 Wetlands are a vital line of defense in protecting water quality from polluted runoff. Wetlands are invaluable because they clean our drinking water, help filter pollution out of our waterways, protect out communities from floods, and sustain fish and wildlife. CWN members work to make sure Congress and the Administration keep their word to protect the nation’s remaining natural wetlands. This includes fending off attacks on current wetlands programs, ensuring new legislation is protective of wetlands, and keeping pressure on the Administration to fix the holes in their wetlands protection programs.
News
EPA Blocks Yazoo Pump Project
Comments on Nationwide Permits Submitted to Corps
Blumenauer Amendment to WRDA Passes
Action Alert: New Corps’ Nationwide Permits—Use State 401 Certifications to Better Protect Water Quality
Corps Announces Reissuance of Nationwide Permits (“NWPs”)
Recent US District Court Decision on 2001 "Tulloch II Rule"
CWN Alert: Act Now to Limit the Use Of Nationwide Permits to Destroy Wetlands and Streams
Request for Proposals for The Mississippi River Water Quality Collaborative's Water Quality Standards Workgroup
Wetlands Workgroup's Comments on Mitigation Rulemaking Available
Wetlands Workgroup Wrapping up Comments on EPA’s Proposed Wetlands Mitigation Rulemaking
Comments by NWF, Sierra Club, American Rivers, NRDC and National Audubon Society on the Mitigation Action Plan
NRDC and the National Wildlife Federation Released Report
Fact Sheets & Reports
New Citizen's Guide to Section 404 Permits
This draft chapter from a Citizen's Guide being written by American Rivers and the National Wildlife Federation provides a primer on Clean Water Act Section 404 Permits. The attached pdf document includes information on the following topics: I. The Corps' Regulatory Program A. Overview of Clean Water Act Section 404
B. Management of the Regulatory Program
C. Environmental Impacts of the Regulatory Program II. Types of Section 404 Permits A. General Permits
B. Individual Permits
C. After-the-Fact Permits
D. Activities Exempt from Permitting III. The Section 404 Permit Review Process A. Nine Step Permit Review Process
B. Two-Tiered Clean Water Act Evaluation IV. Mitigation for Permitted Activities A. Mitigation Overview
B. Types of Compensatory Mitigation
C. Federal and State Mitigation Requirements
D. Mitigation Plans
Submit Comments to EPA on it's Proposed Misguided Wetlands Mitigation Rulemaking
The Wetlands Workgroup created a public comments template for Clean Water Network members to base their comments on the EPA's faulty wetlands mitigation rulemaking. There are several problems with this rulemaking and the template summarizes the most egregious problems with the rulemaking. "The Comments Template for Proposed Mitigation Rule" is available for download in MS Word format from the link above. To view the draft rule go to EPA’s website.
Available Now: GAO Report on the Inadequacy of the Army Corps Management of Wetland Mitigation Projects
Wetlands at Risk: Imperiled Waters
Nowhere Near No-Net-Loss
Mitigation for wetland losses
Studies and research
A National Academy of Sciences report (Compensating for Wetland Losses Under the Clean Water Act) conducted by the National Research Council found that even though total wetland loss has slowed in the past 20 years, the Corps has failed to meet "no net loss" requirements. To view the NRC study click here. To view the National Wildlife Federation's press release (6/26/01) click here.
Mitigation Banking
Mitigation banking is defined by the Corps and EPA as restoring, creating, enhancing, or preserving wetlands and other aquatic resources for purposes of providing compensatory mitigation in advance of authorized impacts to similar resources at another site.
In-lieu Fee
In-lieu fee is defined by the Corps and EPA as a payment "to a natural resource management entity for implementation of either specific or general wetland or other aquatic resource development projects" for projects that "do not typically provide compensatory mitigation in advance of project impacts." View the General Office of Accounting (GAO) study on in-lieu fee.
Isolated wetlands...aka SWANCC
So-called "isolated wetlands" are seriously threatened by a 2001 Supreme Court decision which narrowed the scope of federal environmental protection for the nation's wetlands. The ruling invites the destruction of millions of acres of so-called isolated wetlands, eliminating their important role in providing flood control, natural water purification and essential wildlife habitat.
