Anyone who wishes to discharge dredged or fill material into the waters of the U.S., regardless of whether on private or public property, must obtain a Section 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and a Section 401 Water Quality Certification (WQC) from the state.
Anyone who wishes to discharge dredged or fill material into isolated wetlands in Ohio must obtain an Isolated Wetland Permit from Ohio EPA.
The 401 Water Quality Certification and Isolated Wetland Permitting Section reviews applications for projects that propose the placement of fill or dredged material into waters of the State, including streams, lakes and wetlands. The section also reviews required mitigation of issued permits and performs wetland research.
To make a complaint and/or report illegal fill activities, please email the Complaint Form [Word] to EPA401Webmail@epa.ohio.gov.
NEW USEPA 401 Certification FEDERAL rule
On June 1, 2020, USEPA finalized the “Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule” to implement the water quality certification process consistent with the text and structure of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The final rule became effective on September 11, 2020. As part of this rulemaking, 40 C.F.R. Part 121.5 now requires nine items for a 401 certification request to be valid. One of these requirements is the submittal of a pre-filing meeting request at least 30 days prior to submittal of the 401 certification request. It is highly recommended that applicants use the pre-application form available through the eBusiness center and below to comply with this new requirement.
A new 401 application form and instructions is available below on the Water Quality Certifications tab. It is highly recommended that applicants use the 401 application form available through the eBusiness center to comply with this new requirement.
NEW OPTIONS TO SUBMIT APPLICATION ONLINE NOW
Due to the current situation with many employees working remotely, it is highly recommended that applicants use the Ohio EPA eBusiness Center to prepare and submit applications for pre-application meetings, 401 water quality certifications, 401 director’s authorizations, and isolated wetland permits. Hard copy applications received through the mail will take longer to be received, assigned, and reviewed due to the limited staff working in the building.
Users can create an Ohio EPA eBusiness Center account, obtain a PIN (i.e., electronic signature) within minutes, and access and submit applications. More information for submitting through the eBusiness center is available on the respective tabs below in the form of Electronic Submittal User Guides.
- Account Creation and PIN Setup Walkthrough
- IMPORTANT NOTE: Consultants CAN NOT PIN (electronically sign) applications on behalf of their clients. Consultants can COMPLETE the application then DELEGATE it to their client to pin and submit. Instructions for delegation are located in the User Guides within the tabs below.
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