144 • Wetlands: Their Use and Regulation 



about 2.7 percent). It should be noted that districts 

 vary greatly in the percentage of permits denied. 

 Twelve reported on the OTA survey that they deny 

 1 percent or less of permit applications, while ten 

 deny more than 5 percent. About 14 percent of per- 

 mit applicants (1,545) withdrew their applications 

 before the Corps rendered a decision. 



A much greater number of permits are modified 

 in the course of the permit process. The IWR report 

 estimated that one-third are "substantially modi- 

 fied."^ Another source estimated that more than 

 half have conditions attached.^ Information col- 

 lected by OTA supports these estimates. OTA 

 asked districts to estimate the percentage of per- 

 mits requiring a 404 review that were substantial- 

 ly modified. Several districts separated their esti- 

 mates into permits that were modified substantially 

 and those that received more minor modifications, 

 saying that almost all permits were conditioned or 

 modified to some degree. Two districts said they 

 did not require substantial modifications to any per- 

 mit in the period considered. One of these, how- 

 ever, denied a large percentage of 404 applications. 

 Two others did not make percentage estimates, say- 

 ing that many or most permits were modified sub- 

 stantially. The estimates of the remaining districts 

 varied from 3 to 95 percent. The majority of dis- 

 tricts gave estimates ranging from 20 to 40 percent, 

 and the mean of all districts was 31 percent. 



The effects of the 404 and State regulatory pro- 

 grams on potential wetland conversions can be es- 

 timated using two main sources of data: NMFS 

 Southeast region figures and results of a Corps 

 survey. The NMFS Southeast region, has juris- 

 diction over coastal areas from Texas to North Car- 

 olina including about 90 percent of all coastal (salt- 

 water) wetlands in the lower 48 States (according 

 to FWS trend data). The Southeast region made 

 recommendations that, if implemented, would have 

 had the following effects: During fiscal year 1981 

 NMFS reviewed projects that would have resulted 

 in the conversion of about 14,000 acres of vegetated 

 wedands. NMFS recommendations, which were ac- 

 cepted in about 98 percent of the cases, could have 



resulted in the potential preservation of about 85 

 percent of these wetlands proposed for conversion. 

 Since about 20 percent of the projects were in viola- 

 tion of permit conditions, the actual acreage of wet- 

 lands saved from conversion by Federal and State 

 permitting programs in coastal areas probably 

 ranges from 70 to 85 percent.'* Thus, severed thou- 

 sand acres of coastal (saltwater) wetlands are pro- 

 bably being converted to other uses each year. 



According to recent estimates compiled by the 

 Corps for 1980 and 1981 (table 23), its districts (ex- 

 cluding Alaska) processed permits for projects that, 

 if completed as requested, would have resulted in 

 direct and indirect conversion of approximately 

 100,000 wetland acres per year. However, the 

 Corps authorized projects that involved converting 

 approximately 50,000 acres of wetlands. In other 

 words, the 404 program, in combination with State 

 programs, was responsible for preserving about 

 50,000 acres of wedands if there is compliance with 

 all permit conditions. This is a 50-percent reduc- 

 tion in potential conversions from modifications, 

 withdrawals, and denials of 404 permits. Actual 

 compliance with permit conditions in NMFS South- 

 east region is about 70 percent. The acreage saved 

 by the 404 program is probably less than 50,000; 

 how much less is uncertain. In addition, some con- 

 versions may have been deterred simply by the 

 existence of the regulatory programs; other con- 

 versions may have been prevented through preap- 

 plication consultations with the Corps. 



Creation of New Wetlands/Restoration of 

 Degraded Wetlands 



New wedands ore created and degraded wedands 

 are restored or enhanced as a result of the 404 pro- 

 gram. In some cases, 404 permit applicants create 

 or restore wedand acreage as compensation or miti- 

 gation for acreage degraded or converted by a per- 

 mitted activity. In other cases, persons who have 

 altered wedands under the scope of the Corps' reg- 

 ulatory program without a permit, or who have vio- 

 lated permit conditions, have been required to miti- 



^Institute for Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

 "Impact Analysis of the Corps Regulatory Program," unpublished 

 report, November 1982, p. 62. 



'Jeffrey A. Zinn and Claudia Copeland, "Wetlands Management," 

 Congressional Research Service, July 1982, p. 125. 



^Figures from W. N. Lindall and G. W. Thayer, "Quantification 

 of National Marine Fisheries Device Habitat Conservation Efforts in 

 the S.E. Region of the United States," vol. 44, No. 12, 1982, pp. 

 18-22. During a conversation in June 1983, Lindall estimated that 

 75 to 80 percent of the acreage in columns 2, 3, and 4, table 1 from 

 this paper were vegetated wetland; 90 percent of acreage in columns 

 8, 9, and 10 were vegetated. 



