John Urbanic

How the US Army Corps of Engineers is helping to maintain the integrity of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem

The Department of the Army Regulatory Program is one of the oldest in the Federal Government. Initially it served a fairly simple, straightforward purpose: to protect and maintain the navigable capacity of the Nation’s waters. Time, changing public needs, evolving policy, case law, and new statutory mandates changed the complexion of the program, adding to its breadth, complexity, and authority.

The Regulatory Program is committed to protecting the Nation’s aquatic resources, while allowing reasonable development through fair, flexible and balanced permit decisions. The Corps evaluates permit applications for essentially all construction activities that occur in the Nation’s waters, including wetlands. Under authority of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the Corps independently evaluates projects that propose to discharge dredged or fill material into the Great Salt Lake, its tributaries and their adjacent wetlands.

This talk will discuss the applicability of Section 404 regulation over activities conducted in jurisdictional waters and the decision-making process relating to permitting and mitigation focusing on the Great Salt Lake.

John Urbanic is the Senior Project Manager for the US Army Corps of Engineers in the Utah Field Office. As the Senior PM, John handles complex permit actions including the Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Kennecott Utah Copper Tailings Expansion. He has been with the Corps in both Utah and Alaska for over five years. Prior to working with the Corps, John was a Natural Resources Specialist for the US Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, California. While at Camp Pendleton he was the lead for wetland permitting and for endangered species consultation for listed vernal pool plants and fairy shrimp. He has a Bachelor’s of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Penn State University and a Master’s of Science in Wildlife Biology from Arkansas Tech University.