All permitting will be attained prior to issuing construction contracts. The project team will be attaining Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Army Corp of Engineers, Fish and Wildlife and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) - which administers NEPA requirements in Texas via the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) - permits and any others required during the commission phase of the project.

The State of Texas assumed the authority to administer the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program in Texas on September 14, 1998. NPDES is a federal regulatory program to control discharges of pollutants to surface waters of the United States. The TCEQ Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) program now has federal regulatory authority over discharges of pollutants to Texas surface water, with the exception of discharges associated with oil, gas and geothermal exploration and development activities, which are regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas.

To review the agency's TPDES application components for authority to administer the NPDES program, the approval letter from the Environmental Protection Agency authorizing Texas to administer the program and other documents related to the application, go to TPDES Application for NPDES Authorization webpage on the TCEQ website.