Habitat Management Division Permitting

The environmental permits issued by the Habitat Management Division are of three types; subaqueous or bottomlands, tidal wetlands, and coastal primary sand dunes. The division's authority and responsibilities emanate from Subtitle III of Title 28.2 of the Code of Virginia and specifically regulates physical encroachment into these valuable resource areas.

The permit process relies on a single Virginia joint local/state/federal permit application. The review process, for which this application was originally designed, takes into account various local state and federal statutes governing the disturbance or alteration of environmental resources. The Marine Resources Commission plays a central role as an information clearinghouse for all three levels of review. Applications receive independent yet concurrent review by local wetland boards, the Marine Resources Commission, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Joint Permit Applications are available in many local government planning offices and at the Commission's main office in Fort Monroe. Application forms may be downloaded from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Corps JPA link.

A non-refundable processing fee of $100 shall accompany each application (i) submitted for a Commission permit for the use of state-owned submerged lands or (ii) submitted pursuant to ยง 28.2-1203. No such processing fee shall be required for an application to explore or recover underwater historic property or to conduct any activity authorized by a Virginia Marine Resources Commission General Permit

The fee paid to the Commission for issuing each permit to use state-owned bottomlands shall be $100; if the cost of the project is to exceed $10,000 but not exceed $500,000, the fee paid shall be $300; and if the cost of the project is to exceed $500,000, the fee paid shall be $600; see Section 28.2 - 1206 of the Code of Virginia for a full description of permit fees and royalties. To receive an application by mail, please contact us directly at (757) 247-2252.

Information regarding pending and complete permit applications is available on our Habitat Management Permits and Applications Page ( https://webapps.mrc.virginia.gov/public/habitat/ ). For more recent projects you can view permit applications, the project status, a project description including dimensions, site photos and see an aerial photograph. Older project information does not include photos or applications submitted before the Habitat Management Division began digitally recording files in the database. Efforts are, however, underway to digitally record older files and ultimately updated database files with more complete information. [ Habitat Management Permits and Applications Page ] [ Mobile Device Version ]

For assistance with the permit process in a specific area of the State, click on the following link to see a map of the territory assignments of Marine Resource Commission Environmental Engineers with their phone numbers and email addresses (email addresses can be accessed by clicking on the individual's name).

For more information on the Commission's Habit Management Division visit: Habitat Management Division. Regulations and Guidelines related to the Habitat Management Division can be found in the Regulation Index For more information, the Army Corps of Engineers has links to local wetlands boards.


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Page updated: 09:50 AM Thursday, October 12, 2023
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