Guidance on the Application of Best Management Practices to Mechanical Silvicultural Site Preparation Activities for the Establishment of Pine Plantations in the Southeast

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army

Corps of Engineers

Guidance on the Application of Best Management Practices to

Mechanical Silvicultural Site Preparation Activities for the

Establishment of Pine Plantations in the Southeast

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DOD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps

of Engineers (Corps) issued a Memorandum to the Field dated November

28, 1995, on the application of best management practices to mechanical

silvicultural site preparation activities for the establishment of pine

plantations in the Southeast. The purpose of the guidance is to clarify

those circumstances where mechanical silvicultural site preparation

activities conducted in accordance with best management practices will

not require a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit. Discussions with

representatives of the forest industry, environmental organizations and

State agencies provided key input during guidance development. The

clarification of this site preparation issue relies in large part on

State expertise in the development and implementation of best

management practices associated with Forestry activities in wetlands.

The guidance also discusses EPA and Corps support of follow-up efforts

by the States and private interests to promote effective best

management practices and protect wetland resources in Southeastern

States.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Details are available from EPA and Corps field staff listed at the end

of the memorandum, or Mr. John Goodin (EPA) at (202) 260-9910 or Mr.

Victor Cole (Corps) at (202) 761-0201.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is the subject guidance

[[Page 7243]]

previously provided to the EPA and Corps field offices.

Daniel R. Burns,

Chief, Operations, Construction and Readiness Division, Directorate of

Civil Works.

Memorandum to the Field--Corps and EPA Regulatory Program Chiefs

Subject: Application of Best Management Practices to Mechanical

Silvicultural Site Preparation Activities for the Establishment of Pine

Plantations in the Southeast.

Date: November 28, 1995.

This memorandum \1\ clarifies the applicability of forested

wetlands best management practices to mechanical silvicultural site

preparation activities for the establishment of pine plantations in the

Southeast. Mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities \2\

conducted in accordance with the best management practices discussed

below, which are designed to minimize impacts to the aquatic ecosystem,

will not require a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit. These best

management practices further recognize that certain wetlands should not

be subject to unpermitted mechanical silvicultural site preparation

activities because of the adverse nature of potential impacts

associated with these activities on these sites.

\1\ This guidance is written to provide interpretation and

clarification of existing EPA and Corps regulations and does not

change any substantive requirements of these regulations. This

memorandum is further intended to provide clarification regarding

the exercise of discretion under current agency regulations.

\2\ Mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities include

shearing, raking, ripping, chopping, windrowing, piling, and other

similar physical methods used to cut, break apart, or move logging

debris following harvest for the establishment of pine plantations.

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This memorandum recognizes State expertise that is reflected in the

development and implementation of regionally specific best management

practices (BMPs) associated with forestry activities in wetlands. Such

BMPs encourage sound silvicultural operations while providing

protection of certain wetlands functions and values. The U.S. Army

Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) believe that it is appropriate to apply the Clean Water Act

Section 404 program in a manner that builds from, and is consistent

with, this State experience. The Agencies will support and assist State

efforts to build upon these BMPs at the State level, to ensure that

mechanical silvicultural site preparation is conducted in a manner that

best reflects the specific wetlands resource protection and management

goals of each State.

Introduction

Forested wetlands exhibit a wide variety of water regimes, soils,

and vegetation types that in turn provide a myriad of functions and

values. The States in the Southeast contain forested wetlands systems

that in many cases are also subject to ongoing timber operations. In

developing silvicultural BMPs, States have identified those specific

forestry practices that will protect water quality. This guidance was

developed to respond to questions regarding the applicability of

Section 404 to mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities.

EPA and the Corps relied extensively on existing State knowledge to

protect aquatic ecosystems with BMPs, including the types of wetlands,

types of activities, and BMPs described below.

This memorandum reflects information gathered from the southeastern

United States, where mechanical silvicultural site preparation

activities are associated with the establishment of pine plantations in

wetlands.\3\ As such, this memorandum, and particularly the

descriptions of wetlands, activities, and BMPs, necessarily focus on

this area of the country. However, the guidance presented is generally

applicable when addressing mechanical silvicultural site preparation

activities in wetlands elsewhere in the country.

