Jurisdictional Determinations

Photo by Jeremy Morgan

Approved Jurisdictional Determinations and Preliminary Jurisdictional Determinations are tools used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to help implement Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Sections 9 and 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. Both types of jurisdictional determinations specify what geographic areas will be treated as subject to regulation by the USACE, Regulatory Division under one or both statutes. It is not required that a jurisdictional determination be requested before applying for a permit.

A Preliminary Jurisdictional Determination (PJD) may include the delineated limits of all aquatic resources on a parcel(s) and is advisory in nature. All aquatic resources determined to occur in the review area are treated as jurisdictional. PJDs are not appealable but may be revised if new information provided warrants such revision.

An Approved Jurisdictional Determination (AJD) provides a definitive, official determination that there are, or that there are not, jurisdictional aquatic resources on a parcel and identifies the geographical limits of jurisdictional aquatic resources on a parcel. An AJD may be requested at any time during the permit review process. AJDs are valid for five years but can be appealed through the Corps' administrative appeal process set out at 33 CFR Part 331.

All jurisdictional determination requests can be emailed to us.

USACE, Regulatory Division is responsible for protecting many of the nation’s aquatic environments including oceans, rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, and wetlands.

These areas are referred to by the USACE, Regulatory Division as waters of the United States (WOTUS). The USACE, Regulatory Division is the only agency with the authority to officially determine if an area contains WOTUS. The discharge of fill into, or work in, under or over WOTUS may require a permit from the USACE. Permits, licenses, or similar authorizations may also be required by other federal, state, and local agencies.

Our headquarters website has additional jurisdictional determination information .

Photo by Jennifer Martin

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency define wetlands as follows:

Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. Wetlands such as swamps and marshes are often obvious, but some wetlands are not easily recognized, often because they are dry during part of the year or “they just don't look very wet” from the roadside.

As a significant natural resource, wetlands serve important functions relating to fish and wildlife, such as food chain production, habitat, nesting spawning, rearing and resting sites for aquatic and land species. They also act as storage areas for storm and flood waters, moderate flows in streams and rivers, buffer shorelines against wave action, reduce erosion, improve water quality through filtration and nutrient cycling, act as a natural recharge area where ground and surface water are interconnected and store carbon.

Wetland boundaries are determined using the three parameter approach (hydrology, hydric soils and hydrophytic vegetation) described in the 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual and the Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Hawai’i and Pacific Islands Region. Field-delineated wetlands by qualified people using the manual and supplement often have very different boundaries from those exhibited on national, state and local wetland maps.

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act requires that anyone proposing to deposit dredged or fill material into “waters of the United States, including wetlands,” must receive authorization for such activities. If you intend to place dredged or fill material in a wetland or in an area that might be a wetland, contact USACE for assistance in determining if a permit is required.