From the Sites Project Authority:
The Sites Project Authority has been working for several months with the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) on the Section 401 Water Quality Certification and the Army Corps of Engineers on the Section 404 Wetland Permit for the construction of Sites Reservoir. Both agencies have requested additional information, which the Sites Project Authority will provide. The State Board has a strict one-year deadline to make a water quality certification decision upon submittal of an application. Procedurally, the agencies must deny the permit application “without prejudice” in order to allow the Authority to resubmit a completed application with the new requested information. This is the approach the State Board takes in this type of situation.
The Authority intends to resubmit both applications in mid-2025 and will work with the State Board to resume the application process once the Authority resubmits the Section 404 and Section 401 applications. We do not anticipate this request to impact the project’s construction schedule.
This permit and process is separate from the ongoing water right permit proceedings also occurring before the State Board.
If you have any questions, please contact us directly at info@sitesproject.org.