\3\ Information was considered from the following States in the

Southeast: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,

Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

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Circumstances Where Mechanical Silvicultural Site Preparation

Activities Requires a Permit

The States, in coordination with the forestry community and the

public, have recognized that mechanical silvicultural site preparation

activities may have measurable and significant impacts on aquatic

ecosystems when conducted in wetlands that are permanently flooded,

intermittently exposed, and semi-permanently flooded, and in certain

additional wetland communities that exhibit aquatic functions and

values that are more susceptible to impacts from these activities. For

the wetland types identified in this section, it is most effective to

evaluate proposals for site preparation and potential associated

environmental effects on a case-by-case basis as part of the individual

permit process. Therefore, mechanical silvicultural site preparation

activities in the areas listed below require a permit.\4\

\4\ The community descriptions draw extensively from: Schafale,

M.P., and A.S. Weakley, 1990. Classification of the Natural

Communities of North Carolina. North Carolina Natural Heritage

Program, Raleigh, NC. 325pp.

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A permit will be required in the following areas unless they have

been so altered through past practices (including the installation and

continuous maintenance of water management structures) as to no longer

exhibit the distinguishing characteristics described below (see

``Circumstances Where Mechanical Silvicultural Site Preparation

Activities Do Not Require a Permit'' below). Of course, discharges

incidental to activities in any wetlands that convert waters of the

United States to non-waters always require authorization under Clean

Water Act Section 404.

(1) Permanently flooded, intermittently exposed, and semi-

permanently flooded wetlands. The hydrology of permanently flooded

wetland systems is characterized by water that covers the land surface

throughout the year in all years. The hydrology of intermittently

exposed wetlands is characterized by surface water that is present

throughout the year except in years of extreme drought. The hydrology

of semi-permanently flooded wetlands is characterized by surface water

that persists throughout the growing season in most years and, when it

is absent, the water table is usually at or very near the land

surface.\5\ Examples typical of these wetlands include Cypress-Gum

Swamps, Muck and Peat Swamps, and Cypress Strands/Domes.

\5\ Cowardin, L.M., et al. 1979. Classification of wetlands and

deepwater habitats of the United States. U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Washington, DC. 131pp.

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(2) Riverine Bottomland Hardwood wetlands: seasonally flooded (or

wetter) bottomland hardwood wetlands within the first or second bottoms

of the floodplains of river systems. Site-specific characteristics of

hydrology, soils, vegetation, and the presence of alluvial features

elaborated in paragraphs a, b, and c below will be determinative of the

boundary of riverine bottomland hardwood wetlands. National Wetlands

Inventory maps can provide a useful reference for the general location

of these wetlands on the landscape.

(a) the hydrologic characteristics included in this definition

refer to seasonally flooded or wetter river floodplain sites where

overbank flooding has resulted in alluvial features such as well-

defined floodplains, bottoms/terraces, natural levees, and

[[Page 7244]]

backswamps. For the purposes of this guidance definition, ``seasonally

flooded'' bottomland hardwood wetlands are characterized by surface

water that is present for extended periods, especially early in the

growing season \6\ (usually greater than 14 consecutive days), but is

absent by the end of the season in most years. When surface water is

absent, the water table is often near the land surface. Field

indicators of the presence of surface water include water-stained

leaves, drift lines, and water marks on trees.

\6\ Consistent with the 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetlands

Delineation Manual, growing season starting and ending dates are

determined by the 28 degrees F or lower temperature threshold.

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(b) the vegetative characteristics included in this definition

refer to forested wetlands where hardwoods dominate the canopy. For the

purposes of this guidance definition, riverine bottomland hardwoods do

not include sites in which greater than 25% of the canopy is pine.

(c) The soil characteristics included in this definition refer to

listed hydric soils that are poorly drained or very poorly drained. For

the purposes of this guidance definition, riverine bottomland hardwoods

do not include sites with hydric soils that are somewhat poorly drained

or that, at a particular site, do not demonstrate chroma, concretions,

and other field characteristics verifying it as a hydric soil.

(3) White Cedar Swamps: wetlands, greater than one acre in

headwaters and greater than five acres elsewhere, underlain by peat of

greater than one meter, and vegetated by natural white cedar

representing more than 50% of the basal area, where the total basal

area for all tree species is 60 square feet or greater.

(4) Carolina Bay wetlands: oriented, elliptical depressions with a

sand rim, either (a) underlain by clay-based soils and vegetated by

cypress; or, (b) underlain by peat of greater than one-half meter and

typically vegetated with an overstory of Red, Sweet, and Loblolly Bays.

(5) Non-riverine Forest Wetlands: wetlands in this group are rare,

high quality wet forests, with mature vegetation, located on the

Southeastern coastal plain, whose hydrology is dominated by high water

tables. Two forest community types fall into this group: \7\

\7\ These forest types are a subset of those described in

Schafale and Weakley, 1990.

