Title
A Resolution Authorizing the Mayor to Execute a Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Site Protection Requirements Associated with Permittee Responsible Mitigation under Department of the Army Permits.
Presenter:
Erin Powers, P.E., Stormwater Enterprise Manager
Richard Mulledy, P.E., Public Works Director
Body
Summary:
The City of Colorado Springs and its Enterprises seeks approval to execute a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Albuquerque District. This MOA establishes the required site protection instrument for all current and future permittee-responsible mitigation (PRM) sites associated with Department of the Army permits issued under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
Background:
The City and its Enterprises frequently carry out projects that affect wetlands regulated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). When these wetlands are disturbed, federal regulations require that the impacts be mitigated, most often by replanting and reestablishing the affected areas once work is complete. This process of restoring impacted wetlands is known as permittee-responsible mitigation (PRM).
The USACE administers permitting authority under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, including requirements for compensatory mitigation when unavoidable impacts to Water of the United States occur. Under federal regulation (33 CFR Part 332), applicants conducting permittee-responsible mitigation must establish a "site protection instrument" to ensure long-term preservation of PRM areas.
This MOA serves as that protection instrument for all City-owned PRM sites, eliminating the need to develop separate site protection agreements for each future project. It outlines the City's responsibilities to manage, maintain, and protect PRM sites, including restrictions on activities such as filling, excavating, clearing vegetation, altering hydrology, constructing structures or roads, insta...
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