Avoidance and minimization of impacts must be accomplished before considering compensatory mitigation for wetlands or other waters of the United States.

• Individual permit authorizations under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act require evaluation of an alternative analysis.
   
• This material is not required for the issuance of a Public Notice but is required to fully assess the project for compliance under the Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines (40 CFR Part 230). It would be advantageous to submit this information with the permit application to facilitate accurate description of your project in the public notice.
   
• Provide selection criteria used in determining the feasibility of the chosen project site.
   
• Provide a list of alternatives rejected and reasons including application of criteria to the proposed site.
   
• Provide sufficient information (i.e. location map, site descriptions) for comparison of selected site with other apparent alternative sites.
   
• Statement of reason that impact has been minimized to the smallest impact possible, and other designs considered.
   
• Statement of why avoidance is not possible.
   
• Alternative analyses are not required for projects that meet the RPP or existing nationwide permit conditions with minimal adverse environmental impacts.