Ch. 7— The Effects of ttie 404 Program • 145 



Table 23.— Corps of Engineers' Wetland Acreage Survey, 1980 to 1981 



Total acreages (in thousands) 



Exclusive of Including 

 Alaska and Hawaii Alaska 



1. Total acreage of "technical" wetlands* 64,100 287,100 



2. Total acreage of wetlands regulated under 



individual permit 46,700 209,700 



3. Wetland fill requested, past 2 years: 



Direct (smothered) 56.0 63 



Indirect (flooded, drained, etc.) 124.9 124.9 



4. Wetland fill authorized, past 2 years (direct only) . 30.2 36.7 



5. Wetlands created for mitigation, past 2 years .... 9.6 9.6 



6. Wetland dredging requested, past 2 years: 



Direct (dredged) 13.4 14.4 



Indirect (sidebank, slumping, etc.) 15.0 15.0 



7. Wetland dredging authorized past 2 years (direct 



only) 3^3 4.3 



^Total wetland acreage estimates based on the Corps' "tectinical" definition of wetlands. Ttiey are therefore less than the 

 average of wetlands estimated from the FWS National Wetland Trends Study. 

 SOURCE: Army Corps of Engineers. 



gate impacts through wetland creation or restora- 

 tion. 



IWR reported an estimate that "less than 5,000 

 acres" of wetlands are created annually,' presum- 

 ably as a result of the 404 program. While several 

 individual cases of restoration were listed, IWR did 

 not estimate the total acreage of wetlands restored 

 annually. 



The NMFS Southeast region office recom- 

 mended that 2,493 wetland acres be created and 

 1,469 be "generated/compensated" in that area 

 from July 1981 to June 1982.^ 



Based on the OTA survey, 25 Corps districts es- 

 timated that 1 ,200 to 1 ,700 acres were created and 

 2,300 to 2,800 acres were restored annually (3). 

 These amounts do not include two cases in which 

 Florida phosphate mines have or will "re-create" 

 about 3,500 acres of wetlands "to obtain the re- 

 quired State and Federal permits" or to satisfy State 

 requirements. A Corps survey of districts and 

 Corps responses to OTA's questionnaire indicated 

 that about 5,000 acres of wetlands are created 

 annually. 



^Institute for Water Resources, op. cit., p. 114. 

 'Lindall and Thayer, op. cit. 



EFFECTS ON DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES 



Although many development activities benefit 

 from wetland protection, the 404 program also im- 

 poses costs on development from the processing, 

 modifications, and delays entailed in the 404 per- 

 mitting process. Aside from financial costs, more 

 general objections to the program voiced by such 

 parties as industry trade associations include ques- 

 tions about the need for the program to protect wet- 

 lands, congressional intent regarding wedands and 

 the 404 program, the value of wetlands versus the 



value of their development, and possible inefficient 

 or inequitable program administration. 



Some firms state that they have borne major 404- 

 related costs, in some cases millions of dollars, and 

 it is evident that all firms that go through the per- 

 mitting process bear at least some costs. However, 

 although many individual firms have abundant ma- 

 terial on their own experiences, very little data are 

 available that aggregate individual experiences into 



