§ 323.5 Program transfer to States.

Section 404(h) of the CWA allows the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to transfer administration of the section 404 permit program for discharges into certain waters of the United States to qualified States. (The program cannot be transferred for those waters which are presently used, or are susceptible to use in their natural condition or by reasonable improvement as a means to transport interstate or foreign commerce shoreward to their ordinary high water mark, including all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide shoreward to the high tide line, including wetlands adjacent thereto). See 40 CFR parts 233 and 124 for procedural regulations for transferring section 404 programs to States. Once a State's 404 program is approved and in effect, the Corps of Engineers will suspend processing of section 404 applications in the applicable waters and will transfer pending applications to the State agency responsible for administering the program. District engineers will assist EPA and the States in any way practicable to effect transfer and will develop appropriate procedures to ensure orderly and expeditious transfer.