Public Notice: Santee South Bridge Project/Knox County Highway Department, Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska and Knox County, Nebraska
Summary
Notice of Intent to Consider Certification in Indian Country
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received a request from Santee South Bridge Project/Knox County Highway Department for a Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 water quality certification (WQC) for Indian Country for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers NWO-2026-00131.
Under CWA Section 401, applicants for federal licenses or permits are required obtain a certification or waiver prior to conducting any activity that may result in any discharge into waters of the United States. Applicants must obtain this certification or waiver from the certifying authority where the discharge originates or will originate. EPA will do a review to determine if the activity proposed will comply with the applicable water quality requirements, including any limitation, standard, or other requirement under sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307 of the CWA; any federal and state or Tribal laws or regulations implementing those sections; and any other water quality-related requirement of state or Tribal law. Where no state or Tribe has authority to do the review and give such certification or waiver, EPA is the certifying authority under 33 U.S.C. 1341(a)(1). In this case, Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska does not have the authority to provide CWA Section 401 certification, therefore, EPA is making the certification decision for the following permit.
Permit Information
Project Proponent Name: Knox County Bridge 35-36W1
Appropriate Point of Contact Information: Michael A. Rowe, Jr.
Name of Tribe/Jurisdiction for Which EPA Region 7 is Serving as the Certifying Authority: Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska and Knox County, Nebraska
Project Name or Title: Knox County Bridge 35-36W1
Project Street Address: 894th Road over an unnamed tributary of Lost Creek
Geographic Location:
Longitude (Decimal degrees, 4 places): 42.7834
Latitude (Decimal degrees, 4 places): 97.8389
Identify waters of the United States into which any potential discharge would occur (include acreage or linear feet of waters of the United States impacted): An unnamed tributary of Lost Creek will be impacted during the removal of an existing 96” diameter corrugated metal culvert. The removal of the existing culvert will impact approximately 0.012 acres of wetlands and 70 linear feet of channel.
Project Type: The project consists of removing an existing 96” diameter corrugated metal pipe that is 60 feet long and installing a new 28 feet 4 inches wide by 28 feet long single span bridge on 894th Road over an unnamed tributary of Lost Creek.
Description of anticipated project construction and operation activities:
Knox County and Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska are working together to remove an existing 96” diameter corrugated metal culvert 60’-0” long and install a new 28’-4” wide by 28’-0” long bridge. The existing culvert has a large hemorrhage near the center of the roadway and is near failure. The proposed bridge will increase the waterway area and restore the channel to near pre-culvert conditions.
Members of the public may comment upon or object to the application or request a public hearing by emailing r7cwa401@epa.gov within 15 days of the publication date of this public notice. To request information about the application, please contact Joseph Zupan, EPA Region 7, toll-free at 1-913-551-7337. Individuals requesting a public hearing must state the nature of the issues to be raised at the hearing, and all arguments and actual grounds for supporting their position. Public comments provided will be considered prior to making a final decision regarding the certification.