Reg. 87 - Colorado Dredge and Fill Program Engagement (HB24-1379)
On May 29, 2024, House Bill (HB) 24-1379 was signed into law. 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 drastically limited the scope of federal protection under the Clean Water Act through its decision in Sackett v. EPA.
In anticipation of the Sackett decision, Governor Polis convened a task force in Jan. 2023 to explore options to ensure continued protection for Colorado’s waterways from the impacts of dredge and fill activities. Stakeholders continued to meet in 2023 and the first part of 2024 to discuss a regulatory framework that made sense for the protection of Colorado’s water resources. If you are interested in reviewing past meeting materials from these efforts, they are available in this public folder. These efforts culminated in the passage of HB24-1379.
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. See below for more details about engagement opportunities, including stakeholder meetings and workshops, for the implementation of HB24-1379 and the development of Regulation No. 87.
For more information on the division’s implementation efforts, including resources on Temporary Authorizations, please visit the dredge and fill implementation webpage.
We are in the formal rulemaking hearing process under the Water Quality Control Commission’s purview. Please refer to the commission's website and this public folder for all updates on all Regulation 87 rulemaking proceedings going forward.
How to get involved
The division has concluded hosting stakeholder meetings related to this topic. All meeting materials, including agendas, presentations, and Zoom recordings, are available for review in this public folder.
To support potential project proponents, the division will host a mitigation banks training in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, from 10 to 11 a.m. This training will outline the federal process for developing, approving, and using wetland and stream mitigation banks, aiming to inform mitigation banking at the state level. Training materials will be available in this public folder closer to the meeting date.
As part of this effort, the division held two compensatory mitigation workshops to discuss wetland and stream mitigation options. Our goal for these workshops was to inform compensatory mitigation requirements under Regulation No. 87 and a potential mitigation policy. The workshops focused on examples and options for wetland and stream mitigation. Workshop materials are available for review in this public folder.
In the draft of Regulation 87, 33 C.F.R. Part 332 (commonly known as the federal 404(b)(1) Guidelines) are incorporated by reference. In accordance with the State Administrative Procedure Act, incorporated materials must be readily available to the public. The version of the 404(b)(1) Guidelines incorporated into the draft of Regulation 87 (effective on May 29, 2024) is located in this public folder.
For more information, please contact cdphe.commentswqcd@state.co.us.