EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

seaward a distance of three miles.
Waters of the U.S. (as defined in 40 CFR 122.2) are:
� All waters which are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in
interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow
of the tide;
� All interstate waters, including interstate “wetlands;”
� All other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams),
mudflats, sandflats, “wetlands,” sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or
natural ponds the use, degradation, or destruction of which would affect or could affect
interstate or foreign commerce including any such waters:
o Which are or could be used by interstate or foreign travelers for recreational or other
purposes;
o From which fish or shellfish are or could be taken and sold in interstate or foreign
commerce; or
o Which are used or could be used for industrial purposes by industries in interstate
commerce;
� All impoundments of waters otherwise defined as waters of the United States under this
definition;
� Tributaries of those waters described above;
� The territorial sea; and
� “Wetlands” adjacent to waters (other than waters that are themselves wetlands).
The action area also includes other wetland or aquatic sites that do not meet the definition of
“Waters of the U.S.” and adjacent upland areas that may be affected by the introduction and
spread of aquatic nuisance species.
Because NMFS only has jurisdiction over marine, coastal, estuarine, or anadromous endangered
species, threatened species, and critical habitat that has been designated for those species in those
ecosystems, this consultation addresses the potential effects of the proposed VGPs in a portion of
this Action Area.
Status of the Species and Critical Habitat
In this section of this Opinion we describe the threatened and endangered species 2 and their
designated critical habitat that occur in the action area and may be exposed to the direct or
2 We use the word “species” as it has been defined in section 3 of the ESA, which include “species, subspecies, and any distinct
population segment of any species of vertebrate fish or wildlife which interbreeds when mature (16 U.S.C. 1533)”. Pacific
salmon that have been listed as endangered or threatened were listed as “evolutionarily significant units (ESU)” which NMFS
uses to identify distinct population segments (DPS) of Pacific salmon. Any ESU or DPS is a “species” for the purposes of the
ESA.
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