Nationwide Permit 12 authorizes activities required for the construction, maintenance, repair, and removal of oil and natural gas pipelines and associated facilities in waters of the United States. This includes discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the U.S. and structures or work in navigable waters for crossings associated with these pipelines. The permit's scope covers any pipe for transporting oil or natural gas, as well as derived products like gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, and petrochemical feedstocks . Beyond the pipelines themselves, the permit also authorizes associated facilities such as substations (including compression and metering stations), foundations for above-ground pipelines, and the construction of minimum-width access roads. It further covers temporary structures and fills necessary for remediation of inadvertent returns of drilling fluids during horizontal directional drilling. The primary limitation is that no single and complete project may result in the loss of greater than 1/2-acre of waters of the United States.
The 2026 reissuance of NWP 12 includes minor administrative modifications focused on navigation safety and inter-agency coordination. Specifically, Note 1 was modified to recommend that permittees provide 'as-built drawings' and geographic coordinate data directly to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for updates to nautical charts and Coast Pilot corrections. This replaces previous language directing the Corps to provide the NWP verification to NOAA . Additionally, a new Note 7 was added to encourage project proponents to contact the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) prior to submitting a Pre-Construction Notification or beginning construction in navigable waters. This allows the USCG to assess potential navigation-related concerns and inform proponents of necessary marking and lighting requirements. The Corps explicitly declined to add uniform national Best Management Practices (BMPs) or lower acreage thresholds, maintaining the 1/2-acre limit and existing PCN triggers.
This permit is primarily utilized by environmental compliance managers and contractors in the oil and natural gas industry. It is necessary for entities involved in the construction, maintenance, or repair of energy infrastructure that crosses jurisdictional waters or wetlands.
The Corps determined that the reissuance of NWP 12 results in 'no effect' on federally-listed endangered or threatened species or their critical habitat. This determination is based on the fact that general condition 18 requires project-specific ESA Section 7 consultation for any activity that 'might affect' these resources; no such activity is authorized until consultation is complete. For Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), consultation occurs on a case-by-case or regional basis, with district engineers empowered to add special conditions to ensure impacts remain minimal . Compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act is managed through general condition 20, which requires a Pre-Construction Notification (PCN) if an activity has the potential to affect historic properties. Permittees must also comply with general condition 21, which requires immediate notification to the district engineer if previously unknown remains or artifacts are discovered during construction.
Stay current on NWP 12 updates
Get notified when regulations change — no spam, just updates that matter.