Protecting a shoreline also means attending to what moves between land and water. The Corps' living-shoreline permit, issued in its January 6, 2017 rule, requires design, construction and maintenance that cause no more than minimal adverse effects on water movement and the movement of aquatic organisms. Stabilizing the bank is not the only consideration written into the authorization. [2016-31355]
Nationwide Permit 54 concerns coastal waters, including the Great Lakes, with small fetch, gentle slopes and low- to mid-energy waves. A living shoreline must have a substantial biological component, such as fringe wetlands or oyster or mussel reef structures. If a permittee plants the site, native plants suited to its conditions are required. The permit excludes beach nourishment and land reclamation. [2016-31355]
The June 2016 proposal placed regional conditions within the process, calling for district-level public notices and environmental decision documents. That history matters to stewardship: the national category was not designed to erase local environmental considerations. The proposal and final rule are one agency's policy record, not independent evidence that a shoreline has been restored or that affected communities agree on a project. [2016-31355][2016-12083]
The final permit requires notification before construction, and maintenance may also require it under general or regional conditions. Proper maintenance remains an obligation after installation. The program's original effective date was March 19, 2017. Its minimal-effects threshold is not a promise of no harm. A practical ethical question is whether protection of a bank respects these continuing connections, rather than whether a project merely uses a nature-based label. [2016-31355]
Source documents
- Issuance and Reissuance of Nationwide Permitshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-01-06/html/2016-31355.htm
- Proposal To Reissue and Modify Nationwide Permitshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-06-01/html/2016-12083.htm