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Tennessee Water Quality Control Act — Wetlands & Aquatic Resource Alteration Permits (TN)

Tracked preemption from the Tennessee overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
1977-05-09
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:TN
Other Tennessee preemptions
Tennessee State Building Code — 2021 I-Codes via State Fire Marshal SBCOTennessee Voluntary Attainable Housing Incentive Programs — IZ Ban Carve-OutTennessee Short Term Rental Unit Act — Statewide STR GrandfatheringTennessee §6-54-127 — Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning & Rent Control BanTennessee Heritage Protection Act — Memorials on Public PropertyTennessee Agricultural District and Farmland Preservation ActTennessee Industrial Development Board TIF — Economic Impact Plan DistrictsTennessee NPDES Stormwater & Riparian Buffer — Construction & MS4 Permits

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

OR
  • parcel.contains_waters_of_the_state == True
  • parcel.contains_wetlands_state_defined == True
  • project.involves_dredge_fill_or_stream_alteration == True

Preempted fields

2 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
review_typerequiretdec_aquatic_resource_alteration_permitARAP required for any activity altering physical/chemical/biological properties of waters of the state, including isolated and non-isolated wetlands; ARAP also serves as §401 certification where required
land_development.wetland_drainage_or_fillwaive—Wetlands alterations including drainage prohibited without valid ARAP

Citation

Authority source
Tenn. Code Ann. §§69-3-101 through 69-3-148 (Water Quality Control Act of 1977); §69-3-108 (permits)
§ §§69-3-101 et seq.; §69-3-108
https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-69/chapter-3/part-1/section-69-3-108/

Research notes

TN regulates isolated wetlands at the state level even after Sackett v. EPA (2023) narrowed federal WOTUS jurisdiction — distinguishes TN from neighboring states. ARAPs issued or denied within 90 days. General permits cover bank repair, emergency infrastructure repair, gravel removal, maintenance, minor dredging, minor non-isolated wetland alteration, access structures, boat ramps. Federal conflict check: parallel federal Clean Water Act §404 USACE permit may also be required.