ACA Permits: Covered Activities, Application, and Penalties

Antarctic Conservation Act permits are issued by the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs and are required before anyone under U.S. jurisdiction can disturb native wildlife, enter a Specially Protected Area, dispose of waste, or introduce a non-native species in Antarctica. Applications go to acapermits@nsf.gov, and processing runs about 45 to 60 days from submission to decision.¹ Plan backward from your departure with that timeline in mind, and expect to prepare an environmental impact document before the application is even complete.

What Requires a Permit

Section 2403(b) of the Act lists four categories of activity that are unlawful in Antarctica unless the NSF Director has authorized them in writing:²

Disposing of any waste in Antarctica, including dumping waste from land into the sea or incinerating waste on land or ice shelves. A narrow exception applies to incinerator toilets used at remote field sites.
Introducing any organism that is not native to Antarctica, whether a plant, seed, insect, or domestic animal.
Entering or conducting any activity in an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA). These zones are designated by Treaty Parties to protect environmental, scientific, historic, or wilderness values.³
Taking or harming native mammals, birds, plants, or invertebrates. “Harmful interference” reaches indirect disturbance too, such as flying aircraft or driving vehicles close enough to scatter nesting birds or seal colonies.³

Drones sit inside this framework rather than beside it. The NSF treats unmanned aircraft flights as a potential source of wildlife disturbance and waste generation, so non-grantee groups (including tour operators and independent researchers) may need a waste permit before flying any drone in the Treaty area. The permit office handles those requests case by case at acapermits@nsf.gov.¹

What No Permit Can Authorize

Some activities are illegal regardless of any permit. If your plans touch any of the following, the answer is not “apply for authorization”; there is none available under Section 2403(a):²

Bringing prohibited substances onto land, ice shelves, or water in Antarctica. Banned items include pesticides (unless specifically permitted for science or hygiene), polychlorinated biphenyls, nonsterile soil, and loose polystyrene packing materials.⁴
Dumping waste on ice-free land or in freshwater.
Open burning of waste outside approved equipment.
Removing or destroying recognized historic sites or monuments.
Carrying passengers on vessels that do not meet the pollution-prevention standards of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (or an equivalent Protocol-compliant agreement).
Organizing or promoting a nongovernmental expedition from the United States without briefing every participant on their environmental obligations under the Act.

Obstructing federal enforcement officers, resisting inspection of U.S.-flagged vessels or aircraft, and interfering with the arrest of someone who has violated the Act are separate criminal offenses under the same section.

Who Is Covered

The Act reaches every “person” under U.S. jurisdiction: individual citizens, permanent residents, corporations, and federal or state agencies.⁵ Where the trip starts is irrelevant. A U.S. citizen departing from Ushuaia, Christchurch, or Cape Town remains subject to the same permit rules.

Foreign nationals get pulled in when they organize expeditions from within the United States. In that case, they are treated as U.S. citizens for the advance-notification requirement and must work within the permit framework.⁵ Commercial tour operators carry an added duty: every passenger must be notified of the Act’s environmental requirements before the expedition begins.²

Note one separate obligation. The Secretary of State requires advance notification of all U.S. Antarctic expeditions under Article VII of the Antarctic Treaty. That notification runs alongside the ACA permit, not instead of it.

Environmental Documentation You Must Prepare First

You cannot submit a complete application without an environmental impact assessment. EPA regulations at 40 CFR Part 8 set three tiers, and the right one depends on how much impact your activity is likely to cause:⁶

Preliminary Environmental Review Memorandum (PERM). The simplest level. If the proposed activity will have less than a minor or transitory impact, you document that conclusion in a PERM and no further analysis is needed.
Initial Environmental Evaluation (IEE). Required when the activity may have at least a minor or transitory impact but is not expected to exceed it. The IEE examines foreseeable effects and describes mitigation.
Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation (CEE). The most rigorous tier. If an IEE indicates likely impacts above minor or transitory, a CEE is required. It analyzes direct and indirect effects, alternatives (including not proceeding), and comparisons with baseline conditions.

Factors to weigh when classifying include potential harm to air or water quality, effects on native species’ distribution or productivity, risks to endangered populations, and whether your activity combined with others could produce cumulative impacts that look insignificant on their own. When in doubt, prepare the more thorough document. Misclassification can stall or sink an application.

How to Apply

Applications go to the NSF Director through the Office of Polar Programs. The statute authorizes the Director to prescribe the form and content of applications by regulation.⁷ In practice, download the Flora, Fauna, and Protected Area Permit Application from the NSF website and email it to acapermits@nsf.gov.¹ The same process applies to NSF grantees and outside researchers alike.

A workable application includes your full contact information and professional qualifications, exact coordinates and dates of the planned activities, methods and equipment, waste handling, and your PERM, IEE, or CEE. Incomplete applications lead to delay or denial.⁸ If the work involves marine mammals, species listed under the Endangered Species Act, or birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Director must forward a copy to the Secretary of Commerce or the Secretary of the Interior for additional review. If either Secretary determines the action should not be permitted under the laws they administer, the NSF cannot override that.⁷

Timeline and Public Comment

After the NSF receives a completed application, it publishes a summary in the Federal Register and opens a 30-day public comment window.⁷ Anyone can submit written concerns during that period. Everything in the application becomes part of the public record, so treat it as visible from the start.

Once the comment window closes, the Director reviews any feedback and may ask you to clarify or modify. Total processing runs about 45 to 60 days.¹ If approved, you receive a written permit with specific conditions. The Director publishes notice of issuance or denial in the Federal Register within 10 days of the decision.⁷ Denied applicants get a written explanation and may have the chance to submit additional information.

Practically, for an austral summer departure in October or November, start the application by mid-summer. You need environmental documentation drafted, the application polished, and at least two months of processing runway.

After the Permit Issues

The obligations continue past the trip itself. By April 1 following the season in which you conducted permitted activities, you must submit a report to the permit officer at the Office of Polar Programs describing what you actually did.⁹ Missing that deadline is not a paperwork slip; violating any permit condition, including failure to file required reports, is itself an unlawful act under the statute.²

While on the continent, carry your ACA permit whenever working inside an ASPA. Report all fuel spills. Notify an NSF representative promptly if you discover any potentially historic artifact.⁴

Penalties for Violations

The Act carries both civil and criminal exposure. Civil penalties reach $5,000 per violation, doubling to $10,000 per violation when the conduct is knowing.¹⁰ Because penalties are assessed per violation, a single expedition with multiple infractions can compound quickly.

Criminal prosecution applies to knowing violations. Conviction carries a fine of up to $10,000, up to one year in prison, or both.¹¹ Separate penalties apply for obstructing enforcement officers or resisting a lawful arrest under the Act. Tour operators and expedition organizers should note that failure to notify expedition members of their environmental obligations is its own violation.

1
U.S. National Science Foundation. Antarctic Conservation Act and Permits
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 2403 – Prohibited Acts
3
eCFR. 45 CFR Part 670 – Conservation of Antarctic Animals and Plants
4
United States Antarctic Program. Participant Guide Chapter 4 – Environmental Protection, Permits, and Science Cargo
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC Chapter 44 – Antarctic Conservation
6
eCFR. 40 CFR Part 8 – Environmental Impact Assessment of Nongovernmental Activities in Antarctica
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 2404 – Permits
8
eCFR. 45 CFR 670.13 – Permit Issuance and Denial
9
United States Antarctic Program. Participant Guide
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 2407 – Civil Penalties
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 2408 – Criminal Offenses