corps and EPA will work closely with the States, forestry 
community, and public to answer any questions that may arise with 
regard to this guidance. For further information on this memorandum, 
please contact Mr. John Goodin of EPA's Wetlands Division at (202) 260-
9910 or Mr. Sam Collinson of the Corps of Engineer's Regulatory Branch 
at (202) 761-0199. The public may also contact:

EPA Region IV: Tom Welborn (404) 347-3871 ext. 6507
EPA Region VI: Bill Cox (214) 665-6680
EPA Region III: Barbara D'Angelo (215) 597-9301
Corps Wilmington District: Wayne Wright (910) 251-4630
Corps Charleston District: Bob Riggs (803) 727-4330
Corps Savannah District: Nick Ogden (912) 652-5768
Corps Jacksonville District: John Hall (904) 232-1666
Corps Norfolk District: Woody Poore (804) 441-7068
Corps Mobile District: Ron Krizman (334) 690-2658
Corps Little Rock District: Louie Cockman (501) 324-5296
Corps Memphis District: Larry Watson (901) 544-3471
Corps Nashville District: Randy Castleman (615) 736-5181
Corps New Orleans District: Ron Ventola (504) 862-2255
Corps Vicksburg District: Beth Guynes (601) 631-5276
Robert H. Wayland, III,
Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds, Environmental 
Protection Agency.
Michael L. Davis,
Chief, Regulatory Branch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
[FR Doc. 96-4345 Filed 2-26-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-92-M