§2345 Electronic Submission and Tracking of Permit Applications

Summary

The Secretary must build and run an online system so people can fill out and send permit applications and requests for jurisdictional decisions electronically. The system must cover six types of filings (like standard individual permits, letters of permission, joint State/Federal permits, emergency permits, jurisdictional determinations, and preconstruction notifications for nationwide or general permits). It should be tied into the Corps of Engineers’ existing systems when possible and must protect personal, private, privileged, confidential, proprietary, and other information the law bars from disclosure. The system must let users prepare forms, send completed forms and supporting data by email or online, use an interactive help guide, and track applications so users can see if a case is pending or final, view results of past filings in an area, and see activity locations on a map. All permit decisions and jurisdictional determinations must be written and include supporting documentation. The Secretary must keep each record for at least 5 years and look into archiving older records. Records must be made available to the public for review and copying, subject to the same protections for private or legally protected information. The system must be in place, as much as possible, no later than 2 years after December 23, 2022, and the Secretary must send quarterly implementation updates to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate. The written documentation, recordkeeping, and public-availability rules apply to filings submitted after December 16, 2016. Submitting a paper copy through the Chief of Engineers is still allowed.