NRDC and the National Wildlife Federation released a new report on the importance of "isolated" wetlands. These wetlands are threatened with destruction due to a recent court ruling. Read the report. (August 2002) Position Paper on Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Determinations Pursuant to the Supreme Court's January 9, 2001 Decision, Solid Waste of Northern Cook County v. United States Army Corps of Engineers (SWANCC) Presented to Administrator Whitman, United States Environmental Protection Agency by the Association of State Wetland Managers and the Association of State Floodplain Managers (December 2001). The U.S. Supreme Court holds that isolated waters cannot be regulated under the Clean Water Act in a story by Charles Lane, Washington Post Staff Writer, January 9, 2001 on the Supreme Court decision.
Tulloch rule
The rule changes
Tulloch-fix rule went into effect on April 17, 2001.
On August 16, 2000 the U.S. EPA and Army Corps of Engineers published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to crack down on abuses of a loophole in the Clean Water Act. This loophole has lead to the destruction of more than 20,000 acres of wetlands and the degradation of hundreds of miles of streams in just the past two years. Letters and emails registering support for plugging this damaging loophole were due on October 16, 2000. For more information
Read about the Tulloch Rule on the Sierra Club web site.
Nationwide "rubber stamp" permits
The national rule debate (in reverse chronological order) On August 9, 2001 the Army Corps of Engineers released its draft revisions to current NWPs in the Federal Register. Every five years all Nationwide Wetlands Permits (NWPs) come up for review and reauthorization. The proposal would allow the US Army Corps of Engineers to ignore stricter environmental standards for wetlands that were adopted by the Corps in 2000. Click here for the draft revisions. View the press releases by NWF, NRDC, and Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund.
View news articles by the LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Associated Press On July 31, 2001 the Army Corps of Engineers released their PEIS (Progamatic Environmental Impact Statement) for the entire Nationwide Permit (NWP) program. The Corps is conducting this PEIS to ensure the NWP program only authorizes activities that have minimal individual and cumulative impacts on the aquatic environment. The comment period ends on October 29th. Comments can be mailed to the Corps as indicated on the draft PEIS or e-mailed to: WPPEIS@usace.army.mil. To view the Corps draft PEIS click here. Contact Julie Sibbing with National Wildlife Federation at
sibbing@nwf.org or 202-797-6800, or contact Daniel Rosenberg with NRDC at drosenberg@nrdc.org or 202-289-6868 with questions. March 9, 2000 -- Federal Register Final Notice of Issuance and Modification of Nationwide Permits. For more information Sierra Club's fact sheet on Nationwide Permits
Reform the Army Corps of Engineers
Army Corps Ignores "No Net Loss" Wetlands Policy
The Army Corps of Engineers released on Friday November 2, 2001 a Regulatory Guidance Letter on wetlands mitigation. Click here to view the guidance. Without any public notice or coordination with other federal agencies who share responsibility for wetlands policy, the Corps has unilaterally ignored the national goal of achieving "no net loss" of wetlands, a goal established during the first Bush administration which has been the guiding principle of the national wetlands regulatory program since. Click here to view the press release. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility releases
Army Corps Wetlands Report Card October 2001
Click here to view the report card of the Army Corps of Engineers regarding their permitting process by PEER using national data. Click here to view the press release by PEER. Congress introduces Corps Reform bills
Two bills have been introduced regarding the reform of the Corps, one in the house and one in the senate. The bills are called Corps of Engineers Reform Act of 2001, HR 1310 (introduced by Rep. Kind-WI) and S 646 (introduced by Sen. Feingold-WI). Click here to search for the details of this bill on Thomas. An additional bill has been introduced in the House that would reform the Army Corps of Engineers requiring them to disclose all environmental impacts of proposed water projects. HR 2353-Army Corps of Engineers Reform and Community Relations Improvement Act of 2001 was introduced by Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO). To view the bill in pdf format click here. To view a press release by the National Wildlife Federation on HR 2353 click here.
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