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Regulatory

Wetland in Henderson County, Kentucky. Photo by Tre Barron

Welcome to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District, Regulatory Division Home Page.

How do I find another District Regulatory Office?

The Regulatory Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District is responsible for administering the Regulatory Program in the majority of Indiana and Kentucky, the southeastern portion of Illinois, and the Ohio River to southwestern Ohio. The Regulatory Division evaluates permit applications for essentially all work that occurs in “waters of the United States (U.S.)” that are regulated by the Corps pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Some examples of areas that may be within the jurisdiction of the Corps include marshes, swamps, streams, creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes, seasonally saturated forested and non-forested wetlands.

All regulated activities occurring within jurisdictional areas require a permit from the Corps. Some example activities occurring within jurisdictional areas that require a permit include dredging of waterways, bank stabilization, recreational ponds and lakes, as well as the construction of piers, docks, marinas, fleeting areas, boat ramps, roads, residential and commercial developments, utility lines, and mining activities.

In order to determine whether your proposed activity requires a permit, or whether any “waters of the U.S.” are located on your property or within your project area, please explore our website or contact us for further guidance. Please note that the Louisville District Corps of Engineers will make the final determination of whether an area is a jurisdictional “water of the U.S.” and whether the activity requires a permit.

We are dedicated to providing strong protection of the Nation’s aquatic environment, including wetlands, to enhancing the efficiency of the Corps administration of its regulatory program, and to ensuring that the Corps provides the regulated public with fair and reasonable decisions.

To the left of this webpage are links to what the Regulatory Division does, regulations, technical resources, and other information to help with your permitting needs. To accurately read and use the PDF files found throughout this site, we recommend that you download a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.0 or higher.

Additionally, by clicking on the "Contact us" link to the left of this webpage,  you will find the Louisville District boundary map and the telephone numbers associated with each branch of the Regulatory Division.  Please utilize the map to assist you in establishing the appropriate section of the Regulatory Division to contact.

Electronic Application Submittals

News & Updates

25 July 2023

Louisville District Regulatory has issued site protection instrument templates for Kentucky.  Templates can be found at the following link:  Mitigation and Monitoring 

27 June 2023
The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of the Army (agencies) are in receipt of the U.S. Supreme Court's May 25, 2023, decision in the case of Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. In light of this decision, the agencies are interpreting the phrase “waters of the United States” consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett. The agencies are developing a rule to amend the final "Revised Definition of 'Waters of the United States'" rule, published in the Federal Register on January 18, 2023, consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s May 25, 2023 decision in the case of Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency.  The agencies intend to issue a final rule by September 1, 2023.

13 April 2023
Streamflow Duration Assessment Methods (SDAM)

EPA and the Corps have jointly released the beta Streamflow Duration Assessment Methods for the Northeast and Southeast (beta SDAMs NESE) today, April 12, 2023.  The agencies are making these beta SDAMs NESE available for a one-year preliminary implementation period through joint Public Notice to inform the development of a final SDAMs NESE in 2024. Geographic applicability of the method includes portions of 31 states in seven EPA Regions and 26 Corps Districts (https://www.epa.gov/streamflow-duration-assessment/streamflow-duration-assessment-method-sdam-status-region). Method development was guided by a Regional Steering Committee (RSC), including staff from EPA Regions, EPA HQ, Corps Districts, Corps HQ, and Corps ERDC. The beta SDAMs NESE result from a multi-year study conducted at 336 stream reaches across the Northeast and Southeast, following the process described in Fritz et al. (2020). Ninety-seven candidate indicators were evaluated and considered for applicability in the NE and SE. Through statistical analyses a subset of indicators with the highest diagnostic accuracy for flow duration classification were identified, which were used to construct the current data-driven methods.  Two beta SDAMs were developed and the Caribbean study reaches were not used in the development of the beta SDAM for the Southeast due to increased accuracy when creating separate methods as well as differences in climate and a relatively small number of study reaches in the U. S. Caribbean. The beta SDAM for the Northeast uses eight indicators, while the beta SDAM for the Southeast uses seven indicators. 

The development of the beta SDAMs NESE is possible through the dedication of the project delivery team (Brian Topping OWOW , Tracie Nadeau R10/OWOW, Ken Fritz ORD, and Rachel Fertik Edgerton OWOW, and Kristina Nicholas ORISE OWOW),  contractors under NARS and WARTS task orders, and the many members of the National and Northeast and Southeast Regional Steering Committees (Tunis McElwain Corps HQ, Gabrielle David Corps ERDC, Matt Wilson Corps HQ and Rose Kwok OWOW, Ray Putnam of R1, Stephanie Andreescu of R2, Christine Mazzarella of R3, Eric Somerville of R4, Kacy Sable of R4, Melanie Burdick of R5, Chelsey Sherwood of R6, Justin Kensinger of R7, Matthew Gilbert of the Baltimore District, Peter Krakowiak of the Buffalo District, Jeremy Kinney of the Charleston District, Andrew Blackburn of the Chicago District, Sabrina Miller of the Detroit District, Joseph Shelnutt of the Fort Worth District, Mark Pattillo of the Galveston District, Wes Barnett of the Huntington District, Jessica Cordwell of the Jacksonville District, Ryan Langer of the Kansas City District, David Rupe of the Little Rock District, Patricia Grace-Jarrett of the Louisville District, Russell Retherford of the Louisville District, Roger Allan of the Memphis District, Mike Moxey of the Mobile District, Aric Payne of the Nashville District, Taylor Bell  of the New England District, Jon Barmore of the New Orleans District, Tom Bruno of the New York District, Jeanne Richardson of the Norfolk District, Mike Leggiero of the Philadelphia District, Alyssa Barkley  of the Pittsburgh District, Justin Hammonds of the Savannah District, Chad Lamontagne of the St. Louis District, Rob Hoffman of the Tulsa District, Bryton Hixson of the Vicksburg District, Tyler Crumbley of the Wilmington District).  

The beta SDAMs NESE results from our larger effort to develop regional SDAMs to provide nationwide coverage; it is the fifth regional SDAM to be released (final SDAM for the Pacific Northwest released in 2015; beta SDAM for the Arid West released in March 2021, beta SDAM for the Western Mountains released in December 2021, and beta SDAM for the Great Plains released in September 2022). The development of final SDAMs for the coterminous US is planned for 2023 and 2024.

https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p16021coll15/id/2073 


30 December 2022
EPA and Army Finalize Rule Establishing Definition of WOTUS and Restoring Fundamental Water Protections:

To view the public notice associated with this announcement, click the following link: LRL-2018-01040 Public Notice

To download Google Earth files (.kmz) for Kentucky Predefined Service Areas click here.

To download ESRI ArcMap files (.shp) for Kentucky Predefined Service Areas click here.