On May 29, 2024, House Bill (HB) 24-1379 was signed by Governor Polis. The intent of the legislation is to ensure that state waters are protected from the impacts of dredge and fill activity after the U.S. Supreme Court limited the scope of federal protections through its decision in Sackett v. EPA.

Temporary Authorizations – Starting January 1, 2025 the Division requires Temporary Authorizations for the discharge of dredge and fill materials into state waters. Temporary Authorizations recognize Nationwide (NWP) and Regional General Permits (RGP) issued by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and are required for projects that would have either required a Pre-Construction Notification (PCN), or Compensatory Mitigation under the federal permitting scheme. If there are questions on whether or not a project requires Temporary Authorization, contact CDPHE.  General email, cdphe_df_wqcd@state.co.us Michaela Snow may also be a good contact michaela.snow@state.co.us

Regulation 87 – HB24-1379 directs the Water Quality Control Division to develop a dredge and fill authorization program and the Water Quality Control Commission to establish permitting and mitigation rules by Dec. 31, 2025. The outcome will be Regulation No. 87, a control regulation for avoiding, minimizing, and mitigating the impacts of dredge and fill activity in Waters of the State in Colorado. Regulation 87 Stakeholder meetings are scheduled monthly throughout 2025 with the final Rulemaking Hearing scheduled for December of 2025.

• Regulation 87 will require that the Division initiate Consultation with external agencies including Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) during the permit review process. The Division and CPW have drafted an initial MOU to define roles and responsibilities in the consultation process.

• Exemptions and Exclusions are set in statute, however interpretation of key terms including projects that are conducted for the sole purpose of “Ecological Lift” is currently being debated. In the May 22 stakeholder meeting, CPW attempted to define these projects, in part, as minimally impactful projects where no heavy equipment is used to construct the project.  

• General Authorizations are aligned with existing federal nationwide permit conditions/classifications. General Authorizations will be applicable to projects in isolated wetlands, isolated ponds and impoundments, and isolated ordinary high-water mark reaches.

• Individual Authorizations will apply to projects that result in larger impacts to state waters, may require consultation with other agencies, and under the current draft Regulation 87 may take up to two years for the Division to review.

• The Compensatory Mitigation framework is currently being discussed and may include considerations and prioritization based off of several factors including onsite vs. offsite, in kind vs. out of kind, mitigation banking, fee in lieu, permittee responsible, and advanced permittee responsible mitigation under a watershed approach (completed in advance of the proposed project). Compensatory mitigation will be required for all General and Individual Authorizations where the proposed dredged or fill material will result in either 1/10^th of an acre or more of unavoidable impacts to wetlands or greater and .003 acres of impact to streams.

• The Fee Structure Proposal was discussed in May 2025 and will continue into the June 2025 stakeholder meetings. The fee structure proposal will likely include fixed fees for General Authorizations and higher fixed fees for General Authorizations that require mitigation. For Individual Authorizations the fee will be structured on a full-cost recovery model. New to the discussion is the idea of one-time consultation fees for assisting applicants.

Relevant Links:

• Stay Informed-Sign up for email notifications
• Register to attend Reg 87 Stakeholder Meetings
• Dredge and Fill Informational Storymap