Region 10 Settles with Ryan Smith and Noah Smith for Clean Water Act (CWA) Violations. On April 4, 2023, Region 10 filed an expedited settlement agreement resolving violations of the 402 Section of the CWA by Ryan and Noah Smith at the property located within Section #, T. 9 N/., R. 14 E., Fairbanks Meridian; USGS Quad Map Central C-2 SW; Latitude 65.57033? N., Longitude 144.85272? W.; at Mile Post 126.2 of the Steese Highway, in Central, Alaska.
Respondents constructed a building near an adjacent wetland without filing a Notice of Intent (NOI) for coverage under the Alaska General Permit for Discharge Activities from Large and Small Construction Activities. Failure to file the NOI resulted in unauthorized discharges.
For purposes of penalty calculation, if there is precipitation of 0.5in or greater in a 24-hour period, a discharge is assumed for the month. From July 2019 through December 2022, there were 10 months that had of 0.5in of precipitation within a 24-hour period as determined by weather data collected from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration?s (NOAA) Circle Hot Springs, Alaska observation station. The last instance was on September 4, 2022.
The construction activity was discovered by a representative of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) who was in the area conducting site inspections.
The Environmental Benefit of this enforcement action is the reduction of pollutants entering waters of the U.S. The pollutants reduced, and