150 • Wetlands: Their Use and Regulation 



(emphasis added)'* justifies the protection of wet- 

 lands for other than water-quahty reasons, in par- 

 ticular, to safeguard wildlife habitat. 



The Presumption of Wetland Value 



Prior to the suggested regulatory revisions of July 

 1982 put forward by the Corps, the Corps reviewed 

 permit applications with the presumption that, 

 "Wedands are vital areas that constitute a produc- 

 tive and valuable public resource, the unnecessary 

 alteration and destruction of which should be dis- 

 couraged as contrary to the public interest."'^ 

 In this view, the benefits of proposed projects must 

 outweigh the damage to wedands, and the proposed 

 wetland alteration must be necessary to realize the 



"Clean Water Act, sec. 101(a). 

 '533 CFR, sec. 320.4(b)(1). 



benefits. If a proposed activity is not water-depend- 

 ent — if a feasible alternate site is available — it nor- 

 mally will be denied. Further, all appropriate and 

 practicable steps must be taken to minimize po- 

 tential adverse impacts of the discharge in ques- 

 tion. Parties opposed to these provisions have the 

 following arguments against the above presump- 

 tions: 



• The benefits of wetlands often are difficult to 

 discern and measure. Not £ill wetlands are of 

 equal value, and many wetlands are regarded 

 by various sources as being of little value to 

 society. In particular, the water quality values 

 of many wetlands protected by the program 

 are questionable; as mentioned, some sources 

 believe that only protection of water quality 

 is mandated by CWA. 



Pholo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Bill Gill 



Prior to the Corps' suggested regulatory revisions of July 1982, the Corps reviewed permit applications with the presumption 



that, "wetlands are vital areas that constitute a productive and valuable resource, the unnecessary alteration and destruction 



of which should be discouraged as contrary to the public interest" 



