ARMY CORPS TO HASTEN PERMITTING; MOVE TO AID FLOOD WORK.

Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer

The Army Corps of Engineers is poised to expedite its permitting process to allow emergency flood control measures during the storm season ahead.

The corps, which oversees all construction in natural waterways, plans to issue a broad permit that would cut the red tape for some emergency activities from weeks to hours.

``We're establishing a regional general permit for the Los Angeles district (of the Army Corps of Engineers,) which is most of Southern California and the entire state of Arizona,'' said Bruce Henderson, a senior project manager for the corps ``(Flood control officials) would be able to utilize this permit in a very shortened time span.''

Henderson said the corps will issue a public notice on the proposed permit sometime this week.

It will then accept public testimony for or against the permit for two weeks, then hopefully would issue the permit after that.

The permit would probably extend from the date it is issued to July 31, 1998, Henderson said.

As the rules stand now, said Ventura County Public Works Director Art Goulet, ``We could have a sewer main broken where it crossed a stream and, literally, we could not enter that stream to make repairs without a permit.''

Rather than requiring an individual permit for each emergency situation, Goulet said, a ``regional general permit,'' would allow a broad array of repairs for a set time period.

Goulet has joined the directors of flood control officials from other areas of the state, including Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Clara counties, in a push for streamlined regulations.

Los Angeles County spearheaded the effort after it encountered a regulatory brick wall while trying to perform routine maintenance in preparation for the rainy season, Goulet said.

In a series of recent meetings with the corps, the state Department of Fish and Game, and other regulatory agencies, the flood control officials outlined the pitfalls they may face while fighting the deluges predicted this winter.

While Ventura County has been able to do its pre-storm maintenance work without problems, Goulet said he fears that having to get permits will stall urgent repairs to washed-out levies, cracked pipes or rain-damaged roads after a downpour begins.

If a ``regional general permit'' is issued, Henderson said, flood control officials could take emergency action on the spot, as long as they notified the corps immediately.

``For instance if it's in the middle of the night or over a weekend and they cannot get a hold of any (corps) person, they can go ahead and do the work, provided that it is to prevent imminent loss of life or property,'' he said.

However, Henderson added, flood control agencies may be later required to restore or replace any sensitive habitat damaged by their emergency repairs.