14 • Wetlands: Their Use and Regulation 



• the importance of wetlands to society relative 

 to the benefits associated with wetland devel- 

 opment; 



• the relative significance of current rates of wet- 

 land conversion; 



• the desirability of temporarily deferring the im- 

 mediate benefits from wetland conversion to 

 avoid the loss of potentially valuable resources; 



• the adequacy of existing programs and the 

 costs imposed by these programs on Govern- 

 ment, development activities, and society at 

 large; and 



• the appropriate role of the Federal Govern- 

 ment relative to the role of other levels of gov- 

 ernment and of private organizations. 



In general, the greater the Federal involvement in 

 controlling the use of wedands, the greater the costs 

 for wetland programs and for developers. 



Policy Issues 



OTA has identified three issues related to wet- 

 lands management: 



1 . Should Federal involvement in protecting wet- 

 lands be increased or decreased? 



2. Should the Federal Government improve its 

 policymaking capability through a systematic 

 collection and analysis of additional informa- 

 tion about wetlands? 



3. Should the Federal Government develop a 

 more integrated approach for managing the 

 use of wetlands? 



These issues are interrelated. For example, if 

 Congress determines that the existing data are ade- 

 quate to resolve issue 1 , it would not be necessary 

 to pursue any policy options addressing issue 2 . On 

 the other hand, Congress may decide to adopt op- 

 tions under issue 2 before attempting to make any 

 changes in the level of Federal involvement as dis- 

 cussed under issue 1 . Developing an integrated sys- 

 tem for managing wedands use, as described under 

 issue 3, would require collecting more data about 

 wetlands, as outlined in options under issue 2. 



Policy Options 



Issue 1: Should Federal involvement in protecting 

 wetlands be increased or decreased? 



Arguments about the desired degree of Federal 

 involvement in managing the use of wetlands can 

 be made from three different positions. First, in 

 favor of increasing the level of Federal involvement, 

 it can be argued that wetlands provide many valu- 

 able natural benefits to the public. Yet, from 30 

 to 50 percent of this resource has been converted 

 to other uses, and conversions continue. Because 

 most States generally do not seem inclined to fill 

 any gaps in the current Federal regulatory program, 

 a stronger Federal presence at least in those States 

 with weak programs may be indicated. 



Others argue that wetlands have been converted 

 to other uses at rates of only 0.5 percent a year, 

 while present rates are probably even lower. Con- 

 sidering the great benefits that can derive from wet- 

 land conversions, regulatory costs stemming from 

 delays and permit denials are a high price to pay 

 for preserving a small percentage of the Nation's 

 wetlands. Thus, the level of Federal involvement 

 should be reduced even though wedand conversions 

 might increase as a result of decreased regulation. 



Third, it could be argued that existing Federal 

 programs, including the 404 program, provide the 

 appropriate level of wedands management and pro- 

 tection overall. To some, existing data might not 

 indicate an urgency to halt all wedand conversions, 

 but wetlands (especially high-value wetlands) de- 

 serve some protection to avoid possible incremental 

 losses over the long term. In addition, the scanty 

 data on recent trends may provide little basis for 

 changing existing policies until more information 

 has been collected. Court decisions about the scope 

 of the 404 program and its implementation by the 

 Corps are also pending. 



The use of privately owned wetlands is now con- 

 trolled, to varying degrees, through a mix of eco- 

 nomic measures and regulation. Numerous options 

 exist for modifying policy to increase or decrease 

 the present level of Federal involvement in manag- 

 ing and protecting wetlands. 