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(a) Non-riverine Wet Hardwood Forests--poorly drained mineral soil

interstream flats (comprising 10 or more contiguous acres), typically

on the margins of large peatland areas, seasonally flooded or saturated

by high water tables, with vegetation dominated (greater than 50% of

basal area per acre) by swamp chestnut oak, cherrybark oak, or laurel

oak alone or in combination.

(b) Non-riverine Swamp Forests--very poorly drained flats

(comprising 5 or more contiguous acres), with organic soils or mineral

soils with high organic content, seasonally to frequently flooded or

saturated by high water tables, with vegetation dominated by bald

cypress, pond cypress, swamp tupelo, water tupelo, or Atlantic white

cedar alone or in combination.

The term ``high quality'' used in this characterization refers to

generally undisturbed forest stands, whose character is not

significantly affected by human activities (e.g., forest management).

Non-riverine Forest wetlands dominated by red maple, sweetgum, or

loblolly pine alone or in combination are not considered to be of high

quality, and therefore do not require a permit.

(6) Low Pocosin wetlands: central, deepest parts of domed peatlands

on poorly drained interstream flats, underlain by peat soils greater

than one meter, typically vegetated by a dense layer of short shrubs.

(7) Wet Marl Forests: hardwood forest wetlands underlain with

poorly drained marl-derived, high pH soils.

(8) Tidal Freshwater Marshes: wetlands regularly or irregularly

flooded by freshwater with dense herbaceous vegetation, on the margins

of estuaries or drowned rivers or creeks.

(9) Maritime Grasslands, Shrub Swamps, and Swamp Forests: barrier

island wetlands in dune swales and flats, underlain by wet mucky or

sandy soils, vegetated by wetland herbs, shrubs, and trees.

Circumstances Where Mechanical Silvicultural Site Preparation

Activities Do Not Require a Permit

Mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities in wetlands

that are seasonally flooded, intermittently flooded, temporarily

flooded, or saturated, or in existing pine plantations and other

silvicultural sites (except as listed above), minimize impacts to the

aquatic ecosystem and do not require a permit if conducted according to

the BMPs listed below. Of course, silvicultural practices conducted in

uplands never require a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit.

The hydrology of seasonally flooded wetlands is characterized by

surface water that is present for extended periods, especially early in

the growing season, but is absent by the end of the season in most

years (when surface water is absent, the water table is often near the

surface). The hydrology of intermittently flooded wetland systems is

characterized by substrate that is usually exposed, but where surface

water is present for variable periods without detectable seasonable

periodicity. The hydrology of temporarily flooded wetlands is

characterized by surface water that is present for brief periods during

the growing season, but also by a water table that usually lies well

below the soil surface for most of the season. The hydrology of

saturated wetlands is characterized by substrate that is saturated to

the surface for extended periods during the growing season, but also by

surface water that is seldom present.\8\ Examples typical of these

wetlands include Pine Flatwoods, Pond Pine Woodlands, and Wet Flats

(e.g., certain pine/hardwood forests).

\8\ Cowardin et al., 1979.

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Best Management Practices

Every State in the Southeast has developed BMPs for forestry to

protect water quality and all but two have also developed specific BMPs

for forested wetlands. These BMPs have been developed because

silvicultural practices have the potential to result in impacts to the

aquatic ecosystem. Mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities

include shearing, raking, ripping, chopping, windrowing, piling, and

other similar physical methods used to cut, break apart, or move

logging debris following harvest. Impacts such as soil compaction,

turbidity, erosion, and hydrologic modifications can result if not

effectively controlled by BMPs. States have developed BMPs that address

not only types of wetlands and types of activities, but also detail

specific measures to protect water quality through establishing special

management zones, practices for stream crossings, and practices for

forest road construction.

In developing forested wetlands BMPs, States in the Southeast have

recognized that certain silvicultural site preparation techniques are

more effective when conducted in areas that have drier water regimes.

The BMPs stated below represent a composite of State expertise to

protect water quality from silvicultural impacts. These BMPs also

address the location, as well as the nature, of activities. The Corps

and EPA believe that these forested wetlands BMPs are effective in

protecting water quality and therefore are adopting them

[[Page 7245]]

to protect these functions and values considered under Section 404.

The following forested wetlands BMPs are designed to minimize the

impacts associated with mechanical silvicultural site preparation

activities in circumstances where these activities do not require a

permit (authorization from the Corps is necessary for discharges

associated with silvicultural site preparation in wetlands described

above as requiring a permit \9\). The BMPs include, at a minimum, the

following:

\9\ Contact the nearest Corps District listed at the end of this

document for further information.

