Nationwide Permit 15 authorizes the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States associated with the construction of bridges across navigable waters of the United States. This permit specifically covers discharges that are incidental to bridge construction where the bridge structure itself is subject to the permitting authority of the U.S. Coast Guard under Section 9 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 or other applicable federal laws. The scope of this permit includes the placement of fill for bridge foundations, abutments, and causeways, as well as temporary structures and work necessary for construction activities, such as cofferdams and access fills. It is designed to work in tandem with U.S. Coast Guard bridge permits to ensure that the environmental impacts related to fill material are addressed under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
The 2026 reissuance of NWP 15 includes no substantive changes to the permit's national terms or conditions from the 2021 version. The Corps of Engineers reevaluated the permit's potential impacts using updated data and determined that the existing qualitative and quantitative limits remain sufficient to ensure only minimal individual and cumulative adverse environmental effects . While the regulatory text remains unchanged, the supporting decision document was updated with current environmental baseline information. This includes data from recent national-scale assessments, such as the 2022 National Lakes Assessment and the 2021 National Wetland Condition Assessment, to ensure the environmental review is based on the most current available scientific data.
Compliance managers, civil engineers, and departments of transportation typically use this permit for bridge construction projects over navigable waterways. It is required for any entity placing fill material in jurisdictional waters for a project that already falls under U.S. Coast Guard Section 9 bridge permitting authority.
The Corps determined that the reissuance of NWP 15 has 'no effect' on federally-listed endangered or threatened species or their critical habitat. This determination is based on General Condition 18, which requires project-specific ESA Section 7 consultation for any activity that 'might affect' these resources; no such activity is authorized until the consultation process is complete. Compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act is managed through General Condition 20, which triggers mandatory Pre-Construction Notification (PCN) if an activity has the potential to affect historic properties. The permit is also found to comply with Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) provisions, with district engineers empowered to add regional or activity-specific conditions to minimize adverse effects on sensitive aquatic environments.
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