The U.S. Permitting Council has committed $32.06 million to a tool intended to help the Army Corps identify land outside federal water jurisdiction. The investment targets routine determinations while leaving district officials responsible for decisions.
The Non-WOTUS Explorer will combine landscape data with written reasoning to help the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirm that a site contains no waters regulated under the Clean Water Act. The Permitting Council announced the two-phase investment on October 14, with a federal-land prototype due within six months and a nationwide version within eighteen months.
Finding the Sites That Can Leave the Queue
Landowners often seek a jurisdictional determination before advancing a project. According to the Council, existing maps can lack the precision needed to rule out federal jurisdiction, requiring a specialist to visit the site. The proposed tool will bring together satellite imagery, aerial photography, LiDAR elevation information, hydrology and other datasets to support those assessments.
Its intended focus is land that is clearly outside the regulated category. That narrows the administrative task: identifying straightforward negative findings could release specialist time for cases where the presence or connection of waters needs closer examination. The announcement does not establish that a map will resolve every disputed boundary.
A Written Explanation Still Needs a Decision
Every result is meant to include a plain-language explanation tied to the Clean Water Act and current jurisdictional rules. Corps districts will retain final authority. The explanation therefore becomes part of the decision support, giving the landowner an account of how officials reached the conclusion rather than merely displaying a classification on a screen.
The Council estimates that the tool could clear 4,000 determinations from the annual queue, save about $5.5 million a year and release nearly 48,000 hours of specialist time. These are projected benefits once the system is in use. The announcement supplies no measured reduction in processing times from an operating national service.
The first delivery milestone is consequently quite specific: a working prototype focused on federal lands in the contiguous United States. Its usefulness will turn on whether the combined data and explanation can support determinations that district officials are prepared to issue. That is the administrative capacity the investment is buying.
Take-Out
A faster negative determination depends on evidence that a site falls outside jurisdiction. The funded tool is designed to support that finding; Corps districts retain the decision.
Questions and answers
What readers should know
- What Has Been Funded?
- A $32.06 million, two-phase investment in the Non-WOTUS Explorer, announced by the Permitting Council on October 14.
- Who Makes the Jurisdictional Decision?
- Army Corps districts retain final authority over every determination; the tool provides decision support.
- What Information Will It Combine?
- The announcement identifies satellite imagery, aerial photographs, LiDAR, streamflow and hydrology information, alongside other datasets.
- When Is Delivery Expected?
- A federal-land prototype is due within six months, followed by a nationwide version within eighteen months.
- Are the Claimed Savings Already Achieved?
- No. The annual savings, staff-time release and faster project starts are estimates for a system that has yet to enter national use.
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