Monthly Lunch & Learn Series – USACE Permitting – Pre-Application: What is it, how to use it and why?

Did you know the USACE has a pre-application process, with a form you can access online, that can help you gain an understanding of the various permits and potential timelines you’ll need for your project? Neither did we! While permitting integrated floodplain management is challenging, connecting early in your project process with regulatory staff through this pre-app process can help you plan, consider necessary design changes earlier and budget better, hopefully reducing some of the stress associated with it.

Join us at the next FbD Lunch & Learn on Thursday, May 4th from 12pm – 1pm where we’ll hear from Evan Carnes, the Chief of the Columbia Basin Section for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, Regulatory Branch. Among his other duties, Evan leads the Seattle District Regulatory Program’s ‘Restoration Project Permit Streamlining’ effort throughout the State of Washington and Evan will discuss some of those efforts.

Evan will be joined by Christina Schoenfelder – Engineering Supervisor for the River & Flood Division of Whatcom County Public Works. Among her other duties, she works directly with staff, consultant teams, and agency representatives to apply for permits and incorporate environmental mitigation at a project level. Christina filled out the aforementioned Pre-Application Information Request form and will chat with Evan about how to bring more ease into permitting complex integrated floodplain projects. The USACE project manager Christina has worked with successfully, but frequently informally, for years recently took another position.  She’s excited to engage in a conversation about how a more institutionalized pre-application structure and process similar to her informal relationship built over years can help standardize the steps she’ll need to keep Whatcom’s projects moving forward.

This segment is the first in a multi-part Permitting Pathways series that will continue at the June and July Lunch & Learns. These conversations will help build toward a deeper dive presentation from Evan at an in-person FbD Convening in the fall. If you have comments, questions, or even just frustrations with the permitting process you’d like to share, please submit them here and the backbone team will integrate them into our efforts to help streamline processes.

As always, we welcome feedback and ideas for upcoming topics so please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Lunch and Learn team: Allan Warren (awarren@b-e-f.org), Carol MacIlroy (cmacilroy@gmail.com), Lisa Nelson, (lnel461@ecy.wa.gov) or Matt Gerlach, (mger461@ecy.wa.gov).