Regulatory Permits

The Regulatory Division in the New Orleans District’s is responsible for administering the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Regulatory Program in southern Louisiana.   The regulatory authorities and responsibilities of the Corps’ Regulatory Program are based on the following laws:

• Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403) prohibits the obstruction or alteration of navigable waters of the United States without a permit from the Corps.

• Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344). Section 301 of this Act prohibits the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States without a permit from the Corps.

• Section 103 of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, as amended (33 U.S.C. 1413) authorizes the Corps to issue permits for the transportation of dredged material for the purpose of dumping it into ocean waters.

In order to request a permit from Regulatory, please see the section below about Requesting Corps Permits and Permissions.   For more detailed information about the Regulatory Program, please visit the Regulatory Permit Webpage at https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Permits/

Section 408 Permission Requests

Any entity external to the Corps who proposes to alter a Corps civil works project may request a Section 408 permission.  Examples of Section 408 activities include road or utility crossings of levees and channels, dredging to deepen navigation channels, and drainage improvements such as culverts, ditches and drainage pipes.  Multiple offices within the New Orleans District are responsible for evaluating Section 408 permission requests.  In order to grant a permission, the request must not impair the usefulness of the project, and must not be injurious to the public interest.

This mission was federally authorized in Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 USC 408).   Guidance on executing the Section 408 mission was distributed from HQ to the districts in the form of EC-1165-2-220.   For more information, please visit our 408 Permissions Webpage at : https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Section-408/

If you know that you need a Section 408 permission, you can obtain additional information about submitting your request by clicking on the Section 408 hyperlink in the upper left-hand corner of this website.

In order to facilitate the synchronization of the New Orleans District Regulatory and 408 Missions, applicants can provide one submittal to initiate the process for projects that may need a Regulatory permit and/or a Section 408 permission.  To do this, you will need to submit a Corps permit application (Eng 4345) for projects located outside of the coastal zone OR a joint permit application (JPA) with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR) for projects located within the coastal zone.

Click here to Determine whether You Are In the Coastal Zone

Click here to go to the LDNR Website for the JPA  (You will submit your permit application following the instructions on this website).

Click here to go to the Corps Website for the standard Corps Eng 4345 form  (The "Application Form" and "Application Form Instructions" are located under the "Obtain a Permit" section).

For the New Orleans District, the preferred method is for you to submit your permit application electronically.  Click here for instructions on electronically submitting your permit application. 

Hard copy applications and documents are still accepted and those can also be mailed using the following address:

For your convenience, there is an interactive tool on the left-hand side of the screen to assist you in filling out the Eng 4345 permit application.  Although, this tool is developed specifically for the Eng 4345; it could also be useful for the JPA since the same type of information is requested.  If you need additional information, please visit the Regulatory Permit Webpage for specific contact information for the parish the project is located.