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(1) position shear blades or rakes at or near the soil surface and

windrow, pile, and otherwise move logs and logging debris by methods

that minimize dragging or pushing through the soil to minimize soil

disturbance associated with shearing, raking, and moving trees, stumps,

brush, and other unwanted vegetation;

(2) conduct activities in such a manner as to avoid excessive soil

compaction and maintain soil tilth;

(3) arrange windrows in such a manner as to limit erosion, overland

flow, and runoff;

(4) prevent disposal or storage of logs or logging debris in

streamside management zones--defined areas adjacent to streams, lakes,

and other waterbodies--to protect water quality;

(5) maintain the natural contour of the site and ensure that

activities do not immediately or gradually convert the wetland to a

non-wetland; and

(6) conduct activities with appropriate water management mechanisms

to minimize off-site water quality impacts.

Implementation

EPA and the Corps will continue to work closely with State forestry

agencies to promote the implementation of consistent and effective BMPs

that facilitate sound silvicultural practices. In those States where no

BMPs specific to mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities

in forested wetlands are currently in place, EPA and the Corps will

coordinate with those States to develop BMPs. In the interim,

mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities conducted in

accordance with this guidance will not require a Section 404 permit.

In order to ensure consistency in the application of this guidance

over time, changes to the vegetation of forested wetlands associated

with human activities conducted after the issuance of this guidance

will not alter its applicability. For example, this guidance is not

intended to establish the requirement for a permit for mechanical

silvicultural site preparation where tree harvesting results in the

establishment of site characteristics for which a permit would

otherwise be required (e.g., where the selective cutting of naturally

occurring pine in a Riverine Bottomland Hardwood wetland site with

originally greater than 25% pine in the canopy results in a site

``where hardwoods dominate the canopy''). In a similar manner, while

harvesting of timber consistent with the requirements of Section 404(f)

is exempt from regulation and natural changes (e.g., wildfire,

succession) may change site characteristics, human manipulation of the

vegetative characteristics of a site does not alter its status for the

purposes of this guidance (e.g., removal of all the Atlantic White

Cedar in an Atlantic White Cedar Swamp does not eliminate the need for

a permit for mechanical silvicultural site preparation if the area

would have required a permit before the removal of the trees).

Finally, the Agencies will encourage efforts at the State level to

identify additional wetlands which may be of special concern and could

be incorporated into State BMPs and cooperative programs, initiatives,

and partnerships to protect these wetlands. To facilitate this effort,

stakeholders are encouraged to develop a process after the issuance of

this guidance to identify and protect unique and rare wetland sites on

lands of the participating stakeholders. EPA and the Corps will monitor

the application of this guidance, progress with conserving special

wetland sites through cooperative programs and initiatives, and

consider any new information, such as advances in silvicultural

practices, improvements to State BMPs, or data relevant to potential

impacts to wetlands, to determine whether the list of wetlands subject

to the permit requirement should be modified or other revisions to this

guidance are appropriate.

Further Information

The Corps and EPA will work closely with the States, forestry

community, and public to answer any questions that may arise with

regard to this guidance. For further information on this memorandum,

please contact Mr. John Goodin of EPA's Wetlands Division at (202) 260-

9910 or Mr. Sam Collinson of the Corps of Engineer's Regulatory Branch

at (202) 761-0199. The public may also contact:

EPA Region IV: Tom Welborn (404) 347-3871 ext. 6507

EPA Region VI: Bill Cox (214) 665-6680

EPA Region III: Barbara D'Angelo (215) 597-9301

Corps Wilmington District: Wayne Wright (910) 251-4630

Corps Charleston District: Bob Riggs (803) 727-4330

Corps Savannah District: Nick Ogden (912) 652-5768

Corps Jacksonville District: John Hall (904) 232-1666

Corps Norfolk District: Woody Poore (804) 441-7068

Corps Mobile District: Ron Krizman (334) 690-2658

Corps Little Rock District: Louie Cockman (501) 324-5296

Corps Memphis District: Larry Watson (901) 544-3471

Corps Nashville District: Randy Castleman (615) 736-5181

Corps New Orleans District: Ron Ventola (504) 862-2255

Corps Vicksburg District: Beth Guynes (601) 631-5276

Robert H. Wayland, III,

Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds, Environmental

Protection Agency.

Michael L. Davis,

Chief, Regulatory Branch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

[FR Doc. 96-4345 Filed 2-26-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3710-92-M