Nationwide Permit 14 authorizes activities required for the construction, expansion, modification, or improvement of linear transportation projects. These include projects such as roads, highways, railways, trails, driveways, and airport runways. The permit covers discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States and structures or work in navigable waters necessary for these transportation-related infrastructure tasks. The permit applies to both non-tidal and tidal waters, though with different quantitative limits. For non-tidal waters, the loss of waters of the United States cannot exceed 1/2-acre for each single and complete project. For tidal waters, the loss is restricted to 1/3-acre. It also authorizes temporary structures and fills necessary for construction, such as cofferdams and access fills, provided they are removed and the area is restored upon project completion.
The 2026 reissuance of NWP 14 did not include any substantive modifications to the permit's national terms, acreage limits, or pre-construction notification thresholds. The Corps reevaluated the permit and determined that the existing framework remains sufficient to ensure that authorized activities result in no more than minimal individual and cumulative adverse environmental effects. While the text remains unchanged from the previous version, the supporting decision document was updated with current environmental baseline data. This includes results from newer national-scale assessments such as the 2022 National Lakes Assessment and the 2021 National Wetland Condition Assessment to ensure the cumulative impact analysis is grounded in the most current ecological data.
Civil engineers, transportation departments, and private developers typically use this permit for infrastructure projects involving road and rail crossings. It is the primary permitting vehicle for state DOTs and municipal governments building or expanding transportation networks that cross wetlands or streams.
The Corps determined that the reissuance of NWP 14 results in a 'no effect' finding for federally-listed endangered or threatened species and designated critical habitat. This is based on General Condition 18, which requires project-specific ESA Section 7 consultation if an activity 'might affect' listed resources; no activity is authorized until the consultation process is complete. Compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act is ensured via General Condition 20, which triggers a mandatory PCN if an activity has the potential to affect historic properties. For Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), the Corps found that district engineers can apply regional or activity-specific conditions to minimize adverse effects to these sensitive aquatic environments.
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